What would you stick in YOUR Merc??

Looking for ideas...starting to make some sort of plans for my future 49 Mercury (looking to get it in a yr or so) and begin an era correct Mercury. What would/have you put in your period custom? I know the bit about it has a hood, who cares, but Ive been that route. My 50 2 dr now has a 302/C4, and my 49 (going to be daily) is getting a 302/AOD. Not looking to drive it a ton, just keep it nice, good weather kinda car. Im leaning toward a few....

Olds..of course. Love them. Havent had good luck in the past, but Im willing to try and rekindle our romance. 49-56 really with these.

Y block (pref Lincoln) I have a super clean 302 Y block that I just ended up selling on here...would have been a ton of work to fit in and would have had to bore it .4" to get a true 368, but it had a steel crank and was quite clean. Good looker too.

Old Mopar...Not a Hemi fan, but I have a lead on a complete 60 NYer with a running/low mileage 413 setup (not dual quad). Would definately be offbeat there.

Would love to hear some opinions. Id like the car to be placed no later than lets say 60 or so (at the latest).

 

Oh I might ad the one car Im looking at now has a nice running flathead. I have run them before (my 50 2 dr) and man, cant beat that sound. That would be the cheapest route, maybe alum heads, multicarb etc...but would it be cool in a chopped Merc?

 

Would a dressed flathead be cool in a chopped merc? Let me ask you...Is the Pope Catholic?! That should be your ONLY route.

You know my opinion on Y blocks, and the Lincolns are even bigger offenders because you can't get parts for em. Olds would be awesome in there, a definite close 2nd to the flatty. I love big MoPars, but not here. There is a chopped merc running around these parts with a 440 in it, it just doesn't look at home in there. Flathead gets my vote

 

Flathead gets my vote to, even a bonestock flatty feels right with a merc...

I like other engines..but flatheads are king.

 

i dunno....410 merc seems kinda neat and not so common.....easy for a 3/4 spd auto..........desoto hemi?

 

FLATHEAD, nicely dressed even if its basically stock internally other than heads and intake. You don't have to make all the carbs on a multi carb setup work so its easy to run a close to stock but good looking flat motor.
That or maybe Nailhead Buick?

 

I'll play devil's advocate here...
...and I say this as someone who has a Mercury, and has faced the same dilemma:
I don't like flatheads in the Mercury's. Aside from relative high cost to low performance, they sit too low in the engine compartment. They look dwarfed by inner fenders, and a relatively tall looking firewall. I don't think your average bolt on parts remedy this, unless you want to build an Ardun motor...to which I'd say it's too late of a car to really justify doing that for anyways.
If I was still set on a period correct motor for my car, my top two choices would be an early Chrysler hemi (which it sounds like you're not interested in anyways) or a mid 50's Cad motor. In third place, would be an Olds motor. I think a nailhead could look cool as well (but I wouldn't build one of the earlier ones personally).
If I was in a smart money sort of mood, I'd say a early Corvette-looking small block chevy would be the dark horse/ generically convenient option.

 

NOOOOO, No more Chevy motors in Fords!!
I don't know **** about Nailheads, I just love the look of them. I don't think they were ever sold over here, just like Hemi's, Caddys and all the cool gear.

 

I like the nailhead idea aswell...

 

i vote for flathead power!

 

Just my opinion.....Caddy! Hemi is too much of a "hot rod motor" for a custom. Caddy gives tons of power, is vintage enough for tradition (Hirohata was Caddy powered), and looks cool. Different enough, as well.

 

Best 2 Sm Block Chevy Or Caddy Both Time Honner

 

Cad.

 

Cad/Olds

 

I should add, I feel your pain, going through same dilema.

 

I am going to try and put a 318/727 in my 53 chevy.
If you put a stovebolt/T5 in a lead merc and told people its a canadian model pontiac, you could have fun with alot of p***ers by.

 

The nailhead is a great motor with plenty of torque to move a Merc, and it just happens to be a looker too.

The old Caddy motor would be a good choice. You could build it almost stock, with the little stock carb, duals and an electronic ignition conversion tucked away inside the distributor, so it would look like a '50s crate motor.
Always wanted one of those in a shoebox or '53 Stude.

 

WHY ? LOT OF WORK WITH NO PAYBACK IF YOU JUST WANT TO BE COOL USE A NAILHEAD , CADDY, HEMI, BUT A 318? GOOD MOTOR IF YOU HAVE IT BUT EVEN MOPAR GUYS USE 340 OR BIGGER ?

 

Cad, Olds are nice choices, but I would also consider a Ford FE.

A nice 390 or even a 428 would be relatively easy to find, inexpensive (especially compared to a flathead or a hemi), with good transmission choices. The torque and hp numbers are really good. Lots of aftermarket stuff from single 4bbl, to dual quad, to tri-power, to webers, to EFI. Aluminum heads, lots of cool old valve covers (I like the old T-bird ones). Cams selection is really good, lots of ignition choices.



One of these hooked to a C6 or a toploader would be a good option, I think, and would keep it all Ford, if that's a desire.

 

I'm gonna say y-block, they look great, they run very smooth and in a custom with some nice straight pipes they sound unreal.

 

****el rotary... SLAP!!!!! sorry... high school flashbacks

Nailhead would be one of my first choices
Hemi 'cuz I like 'em.
Caddy

SBC... SLAP!!!!

 

f L A T H E A D

 

Wow tons of good ideas. There are a few good Caddy motors near me, I have been thinking that. But in the same sense, has that been done before? I know with a 50+ yr old hobby we are hard pressed to turn over a new leaf using parts equally as old, but Mercillac, Fordillac. I dunno, totally into the idea nonetheless. Nailhead isnt a bad idea, but they have come into thier own alot as hotrod motors lately, which is what basically turned me off from the Hemi (as ChopOlds said) If (and thats a big if lol) I do make a deal for the flathead powered 2 dr Im trying to grab, maybe staying flathead isnt such a bad idea for the time, some heads/intake and clean it up; which point will afford me some time to figure out the master plan.

I have a '59 283, but they are so common (SBC in a Merc) that even though mine would be era correct, it would just get p***ed by without anyone understanding what I was trying to do at all. With that said, I am NOT against Chevy motors in Ford cars, my 2 Mercs got/are getting 302s just because I had a pile of them and I was tired of tripping on them. My 51 Ford Tudor has a 351/C4 and if that wasnt a near done/complete runner Id yank it for an SBC in a heartbeat!

Thanx for all the input...a LOT of great insight here.

 

If you have any balls at all .... FLATHEAD

 

I've been putting alot of thought into my 51 Cpe here lately and my plans are to run a Caddy.

 

Run with your gut feeling...put an Olds mill in there!

I may be slightly biased, because I've owned a couple 394s myself and I've found them to be bulletproof and torquey as hell, but that's just my own persoanl experience with 'em!

But, for period correct appeal, the Olds motor would be tough to beat in your Merc. A flathead would be okay, too...but a stock 394 Olds makes as much torque as two flatheads!

 

flathead is the only way to go. there's nothing worse than an SBC in a car that it doesn't belong in.

 

I'd vote for the Caddy, Olds or you could put a Pontiac 400 or 455 in it and dress it up to look like an early motor (paint, valve covers, etc.). Doesn't the Hirohata Merc have a Caddy in it, complete with oil pan clearanced via the 'hammer it out of the way' method?

If I found a nice, inexpensive '60 New Yorker I'd want to drive the thing, though, those are neat cars. I wouldn't care if it had 4 doors even.

I should point out though, the AMT '49 Merc kit comes with a Chrysler motor for the custom - I think it's supposed to be the 426 Max Wedge dual quad with the short ram intake (carbs are between the heads but offset side to side). (I think this kit was tooled around '63). Of course, the '49/'50 Ford kit came with a Caddy motor with a tripower setup, so..

 

A friend of mine Charlie from Baltimore is runnin' a caddy v8 in his 51 (pic from this year's Mobtown Greaseball).
Not sure what size or year though. He sports a small caddy emblem on the driver's side of the grill.

 

depends on wether you want to drive it or just park it with the hood up so people could see what a cool motor you have. if you plan on putting some miles on it the flathead isnt the motor you need.