Just a hello from Alberta Canada from a red seal technician and his freebee '62 Merc Unibody, That cost me an hour labour to get a dump truck running. My plans are to get the old girl running and do a complete restoration on the body and go from there.
The original 223 / 3 on the tree is still in her although the engine is seized I can also have a 360 from a '72 F350 that should run for free but would like to keep the original engine so I won't have a crap load of mods to do for engine and trans mounts. The last time she was plated was in '73 so I'll need to go over the entire truck to make sure she will be completely roadworthy including a disk brake upgrade which I'll likely be fabricating brackets and so forth myself.
That's a sweet project.
The unibodys are nice looking trucks.
I didn't even know Mercury made them too.
What an awesome project you've embarked on. Godspeed. & from Texas.
May your sails stay full, and your knots not slip. Unless a slip knot.
Once I thought I was wrong, but I was wrong.
Life is a banquet, and every days a feast.
68 F-250 CS 390 C-6 P/S A/C front disc. 2nd owner.
2016 GMC Terrain Denali 301 HP V-6 AWD.
2009 Silverado Crew Cab, V-8, 4X4.
DD-727
DD-806
AE-35
LSD-39
AS-41
AR-8
from Manitoba! Yes, by all means, save that old Merc! Nice project!
390 FE IN A "BUMP" / 383 WEDGE IN A 2 DOOR C-BODY / 351W IN A FULL-SIZE MERCURY / 194 CHEVY 6 IN A DUECE / 2.4 DOHC CHRYSLER IN A PLASTIC BUBBLE (Driver)
Since I got the old girl I haven't had much luck working on her, the furthest I've gotten is to inspect it for damages and am not happy with most of the results. The 223 6 cylinder is seized solid, the radiator is missing, floors and passenger kick panel are bad, there's not a straight panel anywhere on her, the torque box is rotted, and the dummies cleaning up the yard where she is sitting used a fork truck to run her into a barrel first and damaged the driver front fender along with destroying the driveshaft. I've been able to put newer tires and rims on her so moving to my place won't be as much of an issue, once the ground dries up (I spent 2 hours stuck in the yard on Saturday) One consolation is I'm able to salvage a 360/4 speed from a '72 F350 and a steering column and seat from a '61 F350 along with other bits and pieces from the yard as I need them. Oh well, I need something to occupy my time as there's not much work around here anymore!!!!
I'm still around just been busy with life, The Merc is in my barn ready for spring when I hope to get working on her (There's no heat or power to the out buildings) I picked up the 360/granny 4 speed for her and will attempt to build new mounts in the spring. So far all I've been able to do with her is gather parts like king pins, and front spring shackles. I had planned on getting the old girl running but I became unemployed after my wife had a serious accident and I pretty much stayed off work until she was able to recuperate, I am now back to work in a different shop so hopefully things will work out.
I haven't been on here for a while so I guess it's time for an update. I still have the Unibody and am waiting on spring so I can get it into somewhere I can work on it. Thus far I've been collecting parts so I can take a few days to put it together and be done in short order. I have gathered a set of kingpins, front shackles, and a complete gasket set for the '72 360 that I got for the old girl. While I know this engine is more like a slug than a bullet, I think that considering the rest of the truck it will be fine. I also have picked up a set of rims and tires for it that will look a lot better than the '96 F150 ones that are on it right now. Before I quit working on it because of the weather I got a patch panel done on the passenger's door which was beat up very badly and rotted a bit I still may look for a better door for the driver side rather than try to fix what is there. By the way, the job was short lived...I was let go yesterday.