Mercury - a comedy of humility

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 doors don't really latch
  • Window rollers work
  • 2 / 5 tires hold air ... there is a spare ... all of them are junk
In my opinion:
  1. Engine needs to be cleaned up and bored / planed (crank and cam look good)
  2. I would probably just replace the oil pump & fuel pump ... but they could be "rebuilt"
  3. Pistons are rough but serviceable ... rings & bearings need to be replaced
  4. Valves need to be lapped but are probably fine
  5. Needs exhaust
  6. Master Cylinder + lines need to be replaced ... drums are probably fine enough, but the internals need to be replaced
  7. Fuel tank needs to be cleaned (or replaced) & lines need to be replaced
  8. I am sure the carb could be rebuilt - but replacements are cheap
  9. I would use a drop in electronic distributor - but the current one could be rebuilt
  10. I was going to substitute an alternator instead of the generator ... but again - it could be "rebuilt" and used
  11. I don't know about the starter - but I assume it at least needs to be serviced
  12. Transmission could be rebuilt (3-spd manual on the column)
  13. U-joints need to be replaced
  14. A limited slip differential would be nice (it is open-dif now ... and leaks ... so that at least needs to be fixed)
  15. Body restoration is beyond my capacity - it is rough
  16. I can't really speak to the electrical - it looks serviceable, but it is untested (there is not much to it)
It is a four door sedan (i.e. B-pillar between the front and back doors) with a 292 yblock - as a collector, it is an undesirable model. The cost to restore will exceed the car's value. It could be made to run & drive for a reasonable amount of money & work - but it can not be made 'pretty' for much less than twice its value.
As a project - it is a treasure trove of opportunity :-) I finally figured out how to cross reference some Galaxy parts and later model parts as replacement alternatives (finding 62 Monterrey parts can be taxing). You can fit a 390FE to that transmission in that body IF you get the right vintage. You can also bore that block into a 312 and squeeze a little more power out of it.

I have a complete set of shop manuals on CD-ROM - and they are exceptionally helpful if the reader is even somewhat mechanically inclined.
And so - it changes hands. I am not sure I will get it back, but I am excited to see what they do with it.

I put the oil pan, oil pump, & fuel pump back on. I attached chains so I could put it on the hoist. I will hoist it off the stand, throw the clutch and bellhousing back on, and then from there insert it back inside the car.

I bought a couple of 4-in, 7/16 grade 8 bolts and cut the heads off. I will turn them into the bellhousing to use as index pins when I go to hang the transmission back on it. I'm not going to put the pistons in it, but I will put the heads on. I don't think I will bother reattaching the starter or the generator or the fan. If I can find some suitable j-bolts at Home Depot I will re-hang the gas tank. I am really putting stuff back on the car just to make it easier to transfer and avoid losing it.

I wonder if I can rent a scrubber to clean grease off the garage floor.

Comments

  1. The Brisket MasterSeptember 2, 2023 at 9:54 PM

    How's the car looking these days? Is the school making any reasonable progress with it?

    ReplyDelete

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