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

  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Progress today . . . .
My friend Nigel chips away the remains of sump gasket.

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!!

  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Hi  Paul;  Jeezes you're doing a great job.  Would suggest that you replace the freeze plugs, with them out you can put a wire down the  openings and break up the rust and sludge, then flush the block.  You will need to tape off the bottom end to keep water away from crank etc.etc.  Keep-on-keepin' on.    Good luck  and God Bless

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630

Paul: noticed you have already painted the Valley Cover & Oil Filler Cap. If you are considering a PVC system, the most popular place to install the valve is where the draft tube attaches to the cover. it would require removing the plate underneath with the raised piece to install it. Also the Oil Filler cap you have there is smaller in diameter than an original. Restricting crankcase air flow in anyway is not desirable as you can see by the amount of sludge in your engine. Another thing to keep in mind, is to be certain when you re attach the Main Bearing Caps, that the correct length bolts are in each cap. Also, with a 312 block, it is imperative that you "do not" over tighten the main cap bolts! Doing so can result in a cracked block!.. Just a few of the many things to keep in mind.. (sent to you from near Vancouver B.C. Canada)

Paul

Thanks for the advice guys.

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.


  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Paul,

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

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

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.

  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Today we re-fitted the cylinder heads. Cleaned the faces thoroughly.

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.



  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Today the engine & gearbox went back in.

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.

  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.

Beverly & I re-fitted the front wing.
Took some doing. Chipped the living daylights out of it sadly. However paintwork is my bag so easily sorted.

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.



  Picture taken in 1960. Funnily enough it still looks like this!

1959 Mercury Monterey 312 Y Block.   NORFOLK, ENGLAND, UK.