Backyard Engineering is one of the oldest necessities in existence, coming about shortly after the creation of backyards. It is a time honored endeavor that can hone your skills of resourcefulness and creativity.
The only downside of Backyard Engineering is encountering (and correcting) the less than stellar engineering of others. Most of us have undoubtedly had to correct such blunders and boo-boos, with the accompaniment of slanderous cursing, which only helps to intensify one’s skills in Backyard Engineering.
Perhaps you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of this trilogy. It was a recap of my exploits in driving a fifty-two year old Ford on a six state, eleven hundred mile journey. It was quite the fun time, until…
The water pump crapped out. Or did it?
Knowing the water pump had been an issue when having the car resurrected nearly two years ago (here), I didn’t relish this undertaking. But this is Backyard Engineering, where one always blazes a new path; I shouldn’t have worried.
After my new, rebuilt pump arrived, and my schedule allowed, on Friday, May 29, I packed up my tools, fired up the loaner Chrysler, and headed east.
Backyard Engineering Quickie Lesson #1: When you unpack parts to inspect them, fail to put all the pieces back. Gaskets are a great candidate. Give yourself a brain-teaser.
Water pumps for a 1963 Ford Galaxie are as plentiful as gasoline, but nobody keeps them in stock. Given the trouble previously, I used a vendor in Florida who specializes in 1963 and 1964 Ford Galaxie’s. He knew my car and knew exactly what it needed. That knowledge does not come when purchasing a pump from AutoCarNapaZoneQuest. The pump was pricey but it also bought me a wealth of knowledge to help avoid any Backyard Engineering on my part.
It was a long, hot day under the hood of the Galaxie. The fan blade was unbearably close to the radiator and a pill to remove. The pulley slipped right off and the bracket holding the generator and water pump took a little thought due to a hidden bolt. Finally, the old pump came off and the shaft was surprisingly tight; we simply blamed it on the gasket on the rear of the pump.
Everything went back into place beautifully, until…
The pulley hit the engine block before contacting the shaft. This realization was accompanied by a barrage of delightfully slanderous statements. The shaft of the new pump was too short, which sounded disturbingly familiar.
Calling the vendor, I explain the situation and ask for his advice. This is where the pitfalls of Backyard Engineering by Others comes into play.
My old pump was the incorrect pump! Apparently Ford lengthened the shaft for water pumps on FE equipped Galaxies for 1965. My old pump, and the accompanying pulley, were for a 1965 or newer car, which would explain the extreme proximity to the radiator. From this I have also concluded the shop doing the work on the car two years ago was more concerned about replacing parts in kind rather than getting it right and why it took multiple water pumps to complete the job.
The fan blade on the car, having six blades and measuring 18.25″ from end to end, was revealed to be from a 1963 era 406 or 427. It was Backyard Engineering run amok.
New pulley (left) and old pulley (right)
Not wanting to dink around with a hodge-podge of parts in the future, I scour online parts sources. Of course, there is no part number for the pulley I need, but I was given dimensions by the vendor. Finding one on e-bay, I order it.
Backyard Engineering Quickie Lesson #2: When you get your aged looking part, be sure to sand and paint it. Make sure the painting and sanding is performed outside just before you are called to eat and with rain being imminent. This gives you the opportunity to leave fingerprints in the finish so you can truly leave your mark.
Throughout this ordeal, I was irritated about the car sitting outside. This circumstance was nobody’s fault, but I’ve had the car parked inside nearly non-stop since 1986. I was worried about mice rediscovering the car (they did) and whether it was completely watertight (it isn’t). To make matters interesting, my in-law’s six acre property has a really unique feature – it doesn’t drain. Never have I seen a place with the slope it has pool water so well, prompting my third concern about water being beneath the car (it was at various times).
Returning on June 20, things begin smoothly. The pulley goes on effortlessly and lines right up. The belt goes on fabulously. Then the smoothness ceases – the fan blades have serious clearance issues; they rub the expansion tank.
After my father-in-law speculates on the relationship between the fan blade and its mother, we have an epiphany. It was at this moment I proudly realized the practical and inherent advantages of Backyard Engineering. Whether it was desperation, convenience, or simply inclination does not matter. I succumbed to the temptation and I loved it.
There are tangible advantages to my brother-in-law having kept his Sizable Hoard of Ignored Treasures (S.H.I.T.) in his parent’s yard for well over two decades. Can you see there is a Ford pickup parked in here? While this 1963 F-100 is slowly decaying, another long ago practitioner of Backyard Engineering tossed its straight six and deposited a Ford 429 under the hood. Making our way through the weeds, chiggers, and ticks with weed eater in hand, a dandy fan blade was found on the front of the engine. Off it came.
While the overall length of this four-blade fan is the same as the six blade I had had, this one has a spacer so it doesn’t hit the expansion tank and is still a reasonable distance away from the radiator. Despite the center not fully resting upon the shaft of the pump, that leads us to…
Backyard Engineering Quickie Lesson #3: Many components are over designed, so you have room to play. So what if the fan blades don’t fully rest on the shaft of the water pump? That center hole is not a structural component whereas the four bolts surrounding it are.
After installing the fan, I refilled the radiator. On FE engines of this vintage, one fills the radiator through the expansion tank. As I add coolant, it runs out of the bottom of the tank as quickly as I can pour it in. Not good.
These expansion tanks are reproduced at $200 a pop. I’m a cheapskate and want my car back. What to do?
Embrace chemistry. There is a JB Weld, Permatex, or similar concoction that can fix damn near anything.
Looking into the expansion tank reveals a tiny pinhole where the neck meets the reservoir. It also appears nobody bothered to scrape the decades old gasket sealant off the thermostat housing when the car was resurrected.
I began to wonder if my mechanical hiccup was the water pump, the pin hole, the improperly sealed thermostat, or a combination of all three. At this point, it’s irrelevant.
Mixing up a wicked batch of this chemical utopia, I slather it all over the junction with the pinhole. After my snake oil dries, we put it back together and fire up the engine, burping the cooling system. I’m almost good to go, except one thing.
I mentioned the poor drainage of their property; did I mention they had just received well over 7″ of rain in the previous 48 hours, thanks to Tropical Storm Bill? And did I mention this June was the wettest on record in the St. Louis area? Plus, did I mention my in-laws received around 33″ of rain during the time the car was parked there? Even better, each rain storm was followed by days of warm, sunny weather helping bolster the already high humidity around here.
It took some doing, but I got the Galaxie out of its mud pit. A quick test drive, some fuel, and I headed back home.
At long last, the old girl has completed her trip to Mississippi and back. During its unintended sabbatical it succumbed to a few Eugenian influences, but a good dose of soapy water will cure that.
Life is full of invitations for adventure; it’s all in how you respond to them.
Postscript: Two days after arriving back home, I found the Galaxie to still have an incontinent cooling system. There are no guarantees of success with Backyard Engineering, so a new expansion tank has been ordered. Nor is there any proven Backyard Engineering method for removing mold from the trunk and carpeting…we all know there is only one way to reliably correct that.
Nice one of the tricks to obsolete cars is adapting parts from other models to keep them running, my backyard has just recieved yet another Hillman for dismantling to keep my 59 3a alive this time I have a rusted out 74 Hillman Hunter wagon that mechanically is merely an update of my earlier car so everything should retrofit. Car shown at its previous home, it failed a WOF inspection 20 years ago for rust two decades in that paddock hasnt improved the cosmetics.
Nice little Fergie there, too.
Great article! Most cars that have been out there for 60+ years will have some hidden backyard engineering and it goes without saying that you will run across it and have to de-backyard it.
One suggestion is that the 6 blade fan may cool the car a LOT better than that dinky 4 blade. On my galaxie I used a large 6 blade fan like that and an aftermarket aluminum spacer that you can get from Summit or Jegs to get the fan in the right proximity to the shroud and radiator. Hopefully you don’t have a problem, but if it doesn’t cool like it used to then that is what I would try next.
Yup. I installed a 7-blade flex fan on my 1971 LTD when I installed a 429 in place of the stock 400 (which itself came with a 5-blade flex fan, stock).
Wow, I must confess that this article is my 1st acquaintance with “backyard engineering” applied to a car. When I’ve had trouble removing or installing a part on one of my “vintage” cars, I’ve suspected a bit of barkyard engineering but told myself, no, no reputable mechanic would do that.
Your radiator leak brought back memories of my attempts to improve the cooling on my (then) 20 year old 280Z. Instead of using a chain part store, I went with a radiator specialist. A look through their books for a suitable radiator turned up 2 part numbers. Of course, the one we decided on proved to be a less than “perfect” fit. The other radiator their books said would bolt in….didn’t.
Glad you got it home O.K. .
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Most FLAPS have fan spacers that have the center nub to hold the fan in proper alignment , the fan should always be 1/4″ close to the radiator unless the car has a shroud , this ensures good air flow , important in those old Fords as they ran hot when new much less 50 years later .
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I’da taken the surge tank to the local radiator shop for soldering , it’s a very common repair .
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Your car looks nice , don’t give up on touring in it .
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What did you do about the !@#!! mice this time ? .
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-Nate
Once going, it got home fantastically. The downside was the last third of the trip was in the dark and the dashboard lights don’t work. So I had a flashlight to periodically look at the speedometer. It seems to keep with the theme.
The space between the radiator and fan is now greater than it was but isn’t overwhelming. It’s just enough to get my 1/4″ drive socket in there and back the bolts out.
I thought about having the tank soldered but I had reached my saturation point and after what should have been a fix (of sorts) didn’t care to dink around with it again later.
The mice appear to have left their happy home. I’ve been buying a product called “Fresh Cab” to keep in this, the van, and my pickup. They are parked in the pole barn which has been a haven for all sorts of creatures. The stuff works to make the car smell good and torment rodents into leaving. There has been no obvious damage of any real extent, just a few droppings here and there.
I hope to be driving the car again once monsoon season is over.
Good ! .
Any NAPA store should have the light switch in stock , that’ll make the dash lights work again .
A buddy of mine bought the old L.A.P.D. airport hanger truck , a 1967 F-250 with 240 CID i6 and commented the dash lights didn’t work , I told him I knew how to remove and clean the light switch to get them working again , he insisted it was part of the ‘ patina ‘ he liked so much and refused to let me fix it .
A week later we were out and about in it after dark , he driving , me slouched against the passenger door as I watched the red hot bit of rheostat coil drop out of the light switch , bounce from under the dash and land on his sock , burning him a bit…..
I urge you to clean or replace that light switch ASAP before it catches fire , it’s an easy thing to remove and replace .
NAPA’s new ones are now made by Echlin in Mexico as an OEM Ford part .
-Nate
The light switch in my ’66 Jeep was an overheating flickering mess when I got it, but yeah most of the switches on that age vehicle are cheap and easy to replace. $25, 15 minutes for the job (same deal with my F-100)
Happy to send you a few cats if you like. We’re overrun with ’em!
Thank you, but no. My daughter has two of them already and I have concluded that cursing doesn’t count when directed at a cat.
“Dogs have owners, cats have staff.”
In ancient times, humans worshiped cats. Cats have never forgotten this.
I was also going to recommend a spacer to get that 6-blade fan back under the hood. Also, I would’ve gotten out the propane torch, acid paste flux and solder and fixed the expansion tank properly.
When storing my cars, I used to leave mothballs to deter pests. More recently I read that they dislike the smell of dryer sheets, so I put a couple in the interior and trunk. So far so good, and the car smells much better when I get it out in the spring than it did with the mothballs.
Dryer sheets have worked well for me. The cheaper/stinkier the better… 😛
He was out of soldering paste so in a pinch…
The new expansion tank is on the car and I had a long debate about whether or not to purchase it. In retrospect I’m glad I did.
The radiator had to be drained regardless of path chosen and the coolant I drained was mostly new. It came out very cloudy and murky. Taking the expansion tank off, some coolant was left inside. Pouring it out was a sludge filled mess, full of metal colored grit and nastiness. The radiator is new, the engine has all of 2000 miles on its rebuild, this was the only untouched element of the cooling system. Seeing the sludge made me wonder about the integrity of other areas of the tank. So I replaced it. Perhaps it’s overkill but I am thinking my likelihood of another hole has been lessened.
If there was that much debris in the cooling system, a thorough flushing of the block is in order. Remove thermostat, insert garden hose, seal with rag, and ram and much water through the block (with block drains open, if possible) as you can, with lower hose disconnected so you don’t force a bunch of debris into the radiator.
And then do the same garden hose backflush on the radiator itself. Bonus points for doing the heater core.
And I’ve taken to draining everything, and using distilled water that I buy at the grocery store, to make my own 50/50 antifreeze mix.
Do you have tail lights?
My recollection is that on many older cars the dash lights and tail lights are on the same circuit.
I have tail lights. The only light on the dash that works is for the fuel gauge. All others are dark, leading me to wonder if the bulbs are kaput.
Excellent treatment of an important subject. Like most, I am usually thrilled with my own backyard engineering, while at the same time a hater of prior practitioners of the art on my cars. The guy who got my 66 Fury III was probably not pleased with the rubber pencil eraser that I used to lengthen the brake light switch plunger when the new master cylinder I installed used a shaft length that wouldn’t let the pedal hit the switch. I, however, found it to be a perfectly elegant (synonym for free) adaptation.
Glad the Galaxie is finally back home. I loved the concept of the Sizable Hoard of Ignored Treasures. This has some application in my own life.
That reminds me of a similar trick I did. After 20 years of opening and closing the drivers door of my truck, the tip of the doorjamb switch that turns the interior lights on and off wore to the point that the lights stayed on. I duct-taped a nickel to the door where the switch strikes it. Problem solved!
I ran into numerous similar issues when I restored my ’50 Ford 8N. Only instead of “will fit” parts, welding had been involved.
And don’t get me started on parts from “The Land of Almost Right.”
Glad you persevered and got her home. Frustrating at the moment, but makes for a good story to milk out for years to come!
Nice work Jason, no Galaxie left behind.
When I encounter others’ backyard engineering, my response is sometimes going too far the other way & making everything exactly right. This usually takes way too much time and money.
You have apparently done the appropriate amount of work to return home. Fix permanently at your leisure while the car dries out…
Backyard Engineering. In my circle, we call it
“The Curse Of The PO”,
‘PO’ standing for ‘Previous Owner’. Why is it that all the previous owners of my old cars have been idiots or fools or both? Why couldn’t they have come up with elegant solutions made from common household objects like I do?
I even run into that knowing a fairly complete history of my old Mustang and having been blood related to all of the previous owners.
However my Father has this habit of believing some of the nuggets of the cars history being “need to know.”
Awesome write-up, Jason, and cool pics of your Galaxie. Always loved those afterburner tail lights of the 1962-64s.
I gotta get off my keister and start applying my version of Backyard Engineering, to my 81 Malibu Classic coupe. Ran great for years, now when I hook up a battery, I get zilch… No lights, engine click, nothing.
It’s bad enough a brake line is leaking.
Funny, this car also had a pinhole in the radiator, applied some of that “snake oil” epoxy, and Voila… No worries after 2 years. 🙂
Keep that Galaxie running….suggest Irish Spring hand soap to keep the mice at bay.
Do you have that brand down there? It’s popular with car collectors here and I have a couple of bars in my garage and shed
BTW does anyone know if the bicycle push mower thing actually works?
A local kid mid mounted an old snow shovel under a bicycle frame but I haven’t seen it in action. It looks more like a bicycle powered road grader than a snow plow…
So, Jason?
When you swore, did it sound like the Dad from A Christmas Story fixing the Oldsmobile?
Oddly, I’ve never seen A Christmas Story. Let’s just say I cannot hold a candle to my father-in-law, but he has 35 years more practice.
You haven’t *#$&ing seen A Christmas Story? What in the *#$# is *#$#ing wrong with you, you #*&$*#$(*?
I’ve been on YouTube. Let’s just say what was said is still hanging somewhere over the Mississippi River.
I’m always “impressed” and amused at the ingenuity of some people’s backyard engineering and their “solutions” to the problem at hand. Also impressed with the folks in the South and their “hillbilly engineering” workarounds. One of these days I’d like to take a trip to Havana, Cuba (now that “relations are normalized”) and talk with the folks who managed to keep their 1950s vintage cars running. Ought to be interesting to see what they did.
Speaking of Cuba and their “backyard engineering”, I remember around 10 years ago or so, a group of enterprising people attempted to defect to Miami aboard a seagoing 1950s Chevrolet truck. The mod included a makeshift bow attached to the front bumper, 55-gallon drums to the fenders and propeller shaft and prop through the rear differential. They would have made it had the U.S. Coast Guard not intercepted them. Found a link:
http://www.floatingcubans.com/
Agreed on getting a better fan than the four-blade–Have you thought about installing an electric fan from a junkyard M-B or another car with a similar-sized radiator? I know you are keeping the car mostly original but this would give you less engine drag and far better cooling, and of course extra safety. I couldn’t stand the metal six-blade on my ’66 390; it always freaked me out when I needed to check the timing or something with the engine running (no shroud!).
Hope there isn’t some kind of head gasket issue going on. Glad to see you got her home under her own power. We all know now she doesn’t have posi! Great series. Don’t give up, looks like most of the issues are out of the way now.
I think we are mostly in good shape. The choke is being a little contrary as I’ve been driving it this afternoon. Otherwise, I think it appreciates being driven.
Regarding your problem on the 63 Galaxie with the dashboard lights…I had to apply some backyard engineering to my 2005 Impala….The dashboard lights stopped working which I also attribute to a bad headlight switch as twisting the knob controls the brightness of the dashboard lights…Now they stay on dimmest setting…..I just have not gotten around to replacing that switch…In the meantime I have been using a small self adhesive round click light. My steering column is a square shape which allows the click light to be mounted on the column behind the steering wheel. You press down on the light lens to turn on and press again to turn off….Light is sufficient to light up my gauge cluster and speedometer…..Every couple of months I have to replace the 3 AAA batteries in that light when things get dim.
Great to keep older automobiles in use. Two tips: #1 – always consider refurbishing existing parts (bodging in UK English) as they are often better quality than modern replacements and keep a vehicle original. #2 keep a log of what you do and parts replaced etc – keep it with the service history to help future owners.