1988 Mercury Colon Park

Hello,

This project will be very slow as the wagon is my only car and is restrained by -very- limited funding.
However, the project will progress! My wagon is grungy and has many missing parts. It will be a long journey to restoration, but will a cool ass wagon in the end. For now I'll be taking care of the small stuff, later I'll move onto the bigguns.

Log- 12/2/2017:

Today I have applied a new fabric as headliner, the job was very messy as the insulation above the head-bored had rotted quite badly. The foam even disintegrated and fell apart, even with the lightest touch. Perhaps the previous owner had to get their lung removed from the mold that festered above her head when she owned this wagon, perhaps not. When I had glued the new fabric to the head-bored I noticed the cloth took shape of every dent and gouge made in the jute, I know I'll have to redo this entire thing eventually, but for now I'm just glad I don't have to look at the piss colored ceiling anymore.

Will post pics tomorrow!

 

Was the y key on your keyboard temporarily out of service or is there really such a park where one could visit for meating interesting persons?

 

Looking forward to the photos and continued updates.

 

Keep the photos coming. Glad you're taking this on by yourself. You are going to learn many useful things that will last and help you the rest of your life.

 

It's both actually, a like that truly does exist whether it's in this universe or the next. Plus I did spill rolling rock on my keyboard.

Ps taking care of errands, will update with the lewd pics later

 

I hope it wasn't very much! Don't want to waste perfectly good Rolling Rock!

 

Never drink and drive. You might just spill it.

What's sadder than sad? An old sop with splinters in his tongue because he dropped his bottle on the floor.

 

Pics of the headliner. By the way, i replaced the heater core and waterpump a while ago. But it still leaks somewhere... theres some coolant build up ontop of the timing cover, but no wetness from the gasket it self... Any pointers??

 

Undo all the accessory brackets from the pump/cover, loosen the four oil pan-to-cover bolts, and retighten all the pump/cover bolts. reattach everything. If there's still seepage, the intake and T-stat housing gaskets are in need of replacing.

 

Nothing a little 3M (thank you Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) adhesive spray can't fix!

(ask me how I know )

 

The water passages for the water pump pass thru the timing cover. Likewise, several of the bolts holding the water pump on pass thru the timing cover. In the process of changing the pump, you disturbed the gaskets on the timing cover. They are usually old and brittle and can crack, leading to seepage. Tightening them won't solve the problem. Live with it or replace the timing cover gaskets. Change that floppy old timing chain while you're at it.

 

Lol that's what I used

 

I'm going to have to live with it for a little while. The chain seems to be fine, no slack in the ignition rotor. Man I'm going to have to seal off the cover so it won't cause anymore damn probelms.. a Lil ol' rtv caulk should work


I just want my budget to be topped off so I can swap in a 460 already

 

If that is the case, then draw down the coolant level when cold, dump in two tablespoons of coarse-ground black pepper, top back up and run it for an hour. I swear, it's about the most usable old mechanic trick I've learned so far. It sealed the lower intake on a Ford EFI 3.8L, and stayed sealed for about 27K miles until I pulled the engine and replaced the cylinder heads. Now, as far as the water pump only versus the water pump and timing cover, I find that if I tighten the two upper cover-to-block bolts and the four lower cover-to-block bolts, then say a lot of prayers that the four water pump-to-block bolts are not totally corroded inside the timing cover, then doing so preserves the timing gasket.

 

Log: January 5th, 2:41 a.m.

Owning an old car and keeping it in decent shape requires dedication if you have no shelter for it.

Sheets of white, blanketing the roads, the plowers haven't been dispatched and the roads remained salt free for the time being. I quickly rushed to my favorite drifting spots and had a damn good time or a couple hours. Sadly by the time had finished the roads have been drenched in salt and brine...I love the winter but it truly is a pain in my rear as I usually have to spend an hour drenching the undercarriage in hot water, in order to melt compacted salty snow. This state has the most ass backwards way of snow removal,instead of plowing the roads they shit salt on the pavement like its going out of style, THEN plow... It's moronic, they only wind up making the conditions worse as the roads ice over from the melted snow.

Well, a good thick coat of oil on my wagons underside once a week will help