My 63 1/2 Gal is from Oklahoma, born in Dallas. Original sh*t brown (Burgondy Metalic). Frame off restoration down to the last bolt and screw.
On the trunk lid, in metal, not a sticker, “Fred James”. I assume the dealer.
She has rubber rosettes on both bumpers and a hood spear. I've seen hundreds of pic's of Galaxie's but few have rosettes or a hood spear, let alone both. Is she rare? I can't find any history on her.
ive seen plenty of the bumper guards. the hood ornament is rare. many dealers back then drilled holes in the cars to put on the logos. strange that your car is an xl, but sports the regular wheel covers instead of the spinners
Correct. In fact, high performance Fords back in the day from Tasca Ford with the logo intact are considered cool if, not more valuable. Even Dearborn Classics sells repros so one's car can be as fake as most Shelbys But this one is probably real.
Kevin
My 63 1/2 Gal is from Oklahoma, born in Dallas. Original sh*t brown (Burgondy Metalic). Frame off restoration down to the last bolt and screw.
On the trunk lid, in metal, not a sticker, “Fred James”. I assume the dealer.
She has rubber rosettes on both bumpers and a hood spear. I've seen hundreds of pic's of Galaxie's but few have rosettes or a hood spear, let alone both. Is she rare? I can't find any history on her.
The bumper guards and hood ornament are pictured as available accessories on page 39 of the Owner's Manual. Whether it was installed at the facttory is unknown.
Nice ride, but I'm biased.
Kevin
She has rubber rosettes on both bumpers and a hood spear. I've seen hundreds of pic's of Galaxie's but few have rosettes or a hood spear, let alone both.
Rare is a relative term. At this point in history any 54 year old car is rare.
There is an old and very large Ford remanufacturer located in Oklahoma called Fred Jones. Based on the attached article there were 3 dealerships. Your '63 may be from Fred Jones and not Fred James. Not sure Fred Jones sell cars at this point.
Since all records prior to 1967 kept by Ford Motor Company have been lost, it is difficult to say how many or few '63 Ford Galaxie 500 were made in any given engine, transmission or other feature. With that said, on the door tag, is there a DSO listed? If so what is it? Because real rare cars made by the company that were built for a limited purpose have a DSO code that is the home office. The biggest source of rare or exception vehicles were moved through the Chicago District Sales office. The District manager there in that time period would have limited productions of vehicles made to boost sales. And the dealers in the area responded by selling a ton of these limited issues.
body 63C
color XM
Trm 83
Date 26D
DSO 65
Axle 1
trans 4
The Warranty Plate is in bad shape. Where to get a new one?
Engine, body and frame down to bare metal and last bolt, nut and screw .
Didn't Tag 'n' Bag. Big mistake.
The 352 is in parts around the garage. She sports a 390 out of a '67 Gal.
Paintjob is Tainted Clear Red. NOT Candy Apple Red.
body 63C
color XM
Trm 83
Date 26D
DSO 65
Axle 1
trans 4
The Warranty Plate is in bad shape. Where to get a new one?
Engine, body and frame down to bare metal and last bolt, nut and screw .
Didn't Tag 'n' Bag. Big mistake.
The 352 is in parts around the garage. She sports a 390 out of a '67 Gal.
Paintjob is Tainted Clear Red. NOT Candy Apple Red.
If you already know the following, my apologies for taking up electrons:
Color XM: "Two tone", Maroon Metallic, aka Heritage Burgundy and "Corinthian" White.
Date 26D: Scheduled assembly 26 April 1963
DSO 65: Oklahoma City District Sales Office
Axle 1: 3.25 to 1
Trans 4: Cruise-O-Matic
Assuming it shipped with a 352, the letter 'X' will appear in the fifth character of the "Vehicle Warranty Number", aka VIN. The second character will indicate the final assembly point; for example, D= Dallas. the "VIN" was also stamped on a weld flange under the hood just above the upper heater hose.
Interestingly, trim code 83 is not in my '63 Ford Service Manual (Supplement). Neither are the 63 body codes 63B or 63C; they're only listed for the Monterey and Monterey S55 Fastbacks. So 63C as a Galaxie 500 XL Fastback, (aka "Sport Hardtop" as printed on my original window sticker) would make sense; my body tag is a 63B. (the photo has above has an XL badge). I suspect one reason is because the Galaxie Fastback body style was introduced mid-year after the manual was printed (mine has copyright of 1962).
Kevin
PS - never mind, Action as usual is faster than I am...
DSO of 65 is the Oklahoma City District Sales office. Nothing rare about that necessarily. A DSO that is in the 80 series would designate a vehicle that was special for the company. Either a government, home office or some special Ford vehicle.
The XM color would show it was two colors. X on bottom. (Maroon) and M on top. (White)
Trim 83 = An unknown color of crush vinyl seats
A date of 26D is the 26th of April 1963. A later build vehicle. Usually that is a good sign as the bugs have been worked out on the assembly line.
Axle 1 = 3.00 to 1 ratio standard axle. (Not a Equa-Lock, the name for that period)
Trans 4 = Cruise O Matic 3 speed auto
Not much exactly rare for a regular production 1963 Galaxie 500 two door hard top. Except the most obvious, it's a 1963 GALAXIE 500 TWO DOOR HARD TOP. So how many times does one see a '63 Galaxie on the road or in a garage???? I
With that said, the original dealership or Fred Jones Ford may have some interest in the car knowing it is still in one piece. (well more or less) And reaching some one there might be a process. Especially from your location.
Thanks for sharing a lil about your ride! It is cool ... well at least in my opinion.
Excuse me, 1693 500XL if you please .
Trim = Corinthian White as is (was) the roof.
Rare: As far as I know, there MIGHT be another one here in Holland, but, then again there might not be.
Trans 4 = Cruise O Matic 3 speed auto. Someone told me ( I think it was you) that this tranny has a second pump allowing push start.
Paintjob: Tainted Clear Red. This is interesting.
First a coat of dull( as in not glossy) black. Then 2 coats of copper colored paint. Then the clue: Red ink added to the clearcoat (hence the term Tainted). 3 coats of that. On the first the copper woke up. On the second it turned red. On the third it came alive! Magic. Got a video somewhere. Can we upload video?
Which means this is one of the very few automatic transmissions that can be push started as the drive line will spin the rear pump and generate enough pressure to engage the entire transmission.
I believe this feature or the rear pump ended in model year 1964.
I am not sure why you couldn't up load a video. (unless it is too big) Would love to see it.
The above VIN has one too many characters. The VIN should have 11 places, this one has 12. The format is
Number, letter, 2 numbers, 1 letter* and 6 numbers
*It is possible that this position could have a number. It would be rare (and not the good kind of rare) as in a number here would indicate a low compression engine.
The warranty plate from my 63 Galaxie 500. Trust me I know this car since I rode home in the front seat when my dad took delivery from Woody Sander Ford in Cincinnati 54 years ago next month; it matches the specs in my sig.
Kevin
Yes thanks. Family legacy/heirloom. Full disclosure - Dad broke one or two bits in the valve train in 1970 or so; there's a rumor my brother and I urged him to "jump on it - Dad!" The long block was replaced a Ford Service replacement unit n 1972 at 121K miles; I used to have its assembly tag indicating it was .010 overbore; but it's long gone. 110,000 miles later I can still get a 2nd-3rd chirp if I'm feeling frisky and it cruises at 70 plus without complaint. I keep meaning to crawl underneath to record the date code from the short block. I was COMPLETELY spoiled being allowed to drive it to high school all senior year
When Dad started the search for it, the dealer had trouble finding what he wanted (ALL red) and was preparing to wait for a 64, until this one turned up from a dealer in Virginia. A cousin later bought a red 64 z-code with a 3 on the tree that he drove like it was stolen.
Kevin
Boy we are going off topic ....... mine was family hand me down Rangoon Red four door hard top with a Cruise O Matic, dual exhaust, clock & AM radio that I got in 1972. In high school I would light it up from a stop frequently. Did too many neutral drops (rev up in N and drop to D) and blew out the spider gears in the rear axle. Took a month to fix that on broke high school jobs. I could go on and on and it wouldn't be fair to the OP.
Didn't worry, was happy, Just Dove in and saw what happened.
That plus the Ford Galaxie Club of America forum(s) was helpfull.
Was somewhat methodical when taking things apart, like the steering house. Boy, that "grease" was hard and nasty.
And, yes I do have parts left over, like bolts etc. Some where intentional. e.g. there should be a trim strip between the grill and the bumber but it looks like .
I call her Thirsty Lady.
@ Action: The video is ".vob", whatever that tag means.
Looked at "machineplateonline¨. They don't do embossed.
i did the same thing and have leftovers also. i think the factory added bolts and such to add to the price. i have an extra trim piece for below the bumper. you can can have it .
Hey Mel,
Didn't notice that this was a reply to my post. Sorry about that. Seldom happens.
And, yes I do have parts left over, like bolts etc. Some where intentional. e.g. there should be a trim strip between the grill and the bumber but it looks like .
So how are you doing? What's your weather? As you may or may not know, the USA Southwest has been having Record or Near Record HOT temps recently. Even Mr. Redrag up in Northern California is in the midst of a heat wave.
Hey Mel,
Same here. We're about 160 miles North of the Gulf of Mexico. That's where Galveston, Texas is. The atmosphere comes North off of the Gulf, mixes with the respiration of the Pine Trees in the Sam Houston National Forest (the largest Pineywood Forest in the world), and it just get more humid than is reasonable.
And in the midst of raging forest fires, I presume.
Poor Mr. Redrag. He seems to be braving a triple threat. He's got HEAT, FIRE, and a damaged DAM to deal with. And while the HEAT is seasonal, the FIRE and the DAM are not. So his contingencies are a year round thing.
BTW, visited the eye doctor today and I don't need new glasses!
Good to hear. Am supposed to (by Primary Care Physician's orders) have an eye exam myself. Have been putting it off till the price of the NEW Glasses (if they are needed) can be afforded.
Ah yes... the old Attention Deficit Disorder that bedevils anyone who is growing older (which is ALL of us!). Told the nurse who took my blood at the last Blood Test that I have never been this old before! She looked at me askance and said: "Me either!"
Got an E-Mail from FanBeltsOnline. They supplied a FedEx tracking number. The Fan Belts are supposed to be here on Thursday, July 13, 2017, by the end of the day. So that means that Friday Morning will be Fan Belt Installation&Adjustment Day. Am hoping that the NEW Fan Belts will solve Ms. American's starting issue.
Anyway, hope this finds YOU, and Thirsty Lady doing sumptuously.
Take care.
JC
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ford Automobiles
150.1K posts
22.2K members
Since 2010
A forum community dedicated to Ford owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
