1966 Ford Galaxie 500 - Out Of This World

Bob Brejack's '66 Galaxie 500
The '66 Galaxie 500 is a shining example showing Ford's mastery of fullsize automobile design. The pillar-less two-door hardtop made this beautiful body style slippery and a perfect choice for battle on the NASCAR front. In fact, the almost identical '65 body won the Daytona 500 for Ford that year driven by Fred Lorenzen. For street use, the design offered plenty of room and plenty of power, all the way up to the new-for-'66 7-Litre. This particular Galaxie belongs to Bob and Pat Brejack of Ramsey, New Jersey. Back when Bob was a high school kid, he owned a '66 Galaxie. He bought this car hoping it would take him back to the glory days. Bob says working on the car is a form of therapy for him, and he's done a lot since the Galaxie first rolled into his driveway as a basket case back in 1991.

After careful thought, Bob decided to restore and modify his car to offer modern performance and retain the classic styling. For the exterior portion of his project, he spent many hours combing through swap meets looking for original or N.O.S. Ford trim parts such as moldings, bumpers, and emblems. The interior has been customized to suit his taste in silver and gray, which complements the Bermuda Blue paint on the exterior nicely. Underhood, Bob went strictly modern performance using an ECC IV fuel-injected 5.0 HO engine borrowed from a '90 Mustang. He wanted his car to have a manual transmission and overdrive, so he got rid of the three-speed automatic transmission and column shift. Now, the smooth-running engine is connected to a T-5 five-speed manual transmission, which adds overdrive to the equation for freeway cruising. The original 9-inch axle has been retained and equipped with 3.70 gears to get the big car moving quickly. Massive front and rear Addco antisway bars help the big car stay flat in the corners.

With this Galaxie's smooth-running engine and flamboyant styling, Bob has indeed recaptured a part of his long-lost youth. He now gets to enjoy the look and feel of his original high school ride while enjoying the modern performance, reliability, and fuel economy offered by electronic fuel injection. Clearly, this car has reignited Bob's interest in classic Fords, and now it's a '65 Falcon two-door hardtop that keeps the midnight oil burning.

NASCAR Naturals: The Galaxie Fastbacks
A fastback Galaxie driven by DeWayne "Tiny" Lund won the Daytona 500 for Ford for the first time in 1963. By 1965 the Total Performance Years were in full swing and the popular adage of "win on Sunday sell on Monday" proved to be true. Ford became ever more determined to be successful in NASCAR racing and they entered the all-new Galaxie for the 1965 season. Now, once again, a fullsize Galaxie fastback went to victory circle a second time in 1965. Driven by Fred Lorenzen, the car contributed to the outstanding record of 48 victories by Ford drivers during the 1965 NASCAR season. The engine in Lund's car was a 427ci FE medium riser. It was backed up with a four-speed top-loader transmission and 9-inch axle. Because the 427 FE had cross-bolted main bearing caps, it was particularly well suited to NASCAR racing, where the demand was for continuous operation at high RPM. The 4.23-inch bore size combined with the relatively short stroke length of 3.78 inches made for an engine that produced big power and wound up quickly. While almost identical in displacement, the 428 FE had the very different internal dimensions of 4.13-inch bore by 3.98-inch stroke. The longer-stroke 428 had two-bolt mains and was better suited to passenger-car use, producing lots of torque across the whole RPM band.

The Details
Bob Brejack's '66 Galaxie 500

Engine

• 5.0L SEFI V-8
• 4.00-inch bore
• 3.00-inch stroke
• Forged aluminum pistons
• Hydraulic roller camshaft
• 9.0:1 compression ratio
• Stock E7TE cast-iron cylinder heads
• 1.78-inch intake valves
• 1.46-inch exhaust valves
• Ford EEC IV electronic fuel injection
• 225 hp @ 4,200 rpm
• 300 lb-ft torque @ 3,000 rpm

Transmission

• Borg Warner T-5 five-speed
• Custom clutch linkage

Rearend

• 9-inch axle
• Traction-Lok differential
• 28-spline axles
• 3.70 gears

Exhaust

• Factory cast-iron K-style exhaust manifolds
• Modified 5.0 Mustang H-pipe
• 2 1/2-inch exhaust system
• Flowmaster mufflers

Suspension

• Front: OE rebuilt including new coil springs, Monroe Gas Matic shock absorbers, heavy-duty antisway bar
• Rear: Coil springs, Monroe Gas Matic shock absorbers, heavy-duty rear antisway bar

Brakes

• Front: 11-inch disc
• Rear: OE drum

Wheels

• Front: American Racing chrome reverse steel, Baby Moon hubcaps, 15x7
• Rear: American Racing chrome reverse steel, Baby Moon hubcaps, 15x7

Tires

• Front: General, P225/70R15
• Rear: General, P225/70R15

Interior

• Custom interior by Custom Corner of Clifton, New Jersey, Silver and gray vinyl and velour
• Ford XL bucket seats and center console
• Sears aftermarket air conditioning
• factory instrumentation with sweep speedometer
• Auto Meter Gauges
• factory AM radio

Exterior

• Bermuda Blue base/clear, 5.0 emblems