![]() I have considered putting a 5.0 Mustang engine in it.Ĭars like this are reasonably priced, and can usually be fixed up and made driveable for not that much. And the best part? Being a ’64, it is emissions exempt, so I can do whatever I want with it. Certainly not a show car, but it’s a blast to drive. For about $3500 (and a lot of work) I have a vintage daily driver that has been completely reliable. I replaced the rusty and dented original wheels and rotted tires with new chrome smoothies and bargain tires. straight six ran fine with just a few minor repairs. I tore it down and did a complete rebuild. Seals were shot, and I like to never found the parts to repair it with. ![]() Biggest thing was the 2 speed Ford-O-Matic trans. Mechanically I rebuilt the brakes, front end, replaced all the rubber bushings on the rear leaf springs, new shocks, wheel bearings, etc. I made door panels out of that corrugated plastic they make signs out of. The headliner was falling apart, I ripped it out and painted the metal. While they were out, I removed the carpet, padding, and 50 years worth of dirt off the floor, and coated it with light gray truck bed liner. ![]() I had the seats redone in marine grade vinyl by a local shop. The paint was in bad shape, and still is. About the same condition as that Merc, only white. Right now I have a 1964 Ford Fairlane base model sitting in my driveway. It is not worth what it would take to completely restore it, but it could easily be fixed up, cleaned and driven as is. It’s a cheap way to get a ’60s car if you just want a vintage car. If you hear the call of unloved old cars too, now might be a good time to give ol’ Bert an offer.ĬC 1963 Mercury Breezeway: The Cure For The Heatwave While he was there he overheard the mechanic mention that the Mercury may be off to the scrap yard soon as well. It’s a goner, apparently his teenage son ran it low on oil and it’s not worth fixing. The green Mustang behind the Mercury belongs to a friend. All I need to do to have my own running old car is install the gas tank and steering column in my 63 VW, and it calls to me too from my own garage. ![]() But, I have neither the time, the space, nor the spousal goodwill to take on every project car that calls to me. After all, who else is going to take on a ’63 Mercury project? Nobody apparently, this car has sat for a year with $4200 scrawled on the windshield. Why do these cars call to me? I always wonder how they got here, how a flashy new Merc someone bought in 1963 became a spruced up cruiser in the 1980s, but then how did it wind up in front of an auto repair shop with FOR SALE written on the window in shoe polish?Ĭars like this call to me because I think they should be saved, and because I know I COULD do it I feel some sort of guilt that I SHOULD. It’s probably a massive project in more ways than one. This interior still looks good in my bad shot, but this Mercury has seen better days it’s showing a little rust, the red paint is just starting to go and the rear suspension is obviously shot. I prefer the grille on the 1964 version of these cars. Label this “Typical Early 1960’s American Sedan”. As Laurence Jones previously mentioned this is all very generic. Never noticed that feature until Paul pointed it out in a Lincoln post. The backward canted breezeway window is worth mention, as is the amount of horizontal space between the chrome strip at the top of the door and the boxy greenhouse springing out of the flat upper surface. With bright red paint and genuine Cragar S/S five spoke chrome rims (with genuine imitation 3 spoke knock off lugs) it was obviously someone’s pride and joy at some point. It was, this 63 Mercury Monterey squatting forlornly in the garage front yard under gently falling snow.įor a 50 year old Ontario car it doesn’t look that bad. This is precisely the kind of unloved old car that calls to me, and precisely the kind of unloved old car I know I have to stay away from.ĭo they call to you too? I was dropping young Miss D off at ballet this afternoon and found myself swinging by the other side of town to see if it was still there.
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