Im Paul. I reside here in the UK.

I have a 1959 Mercury Monterey with a 312 Y Block.

My car was imported from McCool Mississippi, via Billoxi in 2003. A solid car that required a full interior re-trim & body paint/re-chrome etc. But was an ok runner & solid in all the right places.

I am the importer & sole UK owner. Word on the street is there are about five '59 Mercurys here in the UK.

Currently the engine is out & about to be rebuilt. So Im likely to be bugging you chaps for advice!!

Parts for my car are (as you would expect) are not available in the UK, so I have to import everything.

Here are some pictures.

This is what it should look like . . .

The body & interior restoration took place between 2003 & 2007.

Look forward to chatting & begging for your experience fellas !

Blimey that covered some miles!!

I chewed with the idea of an Aussie car a couple of years back. Leyland P76.

welcome to the site love your car only worrying thing is you were going to buy a p76 isnt many left & we didnt want them when they were. ask all the questions you want there's a wealth of information here 99.9% you will get an answer we also like a bit of a joke as well.

Todays update.

Today we seperated the engine & gearbox.

I scraped the last few tons of Mississippi mud off and thoroughly soaked the engine & gearbox in de-greasing fluid.

Undoing the gearbox bolts.
Once these and the torque convertor bolts were removed the box came off easily.

Note the light tan blob on the top of the tailshaft.
Thats remnants of a Potter wasp nest. The whole car was full of them when I did the bodywork.

Torque convertor removed.

Gearbox scraped & de-greased once more, and left out in the rain to wash!

The engine was then hoisted up onto a work bench for stripping down.

All the components taken off the engine & gearbox are laid out methodically in my garage.
Note the brown marks on the torque convertor.
Not rust, but Mississippi mud from Potter wasp nests!!

A rusty old mucky engine? Ha Ha you one strange dude !!

My friend I was referring to that beautiful 2 tone Merc body!  However, I have no doubt that you'll make that "old mucky" engine worthy to be installed within such beauty!! 

As we say here in old Blighty. Cheers old chap !!

Rob

Correct air cleaner & inlet manifold gaskets.

         Checlk out the profiles section, there's a couple other fellas in the UK. Jim Moody has a 56 Merc Hardtop with a blown 312. Lives near London, in Dunstable. There's another guy down South I believe with a 'Bird. Another couple of trucks in the Midlands. Jim can be contacted through VS57.com.

You asked for facts and pictures about mine in ad section,here is:

1959 2 door Ranchwagon,292 3x2,3-speed man,16 centerlines,got it 2 years ago,did interior

last year,this year 3xdemon 98 carbs and collecting parts for trans swap to 4r70w (4 speed computer controlled)

1 day until we start Midnight Sun Internationals Race here in Piteå and raining

Damn thats pretty !!

How do I check the profiles section? Where is it?

If I click on members it just lists them, but not their locations etc.

Aha !! Found it.

I had saved just the forum section to my favourites, so never saw the home page.

I see there is a bloke called Jori in Scandanavia with a 59 Monterey like mine. Cool.

First congratulations on your ride, she looks great, If the motor comes out lookin like the rest of the job you have done your on a winner old mate. I am curious about the trans in your car is it a Cruisomatic or a FordoMatic? I  am pickjing a Cruiso but only guessing...

I have almost finished my Y block for my 1957 Fairlane 500 Club Victoria and have attached a pic for your inspiration. You have come to the right place for tech advice, I found the posted threads very handy for research on my engine.

Cheers from New Zealand

By the way if you bypass the main page to get to the Forum's your "log in" may not count on Jim's hit meter. Jim, how about it? Chuck in NH

Im assuming its a Ford o Matic. It has a yellow oval FoMoCo plate on the side.

Made in Dearborn Michigan.

Sexy Fairlane you have there dude.

Here is me de-greasing the timing chain cover & Gearbox.

Then the water pump

The gearbox later on received a coat of orange Smoothrite. (red/yellow mix)

Timing chain cover & water pump were coated in Gold Hammerite

The inlet manifold & fan received coatings of Gold Hammerite too.

Other items received liberal coats of Black Smoothrite.
The starter motor, gearbox sh1t plate, lower plate, timing mark pointer, lower pulley wheel etc

Cleaning the distributor

This weeks evening jobs list is to rub down & respray the rocker (valve) covers & air filter casing.

Sanded & wet flatted the rocker (valve) covers & air filter casing.
They will receive a liberal coat of 2 pack primer on Wednesday afternoon.
Then its gloss black for the rocker covers & silver for the air filter casing.

I have one question? I have worked over in England several times the last few years in Westbury , Wiltshire, Arbethaw, Wales, Cauldon, West Thurrock and Ashborne. All the streets in these areas are very small and sometimes they are only one lane and if another car is coming, one of you has to stop and let the other bye. How will you fare on these roads with this huge beautiful boat???

2nd, are you required to convert to right hand drive like Austrailia in order to register the car???

Your doing a great job!!!

In Norfolk, where I live a lot of the roads are narrow. Sure you have to stop sometimes, but often people stop and let me pass by. They like to stare, as a car as huge as mine (18ft 2" x 6ft 5") and painted like a dolly mixture is not a common sight. Though I do give way to others as I dont want to risk damage to my car.

As for the LHD to RHD question. I didn't realise Australia made you convert the car.

How the feck do you do that? In England you can keep it LHD. Which is good, as I like LHD. I can pull up to the kerb & just get out and nip into a shop or something. If I was that way inclined it would make kerb crawling for hookers easy !! Ha ha ha !!

i dont know about the rest of australia but in victoria if its 30 or over years it can stay left hand drive no need to convert it you dont even need seat belts if they werent fitted at the factory i dont have any in the ute & its perfectly legal.

Ooh this is something I didn't know. Please tell me more. Where would this be situated? Beside fuel pump? There is a blocked off plate there. ???????

Today, I mixed up some High build 2K primer and gave the Rocker (valve) covers & air cleaner casing a good covering.

Left things to dry on some old chairs, except the air cleaner case, which I hung on the shed.

The crankcase breather is located on the block behind the fuel pump fitting. Its blocked with a sort of diamond shaped plate with two bolts. If its blocked I would also recommend setting up a PCV valve to help the engine breathe. There are some article and photos around this forum to help accomplish that. Chuck in NH

However the picture in the 1959 factory workshop manual shows the block off plate as well.

I have a breather from the valley cover going down over the bellhousing.

BTW. I bought a new air cleaner element today. Used the original as a pattern to get our local Motor Factors to match it up to. They did. It matches a Russian Moskvich perfectly !

Big day today.
Finished painting the rocker (valve) covers in glossy black 2k.
Also the air cleaner case in silver metallic with 2k clear lacquer.

Meanwhile, on the engine we stripped the block down.
Took the flywheel off, dipstick tube & sump. Then turned the engine over.

Next, the timing chain & sprockets were removed, then the camshaft & pistons etc were removed.

Followed by the camshaft

The culprit !!! This was the reason my No3 Exhaust valve was not opening fully.
This lifter as you can see is damaged. The lobe on the camshaft, it is resting on has worn to a near perfect circle.

Cleaned the gunge from the cylinder heads, in readiness for overhaul.

Sump (oil pan)

Oil pick up pipe

Valley Cover into primer

Manifolds

Radiator

Cylinder Heads into primer

Gearbox sump

I did meet up with a fellow Y Block Owner from Norwich today.
Stuart Vaughn owns this mid 50s Ford Pick up, squeezed into his garage !!

An idea of how things are going to look.

Fitted the painted Transmission pan & dipstick tube back onto the gearbox.

Cleaned out the gauze and painted the oil filler cap.

Cleaned up the alternator

Cleaned up the engine mounts and repainted them.

Removed the last items from the engine block. The oil pump & camshaft lifters.

Oh my godness!! The pump was full of thick gunge. No wonder I had poor oil feed through the engine.

So I cleaned out the crud and checked it over. No wear at all. All tolerances bang on! Brilliant !!

Lastly, I dunked the whole block into a de-greasing tank & scrubbed the grime off it.

New engine gaskets and new timing chain & sprockets arrived today from the USA.

Yeah I will be replacing the engine mounts.

Why did I choose this particular model? - I saw it and fell in love. I was actually looking for either an Edsel or a 56 Chevrolet. Edsels were too rare, & all 56 Chevys I looked at were modernised, customized or rotten. This Mercury turned up in a shed about 20 miles from me. I couldn't resist it. Imported from Mississippi in 2003, it just went into a shed until I got it in 2006. I liked the style, the sheer size (full size frame) and lack of technology. Finding out that the Y block was a popular engine and spares back up was top notch has been a bonus!

After restoration, I officially imported the car, UK registered it & am officially the first UK owner.

This is Beverly - My official photographer !

We're all enjoying watching the old Merc being brought back to a new life.Keep up the good work.

I have some restoration pics from 2006 - 2007. Sadly none of the main body being painted. I have olde style pics of that not on computer but in an album. I will try and get those scanned. The bod was taken back to bare steel, with only sections let in to the sills (rocker panels) , rear arch on one side and a small bit in the rear floor. The car was pretty good generally. I then bought a painted shell with poor trim. Most work was trim etc & replacing the windshield. New bits & pieces have been replaced as and when i find them. The interior was completely retrimmed top to bottom, so nothing from 1959 except the seat frames and steel dash are left.

Some of what I have.

Today however, I with the help of my friend Nigel overhauled the cylinder heads.

Pulling the valves out.

Cleaning up the heads & gasket faces.

With the valves checked & found to be in perfect health I cleaned them up & re-ground them in.

New valves stem seals.

Re-fitting the springs. Again these were checked & measured and were still in A1 condition.

Cylinder heads ready to go back on.

Time to start re-building the block.
Nigel fits new piston rings and re-installs the pistons.
The pistons are again in A1 condition so left pretty much alone.
The carbon build up on the crowns will be scraped off when they are back in the block.

You are 100% correct Gerry. Couldn't locate a new tank, so had to do what we do best. Repair the old.

Meanwhile . . . .Todays update,

Wet flatted the inner wings and mixed up some glossy black 2 pack.
The areas visible when the engine goes back in will be glossy & smooth.
The hidden areas will be thoroughly Waxoyled.
I would have done this today, but I broke my shutz gun.

                     What I would like to know is what brand of parts washer you have?

       For that thing to hold up your Y-block while you assemble it, that's awesome!!!

                     Just a joke, I really enjoy all the pictures and hard work you've

       put into your "Sweet" ride.              Bill

Nice work and great pics, keep up the great work.

Regards 56 Effie

Sadly I developed an allergic reaction to Waxoyl. Not the first time.

Kilkenny? Never heard of it. I like Coors or Budweiser.

Chuck sent me a couple of lifters from his collection, but I decided at the last minute to buy new lifters and use those.

Lubricating the new lifters, and then with a magnet feeding them into the holes.

Lifters and new camshaft lubricated & fitted.

Crankshaft back in on lubricated bearings. Big ends re-fitted & all torqued up.

Rear main seal replaced.

Crank & Camshaft rotated around to No1 TDC & new timing chain & sprockets re-fitted.

This afternoon I started tidying the bonnet in readiness for re-fitting.
Rubbed it down, cos the finish was terrible. Scraped loose sound deadening off.
Tommorow I will replace worn or missing sound deadening & black up any existing stuff thats still in good order.

The bonnet hinge was awful covered in blue overspray, so was rubbed back & coated in glossy black smoothrite.

Cleaned up the chrome trim from the bonnet leading edge & waxoyled the inside to preserve it.

Phew!!

A. Freeze plugs replaced now. B. The oil filler cap I didn't realise was the wrong one. I have removed all the gauze inside it & cleared out any crud to help the air flow through the block.

Today . . .
Oil thrower back on.

New oil seal for the front timing chain cover.

Timing chain cover going back on.

Water pump back on.

Sump going back on.

Oil Pump going back on.

Front pulley wheel going back on.

New freeze plugs fitted and then the block carefully painted orange.

Finished tidying up the sound deadening on the underside of the bonnet.
Any original material saved was re-juvinated by means of cheap tyre paint.
Missing deadening was replaced with a thick layer of stone chip.

Finally I cranked my compressor up to 100 psi & blasted underseal/waxoyl into the sills.

Glad you got the lifters. Even happier that you gave in and bought new ones. Now you can see the difference between the cast and steel "foot" thickness. The narrower ones are supposed to be better but not a big deal.  I admire the amount of elbow grease you are putting in to you project. It should look super when it's done. Thanks for the pictures too. I hope your making an album of your "work in progress". That always helps at shows and gatherings to let people see the process you went through. Good memories for you too! Keep rolling! Chuck in NH

Yeah Im glad too. I must pay you for the postage costs of those Chuck. Please let me know what i owe you.

Also, yes these pictures will be in an album for Shows etc.

Fitted the distributor. All timed up to No1 TDC as planned !

Heads going on and torqued down.

Engine mounts back on.

Hoisted up with the crane to be transported to the garage where the engine & gearbox will be re-united with the car.

The rear gearbox mount was trash, so a new one is being made.
Local company Walker Rubber & plastics supplied me with a big chunk of solid rubber. Ideal !

Then we collected the car & trailered it to Nigels for re-fitting the running gear.

Making a new gearbox mount.

Fitting the torque convertor into the gearbox.

Engine & gearbox back together.

Brought the car to meet the running gear.

Engine & geabox back in the car again.

New gearbox mount worked a treat.

Nigel re-studs the manifolds.

Manifolds back on.

Nigel taps the manifold bolt tabs down whilst Matt does up the exhaust down pipe.

Alternator back on.

Rocker arm assemblies back on, pushrods in.

Valley flooded with fresh engine oil.

Valley cover back on.

Rear breather pipe into valley cover.

Intake manifold & carburettor back on.

Engine wiring in.

Car loaded back up on Nigels truck & returned home.

Not fired up yet due to some mystery electrical problem.
Will aim to sort that over the weekend.

The electrical problem was just poor earthing. I made sure all earths were good.
The engine turned over nicely.
The firing up however will be done ceremoniously by my friend Nigel.

YukonCor55 (8/3/2008)

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Great photos my friend, it makes the job look so easy!  How about a few shots of some bloody knuckles just to remind us of just how tough a job it really is??  How'd you like to spend a few weeks in beautiful New Jersey,  USA as my guest??!!  I sure could use your expertise overhauling my '55 Fairlane! 

Thanks for the kind words, but I'm no expert. Just learning as I go along.

Id love to come to America. Im 37 years old & have never left England.

Paul! You need to make plans to come to Columbus for the Y-Block nationals next year. You will have a great time. Plus with the current US money trouble you could probably come on the cheap.

Started fitting up more of the front end trim.

Had to add a bracket to the battery tray. The original had long rotted away.
Since fire up was looming, I needed a strong tray to carry the battery.

In went the radiator.

Hooked up jumpleads to my Victor 2300 running at high revs.

There are no words.

The big speaker allows me to blast 50s Rock n Roll loud without the need to burst my ear drums inside the car.

Tweaked the timing etc & then polished it up & took it to our local Classic car night.