First post - 69 Galaxie in NoVA

Everyone made it home safe, but I've been negligent with the pics. I drove out about 45 minutes to meet them on the final leg, and switched cars to get some seat time in the Ford. It was just as described, although inevitably not as rosy as my colored glasses had imagined.

390 has loads of torque, and pulls well up the hills even with a 2.75 axle. Exhaust system is new, but louder than I'll be able to live with. Body and interior are in really great shape. Was shocked when I looked underneath to see virgin metal almost everywhere, with the exception of a patch in the spare tire well (which hangs down on a Ford, and is susceptible to damage). Never been undercoated, truly amazing. There is one soft spot on the frame in front of the rear wheel on the left side, which is kind of a curiosity given the solidness of everything else. In the same location on the body, there is evidence of a previous repair, so the rust in that one area could have been exacerbated by whatever damage was there previously.

Interesting find under the hood. On the driver's side inner fender sits a vintage capacitive discharge ignition module. It looks exactly like this (pic cribbed from the internet), and it is known as a Delta Mark Ten B. They were sold in the late '60's / early '70's, could be assembled from a kit (Heathkit?), and they pre-dated MSD. I guess they are somewhat collectible. I have no idea if this one even works, but it is wired into the coil, and currently it is switched off.



Biggest problem at the moment however, is what sounds like bad bearings somewhere in the rear axle. It is groaning and clunking pretty good, but thankfully this problem didn't crop up until she was home. Turns out the P.O. only put 4K miles on the car in the last 5 years, so re-packing bearings and fluid flushes are going to be on the to-do list. Needs new coil springs and shocks as well, so hopefully I can get some time under the car this weekend to fully assess the situation.

I've already been ordering stuff:
- NOS antenna to replace my broken one
- rear view mirror neck
- sunvisor rubber tips
- 1969 dealership literature
- 1969 collision repair manual
- reproduction battery tray

About to order:
- Eaton coil springs
- heavy duty shocks (undecided which brand)
- battery cables
- F-O-R-D lettering

And when the wife approves:
- right side mirror
- seat foam kit
- new carpet
- edelbrock dual plane intake
- edelbrock 4bbl

 

That's awesome that everyone made it home without so much as a hiccup(other than the AC not copertating{Festus said that, not me!}). Especially with the hills, your honey's lead foot and the high heat we're suffering through on the eastern half right now. What the heck, I'm gonna give you a rating for opening post/travelogue pic rating. Props to the PO for keeping this fine old Ford in reasonably good shape all these years too. Let us know what more you find out about that CDI(?) box thingee. How many miles and what was the total MPG's from the trip?

 

Wow, you have an adverturous wife and family. You are one lucky man. I know my wife would do this, but I doubt there are many that would. Your wife drives a bit faster than my wife does - when I'm with her at least - and I doubt she'd ever provide evidence that she was driving fast. to your wife.

 

She's a keeper. So is my wife, heheh. Our favorite thing to do when road-tripping is not to reserve a room. We'll just target a certain town where we feel like stopping for the night, and cruise the main streets until we spot a diner or an independent motel. Whichever one you happen upon first usually has a good recommendation for the other. We don't own a GPS, after seeing everyone else we know forget how to read maps and lose their sense of direction. We prefer welcome center brochures to websites, and about the only time we call ahead is when we are worried the KOA might be booked.

 

Good for you Green. It sounds like you are living the dream. It is nice to have a life partner who enjoys taking life as it comes.

Life is very good.

umm, KOA, do you trailer as well?