59BlueSilver

That was my muscle car when I was young. A 63 Ford fastback with a 406, tripower, headers, dual point ignition, 11-1 compression, full race cam, 411 rear (not posi). Not a stock Ford but I beat the only 409 in my area, and a GTO. Couldn't handle the 396 Chevelles though when they came out.

wmf62

http://www.mre-books.com/interchange/interchange10.html

Bill

DansYellow66

Got it - the 361 was an Edsel and 58 FE police engine. Not sure about the 401 though.

dmaxx3500

years ago,i worked for a guy at a gas station,[mid-late 70's] that had a 63.5[or 64.5] black galaxie xl500 with a 427 dual quad side oiler,[he bought it new],very cool car

DansYellow66

Those were interesting times for car guys. I worked during High School at a grocery mart in the late 60s and most of the stockers & sackers were car guys and a few years older than me. I was getting ready to head off to college and most of them were working for a living and buying a car for transportation and fun. I remember a 64 tri-power 4sp goat, 65 4sp 442, 62 4sp Ford 406, 65 327 4sp Impala, 65 4sp 273 Barracuda, 63 Plymouth with 361 Police engine amongst them. A barber in the enclosed shop had a new maroon Charger R/T and someone else was driving a 65 426 wedge Satellite. A number of them would let me take them out for a short spin or con me into moving it up by the door or them at quitting time. That's where I learned to drive a stick - somewhat at the expense of their clutch. We had a grocery pickup lane outside which could even be more fun to work as a lot of interesting muscle cars rolled through it at the time to pick up groceries - a 440 GTX, 427 Vettes, and Sunbeam Tiger stick in my memory.

vettsplit 63

That was a pretty interesting video. All the more interesting because both cars were 4 door sedans, 4 speed. That would have been quite a rare set of cars to own.

59BlueSilver

Didn't notice that, thought they were 2 door post, weird! Did Dad order the 409 for the family sedan to keep up with traffic! Wonder how many were made.

W Guy

Many people ordered a car with the "big" engine because they planned on pulling a trailer. The specifications alluded them and they didn't know they were getting a cantankerous solid lifter, 11:1 (10.4:1 as delivered) motor.

Verne

There are no production figures with engine options based on models.

GTOguy

Great video, thanks for sharing. We had a '64 Galaxie 2door fastback from 1966 to 1994. Needed 4 brake jobs and 1 water pump in 28 years of quiet, smooth, rattle-free service. 352 4bbl FE engine...factory AC. Grew up with that car, and took my driver's test in it. Still blowing ice cubes out of the AC when I sold it in '94. The Fords were a might slower than the Chevrolets of that era, I think, because of build quality....the Chevys were built light and the Fords were all built like tanks. Lots of those Galaxies were police cars and taxicabs. Even today, original 55 year old Galaxies ride like luxury cars going down the road. The GM cars, not quite as plush....but a might faster.

59BlueSilver

59BlueSilver

In my younger days we would hang out at the local Dairy Queen next to a non busy highway late at night. Next door was a Chevrolet dealership with a brand new '66 2 door post with a 427 4 speed with the keys in it, common in those days. Didn't take long (about 5 seconds) before one of us took it out on that highway. Must have took at least 10k miles off those rear tires and the engine was screaming, thought it was going to blow.
When he drove it back over to park it, he met the local cop coming in. He simply told him to put it back and behave himself.

DansYellow66

A description of early 60s Fords I've used a few times. My Mom drove a 60 Ford Galaxie that I learned to drive in and a "tank" sums it up well. She once had a run in with a Wells Fargo armored car and it fared better than the armored car. It even survived my sister learning to drive (a regular crash Gordon) and I then drove it during the summers while in college when I worked in a brick plant to save my Plymouth from the wear and tear. We could barely get it in a 7 ft wide garage door of the era - sort of had gouges in both side from the horizontal fins. I remember a number of 63 and 64 Ford Galaxie's in that era and they always seemed to survive better than many other cars - solid, not much rust, good hardware and trim, the factory paint seemed thick and long lasting, and they just kept on running.

hope2

Almost always the 409/340 horsepower which was available with automatic trans. Although my crazy uncle special ordered a black Pontiac Tempest station wagon with 4-Speed.

vettsplit 63

There was an old gentleman who was the custodian at the Junior High school where I grew up who had a 2 door 63 Biscayne with a 425 horse 409, and a three speed transmission. He just liked to be able to pass quickly when he went around someone on the highway. Or that's what he said anyway.

W Guy

The poor old guy in '62 who bought the "big" engine for towing really got skunked. Not only did he have the mechanical lifters to contend with but a dual point mechanical advance distributor. I think driveability complaints led to Chevy changing to a single point with a VAC around April.

Verne

409/409

In 1964 the 352 was only available with a 2 barrel, the 4 barrel must have been added later.

409/409

401 was the horsepower rating for a hipo 390 with 3 deuces In early 1962 .It looked identical to the 406 405 horse power that came out around April.
I know this well, as I had an extremely rare M code hipo 390 401 horsepower four speed convertible.I totally wore that car out and didn't know what I had until at least 20 years later. I was 18 and knew everything.

Powershift

That is incorrect. In 1964 the 352 could be had in both 2bbl and 4bbl versions. One of my good friends owned the 4bbl version. Dynasty Green 2 dr hardtop/fastback. I believe 250 rated HP. Had a decent rear gear and ran pretty good for a FORD. But no match for a good running 327.

At this time (1964) I was working part time at our local Ford garage. I washed and waxed and drove just about everything Ford made including the 427 cars. The dealership used to deliver new cars directly to the new owner's home..........the salesman drove the new car I prepped and I drove a back-up car to get us back to the dealership. I was 15 at the time.

The Ford dealership was C. Bradshaw Ford on the South side of Chicago. They sold a lot of Shelby mustangs (GT-350 and GT-500 cars and at least one Cobra). A picture of the dealership hangs in one of the State Buildings in Washington DC. Why, I dunno. I think the original artist (William Brody) became somewhat famous for other paintings. But it's there. Here is a postcard version. https://carl3615.smugmug.com/History...wn/i-Rcnp6P6/A

Larry

Powershift

One of the younger salesman (Frank Weber) at the C. Bradshaw dealership drove a 1961 black Thunderbird with this engine. He had me wash it every week and wax it once a month. I learned quickly how to wash and dry a black car..........as he jumped my butt quite a few times initially because it was not right.

Drove the car a lot.

Larry

DansYellow66

I am aware of that 390/401 HP engine. I have a set of heads from one on my ERA Cobra that Keith Craft massaged for it. They built some pretty nice motors back in those days but they were pulling around a lot of weight.

I used to run around with a guy in high school who had a 63 Impala (non SS) 409/340 with PG and 4.11 rear. Pretty quick for something like that - he and I got into quite a bit of trouble with the constables one night matching it up against my 64 Sport Fury on an empty piece of Interstate. We both missed the cop siting on the overpass. He told me he used to run a solid lifter 427 and 4 speed in it that he blew up - which I didn't know whether to believe at first. Then he took me over to his garage and showed me the block with a chunk knocked out by a rod. He said he decided the 409 and PG were not so bad after all. Ahh the good old days.