Laughing Coyote

Job well done Richard. Looks very sporty and clean.

I got the material in last week for the steering cylinder rebuild and managed to machine it today. Looks like it will work just fine. I guess I will be rebuilding that some time this week.

Well I got the core support back from the powder coaters. It's all nice and new metal again. I originall painted the core support end brackets with the Rust Oleum professional grade rattle can and looked good, but I couldn't find it in a qt can. I ended up buying the gallon size from HD in the gloos black. I sprayed the core support and it looks good, but I noticed it had more gloss than the spray can. So the next day I ended up doing a light scuff on the end brackets and repainted them so they all match. They look like they were coated with a high gloss powder coat. I thinned it with Acetone like it said and had good results. ALso have some shots of the seat rails. Hope to get more stuff done here shortly.

Here's a builder. http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/cto/4851606054.html

If you would like any information PM me and I can give you the guys number. He lives in Tucson AZ and the car is very complete. He really wants it sold and will give a good deal. Original price is $1500, but will deal. He doesn't want it to get turned into a rat rod or chopped up.

JPromo, By any chance would you have the right side rocker trim for my 61 Mercury? I can email you a picture and specs. Thanks

The weather wasn't the greatest today. Cool and windy so I picked at some items on the car. I cleaned up one of the front seat glide rails and painted it. Cleaned up the rear bumper bracket mounting bolts and media blasted the fuel door. I do have a tip that may be helpful. If you want to paint a spring and you want to make sure you get paint coverage in the inside coil just hang a paint can from it. It has to have two hook ends obviously. Just hook one end to a suitable wire or cable, then hang a paint can or some thing with a wire handle to extend the spring enough to get paint coverage. You don't want to hang something too heavy that it ruins the spring ends. Just gauge the weight. If you really want to cover yourself put a garbage can under it so if the spring breaks then you don't have a big mess to clean. I also use those wire shower curtain hooks to hang alot of the pieces when I paint them.

I'm looking at a 1950 Desoto 2 dr and wanted to know any information on these cars. Don't know anything about them. Thanks.

Looking at a 1950 Desoto 2 door and wanted to know if these are any good. Any information or comments welcomed. May be a future project after the Merc is done. Who knows. Thanks

Check out those prices too!! Heck of a deal.

Bob, If you haven't had any luck with locating a new one or can't find anyone out there in Michigan to repair it PM me and I will see what we can do for you.

Merc update. It's been a busy week. Been jumping all over the place on the car project. First thing I worked was the steering gear. It's in great shape, isn't loose or sloppy at all. I just cleaned off all the grease and gunk and gave it a fresh coat of paint. It will need a new oil seal, but simple enough to get. Very pleased how it looks. I then worked on the steering cylinder that has been laying around. I purchased a rebuild kit a while ago and when I started to do the rebuild I noticed that the piston shaft was pitted very badly and was just going to tear up the new seal kit. So it fell to the back burner. I can buy a new one for around $100 or so, but today I decided since it's broke then cutting the end off and trying to replace the shaft with a new one shouldn't be all that hard. I will just buy a drill rod shaft and machine all the ends to match the original. A lot cheaper that route. I did noticed that the cylinder had a good hit on the outside of the case, but it didn't go deep enough to effect the piston from sliding up and down the inner tube. Actually it has a really good seal on the piston. I made sure I had everything measured before cutting it apart. I also started to pick apart the core support. Pulled some brackets off, sandblasted them and painted. I have one more to pull off then it goes to the powder coater to sandblast it in the big booth. Then I will finish it up with a coat of paint and start putting some parts back on. I finally got the heads installed too. Engine is looking better and better. Can't wait to get the tins back on it and give it some color.

Great news today. My new mount is done and it looks sweet. Mike at then and now did a perfect job. Thanks to Barry, Keiser, and Commodore for the information. One happy camper.

Thanks Jeff. It's actually a 1962 Series 1. Just a year newer than the Merc and looked the same when I got it. Did alot of cleaning and maintenance on it, even rebuilt the entire head assembly. Works great. The only thing is the ways are worn, but I can still hold a .001. There is a company in Illinois that can redo the ways for around $3000. They build them up and rescrape. They told me that the original Bridgeports ways can be redone over and over, but the imports can not. It's that good old iron. The lathe is an import. Couldn't find a good one that wasn't worn out. They do make things easier when you need to make something. I did get a report today from Barry's guy that does the mounts. Mike is going to try to do the rubber part tomorrow and get it finished up. Can't wait to see the final result.

Found this while cruising CL. Ever heard of one? http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/4814160338.html

I wonder if this guy has a brother????

Nice one. Not as bad as some others I have seen. Have fun with it.

Thanks edhd58, Your car sounds nice. Can't wait to get mine running some day. Hope the antifreeze mess wasn't too bad to clean up. Well I decide to start working on the water pump. It was pretty nasty and the bearings are shot. I did manage to find a rebuild kit for it so once I get it apart I will check it over and see if it is even worth a rebuild or just a new purchase. I have the head gaskets in so I'm going to get ready to install the heads. I also purchased some NOS rocker arms that I couldn't pass up because the price was so low. Just 13 more to go. Other than that just trying to get back into the swing of things again.

Thank god nobody was in the passenger seat. Heck of a hit.

Nice looking car. Seems to be all there and in pretty good condition. Will be a nice driver. Welcome to the forum. Keep us posted on your progress.

The tray looks good. I don't see anything wrong with it. If it holds the battery nice and secure than it's doing the job.

Looking good Roger. Keep up the good work.

Have a little Merc update. Ordered the head and intake gaskets. Should be here this coming week. I have the front of the engine done minus the water pump and balancer. I will be getting the lifters and push rods later on this coming month. I did manage to win a bid on Ebay for two NOS headlight bezels. Got the pair for less than $20. So the others I will keep as spares. I also had to turn some flat sockets head bolts on the lathe for the starter. Getting those square head bolts out was a bear and a few didn't come out as nice. Used and EZ out on some. I know the hex head is not like the originals, but will be alot easier to put in and tighten down. Other than that just trying to stay warm. Had a few nights where it got down to 24 degrees. Way to cold for me.

I managed to get the oil pump, screen and oil filter block installed today. Going to install the timing cover and fuel pump some time tomorrow. I have to order the head gaskets, intake and oil pan gaskets yet. Also have to order the lifters and push rods. I can't wait to get this engine back together and see how it's going to look.

After a hard days work I decided to put the timing chain on the engine. It worked out great. I will have the oil pump in the morning and will be ready for that to be installed. I also attached pictures of the starter repair. I machined some nylon spacer to make the rivet insulator and then I used three thin strips of platic I had laying around and sandwiched them together with some silicone. After they were all stuck together I drilled it and used some split rivets I got from the local hardware store and peened them down. Looks like it will work just fine. I also got the starter case all cleaned up and ready for the rebuild kit. The decal my buddy made has the part number a bit bigger than I would have liked, but it will do.