Projects All The Twos: 1962 Mercury, 352cui, 2bbl, Too Many Doors.

Race car is fixed and we made it to the circuit in time for qualifying.

I guess that hub decided it had had enough after 100 years!!

 

Car is looking good

 

Just caught the guy in second place and the fuel feed to the carb came lose and I had to park the Austin 7

Like many circuits in the UK Snetterton was an airbase in WW2

 

Made it home. About 5 hours across the country.

With a stop and Duxford for a photo



And Caffeine and Machine for lunch.


Few things to sort, might need to put some richer jets in the carb



And the brakes take way more effort than they should do, I’m not convinced the booster is working

 

I’ve had a look at the brake booster. I pulled the vacuum line and went for a drive and the brakes felt the same. So to me that means it’s probably a booster issue but all the tests you can do on a booster come back as ok, no leaks, adequate vacuum, holds vacuum, depletes stored vacuum when you pump the pedal with the engine off and if you hood the pedal and start the car it drops a bit.

I removed the booster as the old one had a leak you could hear when you turned the engine off. But the pedal feel is exactly the same. I’m wondering if there something worse it could be??

 

Had all the drums off and other than one guide plate for the automatic adjusters not sitting quite right on the left rear I can’t find anything obvious with the brakes so I’ve ordered another booster.

 

Fix one leak and another appears.


Can’t quite workout where it’s from. Top of the engine seems dry so don’t think it’s intake or valve covers. Behind the bellhousing cover seems dry so don’t think it’s rear main which leaves sump. But it leaks when stationary, is the oil level higher than the top of the sump in an FE? I guess it could be with the skirted block.

 

The airfield was built in 1942 by the same construction firm I stated my first job at back in 1980.

 

Nice shot with TFC's F-8 Bearcat in the background

 

Forgot to mention I did that a week or so ago, they did seem a touch lose but it’s not helped.

I’m wondering if I can remove the sump without lifting the engine out.

 

Put the new reconditioned brake booster on that I got last week


Same as the other new one, 1970 F150, shortened the threaded part of the rod as before and I’ve now got proper power brakes. Granny could get behind the wheel!

Im well chuffed with that as I couldn’t think what else it could have been despite all the booster “tests” coming back ok. It weird as the last time I fitted a booster was to the Vette and I had issues with that, it went back to the supplier and they said it was ok. Eventually I just bought another and it fixed the problem on that too.

 

Pretty sure it’s the sump gasket that’s leaking. The flex plate is dry, the cover is wet and it looks like I’ve crushed the gasket at the rear somehow. I’ve ordered some oil now it’s had 500 miles on the running in oil and we’ll see how long it takes to get the sump off an FE!!!

 

Well done. The car looks great out and about. It looks to be in excellent condition.

 

Waiting on oil pump gaskets before I try changin the sump. Also one of the from hub dust caps has gone for a walk someone obviously didn’t put it on properly after checking the brakes

 

I find that they have to be "egged" so them stay in place. The chromed ones are notorious for taking flight.

 

Sump off. Gasket has definitely failed at the rear.

 

Sump back on with a new gasket.

 

At least the pan drops out easily on those.

 

Cock!

 

I had a hammer and dolly on it and put it on my steel bench to make sure it was straight. I’m wondering if it’s got a rear main seal leak or those silly rubber strips aren’t right, and it’s just not covering the flex plate in oil.

 

I used Right Stuff last time I used Rolls Royce Blue this time as it stays flexible.

 

Sorry to see your recent FE troubles. Keep at it though. This is a really nice car. Not easy to find in that kind of shape. I would love to find a nice 4 door cruiser like this

 

Thanks. Will do. Just can’t think why it’s leaking at the moment. Will get some gaskets and pull it off again. Might bolt the sump back up without a gasket and do some checks with a feeler gauge.

 

After going to the garden centre yesterday to get compost I pulled a plug.

I’d gone up 2 thou on the jets as I thought it was a little lean but have put the original ones back in.

I’ve also bought a rev counter, mainly for diagnostic purposes as it’s usefully when fiddling, but also, one day, it might need it

It’s a Bosch one and I’m quite impressed by the quality it’s a steel case and pod.

 

Stuck a camera up it’s bum. Think it’s the rear main seal that is leaking, I’m surprised the flex plate is dry but there you go.

 

I feel your pain! My '63 T-Bird 390 has almost the same leak as yours. I didn't build the engine, but I did remove the intake a couple weeks ago to seal that up. It still has oil on the bottom of the bellhousing though. In my mind, an old car is going to leak if you drive it for long enough, so if it's not an obnoxious blotch on the driveway, I let it drip. I have eight old cars, and almost all of them have at least one drip from somewhere.

Good luck whatever you decide! I've enjoyed watching your progress.

 

This is more of a leak than I’d be happy to leave, it’ll coat the whole of the transmission after about 20 miles.