Saturday morning I finally was able to make a 3.5 hour trip to Williamsport PA and buy a Mercury Flathead for my '53 Merc. The trip up there was an amazing ride through the mountains and was well worth the ride for that alone. I had found out about this engine from HAMBer "Thunderbirdesque" while at York this past June. I had mentioned how I had just blown up my flatty and was looking for another, preferably a Merc engine, but any flatty would be OK. Well, he did know of one near where he lives and proceeded to get me the guy's number. From what he was describing, the engine sounded perfect for me, and it was within my budget as well. I called Fran, the owner of the engine, and he described an engine of my dreams. '51 Merc flatty with Fenton heads and two pot intake, Johnson adjustable lifters, Etc.. Nice. So, after two months of saving and working, I was ready to get it. I called Fran up and made sure the engine was still available, and, it was. So, off I went. I arrived at Fran's on time and finally got to see this engine. It was everything I had heard it was. It was even painted red like I was going to do. Fran pulled a Fenton head off and let me see inside. Its a standard bore, but looked to be new inside. Man I was stoked about it. story on it was that it was re-built and sat around a long time. More than 20 years at least. We loaded her up and, after a quick visit to another rodder's place, we were headed back home. His friend had a bunch of cool street rods, stuff I'm not into, but well done. Oh well. Made it home OK. Only got stopped once by the State Police because my '86 Mitsubishi truck looks kinda ragged. Got a warning because my inspection and emissions stickers were gone, but I have five days to fix that. The officer doesn't thing the truck will pass, but it will. Today (Sunday) I pulled out the old engine and proceeded to do an autopsy. It was locked up solid. First thing I saw when the engine was out, was a hole in the oil pan. It appears as if a rod was trying to escape and almost made it. Not good. I was hoping to save at least the crank from this Merc flatty. Next, I pulled to drain plug, and nothing but antifreeze and water came out. No oil. I put a finger in the pan to feel around, and what I felt was a whole bunch of metal parts. uh oh. Pulled the pan down and found that most of my motor was now down there. At least most of the drive train. Found parts of the cam and the rod caps from two rods mashed and bent up, and a couple of lifters. Found parts of the rings and other parts I couldn't identify at all. This thing was a mess! Looking up the cylinder bores I could see bent rods in the first two holes. Next, I pulled the intake and heads and found more destruction. I turned the motor over and found that part of the cam was wedged between the crank and the block, causing holes in both. The crank was so scored it was blue from the heat on one journal. The cylinder walls on the front two were broken as well. I believe this block is now a coffee table with a built in wine rack. Lord have mercy. I did manage to get the rods and pistons out of the damaged block. They were bent into an "S" shape and one piston was destroyed entirely. I'll post some pics tomorrow of both the old "destroyed" engine and the one that will take its place. I'm dead tired but happy I got work done this weekend. It feels good to be this dirty again.. Spike
Got to love a Merc Flatty. I have a 8BA and I just picked up a merc crank for mine. $250 for the crank, and another $100 for machne work is a lot better then $700 for a Scat crank. I am going to punch her out to a 276, and slap a blower on top to finish her off. Good luck with the new Faltty
No oil in the pan, just broken parts that showed bluing from excess heat....When was the last time you checked the oil?
Jesus christ Spike, when I first read the damage report I thought you were talking about the engine you just got from Fran!! Like you got home and then realized it was boogered up, Scared the shit out of me for a minute!! I was about to call fran and let him have it! Haha, whew! Need more coffee!! I'm glad it ended up working out for you, get that fucker goin man! Jeez for shutterbug like you with a HAMB name like Hotrodphotos you'd think you woulda posted some pics!
Yeah, you get to the end of the post he's talking about how happy he is too! I'm thinking, WTF, if that was me I'd royally #*&@ing pissed!!! haha!!
Sorry for the heart attacks guys! I'm not a writer, I just play one on magazines. I'm gonna download some pics here in a minuet so keep an eye out or two. The carnage was really bad on this one. What was I doing when she let go? Praying I could get her off the highway safely..ha ha..seriously, I was just cruising home at around 60 when I started hearing tapping, which turned to knocking, which led to a loud bang, and then, silence. I have a feeling a head gasket let loose. There was plenty of oil when I left for home. I checked. It was missing more coolant than oil I thought. The new engine will have gauges that work. Heads are still OK I think. The rest will be an art project. I'm thinking coffee table for the block, night stand for the crank. Stay tuned, Spike
As promised...PICTURES!! First up- This is where I'm working on my Mercury. we call it "Hobby Hospital". The guy who owns it, Stan, is into old fire trucks and old stuff in general... My friends, Reds, Scotty, and Fred helping get the old motor out- New motor waiting in the crate, a '51 Merc flatty with all the goodies! First sign of trouble after we pulled the old engine. We pulled the drain plug and nothing but coolant came out. Lots of it.. First thing I was able to identify in the pan of broken parts was a rod cap. destruction. One of the two rods that were destroyed There's more. But that's all for now. I gotta head out to the farm and do more work! Spike
More carnage! Heres the other piston and rod...what's left anyway.. The pan of DOOM... Slightly worn crank. soon to be a table.. Better view of the crank journal.. Parts of the cam. I think it can be saved. JB weld is amazing.. That's it for pics. Progress thread to follow..probably with a ton of questions! Spike
Sorry for the engine trouble, but I must say, what beautiful pictures of a mangled engine! But I wouldnt expect any less from you! The new engine looks nice though!
Just got home (2AM EST) from working on the old engine, trying to salvage anything I can from it. Can't really save a lot. The intake, maybe the heads distributor, fuel pump, water pump cores. While taking the engine apart I noticed that it was rebuilt at some point. it was .020 over-bored and one cylinder had been sleeved. Also, the pan had been stitched back up, maybe from a past melt down. My offering to the Gods of speed was a large one this time. I'll have a ton of raw material for some art projects! Spike
Dude, nice work on that old motor. Looks like camshaft soup in that pan! The new one looks nice and clean, though. Cool!
The Jalopy Journal
