Norma 1966 Galaxie

Great news!!!

Its time to enjoy it. You've earned it. 

At 80mph in 5 I was doing 2700 rpm. Cruising. Thing really handles well and doesn't feel like a boat.

Awesome!

So jealous, but glad to hear it was a blast to drive!

Went back to cork gaskets and lots of rtv. See if that helps with the oil leaks. Especially at the back of the head.

In reply to Norma66-Brent :

I would check the valve cover flange for flatness. You might need to tweak the flange a bit to get them to seal. 

In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :

The heads only have five bolts for the valve cover so using a aluminum valve cover that has flex isn't the best idea. If this doesn't work I will go to steel ones. 
 

In reply to Norma66-Brent :

God quality cast aluminum valve covers flex a lot less that the stock steel Ford covers. In fact they are so stiff that a warped one won't flex enough to seal!

Oil leaks appear to be handled. Drove the car another 10 miles today. Didn't get about 205 in traffic. Probably need to get a larger overflow for the cooling system.

current punch list

parking brake install, fix gas tank sock level and drop it down, clean up wiring, find battery tie down. 
 

gonna do 20 miles tomorrow and potentialy 140 round trip to eddyville Saturday. 

car did well tonight. Only Issue I'm having is temp after coming out of freeway speeds. Will be sitting in 5th running 55-60mph 2200 ish rpm running 203 degrees. If I go to coast down and push in the clutch it starts rapidly rising to 230-240 then starts coming back down. Thoughts?

Coasting down at idle speed? The only thing I can think of is that the water pump speed follows engine speed. The engine has heat to get rid of from just running 2k rpm under load, and you cut the water flow by 50% or more, so the temp rises until enough water flows through to carry that heat away.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I would 100% agree with your diagnosis's. First thing first I need to get some wet wetter in the system. Probably should go seal my shroud to the radiator. Currently has gaps. Since the cooling system has to come out to do all that, need to rewire the fans to split them onto separate circuits. 
If that fails it would be machining a smaller water pump pulley?

I'd start with boxing / sealing your radiator.  I have a Fox Body that I've been working on that I couldn't keep cool at highway speeds, and the simple change of sealing off the radiator and forcing the air through the core instead of allowing it to bypass in gaps around it made a world of difference.

Though I will concede our problems were a little different.  Mine was fine around town, and would climb on the highway.  May still make a difference though.

we finished this fire chicken at work today. came out unreal.

'67, one of my favorite pony cars. Very nice!

the galaxie has been in the back burner. i have all the stuff to do the modifications i need to hopefully fix my cooling problems. car needs to be able to do a series drive in two week. wish me luck

I used to work for a company that made 10% overdrive water pump pulleys for NA/NB Miatas, and there was certainly a difference in all the testing we did. The nice thing is that the size reduction still allowed the use of the stock belt and it could still be tensioned to spec.

You've definitely got a nice, beefy rad, and those fans should be doing work, but it could just be that the pump isn't flowing fast enough when you come down on RPMs as AngryCorvair already mentioned. If you weren't so tight on space up front, I would say grab a Mark VIII fan. That things flows air like you wouldn't believe!

Another potential solution might be an electric pump, but I gotta be honest that the idea of an electric water pump raises my anxiety levels through the roof, but BMW proves the concept works on my Z4...

Going to trying dropping the thermostat for a restrictor. see what happens, car doesn't need heat and the efi should help correct anything that isn't running optimal 

car performed well on a 4 miles drive in traffic today with no thermostate and just a restrictor. was at 185 and was dropping when fan kicked on. more to come

did 15 miles. car got up to 197 in fifth gear and stayed there. heading out to sutliff bridge tonight to see how it performs, that will be another 20 mile trip. more to come

It took me 2,545 days to get this picture. Feels god damn good

I know that feeling and you deserve it Brent!!!  Congrats!

I hope you enjoy that car as much as I’ve enjoyed following this thread.  It looks amazing and it’s perfect for cruising with your family. Well done! 

car show ready. norma has a big drive ahead of her tomrorow