Bringing 47 Merc back to life

Slowinski

Slowinski

Junior Member
Hey guys,

This will sort of be an open ended question, but first a little back story. Just acquired a 1947 Mercury Eight. Parked in a garage in the 60s and that is where its sat until today. No rust, perfect little resto job for my spare time. However, after some research, I'm not too sure on where to start to get that V8 back in running order. I have found 'general' information but nothing too specific towards flathead V8s. What should be the important points in looking for? I plan to rebuild carb, fuel pump, water pumps, change all the filters etc. But really other than that I don't really know where to start. So any guidance would be great!

I appreciate your input,
S
 
Well that is a tall order for help. But you will get plenty of help here.
First, you should update your profile so folks know your approximate location. You may have guys nearby that can help.
Second, you should give some basics on the car: will it turn over? how about some pictures? Lacking the above info and assuming it will turn over, put a good battery in it and see if you have spark. The fuel is probably jelly from the carb to the tank so that would be the next step. Just too many things to check. Just take 1 step at a time. Report back if it will turn over and you have spark.
Looks like a fun project to keep you busy and broke
John
 
I would not run it until you drop the oil pan and inspect for sludge and condition of the oil pump and screen,oil back then was garbage....I had a flathead engine that sat for 20 years and had 2 inches of solid sludge and oil pump screen was clogged , I would then check to see if it has compression jmo
 
Welcome aboard. The Barners will provide a lot of advice and tips, and a tecnical knowledge to get your car runningThere is one cavet: we like pictures :)

BTW, does the engine turn or is it stucked? Also, wad the car parked in the garage by its own power or pushed backed in?

Looking forward to your updates.
 
Thanks for the welcome! I'm slowly trying to get my profile in order. (having issues uploading pictures here at work, internet is spotty at the best of times...) Haven't tried to turn it over yet, but the fellow I bought it off of said he manually turned the engine to see if it was stuck or not. The car was driven in on its own power back in the 60s. Yanked a spark plug out, only to have the porcelain crumble in the wrench. Noticed on the plug that there was this mysterious orange sludge under the plug. Not rust, it was the consistency of old dried cheese..

I appreciate all the help and support. I can't wait to get this ol' girl back on the road.

John
 
Dropping the pan on that car is not an easy task but you could/should drain the existing oil and feel around with your finger then put fresh oil in. When you do get it to start you need to immediately check for oil pressure. If you have pressure worry about the sludge later. John
 
oldford2 said:
Dropping the pan on that car is not an easy task but you could/should drain the existing oil and feel around with your finger then put fresh oil in. When you do get it to start you need to immediately check for oil pressure. If you have pressure worry about the sludge later. John
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remember this is a merc not a ford,,much easyer to remove pan as the crossmember is more forward ,al
 
You might as well pull the gas tank and have it cleaned cause it is bound to be full of tar from old gas.
 
My '47 Ford sat for 31+ years from the time I parked it in 1975 until we decided to start it again in 2006. I first just grabbed the fan and turned it to see if the engine would turn over. When it did that was a thrill as it wasn't rusted stuck inside. Then we drained the oil, swabbed out the oil pan of sludge the best we could through the drain hole, put new oil in, put gas in the tank, cleaned the carburetor, put in a new battery and cables and started it up. May seem simpler than some would suggest but worked for us. It was a thrill. Here's our video of the start up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY389S_KUjs Later we started replacing things as they died like the spark plugs and wires, points and condenser, water pumps, radiator, hoses, belts, gas tank, etc. Drove 10,000 miles before we rebuilt the engine and transmission.

My 2¢
 
No mentioned this, but don't forget the brakes. Everything in the brake system should be looked at and replaced if necessary.
 
Old Henry said:
My '47 Ford sat for 31+ years from the time I parked it in 1975 until we decided to start it again in 2006. I first just grabbed the fan and turned it to see if the engine would turn over. When it did that was a thrill as it wasn't rusted stuck inside. Then we drained the oil, swabbed out the oil pan of sludge the best we could through the drain hole, put new oil in, put gas in the tank, cleaned the carburetor, put in a new battery and cables and started it up. May seem simpler than some would suggest but worked for us. It was a thrill. Here's our video of the start up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY389S_KUjs Later we started replacing things as they died like the spark plugs and wires, points and condenser, water pumps, radiator, hoses, belts, gas tank, etc. Drove 10,000 miles before we rebuilt the engine and transmission.

My 2¢
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Wow, that seems almost TOO simple. I have seen that video countless times, which gives me even more inspiration to get mine going. I have a few concerns, I saw that the muffler is housing a nice little mouse nest. Any chance those little guys crawled up into the manifold? Would it be worth removing the whole exhaust system from the car to inspect? Also I've heard two sides on whether to replace all gaskets. One side said that after its started, leave running at low idle for sometime to allow the gaskets to soak and expand. On the other side its just a straight forward change right away.
 
I am a great proponent of removing the intake manifold to inspect & clean the valley. It is likely filled with waxy sludge. Scoop it out and wash the rest away. I used a garden sprayer of solvent (use diesel instead) to clean the valley and spray up into the crank & oil pump area.

Like others have said - send out the carb & dizzy - do your brakes M/C to cylinders & shoes. Probably replace all lines and junctions. Replace all fuel lines. rebuild fuel pump. Replace the grounding straps. Make sure you have big fat 6 volt battery cables with really clean connections at the grounding spots.

Use a good quality lip gloss, too. You don't want to split wide open when she starts for the first time!!!!
 
Slowinski said:
Wow, that seems almost TOO simple. I have seen that video countless times, which gives me even more inspiration to get mine going. I have a few concerns, I saw that the muffler is housing a nice little mouse nest. Any chance those little guys crawled up into the manifold? Would it be worth removing the whole exhaust system from the car to inspect? Also I've heard two sides on whether to replace all gaskets. One side said that after its started, leave running at low idle for sometime to allow the gaskets to soak and expand. On the other side its just a straight forward change right away.
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I was too stupid and too impatient to do any more than what we did. I didn't even know how a flathead worked. I tried squirting some oil into the spark plug holes thinking they were right over the piston like modern engines. Couldn't figure out why every cylinder was right up at the top of the hole.:confused: After draining the oil we did fill with kerosene and crank it for a while to push that through where any old oil or sludge might be then drained it out. Don't know if it did any good but I did read that suggestion somewhere so did it. Knew nothing of the Ford Barn at that time so was going on instinct, intuition, and what little I could read about on the internet. What we did worked so it must not have been all bad.
 
Thanks guys on all of your help! I will slowly start working away at bringing her back to life. I'll take pictures as I go. I'll keep you all posted and I'm sure that this won't be my only question.. The community here is great! Thanks again guys.
 
Welcome Slowinski. Good luck with your Merc and I wouldn't worry too much about the mice up your pipe........when you start the beast up you'll blow the little buggers brains out :)

GB
 
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