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To keep or not to keep...
16 years ago
General
I love the Galaxie very much, but it's $400 for a new engine and then some for the work the person has to do for swapping engines. Needs a new rear end and a good coat of paint too (spraypaint will do for now). Opened up the hood the other day after it's been sitting for a number of months now and found out a few of the hoses had cracked.
I paid $1,500 for the car (it was running at the time- mind you).
I've just been wondering whether or not to keep it. It's in beautiful condition with only very tiny rust spots on the body around the wheels and bottom edge and the interior is still in great shape (one of the seats has a rip and some things like the radio don't work).
I asked a local junk yard what they'd give me for it and they said they'd send a guy out to come look at it. They never did, so it's obvious that that particular junk yard dude doesn't care (everyone in town who knows him or has heard of him says he's an asshole anyway).
Pickup really needs some fixing.
Truck needs the following:
A tune up
alignment check & fixing
new tires
a whole bumper replacement
new mirrors (the tow/haul heated ones- one got smashed up from the metal fence posts on the side of the road *by side I mean like 3 inches over the edge of the white line and you'll hit it*)
oil, lube & filter replacement (aka oil change)
a lift kit of at least 4 inches with a skid plate under it (more ground clearance and less getting stuck when it's mega muddy out)
a soft topper for the box (helps with fuel mileage and makes a nicer storage area in case there's not enough room in the cab)
What I'd like to do with it:
All of that plus-
Dual exhaust *coming up like semi stacks*
manual locking hubs for the front end so both tires spin at the same time instead of just the passenger's side (when in 4 wheel drive)
fix up the tailgate (has a slight dent and big scratch in it- but it's costly to fix)
and possibly a few other things
The truck comes before the car. It's the main vehicle AND it's needed for hauling the 5th wheel camper around, plus work, and when I have to go pull something with it or if the weather is too nasty to take the car out.
The Galaxie...... I want to restore it so it's a show car, but I also want to use it for personal, every day use. I need new plates and everything as well.
It's only a few hundred to get it running again, but that doesn't account for the rear end the last person put in. They tried making it an 8th mile car, so with me trying to run to and from work (before I got the truck) and to the city (which at that location, the nearest walmart was 100 miles away), I was doing 3k on the tack just going 60 mph down the road.
The engine was well used already, plus with the rear end and me trying to run around with it everywhere- it didn't take long for the engine to die. It has several problems and COULD be rebuilt (unless there's a hole in the wall or other part of the block), but to do that costs more money than just dropping in a totally different engine. Anything with the FE bolt pattern can be dropped in. Too bad we can't find a brand new engine for it that's an original (factory or rebuilt).
That's the bad part about here. You can find lots and lots of really nice condition old cars for dirt cheap, but you can't find parts.
I paid $1,500 for the car (it was running at the time- mind you).
I've just been wondering whether or not to keep it. It's in beautiful condition with only very tiny rust spots on the body around the wheels and bottom edge and the interior is still in great shape (one of the seats has a rip and some things like the radio don't work).
I asked a local junk yard what they'd give me for it and they said they'd send a guy out to come look at it. They never did, so it's obvious that that particular junk yard dude doesn't care (everyone in town who knows him or has heard of him says he's an asshole anyway).
Pickup really needs some fixing.
Truck needs the following:
A tune up
alignment check & fixing
new tires
a whole bumper replacement
new mirrors (the tow/haul heated ones- one got smashed up from the metal fence posts on the side of the road *by side I mean like 3 inches over the edge of the white line and you'll hit it*)
oil, lube & filter replacement (aka oil change)
a lift kit of at least 4 inches with a skid plate under it (more ground clearance and less getting stuck when it's mega muddy out)
a soft topper for the box (helps with fuel mileage and makes a nicer storage area in case there's not enough room in the cab)
What I'd like to do with it:
All of that plus-
Dual exhaust *coming up like semi stacks*
manual locking hubs for the front end so both tires spin at the same time instead of just the passenger's side (when in 4 wheel drive)
fix up the tailgate (has a slight dent and big scratch in it- but it's costly to fix)
and possibly a few other things
The truck comes before the car. It's the main vehicle AND it's needed for hauling the 5th wheel camper around, plus work, and when I have to go pull something with it or if the weather is too nasty to take the car out.
The Galaxie...... I want to restore it so it's a show car, but I also want to use it for personal, every day use. I need new plates and everything as well.
It's only a few hundred to get it running again, but that doesn't account for the rear end the last person put in. They tried making it an 8th mile car, so with me trying to run to and from work (before I got the truck) and to the city (which at that location, the nearest walmart was 100 miles away), I was doing 3k on the tack just going 60 mph down the road.
The engine was well used already, plus with the rear end and me trying to run around with it everywhere- it didn't take long for the engine to die. It has several problems and COULD be rebuilt (unless there's a hole in the wall or other part of the block), but to do that costs more money than just dropping in a totally different engine. Anything with the FE bolt pattern can be dropped in. Too bad we can't find a brand new engine for it that's an original (factory or rebuilt).
That's the bad part about here. You can find lots and lots of really nice condition old cars for dirt cheap, but you can't find parts.
Getting a suspension lift on it so it rides a little better, out here is killing the pickup (and I bought it from a dealer out here- guy gave it up as an early lease return- the puppy is LOADED with all of the extras you can think of- the fake leather on the seats could be redone though cause of some rub/wear spots. Cheap shit I tell ya.)
The topper was close to 2k, same with the brush guard. It was a Ranch Hand Legendary. No more mule deer problems!
Tires- I want some good mud tires that won't hinder it on paved roads either, they'll be a little wider than normal with bead lock rims (the style of rims I want I have to custom order for the tires and get them painted black and blue to match the truck or else they're black and red and silver).
Back tires are bald- thing has too much power in it and just taking off at the stop light (not even heavy footing it) makes the back tires spin in 2 wheel drive.
The wife has a photo of it actually in her scraps somewhere. I love how every time I wash it, it rains or something just after and makes everything a mud hole.