Second Wind: the 200mph Merkur

[4-barrel Mike]

For those of you who have been following along (Thanks, Geo!   ) and wondering; there is a certain madness to my method: tonight, installing the trans tunnel fabbed last night.

With the rear part of the tunnel laying on and overlapping the still attached portions of the interior tunnel, the firewall flange is re-attached to the firewall using poorman's Clecos (#8x3/4" sheetmetal screws   ).  When everything is correctly positioned and the flange is tacked to the flat upper portion of the firewall.

The tacks between the flange and and the "tub" are cut where the firewall is curved and the flange is repositioned against the firewall while maintaing a minimal gap between the flange and the tub.  It is then retacked:



Continue with the other side.  Then using my plasma cutter, the extraneous tub material is cut away and the joint is ground smooth while adding strengthening tacks:




Eventually, the flange is fully welded on both sides and the welds are cleaned up some:



The upper portion isn't welded as the upper firewall will probably be notched to accommodate the current engine setback.

The nice clean trans tunnel:



contrasted with what it looked like when it arrived:



And the interior trans tunnel all tacked together, ready for me to finish replacing missing/rusted flooring which is where I was a couple of months ago:



Mike

[Peter Jack]

Nice work Mike. It's tough making old, used, abused stuff look good but I think you're on the right track. 

Pete

[maguromic]

Mike its looking good, glad to see the progress.  Tony   

[4-barrel Mike]

Thanks for the support, guys!

Some progress:



Other than getting under the dash with the helmet on where I could see the work thru the helmet and be able to reach where I wanted to weld, the only problem I had was getting the toeboard to match the curved side piece so that there was a minimal welding gap and little or no extra material on the underside that I'd have to grind off while laying on my back.

But, as I used to tell 'em, it's easier and better the second time.     On to the driver's side.  Then comes welding the whole thing solid and filling a zillion old holes.

Mike

[4-barrel Mike]

And the driver's side:



Mike

[4-barrel Mike]

Some progress with little to show.  Most of the welding is done (just some touch-ups after I finish grinding.

Pretty much finished the engine compartment (for now).  It was painted Candy Blue (originally) and Candy Purple (added later) by Rick and flat black by Rick & Grib.  My poor tired eyes do NOT get along with flat black on interior surfaces of cars, so it has to go.

In a minor effort to low buck parts of thi$ car, the best match that I could up with paint-wise was Ace Premium Purple, on sale for $2.99:



Hopefully  I'll have the driver's compartment ready for paint in the next day or two.

Mike

[Captthundarr]

Looking better and better Mike. Amy's camaro is flat black inside and out. Ain't gona stay that way for long. Now all she has to do is pick a color.. again.

[Stainless1]

Mike, nothing says race car like a canadized engine compartment... hope you bought extra for future touch-up.... lookin' good

[Hot Rod Lincoln]

]


Mike

I haven't been over here for a while ... I like your project. If all goes well we'll be running in F/ BGC also with the Lincoln ( I'll up-date the build later)

I had thought about running a TKO trans when I was thinking about running a 8,000 rpm 302. I was told to be careful running the TKO's at high rpms for long distances ....oil frothing.

G

[4-barrel Mike]

Interesting!  I'd never heard that before about TKOs.  I'll try to keep my high rpm runs to about 5 miles. 

Mike

[4-barrel Mike]

Progress.  For some reason, I took no pictures of the completely welded, but bare interior 

After welding and grinding and rewelding and more grinding, I heavily caulked the harder to reach areas with 3M Fire Barrier.



The other side is very similar.   

Then painted and reinstalled some parts.  Driver's side taken with flash:



Passenger side without flash:



And the more-or-less completed firewall (with 3 or 4 more days work than the last pictures):



Mike

[Queeziryder]

Mike
If your trans runs standard EP80/90 weight oil, then change to GL5 spec which has an anti frothing agent.
Its commonly used on BMW bikes

HTH
Neil

[Hot Rod Lincoln]

Interesting!  I'd never heard that before about TKOs.  I'll try to keep my high rpm runs to about 5 miles. 

Mike

So they were smart enough to know there was a problem but not smart enough to know what the answer was.........       typical

I'm glad there's a simple answer.

Love your project..... I always liked those cars for some reason.

Hope to see you on the Salt this year.

Jon

[horsewidower]

Man, I'm thrilled to see the resurrection of such an important car to the Ford 2.3t community. Great job Mike, I hope I have the opportunity to get out to Bonneville this year and see it run

Bob

[4-barrel Mike]

Thanks, Bob!  Be sure to stop by and look at the datalogs 

Mike