Okay, so I know some of you will frown on this, but I am a ******** Merc guy to the heart...I just want a reliable daily driver... I spent a few hours out in the garage tonight, and I have the Merc 4 inches closer to being in place. The the welding up of all the floor areas begins soon, when I make sure the ch***is is square underneath the Merc body....Ray, you know what I'm talking about... The only area that bothers me is the rocker/frame area up by the firewall...I may have to notch the Lincoln frame rails slightly to accept the Merc body. Here are the pics that show what I did tonite; I welcome comments...
Here's another shot, looking at where the firewall meets the frame...both sides are close, the Lincoln ch***is was almost the same width as the cut up Merc rockers (60")...
MercMan. That's looking cool. Kudos for using a Ford-family ch***is, it's the Olds/Caprice/Chevelle ch***is swaps that bother me. It's awesome you're going to use it for a daily. Er, I mean, I'm pissed. You can only make it up to me by offering me a ride when it's finished!
Here is a shot of the firewall. I am trying to retain the stock Lincoln brake booster/gas pedal/computer location, and will adapt the Merc firewall to the stock Lincoln locations...
Here's a shot of how the rear floor area behind the back seat is matching up...not bad for guessing and then cutting, huh? We're gettin' close, now!
So you're keeping the EFI motor, eh? Makes sense for a daily rat! Cool pics...you're making progress...won't be long now! Hope to see you soon!
Not to try to burst your bubble, but a friend of mine bought a Merc project on a Lincoln Ch***is and Alto the wheelbase was the same (or damn close) when he went to try to put the front sheetmetal on there was no room for the radiator or hood latch plate because the engine sits forward of the firewall alot. His still had the stock merc floorpans and he wound up putting a stock Ch***is back under it. I hope your situation is different. Looks good. Billy
I really, REALLY want to retain the FI, I am framiliar with them to a point after having several, (1988 Cougar, 5.0 FI, 1990 Town Car FI, and now 1987 Town Car FI) so I think I know what makes 'em tick. They're hard to beat in stock form, and I want a reliable daily driver, underneath the stock '51 body. Just ask Jay...I've been talking about this for about 5 years now. The fact that it is finally coming to fruition is very exciting. When I lowered the body down tonight over the ch***is, I can't tell you how excited I was getting. Sure there are a few bugs to work out, but man...after telling people for 3 years "Yeah, I am going to put the body of the '51 Mercury onto the ch***is of this here 1987 Town car"...and getting mixed reactions...it's a relief to see it finally coming together....the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel"...no joke. What a high!
Cool!! Glad to see it coming together for ya!! The EFI motor should get ya down the road for many long miles with little or no fuss!!
Your Merc is really shapin' up! I had toyed with the idea of putting my 50 body onto a 93 Eldorado floorpan, it had the same recessed seat mounting areas as your Lincoln. I think you're going to really like that setup after you hammer the top, headroom won't be a problem. Keep up the good work (and the pics)....
Billy, I was warned by someone else who tried to use a late 60's Galaxie/LTD ch***is that they had to move the motor back several inches and cut the frame to accomodate the swap. This ch***is is not very similar to the one they used. I have two re****als for this; (that I have thought out well). 1) I am using NOTHING of the Merc's original flooring (in a sense, I can put the body wherever I want it.) Trust me, it's all going to be sheetmetal patches. (Please-anyone- don't ask if I'll sell it, I won't; I need it!) 2) I have looked at the whole engine arrangement after mocking up the body panels, and as far as I can surmise, a set of electric fans and ditching the stock (long) water pump will cure the radiator/fan problems. Actually, after having my '96 Impala with NO mechanical engine-mounted fan and only electrics, I have faith in the power of the electric fan... I appreciate your input, but rest asured, this WILL happen, come hell or high water. I've come too far for me to be able to not make this work. Maybe I'll write a book on how to do this and become rich. Well, okay- maybe not. Gotta give me credit for being different, no?
I'm sure you'll have the merc going in no time. I think that your planning and tackleing the minor obsticals this ch***is swap presents is right on. I was'nt knocking you or your car in my last post, just an experience. Good job man. Billy
Thanks Charlie for the encouagement! It's such a driving force to go out to the garage with a vision & plan; work at it, and then be able to get input (constructive or otherwise). It's hard to have a vision, know how you want to do something, have the tools to do it, but have people doubt you. That only makes me want to do this more. Besides a full body-on restoration that I did some time back, this is my first major attempt at something so radical and involved. Essentially, when you cut apart vintage sheetmnetal, there's no going back. Either you continue on and make it work, or you fail, and hope that someone else picks up your slack and can make it work. I don't intend for that to happen! Nobody I know except for those here on the HAMB can appreciate the work involved in a project like this. I know I am not going all vintage, but then again, I'm 28...vintage stuff became unaffordabe before I was born! I am happy so far, the only advice I can give to someone is to TAKE YOUR TIME. The old carpenter addage of measure twice, cut once can't be stressed enough!
Mercman looks like all is going well.My son and I did this with a 50 4 dr on a 66 ltd ch***is.We had to modify it severly to make it fit.Looks like youre lincoln ch***is is a much closer fit.A couple things to check.It looks like in the pics you have the body on blocks.Make sure you have the weight of the whole body on the ch***is before you start welding. It may not be setting how you want.You may want to lower or raise the body on the ch***is for the look you want.You can add weight with sandbags to get close to finished weight.We used 1/4" x 2" flatbar and cut 8 pcs 8" long then welded them into an L shape.Then welded them 2 per side to the bottom of the frame with the bottoms facing outward.Then we used 2x4s anD hard wood wedges to shim the body to where we wanted.I suggest you not guess at this.The only sure way is to hang the body off the frame to see finished hieght.With the wedges you can set the side to side and front to rear.side to side should be the same but front to rear can be different thats up to you.You can raise or lower depending on how ya want the car to look.One more thing we noticed was the front sparkplug on the motor can be no farther ahead of the front wheel centerline or you will not have enough room for the radiator and lower hood apron.Hope this helps.---FEDER
Thanks Feder, again, for your insights and the phone conversation we had. I have taken all my previous posts and conversations with friends of the HAMB into consideration while attempting this... I have been thinking about what you told me on the phone and what you went thru with your son's car; what with moving the motor back and whatnot, but I am trying really hard to keep things in their respective places. If I have some radiator-to-fan clearance problems, then so be it...I am not intending on moving the engine back and shortening the driveshaft; etc...that is out of my scope and range of ability. I may as well use the Buick/Olds/Pontiac ch***is that seems to be so popular. For now, from what I see, this (the 1987 Lincoln ch***is) is a viable swap, that should prevent such necessities. I may be wrong, but tonight when I mocked up the fender, short of having to dump the factory water pump and go with an electric fans, I can't see any reason why I couldn't keep the stock location of the little 302 and have it work with the '51 hood latch/grille surround/core support...the small and thin electric fans they have out should fix this problem. Now, about that 460 I have that I was thinking of swapping int the Merc...hmmmm....maybe not....
Hey Mercman, I own a chopped 50 Merc 4dr with a 79 Cougar ch***is swap. Channel'd 3 inches over the frame and running a beefed up 302. I did not like it at first but was forced to use a large spal electric fan, I by p***ed the temp sensor and set the fan up on a on / off switch. She has 90K plus miles and not had a problem. Do you know if the 85 Lincoln town car is wider than the 87 to 90 Lincoln? My brother bought a 85 Lincoln with 40K miles may make a good donar car. Good luck with your project and keep us informed on the progress. Happy Trails, Mick
I have a buddy that does the late model swap thing all the time. The way I look at it you are going to cut the whole thing up anyway so if something doesn't work just "quite right" there is always some way to engineer around it. His latest swap was putting a '49 Buick convertible on a 94 Caprice ch***is. He had to lengthen the Caprice ch***is 9 inches to fit the wheelbase. Since it was a straight 8 car he had to extend the firewall several inches so the motor didn't look goofy up front by itself. Pretty cool considering the car started as 3 chunks of nothing with the bottom 10 inches rusted off! Now it runs and drives! He is a glutton for punishment though.
Hey Stray: the 1980 - 1997 Lincoln Town cars all have the same 117.8" ch***is...so any of those years should be the same... I thought about a 77-79 LTD II or Cougar (you'd have to use the four door or lengthen the 2 door frame as it's only 114") But the 4 doors are hard to find...around here... did you use the 4 door ch***is? Thanks for your input!
Shouldn't you be at work, kev? Thanks for callin' sunday Looks good man, I'll have to come by this weekend to get free beer, I mean help. Jason
I'm on lunch...& leaving... Sorry about sunday, but I couldn't stay out in the garage too long, so I didn't think it would be worth it to call you over for an hour or so...
I'm glad to see that you're turning it in to your daily because they weren't meant to sit. I have a 49 Merc that I want to do someday when I get more confident with my building skills. I am very interested in your project because I too want to use mine for almost everyday use. I am still toying with late model swap vs. original frame. My plans call for a 390 though so it changes the game a little. Keep us updated.
[ QUOTE ] I really, REALLY want to retain the FI, I am framiliar with them to a point after having several, (1988 Cougar, 5.0 FI, 1990 Town Car FI, and now 1987 Town Car FI) so I think I know what makes 'em tick. [/ QUOTE ] Well, well, well, isn't this good news. A local HAMB bud that knows alittle bit about my daily driver (Town Car)in case of mechanical issues. I gotta give ya credit for attempting what I consider a huge project. Kudo's bud. I wanna come over with Jason this weekend and see it in person I'll wear work clothes and help BTW Got any bits and pieces left over from the body of the doner Lincoln?
Yes I was lucky enough to find a 79 four door. The Lady came into the body shop and was wanting to sell her car for it was a rusted and hit in the rear fender $250. We thought it was a little high until we looked at the odometer, and noticed it had only 27K miles. I bought it! "God works in mysterious ways." Happy Trails, Mick
Denise: I have a small few remaining items...anything of value was either sold off or I'm keeping in case I need...I just gave the power moonroof away last weekend... The rest of the car body was cut off and s****ped...it wasn't in the greatest shape... What are you looking for? Drop by if you'd like Saturday!
Stray: Man, I would have jumped on that too. Would have been easier to put the 460 in it! You have any pics?
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