Ive got a 62 merc with a 292 in it. Dont get me wrong I love the engine and would love to keep it as is. Its my daily driver and am thinking of a swap to push up reliability and mpg. A local guy was telling me I could through a 90 and up 5.0 302 in there. Any advice on what would be the best modern engine to throw in her?
Your Local guy is right, any 302 late model with a roller cam is the way to upgrade that Merc. AOD trans too.
From the standpoint of reliability and gas milage it makes a whole lot of sense. It could also be done so that the car can be put back to stock with no visible damage done. The roller cam motors make so much more sense in light of the low zinc oils on the market today, they save you having to worry about cam wear and putting in additives every oil change. I think it would make a great swap with tons of room around the engine to do maintenance too. Don
The 302 is a good motor, but using a 302 in that big land yacht is not what a 302 was designed for. You will probably get better mileage by building a big block (FE or Lima) and using an AOD or 5 spd OD. A '62 Monterey weighs in at 4100 lbs dry and closer to 5000 with a full tank of gas and your friends in it. That requires a ton of torque to get that thing moving. A 302 will need to keep the rpms up in order to accelerate that car. The FE would be a bolt in swap on that car, the AOD will require a modified trans cross member. By building a FE (352, 390, 428) or 460 with good flowing heads, a cam with a low end torque profile and a reasonably sized carb, and good exhaust will probably get better mileage than a 302. Of course you could look at a 351W or Cleveland motor if you want to stay with the Windsor Bellhousing bolt pattern. Just my $0.02, Good Luck with the swap
If you want to go with a late model motor a 351-W would be the best and with 63/64 289 mounts it might bolt in
FE's and 460 Lima both get terrible mileage - on a good day. The 79-91 LTD Crown Vics had 302's in them (351 in the Cop version) and they went down the road just fine. They came in at about 3700-3800 lbs, pretty close to the 62 Mercury's 3777 lbs that I found listed for a 4 door Mercury Monterrey
I totally disagree with the above posters who consider the 302 inadequate and most especially, that a big block will get you better mileage.That can be true in some applications, but IMO, not necessarily this one. It does depend on how you intend to drive it AND what rear axle ratio you have. As for weight, you '62 Merc is in the range +/- of many late model FOMOCOs that used 302's succesfully. Ray
I had a 69 Meteor with a 302, worked fine. Also had a 68 Fairlane wagon with a 390, worked better, fuel mileage was of no concern with either. I know, not much help.
93 or earlier AOD. Try and buy a complete engine and trans ***emble that you can hear run. With the harness would really be helpful. We just happen to have one still in the car that is driveable and runs it's *** off. A 5.0 HO to boot. But we are probably too far away from you.
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