Anyone own a old mercury muscle car??
#2
Since I am only 19 yrs old, I wonder if you would call a 1979 Mercury Couger XR7 something you might be talking about? I just got hold of one last week, in pretty good shape. It has a 302 Ford in it. The guy I got it from had it running good enough to get my money and then he continued with his mechanic BS'N saying that when I got the Chiltons book I said I would be getting, not to pay attention to the timing chart for the 302. He stated that the book says 8BTDC and that he got the best performance at 6ATDC. I just love to hear stuff like that, cause he was'nt two blocks away and I was already tearing it apart, aiming at tha timing gear and chain. The timing chain came off without even taking the gear off. Just like every other ol' timey Ford I've ever rebuilt. People think it's to much work changing a timing gear, but I still remember how much work I had to do almost every time I went anyplace, setting the timing again, restabbing the distributer, advancing, retarding, and then messing with the carberator till every thing was out of wack, and it still would'nt run right very far or long. Now I start with the timing gear and chain.
#3
Told my Father about this site, showed him my post and he explained the term "Muscle Car" to me. I can't tell you what he called mine, but coming from an old truck and chopper man, you can probably imagine. He says the only thing muscle about mine is the steering. We went to get a new power steering unit, radiator hoses, heater element, heater hoses, power steering and alternator belts, fluids for engine, tranny, brakes, and power steering, anti freeze, thermostat , plugs and wires. He says since we are already putting a new timing chain and gear in and have the front end open, that I can spend the only few days off I've had from collage, putting all this stuff on. so,Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I know I'll be eating my turkey in the garage with greasy ol hands, but 'why not?'. Monday morning I'm gonna be driving this rig.
#5
Hi all.
New to the list, looking for classic Merc lovers to connect with.
My ride is "Miss Lucy", a Hazard Yellow/Black 1968 Cougar XR7 that I have built up just a little.She is powered bya Cobra 289 with Edelbrock Performer manifold & single quad carb. I use K&N filters and Taylor wires. Exhaust is Flowmaster, and she has sultry throaty rumble that vibrates windows at idle. BFG Radial T/A 50s in back, 60s in front. Mags are classic Cragars. Interior is black classic. I have 3-speed auto right now, but I am thinking about swapping that for a higher-performance stick, just to add a little more selectivity and power on demand. And yes, she is a daily driver. Here is a picture of Miss Lucy:
#8
MercAdvisor,
The only thing that is stock on the car is the interior. Black bucket seats, instruments, and shifter. Even the gas tank is new.
Lucy's original color was burgundy. I took a picture of the car and scanned it to Adobe Photoshop, and tried out a bunch of different colors. Hazard Yellow just jumped right out with the body styling and black hardtop. I had the front grill & light covers powder-coated black. The paint job fetched $9,800.
Igot the Shelby Cobra 289 from a VERY good friend of many years who owed me some BIG favors for the help I gave him on some of his other cars. It puts out around 390hp, which gives Lucy some scoot.
I tried a four-speed stick, but found it to be very unfriendly for everyday street driving. Lots of chirp in all four. Thelocal constabularywere not amused. So I threw the 3-auto back in and everyone is smiling again.
All told, I think I have around $19,000 in the car. It'll be awhile before I drop anything more. She's easy to maintain, though. And there's nothing quite as satisfying as driving slowly through my hospital's parking garage and hearing that rumble resonate through the place- and setting off the alarms of every tuner I pass by. They fear Miss Lucy.