Projects My 1951 Mercury Restoration Part II

I'll try loading pics again tomorrow, I'm all worn out today.

My electric puller fan is a little loud, but works great. I shudder to think what the temps would have been if I still had the old setup.

Jim, I really don't like the sound of mufflers or the small black, I wonder if I can some super quiet mufflers to put on this thing.

 

This frikkin car is gorgeous! Thumbs up man!

 

I like the sound of the Pypes race-pros on my Malibu. I would consider them quieter than most but not silent.

 

thats great you got her home john and like always I WANT TO SEE PICS!!!

 

yep, great to hear.....now as Matt said.....pictures....PLEASE

Cheers,

Drewfus

P.S. before you drive the car again, please go and check all the fluids, check for leaks, and just make sure there's nothing obvious.....and put some fresh fuel in it

 

My new phone (Sprint HTC EVO) takes 8mp pix! I can also select black and white in the camera.

 

Have you cruised it around yet?

 

he got to drive it home from Larrys with some 3 year old gas!!!

 

Actually I turned a 30 minute drive home into two hours of cruising.

Chapter II will continue with me is me fixing little stuff, and working with slddnmatt (Matt of Townsend Fabrication) to finish up the car.

I see that there is a header piece of metal above the windshield with a center hole in it, I guess that's where a rearview mirror would bolt up. I need one.

I need a hood latch the body side.

I think Imma buy some totes to organize all the little junk in the car right now, I have no idea what it's all for.

I'm excited.

 

What????! No more "Happy Meals"?

 

LOL yikes. I don't even remember why I liked the car in the first place.

 

Looks great, happy cruising! Supposed to get mine delivered tomorrow after a whole bunch of un-necessary drama.

 

I topped off the coolant, oil was good, topped up brake fluid, went for another 30 minute cruise. On my way home I starting having fuel issues.. How reliable is the old gal...... not reliable enough. Had to get a buddy to tow me the 6 blocks to my house, either ran out of gas (which I'll gladly fess up to if that's the case) or the fuel pump went out (SBC style). I had thought about getting 5 spare gallons to have in the back but I got cocky.

Good news was that the rad was a little low and topping it off made the car run cooler... and driving the car is AWESOME.

Hopefully sometime later I can run out and get some gas and mess with the car again. I haven't driven a carbed SBC in 14 years.

 

Awesome John!!! Totally stoked for you. A friend of mine just bought a huge pile of 49-51 Merc parts and we will be going to get them in a few weeks. I can dig through it and probably find what you need if you haven't already found it by then.

 

Congrats John! Stoked for you, my merc brotha!

 

I'm gonna keep driving and fixing everything until it's all good.

 

Nice ride John and worth the wait!

 

Congrats on cruising your merc John..it looks good man,you should be proud.

 

Looking great.

 

Well thinking I might have run out of gas, I snuck after I put my kids to sleep, got 4-5 gallons, put it in the tank. No worky. Car cranks, never catches if you know what I mean. When the car started conking out (SBC + TH350), I'd give it gas, and it would hesitate and almost die out at 1/3 pedal.

So might be the fuel pump. I'm also concerned that there might have been junk in the tank that's clogged something. Is there another way to test it? should I have poured a little gas into the carb too?

 

Sounds like bad gas, maybe fouled up the fuel lines/carb/fuel pump...Fuel filters in front and behind of the fuel pump have saved me more than once from my nasty old gas tank. GREAT CAR! Enjoy!

 

Yeah, or it could even be junk floating around in the tank too. We are leaving tomorrow for a long driving vac to the Grand Tetons so if I don't get a chance to mess with it tonight I'll pick things back up when I get back.

Car is running a silver looking aftermarket mechanical fuel pump, maybe a Holley. Two lines, inlet and outlet. No vapor line.

 

If that electric pump is like almost ever other electric pump I have been around you should be able to hear it run when you turn the key on. You could also take the fuel line off at the carb and put a a plastic bottle over the end and turn the key on and see if it is pumping gas to that point.

You can take something and pour some gas down the bowl vent tube and fill the float bowls and the car should run for 30 seconds or so. I agree with Mercchev in that an inline filter between the tank and the electric pump is a must have. And an extra filter between the pump and the carb doesn't hurt either .

It could be bad gas from sitting all those months but you should be able to smell that even with fresh gas in the tank. It could also be that the cap that is on the tank isn't venting. If it is the same cap that was on there from the get go you should be ok but if it is a new cap I'd put that under consideration. I went through three brand new Stant "vented" caps before I got one that actually worked on my 51 when I put it back together 30 years ago. It also had a lot of crap in the tank that I had to clean out including paper and the neck from a broken bottle. After I had my 48 painted I picked up a lot of paint in the filter and carb because the painter had removed the chrome gas cap to keep paint off it and didn't cover the filler neck.

 

I had junk in the tank that clogged the open/close valve on my tank and the filter. Replaced the filter and drained the tank to clean out the valve and I've been good since.

 

John, Congratulations on the great job you did in making your terrible looking red Merc into a very nice custom. It's tastefully done and beautiful. Your tenacity paid off.

 

It's a mechanical traditional fuel pump bolted to the block.

 

Just wanted to show that the car has ended up a lot like photoshop that I commissioned by Rik. I highly reccomend a person use him if they are trying to figure out the finished look of their build:

 

Sounds like my Merc! I hate elec. fuel pumps!!!!! Going back to a mech. one also...

 

Docauto has a grill just like that for sale! $500,I think...