1962 Mercury Monterey Project

I thought I wanted to remove my valves and valve seats. To do that, I needed a spring compressor tool. These things come in lots of shapes and sizes. Some of them look like a bent fork and rely on having the rocker arms in place (or at least the studs). Some of them look like a giant C-clamp that connects on both sides of valve. They rely on the heads being off. Some of them look like the Recognizer from the movie Tron - with a screw on top and hooks down the side. They range in price from: free for loan at the autoparts store to this thing with umpteen parts for $75. I was going to borrow the one from the parts store - but it gave me the willys. I looked at it several times and kept coming to the conclusion that I was going to hate using that tool or get injured in the process. Oreilly's and Autozone loan the screw-hook Tron thing, but the hooks are not well designed for gripping a heavy duty spring. I am sure with a hose clamp to secure it I could make it work but I didn't w...

That is what the project lead decided on for a name. It is settled. I am sure it will end being spelled "madelyn" (because that will fit on a vanity plate) but the issue is now closed. I did not realize this name originated with Mary Magdalene. It makes sense if you think about it. The severity of some of the crud on this car is absolutely biblical in proportion. I got myself a respirator - I decided I would rather have the car fall on me than die from some unspeakable breathing problem. I did buy it from Harbor Freight - so I am tempering my expectations to just slowing the issues rather than actually preventing them. It was really quite comfortable for a $15 face hugger. You may use that photo to scare the mice out of your garage if you like. I went after parts cleaning again today - starting with one of the cylinder heads.  I used the scrapers my dad bought me. It took me 30 minutes to chisel grease and gasket material off of all 6 sides. It was 1/8" (3mm) thick in so...

It stated with the question - then some guys yelled my head off - then I took my own heads off. The question started when my friend Dave dropped off a pair of fan-shaped LED lamps that screw into my garage bulb sockets. It was an act of generosity - and it makes the work space so much better. But as I was talking to him, we talked about how I could use some more height under the car for rust remediation. I dedcided to ask the internet foum what they thought of using concrete blocks as booster chairs for the jack stands. In my mind I was thinking about dobie-block or deck blocks like you would use for house foundation - not cement bricks (i.e. cinderblocks). I would use something to then cement the stand to the block so I didn't slip off. I think I use both terms interchangeably, and I didn't explain my design nor couch my question with an apology for being born. So that was my fault. I did #doesnotwanttobecrushedbyhishubris -- but this is not a place of mirth. A mob of angry pe...

Today I started to pull the cylinder heads - I am interested to see if I can unstick the engine after I motivate the pistons with a 2x4. I want to turn it through its rotations and see how good or bad the cylinders are. To get that done, I needed to pull the rocker arm assembly. Before I can do that, I had to loosen up the adjustment screws on the push rods. I think the point is to remove all tension in the rods so you don't accidentally bend one when you pull the assembly. Some of those adjustment screws hardly needed any turns to be out of the way such that the rocker was tipping back and forth. Others seemed to take forever. I would say the valve lash was not great when it was last parked. I then pulled the bolts off the assembly and the two nuts off the posts used to hold the valve cover. On one end of each assembly there is a "rocker arm shaft drain tube" which I think is supposed to redirect excess oil back to the crank case. The picture in the manual is kind of dif...