Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year.

Seeing the date, and the cold and snow we still have this April second I was reminded of this old tune, Spring Will Be...
I think it was 2012 on the first of April I was roto tilling the garden already. This year, what ground is showing is still frozen solid. Everything else covered in snow. It has been a long winter.
Its even cold working in the "Roosty6 Restoration Shop" unless I want to turn on the furnace and increase my carbon footprint even further.
I'm making a few small steps forward on the old rusty cars. Learning how to take a few dents out using real body shaping tools.
I almost made a "how not to do it" video today while trying out an engine lift. I deleted all the scenes of me using the wrong methods. Would not want to lead impressionable minds astray.

March 11 53 Merc Update

No big news here but I thought it was time for an update in case anybody was curious. The cold weather limits my ambition and endurance for working in the shop. I don't want to increase my carbon footprint too much by running the oil furnace and actually working in comfort. The world is warming up though. Snow was melting at the south doors of the shop in the bright sunshine.

I actually got the new brake shoes installed on one wheel. Then did it over again twice when I found some little detail I had left out. At this point I think I will need to remove them again, at least partially. The old wheel cylinders are seized and won't allow enough clearance for the drums to slide on over the new shoes. Getting lots of practice anyway.



Did I mention we had a lot of snow recently? Of course, you have seen the videos. Just in case you missed them, here is a drone shot from a few days ago. Looks like ideal snowmobile conditions, if I still had a working snowmobile.

Rust Assessment

Shot some video yesterday showing the worst of the rust on the "new" 53 Merc. There is not much good steel left under the front floor mats. Nothing that I can't patch up though. Not many years ago a car this rusty would have been designated as a "parts car" and stripped down to pieces for other restorers. But as the supply of fifties Mercs dries up even an old sedan like this one is worth keeping intact I think.. No, its not going to be a restoration show car. Just patched up good enough to look good and keep my feet from hitting the ground as I drive. (Assuming I ever get the engine unseized and running.) Really, from the rocker panels up the car is pretty much rust free. Its just 3 years ago that I was working on the same problem on the 52 Merc. In fact it had worse rust than this one. And now its a driver! Amazing what some stove pipe metal and sheet metal screws can do. It gives me hope for this one.

Almost A Month

Just another entry in the ongoing 53 flathead project. It was a bit of a challenge finding those last two bolts on the oil pan but with a little help from facebook flathead guys I got it done. Other than a few spider webs I found nothing too concerning inside so far. The pan was cleaner than expected. Some old flatheads accumulate a lot of sludge over the years (no pcv) but not so much on this one. No serious rust either. Now a little more soaking with penetrating oil in the cylinders, this time from the inside, and maybe it will break free (without breaking anything else).

Lifting The Flatty

Its been a while since I removed an engine from a car/truck so at times it was like re-inventing the wheel. Though I 'd have to say it went pretty well so far. No self inflicted injuries or collateral damage to the vehicle. Got the old flathead V8 out of the 53 Merc and hanging on the hoist so I can clean off some of the past 65 years accumulation of baked on oil and dirt. The little three speed manual transmission does not look very heavy as it hangs supported on the steering rod. I think I can lift it out myself if I have to but no hurry on that. It is either very low or completely empty as no oil came out the back when the drive shaft pulled out.
Some video of the operation here for those that are interested in this sort of stuff.

New Year, New Post

As we are three days into the new year (2018), this will be the first blog post. We have just come out of the approximately ten days of below normal temperatures finally getting above zero farenheit for the first time yesterday. A noticeable improvement. We survived the extreme cold but I had a couple of incidents with frozen water lines needing thawing.
Had the traditional family gathering for supper here on New Year's day. It is the one day of the year when this old house is almost too small but we made it work.

Now that the weather has warmed up I felt inspired to do some serious work on the "new" Merc. Got the seized up flathead almost out of the car but I had to leave it hanging on the hoist as I ran into a little problem and didn't want to work overtime. Seems I forgot to support the front of the transmission or disconnect the speedometer cable. No harm done but I need to find a chain to hang up the front of the transmission before I can push the car away from the hoist. Tomorrow is another day and I have a plan.

Thought I flipped this pic but it appears upside down here. 

Engine hanging on the hoist for now. 

Steel Wool and Determination

Continuing the clean up using steel wool and diesel fuel to remove the 60 odd years of lichen, rust and other accumulation on the trunk lid of the 53 Mercury. I'm taking advantage of the unseasonably mild weather as today is supposed to be the last nice day until next March.

Its almost exactly 3 years ago I started working on the 52. It had much worse floor rust than this 53 so I'm fairly confident I can repair this one. Not up to show standards of course but good enough that my feet won't hit the ground when I sit in the drivers seat.

Another Merc For Roosty6

Some video of the clean up I had to do on the new 53 Merc "parts car". Lots of junk in the trunk and a few surprises too.

When dad used to drive us to town as kids and we'd go shopping in Harold Seel's grocery store, one of the popular items to spend our allowance on was a ten cent box of "Lucky Elephant" popcorn. The prize inside was as big an attraction as the popcorn. Imagine my surprise when I opened the glove compartment on this car and found a box inside. Empty of course. And surprisingly not chewed up by mice or squirrels after all these years.