1967 Ford Galaxie 500 - August 2012 Street Shaker

Growing up as a teenager in the ’60s created the perfect opportunity to have your mind molded into a hard-core horsepower fanatic. Steve Allen spent his formative years living in Greenville, South Carolina, and has plenty of fond memories regarding his introduction to the horsepower wars when muscle cars began to take over. Hanging out at the local newsstand with his friends thumbing through automotive magazines solidified the groundwork for his immersion in the hobby, but it was the frequent visits to Starlight Dragway in Ware Shoals, South Carolina, that got him hooked for life. The heavy scent from the starting line of race fuel mixed with burnt rubber combined with hometown hero Gene Cromer fielding his big-block, Ford-powered Willys coupe, known as the “Moonlighter”, gave him the ultimate adrenalin rush and a newfound allegiance to Ford muscle power. His most memorable early hop-up was a ’67 Mercury Cougar XR-7 GT motivated by a high-performance 390ci mill, which he owned at around the same time he started working at the local Lincoln Mercury dealership in 1973.

As the years moved on he opened an automotive repair shop, and then relocated to the suburbs in the quaint little town of Easley. In a small town, it’s easy to keep track of interesting cars motoring down the main drag, especially if one of them just so happens to be the crown jewel you always wished for. Steve tracked the movement of this one particular ’67 Ford Galaxie 500 fastback for quite some time, knowing that it was owned by one particular family and that the car had been passed down through this family over the years. Knowing that the car was unavailable, he began a quest to locate a donor car to start a project, which was burning deep within his mind. After what seemed an eternity of searching, he had a conversation with a local friend about what he was looking for while also reminiscing about the old ’67 that used to cruise through town. His friend told him he had recently acquired a car he might be interested in and invited him to visit his home that evening where lo and behold, Steve came eyes to headlights with the original ’67 he remembered. Without wasting a second he made a deal and drove the prize home to his shop to begin his build. After reviewing the car, he noticed that it was a very clean original with no prior accident history. At this time he contacted Don Jacks of Street Metal Fabrication in Greenville, South Carolina, to help him in separating the body from the chassis to allow him to completely tear down the project to its bare essentials. Steve completely picked the factory spine apart and sent the frame and all related suspension components to be blasted clean and then powdercoated by Vanguard in nearby Anderson.

A decision was made to utilize the factory A-arm suspension up front while also incorporating RideTech ’bags at each corner to help soften the bumps. Out back a Ford 9-inch rearend was filled with 3.50:1 cogs and 31-spline axles. For the ultimate in stopping power, a Baer master pushes fluid through stainless lines to matching Baer discs and four-piston calipers at each corner. Completing the package, a set of big ’n’ little American Torq-Thrust wheels in 18- and 20-inch sizes were capped with BFGoodrich g-Force rubber for the ultimate in handling and traction.

With the chassis completed, Steve focused on upgrading the original 289ci V-8 with a thunderous big-block reminiscent of his days spent watching Gene Cromer tear up the quarter-mile at Starlight Dragway. He sourced a ’67 Ford 428ci FE from a derelict T-bird and brought it to Kenny Jackson in Greenville to do all the machining. Steve then assembled the fire-breather using all the right goods, including Eagle rods, Ross pistons, COMP Cams stick, and Edelbrock aluminum heads. To crown the shaker, an Edelbrock Performer intake was topped with a Demon 750-cfm carb and a finned aluminum Cobra-style air cleaner. An MSD ignition lights the spark, while spent gases get dumped through Sanderson headers and custom-fabbed Don Jacks 2-1/2-inch pipes. Power moves rearward through a Cain’s Transmission–built C6 trans coupled to a stock driveshaft. The body was the handed over to Don Jacks who gave it a clean shave and prepped it to perfection before laying down a lustrous coating of Spies Hecker Midnight Blue metallic, accented by custom silver stripes. To add even more dazzle to the mix, all plating was sent off to Paul’s Chrome and a set of ’08 Harley-Davidson Sportster headlights were installed in the modified factory grille. To create a memorable business office, Steve fabricated a custom dash and filled it with Auto Meter dials to monitor the vitals while a Billet Specialties steering wheel and ididit tilt column handle the navigation and a B&M shifter picks the gears. For the ultimate in comfort, Paul Atkins stitched up plenty of dove gray leather to complement a set of ’65 T-bird buckets and the factory rear bench as well as custom door panels, with plush matching gray carpet completing the deal. This Street Shaker with its seductive flowing lines and hard-core big-block Ford bite proves that you can bring the best of both worlds together.

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