1963 Ford Galaxie Lightweight?

[Al Weyman]

Nice one that must have been well worth the effort!

[thunder road]

Al Weyman, Heart beat of the UK, Was sending you an 'overview' of the ZL1 Camaroand I wa going to ask david5-n-john875 for there help posting pic's etc, had an A4 page going of detail I felt 'you' would enjoy ,being a Fellow Camaro Guy when a muched loved Black Cat jumped up on my Computor table to bestow some affection ( or recieve some !!) when you guessed it ..#*"?+^$POW !!Bam,Goooonnneeeeee!,he dma stepped on the keys Puff !!all gone!!,so some time sooooooooooon I shall try again...you were close the Frank Gardiner ZL1 Engine and gear box came from this Camaro and I'm still offering a reward to find that Original engine/ block,to re plant in the original car, Build #33,.............. ...I must admit that There has not been much help to this date, just a lot of 'didnt really know' leads, the car has a brand new ZL1 engine and 4speed fitted at this time(from another ZL1 Camaro Bob Jane had and saved the 'engine',for a rainy day ) but I would love to reunite the original bits..................any imfo would be appreciated !!

[Al Weyman]

Thats a shame, dont you hate it when that happens, when you have a real big post on the boil keep copyng it regularly to the clip board and especially before you post or better still generate it in Word pad and save to the hard drive every few minutes, been caught out a few times like that but not by the cat!

That old ZL1 engine has probably long gone the way of the wind has'nt it, I understand a lot of the ZL1's were unsold and the engines pulled out to run in CanAm cars (what a waste). The box was only a Muncie Rock Crusher and nothing too special so at least that should pose no problems, not like you are trying to find some rare magnesium cased 5 speed or other exotica. Actually I have never had a Big Block apart been tempted to run one several times but always put off by the weight.

[zefarelly]

send it back where it came from . . . or leave it in Australia

I'm dubious about the legitimacy of 'lightweight' if it existed over here surely WIllment or someone would have done it ? and someone still alive might/would remember ?

either way, whats left is £500 in my book!

[Al Weyman]

Research it Zef it is a ligit model from Fords, Wilments and Paul Hawkins cars were probably that spec surely.

[zefarelly]

I meant dubious in as much as surely anyone did what ever they could to reduce weight as they're barges even stripped out, I've never seen metal bumpers on a race galaxy for example, they're all fibreglass . . .as for genuine 63 spec, in europe, I don't know.

what fogs it with Yanks is US Nascar spec being used in europe now as legit pre66 FiA, I don't think thats right, the cars rarely if ever raced here in US spec or any other so why should they now.

[terence]

Not forgetting Jack Sears in 63 of course,not sure if his car is a lightwight though.

[Al Weyman]

What they allow fibreglass bumpers?

[terence]

Yep,although the originals for the lightweight were/should be ally.

[johnh875]

Al, to flesh out the background a bit, Bob Jane bought two Camaro ZL1's, one was raced and the other used for drag racing. When CAMS banned the 7L engine for touring car racing he put a 350 in the Camaro, which is when it would have been sold to Frank Gardiner. The engine that is now in the car is from the second ZL1 Camaro (which my memory tells me could have been an auto).

Zef, wouldn't the Galaxies raced in the UK have been sourced from Holman & Moody, in which case they would have been full lightweight spec. It would be interesting to see just what is specified for the cars, I remember reading the 64 Falcon Sprint (Monte Carlo rally & Alan Mann racing) had a homologated weight of 900kg or less.

[terence]

Simple,googleit,theres quite a good read on them.

[david5]

Al, sorry if my attempt at light humour upset you.

I think Myles wants the original gearbox because it was "slightly" modified in its construction & then camoflaged to resemble the original.

Cheers david

[Bob Riebe]

A light-weight Galaxie in street trim weighed 3,400 lbs.
Knowing what top race car builders could/can do, for racing I am sure that hundreds more were removed.

Two hundred were produced . Over two dozen still exist; now that would make a nice grocery getting car.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by david5

Al, sorry if my attempt at light humour upset you.

I think Myles wants the original gearbox because it was "slightly" modified in its construction & then camoflaged to resemble the original.

Cheers david

You did'nt no worries, it takes an awful lot to offend me! BTW I have a full house Rock Crusher sitting on my garage floor, its out of the Penske IROC, I use the close ratio Muncies in my other cars without the staight cut gears, seem pretty tough still for my purposes!

[david5]

I beleive the M-22 problem in the Jane car was they were splitting the cases,so they made up new cases out of 1/8th steel which they sandblasted & anodized so it looked like the original aluminium case. Also had some Hollinger internal bits & shifter. This is only what I have read, I have no first hand knowledge.

Cheers David

[thunder road]

David5 and ('heart beat of the UK') Al Weyman, David's close,I would like to track the original 427'alloy engine that Bob Jane 'gave' Frank Gardner for his SCA Camaro as I would like to reunite the engine and body, I wrote you both and john875 a detailed letter a couple nights back ,but a certain very affectionate "BLACK CAT" jumped up on the desk to 'get some 'luvin' and stood on the key board..POW...blank screen!!!!!!!!!!!.. so watch this space (and I shall lock the door!!).....at this time I'm fitting 'power steering to the Camaro and giving it ,its 5yr service , ..So to Speak !!........regards all, Miles..and the 'Black' cat !!

[zefarelly]

in 63 Jeff Uren imported Nascar style Galaxies for JWA, no mention of lightweight in my books, they had drums all round as well, front discs where homologated at the end of 63, by the end of 64 the galaxy was dead due to the competitiveness of the new Mustang and LC's

AMR homologated Falcons for the MOnte, then they raced from 66 on mostly in Gp5 spec in the UK
AMR also homologated Mustangs for the Tour de France, then afterwards took them to the circuits.

[63 light weight]

zefarelly you have a computer go and reserch the cars before you post replies these cars were built with aluminium bumpers ,fiber glass doors,hood,trunk and doors only 211 ever built ,all race models were either lightweight or r code models and quite a few were raced in europe and did very well they might have been heavy but you cant argue with a 427 v8

[vjay48]

looking at the pictures,yard could be a guy near bury st edmunds called skid parrish,ran a garage etc dealt in classic american cars,called i think denver autos? just a inspired guess?

[1800TISA]

If you look at period pictures and compare the rollcage design, it looks similar to the one of the car campaigned by Sir Gawaine Baillie.
At some point the bumper was cut for brake cooling? Should be a hint for further research. Interesting find!

[1800TISA]

If you look at period pictures and compare the rollcage design, it looks similar to the one of the car campaigned by Sir Gawaine Baillie.
At some point the bumper was cut for brake cooling? Should be a hint for further research. Interesting find!

[1800TISA]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

...what fogs it with Yanks is US Nascar spec being used in europe now as legit pre66 FiA, I don't think thats right, the cars rarely if ever raced here in US spec or any other so why should they now.

Sure, they should not out perform a brand new GT40 up the hill at Spa, but at least they own legitimacy in historic racing

[soupdragon]

This car has not been discovered or found. Many people knew what it was & where it was. It was owned for most of it's life by a great friend of mine who is no longer with us. He loved his cars & had no need or desire to sell them; sadly he never lived long enough to rebuild it. However, I can say that the car has been saved from export & will be staying in the UK to be restored & raced again.
Thanks to all those who helped secure this car's future

[63 light weight]

the car has been sold and has gone to a guy who is going to give it the restoration it deserves , i am glad its staying in the uk as its uk racing history would be almost meaning less over here in the us

[Al Weyman]

Come on tell us who bought it then after all this interest! :-)