1969 Galaxie 500 - BBF high school/college kid build

[silver_bullet]

I always liked the look of those big bruisers.

How's this fit.... a friend just posted a HUGE example!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/458515021640509/?multi_permalinks=1092151121610226&notif_id=1641116073634782&notif_t=group_activity&ref=notif

[99_ls1]

Holy crap - that is what that thing was... I've wondered where the nose and sail panels came from since I was a kid - I knew it was something blue oval - but not what it was.

Moonshiner who ran all over Middle Georgia in the early 70's ran one of these - de-badged, black, and utterly badazz. I'm stealing this for my collection!

Y'all might be surprised what cars were used to haul 'shine. The first-gen GTOs were total highway runners haha!

[BBR]

Judd worked on it yesterday and started getting the engine disconnected and he removed the old rear shocks. He also repaired the broken shock mount on one of the front lower control arms.

Today he cut down valve guides and removed a broken exhaust bolt. The bolt was quite a challenge because the weld-a-nut-on trick only worked a little. Then out came the drill. He carefully drilled it and was able to get a 3/8" tap started and successfully saved the threads.

[BBR]

Parts parts parts! The rest of his Rockauto order has arrived. Shocks, bushings brake parts etc etc. Should have the front suspension back together this weekend. Our machine shop buddy also picked up the block today. He runs Tulia Machine, known by his friends as "Well Motor Racing" because they used to do lots of well motors.

[BBR]

Judd and his buddies started putting the front suspension back together. They had trouble getting the bushings in the upper control arm or they would have had it all back together. We figured out a technique to get them in, so the second upper should be a lot easier.

[andy30thz]

Love seeing this thing on a budget! Just a couple of things...
If its going to the machine shop anyway...should you cut the deck some? My recollection is the factory pistons sit deep in the hole and replacement pistons are even deeper.(Although I believe KB sells pistons with modified pin heights to address that exact issue)
Also, porting a set of D3VE's is time consuming...but might be a worthwhile endeavor? I don't know if I'd do anything to the intake side...but the short turn radius is so easy to carve out on the exhaust ports...seems like a shame not to do a little work there?
I totally understand jumping into 4.10's...but if he wants to street drive it any distance...might want to find a another chunk with 3.00's for it.(3.25's if your running a 25" tire)
We had a blast in a full size car, with warmed up 460 & 3.00 gears. Wasn't the fastest thing around, but had no problem hitting the highway for hours singing at 3000rpm & 75mph.

[BBR]

It will have at least a 275/60-15 tire on it. The most it will likely be street driven is around town and just down the road to Amarillo Dragway.

We could port the exhaust a bit, it's really up to him. I think at this point getting it running and driving trumps most everything else. Haha.

Decking the block would be a good idea, but I don't figure we will do it. This will be a basic,mild big block. We chose a flat top piston with one valve relief so we would not have to mess around with that and still get a little bump in compression.

Even with a mild big block, the 4.10's and looser converter should make it feel pretty spunky stop light to stop light.

[andy30thz]

Gotcha! Just want to be sure that he doesn't fall into the trap that many junior rodders do(including myself)...lopey cam + no quench 8.5:1 = turd
Although...even a turd of a 460 with 4.10's/converter in a 3800-4000lbs car will be fun!!
I'm definitely going to have fun watching it come together! Thanks for taking the time to share!

[BBR]

More front suspension progress yesterday. Upper control arms, spindles are all installed and good to go.

[BBR]

Judd finished up the front rotors, calipers and pads, then installed the new rear shocks and put the rear brakes together. He is not a fan of drum brakes!!

[cstmwgn]

... He is not a fan of drum brakes!! ...

Wait till he starts driving it! Might be an incentive to upgrade.

[andy30thz]

NICE!! And I seen the axles are out, the driveshaft on the floor & center diff is out! 4.10's here we come?!? I'm sure that gear lube was STINKY! People seem to rarely do fluid changes on a 9".
How does the tie rods/idler/pitman arms feel? I'm always amazed at this older stuff, as long as it got greased regularly...they can last a LONG time!

Oh, when you guys are sticking the 460 back together, take a quick measurement of piston to deck height at TDC. Later on it might be fun for you guys to calculate static compression as best you can.

[BBR]

Yeah Judd is up there right now installing longer wheel studs and taking the diff apart. He is going to put a mini-spool in it and start the 4.10 install.

The steering stuff seems to be all good and tight. Really, all the ball joints in the front end seemed like they were in usable condition but the boots were toast. So we elected to replace them.

[BBR]

Studs installed, mini-spool installed, ring gear installed, and pinion support disassembled.

[BBR]

I swapped the bearing from the 2.75 pinion to the 4.10 pinion. The machined lip on the gear makes removing the bearing a snap compared to an 8.8 or a Mopar 8.75. The only problem I had was due to the sheer size of the 2.75 pinion. It would not fit between the rails on my press so I had to rig up some spacers to full press it off. It pressed off and on real easy though.