Laughing Coyote

Well it's already getting hot again. Got to 101 a few days ago. Not looking forward to the heat this early. I did manage to get the inner fenders painted earlier in the week and they came out nice. I used a polyurethane gloss black paint. Started to assemble the right side and got the wiring finished up. I have to get my hose clamps ordered so I can install the radiator and buy some heater hose. I also ordered my dash pad on Friday and should have it next week. Can't wait. Just have to work the new gas tank neck and work out a dent in the trunk. It's right above where the filler neck sits so I can't install it until that's taken care of. Making good progress still.

Nice find. Welcome to the group.

Nice find Roger. I bet you cant wait to get it home and take it out for a long ride.

Thanks Paul. I cut out the art piece on my plasma table. It's about 24" tall. I can make them even bigger. I have 3 others I'm going to make to place in the flowers beds and around the yard. They go together like a 3d puzzle. I'm going to work on some other ideas.

Thanks Keiser. We're getting there. I'm planning by the end of the month to have all of the underside of the car done and the front half all finished. Still have a lot to do.

This weekend I was able to work on the car some more. I picked up the muffler clamps and hangers for mounting the pipes. Got those all hung. Installed the power brake booster vacuum hose and hooked the transmission cooler lines back up. Ran the wiring harness to the generator and the engine harness. Still have to work the valve cover gaskets and get them all finished up. Hopefully I will get time to paint the inner fender wells this week. Going to be a busy week. I also made a piece of yard art for my kids earlier in the week.

Congrats on the new wagon John. Looks pretty nice.

Thanks John S. I took the inner fender wells to the coaters and she told me to come back in a few hours and they will be done. I had to run a few other errands and when I stopped back by they were all done. I have to straighten a few things on them and they will be ready for paint.

I had some time this afternoon and decided to do a little more on the car. I hooked up all the E brake cables and brackets, speedo cable is in and installed the H pipe. Waldon did a great job. Fit like a glove. Very pleased. Have to buy some hangers and clamps when I'm out next time. Also I will be tacking the inner fender wells to the coaters to get sand blasted so they will be ready for paint.

Thanks Keiser. Don't be jealous, you can at least drive yours. I still have to put mine back together.

Cool Wagon.

Thanks Gary. It's been a long road to get to this point, but well worth it. I can't wait to have it move under its own power again.

Happy Easter everyone. I had a busy day. The Mrs. and I installed the motor and trans. Went very well. I used my new engine sling she bought fro Amazon. It was like $80, but it's light and the tilt works pretty nice. Pretty happy with it. And when your done with it you can put in in your tool box and doesn't take up much room at all. A little bigger than a standard multi-meter. Now I have to get the rest of the drive line in, exhaust and all the other little assemblies. Then the inner fender wells will get blasted so I can paint and install them after everything is all buttoned up. I want to get it running again. Like to hear it purr.

Installing the engine and transmission. Maybe more if I got the time.

Thanks Frank29u. Yes, it's great to have that part done. Today was a good day. Had to run into town and get my exhaust system that came in yesterday. Stopped off at the drive line shop and picked up my drive shaft. It's like Christmas in April. Parts coming in from everywhere. Now I have to get time to get this car back together. I had a customer come by and pick up a seat frame I fabricated for his 1971 Land Cruiser he's restoring. He couldn't find anyone in town that would make one. Now all I need is the dash pad so I can get it painted and on the dash. Once on then I can add the cluster and mount it along with the steering column. I'm going to see if I can get the engine and trans in the car this weekend.

Thanks Paul, Since the engine had the fan on it and a new radiator I wasn't really worried about the temperature getting too hot. I just wanted to add it for air movement. My concern would be is a box fan going to produce enough air movement to cool your engine. The engine fan throws a lot of air. You just have to be careful around it when its running. Yes it's scary, you just have to be aware at all times. Make sure all your wires are secured for your timing light, meters etc. so they don't fly around and get wrapped up in anything. You can do it.

Chris. I sent you a PM.

Ilikecars53, I think she was unsure how this fly by night operation was going to go and used caution on the filming. I also received my fuel tank a few days ago. I have to cut the neck and weld the old one on since its curved and the new one is more straight. Going to get busy.

Here is the video. Nothing too exciting, but entertaining. 352 run.wmv

Chris. If you don't mind, If you can give me a little more information on your welder I can see what I can do to help you with a better bead. Are you using a MIG welder with flux core wire? What brand? What do you have the heat and wire speed at?

Thanks Keiser. The rubber ones were really soft so when you tighten them down they just squish. You would figure they would seal better. I will be getting the cork ones tomorrow. I will double check the covers also to make sure they aren't pulled in to far. I was careful to not over tighten them when I installed them. I would rather have to deal with this than a wiped out cam or a seized engine. Next up will be drain the coolant, hook up the trans, and install. Now I have lots to do.

Today was a big day. Passed another milestone in the project. My neighbor and I got the engine all set up to run. After a few attempts, it spit and sputtered and then it came to life. It was smooth running with great oil pressure. The exhaust kept it really quiet and worked great. I had one freeze plug have a drip, but went away shortly after it warmed up. I will be keeping my eye on it. The only other issue I had was the rubber valve cover gasket on the drivers side was leaking oil pretty good. I tightened it even more to slow it. I'm going to buy the cork ones and get rid of the leak. Other than that the engine ran smooth and no other issues or leaks. I think I did pretty well for rebuilding my first engine. I dropped off the drive shaft this past Friday to get reworked so I will have that back in a week or so. I also received word that the exhaust system has shipped and should be here in a week. Things are starting to roll along. I will post the video when I get the size edited.

Roger, I thought I would throw my two pennies in on the color choices. I think the blue would look nice, but a shade not as dark as what you have on the trunk. I think a lighter shade of blue would look great. Not a pastel type, but something more toned down. Something not as intense. The whole project is looking great!

Today I had some time to work on the engine. I now have all the rocker arms and shafts in and torqued. I used a cordless drill to prime the oil pump and the gauge read 60 psi. I was running it on low speed, not sure what the rpm's were, but you could see oil at the rockers. I let it sit for about ten minutes and tried it again and the oil pressure jumped right up to 60 psi again. Going to pick up some anti freeze this week and fill up the radiator. Getting really close. I'm a little nervous and excited at the same time.

Its for a 1961 Mercury Meteor 800 with a 2 speed automatic transmission. It's a 28 spline yoke. The engine is a 352. Hope this helps. Thanks Paul.