SIZE MATTERS
Fresh from its debut at the WA Hot Rod Show is this stunning ’66 Galaxie from Cronic Customs
FORD’S full-size Galaxie is an American icon, having served as police cars, family trucksters, cabs, and even race cars powered by the thundering 427ci big-block. Along with taking scalps in the NHRA, Galaxies were in used by Ford to take NASCAR glory Lorenzen. the mid-60s with drivers like Fred killer Gals So how come we don’t see more ’66? being built like Malcolm Niall’s epic Built by Cronic Customs, the big-hipped West Aussie coupe boasts super-smooth and a paint and panel, pro-touring suspension V8. sweet quad-cam Coyote five-litre injected as an Malcolm bought the car in Melbourne Coyote V8 American import, thinking that the fit. Adam he already had would be a good “Initially, Spiteri from Cronic Custom recalls: cars, as the Galaxie was just like so many other it was only going to be an engine conversion, making it a tidy streeter. But it snowballed.” strut The Cronic crew cut out the stock link and towers and binned the old drag steering box. In went a TCI double-wishbone rack, cradle and power-assisted steering column. which connects to a Flaming River to fit the That made life far easier when trying bulky quad-cam Coyote into the Gal. towers “Older Fords normally have strut front end in them, so the double-wishbone heaps opens the engine bay right up, giving “TCI of room for exhausts,” Adam explains. to suit a doesn’t actually do a front end chassis Galaxie, so you have to cut the front front end rails and graft them in. We found a – I think it with similar style and track width work was a 60s Mustang – which we made in the full-size model.” The Cronic lads set the new crossmember
SUPER-SMOOTH PAINT THE CRONIC CUSTOMS-BUILT COUPE BOASTS AND A SWEET QUAD-CAM V8 AND PANEL, PRO-TOURING SUSPENSION
chassis and Viking coil-over suspension in the doesn’t to give a radical slammed stance that It did, require complex air suspension. new however, require fabricating a complete transmission tunnel. it four “We made a new tunnel and raised lower ride inches, as this allows a much is six to height,” Adam says. “Malcolm’s car model.” seven inches lower than a factory been The pro touring-style front end has wearing a matched to a custom rear end boxed bespoke four-link set-up. It features the control arms that have been through by a dimple-die machine and located Strange custom Panhard bar. A sheet-metal
Engineering nodular nine-inch diff is hung underneath, chock full of 31-spline axles and a 3.5:1 Truetrac centre. The stock 5.0-litre Coyote donk won’t trouble such a heavy-duty diff set-up, even with a factory 343kw (460hp) out of the crate. It runs off a Haltech Elite 2500 ECU, which also runs the twin Aeroflow pumps in the new custom stainless fuel tank that lives under the boot floor. Oversized half-inch fuel hardlines future-proof any plans Malcolm might have to throw a pump or turbo onto the motor, while the Cronic Customs crew made up a set of custom 1 /8-inch spaghetti 7 headers to ensure the deep-breathing mill isn’t strangled. Adam and his team also had to fabricate a new oil pan to clear the new crossmember and steering set-up, while they chucked on a Quick Time bellhousing on the back to adapt a GM TH400 three-speed auto to the back of the Blue Oval motor. “Most of the cars we do have TH400S or ’Glides in them, but originally, we were going to build a Ford C4. However, TH400S are a lot stronger and it’s a heavy car,” Adam explains. “Plus, by the time we would have built a C4 we could have paid for a solid TH400, and we wanted to be 100 per cent confident in it. We could have also fitted a modern six-speed auto, but it drives so nicely with the TH400.” Once the Cronic guys had the entire engineering package sorted out, they pulled the car apart and sent it off to be painted and trimmed. This was the point where traditional American panel-beating techniques reared their ugly heads. “The Galaxie was a typical American car,” Adam says. “It was neat and looked pretty tidy from a distance, but under the glossy paint it had rust and bog there. Calmack Panel & Paint actually ended up having to fit a new turret, which I think was off a ZD Fairlane that they made fit.” The Gal turned up with some custom touches that make it a spicy enchilada for anyone – like yours truly – who likes mildcustom full-size American vehicles. Cronic fitted a pair of Kindig-it Design recessed door handles, plus they made custom engine bay and radiator header panels, and whipped up a pair of custom bumper bars. It was the guys at Calmack Panel & Paint who coated the shell and undercarriage of the battleship-sized Ford in PPG Envirobase Corris Grey. Despite the size of the job, the
THE GAL’S CUSTOM TOUCHES MAKE IT A SPICY ENCHILADA FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES MILD-CUSTOM FULL-SIZE AMERICAN CARS
WE’RE JUST WAITING ALMOST SIGNED OFF FOR ENGINEERING; IT’S SOME PLATES ON CAN SLAP FOR LICENSING TO APPROVE IT, THEN WE
paint took only six months! a huge Northside Motor Trimming had job to fill out the Galaxie’s expansive style with cabin in a way that blended 60s contemporary flair. That amazing distressed seats leather covering the re-foamed stock New was sourced from Relicate in upstate suede York, and is paired with latte-coloured speedo and dark brown carpet. The strip modern was binned in favour of a cluster of while the Dakota Digital electronic gauges, for cool Gal runs a Dakota air con system summer cruising. back Once painted and trimmed, it was had the to Cronic Customs, where the lads car out not-inconsequential job of fitting the in time for its first show. the “It came together quite easily and before Galaxie was ready and waiting Machine the WA Hot Rod Show & Street Adam. Spectacular, where it debuted,” says so “It’s almost signed off for engineering, back we’re just waiting for licensing to come some and approve it, and then we can slap plates on!”