John and Maria Stoodley’s 1959 Ford Galaxie Sunliner was an eight year restoration project! John is President of the Automobilists of the Upper Hudson Valley as well as a VAE member.
The Stoodleys are members of both the VAE and the AUHV, with John being the current president of the AUHV. The AUHV was founded in 1951 in Troy, NY. (Lloyd Davis and my dad were founding members of both clubs.) John’s parents were early members of the AUHV. I remember as a youngster John’s mom and dad spending a number of Easter dinners with us. The following is a shortened and edited version of an article about John and Maria’s 1959 Ford that appeared in AUHV’s monthly publication, The Automobilist, in August of 1992.
This 1959 Ford Galaxie was on a lot in Altamont, NY in 1983. The owner stated that this convertible had been sitting in a junkyard for 12 years before he acquired it. Kicking aside the deep snow from the car still didn’t reveal its condition, but John really wanted a Ford Galaxie Convertible so he overlooked the fact that the wheels had sunk to ground level, the floor was almost completely rusted away, and only the top bows covered the seats that were rotting away exposing rusted springs. The 1/8 inch plate steel inner rockers were totally gone…but, with the 2-door sedan and 4-door station wagon he also found, would help make this restoration easier. All three were purchased and trucked home.
For making patterns for metal in need of replacement, he used the cardboard from cereal boxes. The 352 cubic inch V8 300 HP engine was completely overhauled. John did all the welding and prep work. He was lucky to own a commercial sandblasting unit. From the frame up, John did the painting with some help from his brother, Chuck.
The dash and all instruments were removed, restored, and returned to the newly red painted dash. The seat springs were badly rusted so the 2-door sedan’s were used. Discovering the back seat was shorter in the convertible, he had to rebuild the springs before the seat upholstery, side panels, and rich black carpeting were installed.
The convertible top bows were in good condition requiring only sandblasting and painting. A new black convertible top with a wraparound plastic zippered in windshield (unique to this model) was fabricated locally. The chrome bumpers were straightened and triple plated. The trim on the sides is stainless steel. The car has five matching whitewall tires and unblemished hubcaps.
During the past eight years, John has spent almost every evening after work and weekends on this project to restore the convertible. As Maria stated, “At least he wasn’t hard to find…just look in the garage.”
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