1962 Mercury Monterey Project

 The car is buttoned up and ready to go It took me <2 hours to get the heads, valve lifters, valley cover, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, carb and fan on. I tried to put the thermostat housing / expansion bottle in place, but I realized I had to drill out one of the bolts and so I didn't have enough to hold it in place. The other one was pretty gacked anyway. It took me another 30 minutes to organize all the stuff I had for the car inside the passenger space. I tried not to shove too much into the trunk, since it still doesn't open. While I had it up, I used some "green slime" to stop the leak in the one tire that wouldn't hold air. I tested this morning and it seem to be good to go. I had to zip-tie the E-brake cables to the frame so they would stop getting tangled and dragging. I also zip-tied the clutch pedal rod to something that was sticking out of the transmission - otherwise it was hanging straight down next to the fire wall. The tow truck will come ...

I set out this evening to put the transmission back in the Mercury. I had a plan - which held together for about 1/2 the experience. Then I had many many alternate plans and a fair amount of winging it. I jacked the car back up as high as it would go and then went through about 4 or 5 iterations of 'how do I balance the transmission" on my floor jack. The first plan started beautifully and then came undone within seconds of rolling under the car. I tried in vain to reset without crawling back out from under the car, but I was not strong enough to lift 100lbs and scoot the jack in place with my foot while laying on my back or side. So I dragged everything out and tried several configurations. I learned many lessons in these experiments - including how to operate the jack with my legs while I used my arms to weasel it into position. Eventually I got the spindle into the hole - I tilted the transmission and the engine several times and got it to seat all but the last 1/2 inch. I ...

Are you familiar with that SNL skit where the guy pokes himself in the head and says "kidneys kidneys" as if he wasn't thinking well.  Speaking of idiot proof instructions - did you know there is a sticker on the clutch plate which says "this side to the fly wheel". That was handy. Unfortunately, there was not a sticker on the motor mounts which said "face the open 'C' toward the back" or on the engine hoist that said "extend the arm ALL the way so you can get the engine over the cross member". I have pictures documenting these configuration details - in the case of the motor mount, I checked AFTER I installed them backwards but before I removed the block from the stand. That was nice. In the case of the hoist ... I figured it out after I had 650# of iron swinging 2/3 of the way to where it is supposed to go and I realize the hydraulics are hitting the front bumper and that is as far as I can get. At this point, I ha...

I'm throwing parts together on the Mercury so that it can be transported up to my daughter's school. She is taking an automotive elective this year and they have decided to take on that beast as a project. Here is what I told the course leader about the car: Mechanical State Engine / Transmission / Drive Shaft are out of the car Engine is disassembled down to the block - but the balancer / crank / cam are still IN Heads are off, but the valves are still in Exhaust headers = yes ... exhaust / muffler = missing Wheels / Front Brakes / Master Cylinder are off the car E-brake is off and cable is broken Fuel Tank is off the car Radiator is missing Body State RUSTY!! Trunk is locked / lock is broken missing chrome trim No keys Back seats are out of the car  "carpet" is gone (so is most of the rodent house & refuse) Rear glass is missing Wipers are missing Front fender is really crunched Hood / Front bumper is somewhat less crunched - hood hinges are seized 3 / 4...