Hello. New to the Group and if I piss any one off or make any faux paux remarks please blame Mark T; he informed me of the group! My name is Darren, 49 years young and I reside in Olathe, KS. From the age of 19 to about 29 I was an ASE mechanic and loved the electrical troubleshooting of cars. Engines and drive-trains I was a bit lost on. The rest was no problem; brakes, suspension, AC, since most of the guys I worked with over the years feared electrical issues! At age 30 I became a Respiratory The******, which in reality was an easy transition... many auto systems work similar to our own anatomy. 10 years ago I started my own business, Cinema at Home. This is a custom electronics integration business; mostly related to home theater, home automation, sound systems and the like. I do this full time and still put hours in as a Resp. The****** a couple nights a month. On a whim, or a desire rather I purchased a decent-shape 54' Mercury Monterey 2D last fall when I saw a picture of it on Craigslist. Was love at first sight! I know I paid too much.. but for some reason this car spoke to me. Last couple owners had cleaned it up, filled a few holes, replaced gl***, replaced a fender and a few other odds-n-ends. The interior door panels, heater controls, headliner, etc. had been removed...many parts came with the car in several boxes. The seats were from a late model GM, Grand Am I am guessing. YUCK! Those are now gone! The motor had also been changed out to a Chevy 350 SB with a 700r4 ****** with a fuel cell. The guy I bought the car from found old photos from a previous owner of the car sitting in a field and quite a few pics of them doing body work/paint to the car. That was a bonus! Since I took possession of the car (or rather it possesses me) I have: - replaced upper/lower control arm bushings - replaced tie rods - replaced sway bar bushings - installed Aerostar Coil springs (original springs had been cut by an 1" or so, were weak so I discarded them) - 3" Rear Leaf Spring Drop Kit (Block type) - installed Rear Air Shocks - modified an electric bench seat and rear seat from a 56' Packard to fit (ready for upholstery) - prepped and painted Chevy 350/400 Engine to be installed - found original sunvisors, radio, tailight bezels, replacement taillight lenses and a few other hard to find pieces. THANKS to HAMB! My next step is to do a Front Power Disc Brake conversion. I would like to drop the front end even more, so I was considering purchasing Granada Spindles (already modified) and brake kit from an on-line source recommended by some HAMB folks. My question mainly is: Should I go with the 1.5" or 2.5" dropped Granada Spindles? I am NOT looking for more work for myself, like having to modify this because I did that, and so on. Just an easy (as can be - if that's possible) turn key solution that is safe, driveable and compatible with the Aerostar Coils I just put in. Thank you all in advance!!!! Darren
Darren, welcome from So Cal. Sounds like it will be a great car when you're done. I'm no help with the brakes as I'm running LTD brakes on mine. Post up some pics when you get a chance.
Welcome, I am pretty good at working on brakes but I decided to keep the drums so I can't help you with the Granada set up. Anyway there is a wealth of knowledge here and plenty of guys to help on a daily basis.
Look up Nascardave (www.dropnstop.com) here on the hamb, he has all the Granada spindles, Power disc brakes. I got mine from him and I also did the Aerostar spring. I love the stance on my 55. Welcome to the group and good luck with the project. Pic's would be great.
The one with the black wall tire is the after, I just put some new one in with my new rims & tires. They are also after
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