The BIG project thread

Show off your work! Anything from final results to full start-to-finish project journals.

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 4918
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:15 pm
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 12:13 pm
I'm not much of a golfer but it's nice to get out with the boys and smack the ball around for a bit especially on a nice day and yesterday was a beaut!

I'm just putting the low hp model, it's for my daughter so she doesn't need gobs of power. I think it's rated at 250hp which is plenty. I couldn't believe how cheap it was, $1619 Cdn with a 3 yr, 100,000 mile warranty, brand new 4 bolt main block, all new parts, how can you beat that?

Nice sled, I like those! especially the Mercs.

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:47 pm
Busy all day again today. Got my friend's motor mounts straight (as straight as they could be made, anyway), and tested his fuel gauge sender. Next weekend, we'll put the gas tank back in. Then we'll take it out and break in the new rear gears. Finally!!

We used to have a deal in the States for a Goodwrench small block. It was like $1199 for a 200 horse long block. Couldn't beat it, price wise. They stopped the deal a while back, though.

I agree, 250 is plenty for anybody, really, for a driver.

The '50 Merc coupe is about the ultimate car for me. One day...

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 4918
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:15 pm
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:37 am
I had a pretty busy day too, usually pulling a motor and dropping another one in is no big deal. We had to do it from the side since the nose on the Camaro is about 8 feet long so the cherry picker wouldn't reach. It was pretty awkward dropping the new one in with the tranny on it but it worked. Still have to put all the accessories on, etc.

The Goodwrench engine is about $1500 US now. I really don't know what they're rated at for sure, I've seen it at 250hp by a couple of suppliers and as low as 185 elsewhere. Whatever it is will be fine, she's not racing it (I hope) and we're only putting a 2 barrel on it, gas is $5.00 a gallon here :shock:

Yup, a 50 Merc would be just fine by me too.

What gears and motor is in that Ranchero anyway?

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:03 am
Glad it went well!!! I've pulled and replaced an engine or two from the side. It's no big deal, but I would be real nervous around all that pretty fresh paint. At least the big part's over!!

Hell, even at $1500, it's still a deal.

Gas has been right around $3.75/gal around here for a while. I don't drive as much as I used to, and was hoping that the fuel prices would get other folks to do the same (our rush hour starts at about 4:00am, and ends around 11:00pm), but it hasn't done much. Too many people crammed into LA county.

I almost bought another dead car a couple years ago; this one was in the form a '51 Merc four door that had been turned into a coupe by cutting and relocating the jambs. Glad that I didn't, because now I'd REALLY be screwed for space. :?

That Ranchero left the factory with a 3 speed manual trans and a 170 L6; I have no idea what gears are still in it. The owner recently swapped in a C4 and a 302. From what he tells me, it's a blast to drive. Eventually he wants me to build him a 9", put on disc brakes, and box up the frame, maybe air or a JAMCO suspension kit, as well as to add some kustom stubby fins to the sides of the bed. I'll be happy to, once my '64, '56, and '52 are done. It'll be a while. :shock:

I get to start final fab, weld and scuff on the console today!! Woohoo!! :D

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:05 am
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask what trans is in it? Stock rear?

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:21 am
Since we're sorta on the subject, here's a shot that I found of a Merc that belongs to one of the guys in my club.

Image


Not chopped (obviously), just lowered. Still has the original flattie and three speed.

This car is so well preserved that the doors just "click" when pushed closed. No slamming, no lifting and shutting, nothing. Just "click". I'm real, real envious. :D

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 4918
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:15 pm
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:40 am
The only problem from doing it from the side was, first off fear of damaging the paint which wasn't a problem. The tough part was the overall length of the engine/tranny was quite a bit more than the engine bay and sliding the cherry picker on aggregate with the stress cuts in it was a pain, seems like a wheel was always in one of those cuts so you're booting it to move it.

Stock rear end, turbo 350 trans, it's just a nice driver, she can always beef it up later if she wants to.

I have a major space problem too, 2 of my projects are at my Mom's place much to her dismay and I have 8 at my place :shock: Two of those are parts cars so I should be able to get them out of there soon.

The Ranchero sounds like a nice ride. That's a great looking Merc, I always wanted one of those.

You'll hae to post a pic of the console when you get it in the car too.

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:34 am
Grr. A poor surface plus a cherry picker always equals a more interesting time that I had anticipated. Again, glad that it all turned out OK!!

The pic of the front of my house shows the new driveway that my neighbor and I poured last Summer. It's a **** sight better than it was. Wider, too!!

Cool, the TH350 is a great trans, but you already knew that.

That console, boy. The owner of the car has been notoriously cheap throughout the project. The whole reason that I'm building the console is to cover the hole that was put in the floor for the shifter to pass through. He wanted cheap, and he wound up with a hole that looks like it was cut by chewing through the metal.

He wanted a 302, so he went and bought one out of the the paper, and had it put in as is, then got pissy because it didn't run right. Everyone told him to go through it, but he wanted the swap done fast, so he didn't bother.

I've already warned him that if I do any more projects (inevitably, I will), the car will have to be here. Yep, he'll have to leave it. I don't ever want to have to go through all this back and forth and fitting stuff again.

I'll probably start posting pix after the tacking starts, which will be after I get back from getting my Argon cylinder refilled...

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 4918
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 12:15 pm
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:44 pm
We were going to do the swap in the garage but there's only so much room in there with all the other stuff so I had to open the garage door. First thing that happens is the cherry picker hits the lower control arms, so we jack the car up, now we're looking at the garage door above our heads, hmmm, we're not going to clear that, so down it goes and we roll it out onto the aggregate driveway and get to deal with the rough surface. Oh well, it got done.

Your driveway surface looks a lot smoother than my exposed aggregate, I wasn't thinking about pushing cherry pickers when I poured it :lol:

I can't understand cheap people, it always ends up costing you more in the end if you take short cuts. Bite the bullet and do it right the first time.

User avatar

Top Contributor
Posts: 2206
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:25 pm
Location: Culver City, CA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:56 pm
I don't think I have a pic of the driveway before we poured it... Oh wait, yes I do!! It's kind of a crappy pic, taken after my neighbor and I towed my panel truck home last June, after it sat in the desert at another friend's place for two years. Best thing I've done to this house so far!! That and the lawn.

Image


I was thinking about EXACTLY that (cherry picker) when we poured...

"I can't understand cheap people, it always ends up costing you more in the end if you take short cuts. Bite the bullet and do it right the first time."

Yep. If there's one question that I hate, it's the question that usually starts with "Can't I just..?", after I've explained something. My answer almost always another question: "How many times do you want to do this?"

I don't mean to sound cocky, or come off like a snob, but I've found that more often than not, you really do get what you pay for.
PreviousNext

Return to Completed & In Progress Member Projects

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 69 guests