The Big M is home.

I have one from a 77 that I will test fit after the Y block goes in.

You might be able to make some money building those crossmembers.

Lord knows if you're building a car you can use some money!

Off to Pull-A-Part to get some Grenada spindles. $33.13 a side for the spindle, caliper and rotor.

They're getting a bit hard to find around here. Let me know what you have to do to get them to work. I have a pair that I want to put on a 56 Ford. I've heard that you have to ream them for the ball joints and then use something for a spacer under them.

Boy, You never told a lie! The price of scrap has all the yards around here crushing everything older than the 90's. I did find a complete Maverick for $500.00. I can use the front end parts and I need to get under it to see what rear end is. The Merc has a 3.73 under it now. It would be fun around town but not so much fun at the gas pump. Especially with the 390. Maybe I can part the rest of it out.
Pulled the 390 apart to check it out and put all new gaskets in to keep the oil in instead of out. Got all the parts to re-assemble. Decided to go ahead and put in a high volume oil pump and it just makes good sense to put in a new timing chain while its on the stand.

Well the Maverick fell through but I did find some spindles and had a pretty intresting trip. I am ready to put something together. Tired of cleaning and cleaning. Wanted to use the weekend to put the motor together but the parts didn't show up so worked on the front brakes and suspension.

Parts being Main bearings. Figured while it's on the stand might as well and you know how one thing leads to another.

Just about have the engine ready to go. I think it will be covered up and waiting awhile though. Still working on getting 55 years of grease and grime off. The front end was pretty tight but I figured all that old rubber would start coming apart once I was driving it and it will never be easier to get to so I have all new bushings, tie rods and ball joints coming. The spindles are at the machine shop getting reamed for the bigger ball joints.

Wow. The engine looks like it would glow in the dark. That will look good down in the bay!

Checked the machine shops around here about reaming the spindles. Most wanted 65 or 70 bucks an hour, two hour minimum. So I went looking on line for a reamer and found one from ICS in Wisconsin for less than 60 bucks. Chucked it up in the drill press tonight and reamed those babys out. Had to be really careful with the set-up and put the slow set of pulleys on so I didn't burn it up. worked like a dream.

Cool!

Well, Finished getting the engine together and got the front suspension back together. Got the steering gear cleaned up and the little slack it had adjusted out. It's back on the car but I've been slacking on the pics. This thing out to drive like a new one once I get it on the road. Went ahead and bought a passenger door from Cali. Pretty much wiped out the funds but the one on the car had been repaired before. Looked like it had been folded back by a garge door or a passing car.

Stinks about having to buy a door but at least you found one.

Yea. But it is so much better shape I think it's worth the cost. And the Greydog didn't trash it on the way. That's always a little scary.

OK. So when we got the spindles (you know, the ones the daughter had to pull) the backing plates were really rusted from sitting in the dirt for so many years. I did so scrounger patch work. What do you guys think? If it doesn't pass inspection I'll go looking for replacements but I had the stainless and the stainless rivets. I'm throwing this dang Chink pop-reviter in the junk pile though!!

Dear arieldouglas:
Isn't the distributor on that engine mounted on the wrong end? You might want to fix that before you fire it up.
Your friend;
LAMAR

Looks right to me!!!

Lamar wrote:Dear arieldouglas:
Isn't the distributor on that engine mounted on the wrong end? You might want to fix that before you fire it up.
Your friend;
LAMAR

No. I think it must be on the right end since I've seen kits to relocate Chevy distributors to the front of the engine. Never did see a kit to move it to the back though.

Arieldouglas wrote:No. I think it must be on the right end since I've seen kits to relocate Chevy distributors to the front of the engine. Never did see a kit to move it to the back though.

You know what they say "Speed kills, so be safe and drive a Ford" Just kidding, looks like a great build can't wait to see it done.

Dear Chriss55;
Don't be so harsh on Fords, my friend. At least the Ford engineers had the foresight to circle the problem in advance. Remember:
Built Ford TOUGH!
(Using all Chevy parts)
Your friend;
LAMAR

Ford......built without your tax dollars!

OK Guys, Got an opinion question. Pull-A-Part has a complete disc brake, limited-slip, 8.8 rear end in a Mark VII with 3.27 gears I can buy for $117.00. I've used a 390 CID through a C-6 to spin 3.50 gears and was happy with performance. That was with a full size Ford truck. I haven't checked the weight on that but this Mercury is supposed to weigh almost 4000 lbs. dressed out. I am building this car to drive and a lot of that will be on the interstate but I don't want to wind up with a "total" dog out of the hole. Wach Y'all Think?

Sound like a good rearend to me. Still have some low end but plenty of highway friendly miles. 8.8 are pretty strong for a modern rearend, you getting better stopping with the disk and with that car you get a 5 lug bolt pattern. Sounds like a win win win to me.