Serious Budget Problems, or Please Advise

Gents,

My 50 merc has been on hold for months waiting for money. I figure I can get her running and on the road for $6k. But that is figuring retail prices I have seen on the various parts I need. I know many of you on this forum have experience sourcing parts and saving money.

My goal with this thread is to get advice on where to go, what companies to use to buy the stuff I need. If there is a company you have dealt with and had good service/good prices on parts, please share them.

First, I LOVE mail ordering, so I don't mind dealing with people all over the country. For me there is nothing like ordering what I need and then anxiously waiting for the big brown truck! It's like Christmas all year around. Second, I don't care to have the biggest name product out there. I will happily use an American made part from a small shop instead of a chinese made part from a big name parts warehouse.

Here is what I need:
1. C4 transmission with a bell housing that will adapt to a flathead. I have spoken with Flat-O on this matter, and I am inclined to use his bell housing,but I still need the transmission, torque converter and starter. Speedway has a kit with a C4 tranny, torque converter, starter, bell housing, etc for about $2k, which is the single biggest piece of my projected $6k budget. I'd LOVE to beat this price, so i don't mind sourcing the various components from different dealers.

2. Headers for the flathead. I would use the Fenton Style or more modern style tubing headers by Red's Headers or someone similar.

3. Vintage Air AC/Heat unit that will positively cool the big cabin of the Mercury. This is Texas, and it's too hot for a daily driver to not have lots of cooling inside. Plus, the wife and kids will whine.

4. Steering column. I have looked at the iDidit and Flaming River, and I like something both of them make. Is there anyone else? I am converting to power steering via a Fatman Fab adapter to mount a power steering gearbox from a F100 pick-up. I will need to weld up the various joints and whatnot for the column, so a source for the column parts as well as the actual column with column shift and turn indicators will be needed.

5. The 6v headlights will have to be traded out when i convert to 12v. i'd like some that use the modern style replaceable filament units that turn into the rear of the light housing. Speedway has a kit for this in the $200 range. I'd think I can get something less expensive.

6. I read an article in an older Rod and Custom about DIY exhaust kits from MagnaFlow. I like that idea. I'm cool with hanging my own exhaust under the Merc, but I am not keen on paying more than I would to have my local muffler shop bend up some pipe with glass packs in them. I see the appropriate MagnaFlow kit on Summit for $560 plus mufflers. I don't need stainless steel so I'd be fine with less expensive tubing. A product that competes with the MagnaFlow 10702 kit will be fine.

Basically, this list will get me going. The only other thing I really NEED is a 12v wiper motor to replace the vacuum wiper system. I suspect I am just paying the $230 from Mac's for that.

Please, if you or a buddy run a shop with access to the listed parts above or something competitive, please let me know. If you have good experiences with a local shop and you want to recommend them, let me know that too.

My time is running out on this car, and my current daily driver is starting to give me trouble. I DON'T want to spend more money on my daily driver, so i need to get the Mercury running relatively ASAP. Worst case, I spend the $6k. Best case, some of yall can save me a few bucks.

ANY help is appreciated.

Paul

 

LoL..... Dude, you gotta network !!!

2k for a tranny?.. Try wilkap, and check the classifieds..and other various forums... Get a column from a donor car.... It can take years to collect all the parts you need.

I run a Southern Air Superfrost system from Southern Hotrods. That alone will save you a bunch, and get the job done...

I buy a lot from SPeedway. But as far as trannys, and parts? you gotta network......

http://www.flat-o.com/carproducts/flatomatic.htm

Your juggleing a daily driver and a hotrod build

 

1 - you live in one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. Surely you can call some junkyards and hit the Pate swapmeet to turn up a C4

2 - build your own, see your own opinion in #6. There is no difference between headers and exhaust. they are both tubing

3 - don't scrimp here, its Texas. www.classicautoair.com/ is in Grapevine

4 - Junkyard if you are truely on a tight budget. forget the street rod parts

5 - Rebel wire. nuff said

6 - by the time the "kit" gets hacked up and modified, it would have been just as easy for a muffler shop to bend pipe. with less chance for leaks.

 

Nobody buys a cheap donor car anymore and swaps parts?

 

Shhhhh! Don't ruin it.

 

Another thing to think about is how are you budgeting? Do you have a plan in place to keep money coming in and put aside for your project? Summit has some good payment plans, and if you ebay and use paypal, they have bill me later. Granted you have to be smart and pay it off before your do date. I have used bill me later numerous times for larger purchases, and I also made sure to pay it off in half the time.

 

Well to be clear, I am not a shop. I am a guy with a Mercury in my garage. I do not have the ability to bend tubing the way I want it. Nor do i have the knowledge about how to make a good set of headers. The kit from MagnaFlow has a bunch of pre-bent tubing that you can cut to length allowing you to turn it and place the bends where you need them. This is the most I have the skill to do.

Still, I appreciate the advice. I am sure I can source a C4 locally in a transmission shop in the area. I guess my thing is I am handy with a wrench, and I am mechanically inclined, but I am NOT an experienced builder. As a result, i need to be able to buy things that work together. Some of yall can buy a part one place, another part somewhere else, and a third part from a junkyard, and you KNOW they will all work together in a system. I don't have that skill. I need a torque converter that for sure will work with my transmission and motor--someone else has to tell me they all work together or I will waste money buying stuff that don't work.

 

You admit loving to mail order out of catalogs and waiting for the UPS truck. Fun, but expensive. A bet you can knock your 6k budget in half if you work at finding a local tranny and wrecking yard column, etc.

The "cost" or trade will be getting your ass off the computer and out of bed at 3:00 AM for a swap meet and rifling through Craigslist, and local wrecking yards. As mentioned, network locally.
Skip Speedway For $560 + mufflers, you can patronize a local exhaust shop and make out $ ahead. Ask local car guys, they'll reference a couple of shops that do Rod work.
To save more $ and get the car rolling, concentrate on mechanicals and add the frills later. Skip the A/C and add it next summer. Live with vacuum wipers for awhile. Maybe use the stock steering and upgrade to power later.

 

LoL.....

 

Limeworks builds some beautiful steering columns, and are priced well for what they are. And, Limey Steve is an Alliance member here on the HAMB.....and are great people too. Win win win.

 

When I need stuff machined, blast cleaned, powder coated, specialist welded or anything I can't do myself I take some pictures of the car I'm building and go to local machine shops etc and explain what I'm doing.

Seven times out ten the guys in the shop are interested and the job is a bit out of the run of things so I get it done cheaper or quicker or they try a bit harder.

 

answerBottom line,, you can spend a lot of money if you don't do your own leg work,,you don't have to build a 1-800 car if you don't want to, HRP

 

The exhaust must be done by pros in your case for longevity and ground clearance. Shop around for a place that does older cars and trucks regularly and understands the owners. That trans should be a slam dunk in a few more days after this thread gets view's.

 

As much as I hate the phrase "1-800- STREET ROD", you could be the poster child for it. I bought some of my stuff from manufacturers, but the bulk was found in junkyards and from friends. Especially my during my rebuild.

Network with the guys here and hot rodders in your area. Go to a hangout, introduce yourself and get the word out.

I got my original engine from a junkyard for $400 and heard it run. Lasted 6 years on a mild tear down/rebuild. My tranny came from the same yard for $250, I think. Changed fluid and filter and it worked for 6 years. The rearend was $250 from a junkyard.

I've got friends driving early 50's Chevy Belair's and only one has gone to A/C and he's had the car for 15+ years. Carry an extra shirt, drink water and wipe your brow. Flatheads are cool, but if you're talking about getting up on a Texas freeway, you better think SBF. The limit is 75mph now. Try a junkyard for a steering wheel. You have a huge selection.

Use the catalogs for stuff you absolutely can't find anywhere else.

 

Doesn't Flat-O sell transmissions and torque converters too? They used to.

 

go buy a SBC and a turbo 350,slap it in your car,and work on the flathead stuff while you drive it.

 

Agreed. You don't have a budget problem. Your problem stems from what is one of the things wrong with this hobby today. Lack of resourcefulness or maybe just the propensity to "buy" solutions. I don't blame you.. I blame the Sema's, Fooses, and the many tv shows (infomercials), etc. of the hobby. But maybe I'm wrong.. maybe it's not as simple as that.

Anyway... enough of that...

As far as exhaust system goes.. get yourself some stiff wire and shape it to what you need for exhaust pipes and then have the muffler shop bend a piece of pipe. Should be a lot cheaper than any "kit" you buy. I've done this a few times, even when I was young and a complete novice and it worked fine.

 

And you will find the 1-800 parts don't just fall into place and many times they don't play nice with each other either.

In other words, you will still have do a lot of fabrication, sometimes more than reworking your original parts in combination with used (salvage yard, swap meet, Craig's list parts).

Just something more to consider.

 

I would poke around and find some local like-minded folks, they could be very helpful with sourcing parts, folks to use for some of those jobs, and sometimes they are just good at providing some positive waves.

Does the car run now? Maybe you should bang stuff out bit by bit? I just pulled the AC condenser from my car when my buddy installed the new radiator in my car. I had chronic issues with running hot so I wanted to eliminate that for now. But I will say, car does get hot inside. I see me adding some fat mat in the car and adding carpeting.

 

MAN! Thanks so much for the ideas and advice.

I sincerely appreciate all the help and wisdom. I feel compelled to explain a few things that I failed to communicate clearly. Someday I'd love to buy a donor car for parts, but in my neighborhood, I can't have a parts car in the yard. My garage is barely big enough for the Mercury and still have room to walk around to get in the house. Basically, I have to fit anything I buy on/in the car.

The original steering column is out because a) the three on the tree shifter is shot out, b) I'm a pretty big fella so I barely fit in the driver's hole behind that big ass deuce-and-a-half-sized steering wheel, c) going to an auto transmission leaves me at best converting the 3 on the tree shifter to a modern column shift system, d) the silly old style turn indicator switch that attaches to the column via a hose clamp is just absurd. I could see such a set-up on a roadster, but not in my Merc.

As far as dropping a 350 and a turbo 350 in the car, I still end up spending a couple of grand on the power plant/tranny combo--I don't care to buy an unproven engine with unknown providence since I won't be wanting to replace it or rebuild it later.

going with the flathead and adding AC later means I am buying a bracket for the alternator now and buying a second bracket that will fit the alternator and AC compressor later.

As some of you have said, I don't care to be a 1-800 rodder, but often I see that as the way I can buy precisely what I need.

Also, my current daily driver is a 2000 Ranger. It is running ok, but the transmission is indicating that it might not last much longer--trouble shifting. The Mercury is supposed to replace the ranger as my daily driver. That's why I don't care to spend too much more money on the ranger; I'm trying to replace it. I am not juggling two projects, nor am I trying to drive my project car.

Again, I really appreciate the ideas and advice. I am more limited in what I can do due to the limitations of my garage and my skill set. But I will for sure be looking into some of the sources listed already in this thread.

 

Drop me a line, I can help on header kits and such. I feel you pain, my 2000 ranger just hit 265K!?

You can get by with a little resourcefulness. I would be glad to help.

 

Good luck.. with a budget of $6k.. You should be ok.

 

This might be the best way.

As much as I prefer old style motors, I can't see myself adding an A/T AND A/C to a flathead in...TEXAS. Sounds like a problem to me with the excessive heat.

If you are pinching bucks, the used sbc deal with a A/C compressor already on it, can be made to work with an add-on dash unit in new or used. A closed hood build does not need an older cool looking motor, IMO, with a tight budget and limited skills.


I agree with the negative comments about being a 1-800 build, it is not the way to save money

Edit, I should have included SBF-A/T ford motors too. A good friend did that swap 35-40 years ago, as a teenager, with simple tools. It was a dependable car, and it was a 351, but I don't know which one.

 

I run a local shop here in tacoma, wa and I can tell uou right off the bat that for a custom bent full exhaust system with glass packs...I would charge you HALF of what you mentioned for the DIY kit...and it would be fully welded so no leaks and proper ground clearance, body clearance etc. I did a true dual exhaust job on a 56 dodge station wagon with a build 392 hemi in it...for 290 bucks. Nearly 600 for a DIY kit that will end up kicking your ass as you lay under the car for two weeks test fitting pipes? Screw that. ..

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Also, go read this thread AND Zibos blog to learn how to do it low buck but right!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9181552#post9181552

 

Try using www.car-part.com to help you find the used parts you need.

 

Thanks - I needed a good laugh today

 

That is informative! i appreciate your input seriously. Generally, I figure saving some cash will cost me man-hours of my own time. But when the cost is more AND the labor is a lot, that's just dumb!! I'll have my exhaust work did locally!

 

I searched C-List in and around your area and found steering columns,
transmissions and some other neat items you need to do some searching
locally if you want to save some money nothing wrong with 1-800-SHIP-IT
if that is what you want but if saving some money you have to search around.
As far as exhaust goes I do like nice smooth bends but having an exhaust
system installed by a company that does it daily will get you going a little
faster and save a few bucks also. You can always start collecting exhaust
pieces to redo it later.

 

Parts car is the way to go, I do it with every build to have a donor. Get something that can get you an engine, trans, wiring, and some odds and ends, I agree a bellybutton 350 TH350 or similar is just too easy to find. Part out the car or scrap it to get some money back. Boneyard steering column unless the donor car has a column you like. Run stock manifolds instead of headers, much easier to have head pipes made up. A/C can be added after the car is running, kits for the SB chevy with brackets are easy to find. I bet I could cut that $6000 budget to $1000 to $1500 easy. I just picked up this ugly 86 trans am with a good running carbed 305 with a T5 5 speed for the grand total of $400. Once it is parted and scrapped I will have a FREE engine, trans, wiring, radiator, etc. Cars do not need to have big bucks in them to get done.