(At age 16 and on) Cristian’s 1962 Mercury comet s-22 build thread

[tomb22]

Your doing a great job Cristian. Your story remindes me of my first car and working on it in my dad's driveway. Keep the pictures coming.
tom

[Cris4942]

Hey guys, I managed to get both strut rods working perfectly. It drives as straight as an arrow. I’ve been thinking on what next area I want to work in. Saturday I’ll be working on the exhaust since it’s hitting the frame while driving. It’s sorta my fault is doing so cause I don’t think I bolted it on properly back a few weeks back, but it’s no big deal. I was thinking a generator to a 12 volt for a few reasons. Dim lights, somewhat workable windshield wipers and a small audio system to be put in (just probably the one upper speaker or perhaps two back ones instead.). However I think I want to fix the rusted main frame in the back. I was planning to get an electrical guitar after I saved up some money (since I’ve been interested in a while), but I think I will instead buy myself a welder, mask and an angle grinder to Replace rusted areas of the mainframe. If anyone could help me figure out what system could be good and the other factors of welding I’d be happy.Also if anyone has some info on electrical, my lights have been out for a while and it’s no fuse. Actually I believe it something to do with the resistance but I still haven’t informed myself much.
Tomorrow I believe I’ll be having enough to buy myself a new set of tires. Which will be........... whitewalls. I don’t simply see myself buying new wheels soon or repainting the car( I want to pant it black or white) myself in a while. I think it’ll look nice until I decide to go forward with previously mentioned activities.
I think my priorities are just set to have the body being nice and healthy and having the car running top notch.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement, it’s really keeping me motivated to keep on working and rolling on my car.

[lavron]

I think I will instead buy myself a welder, mask and an angle grinder

How much are thinking to spend on a welder? Second are you just learning? I have used a Harbor Freight MIG welder for 20+ years, I keep saying I will get a better one but it keeps on welding, I am not recommending one by any means just mine has been a dandy, if I was to get a new one I think I would get an Eastwood multi-process welder that MIGs, TIGs and ARC welds, I believe it is a 110/220 dual voltage welder, I think it is in the $500 range. Any way you go make sure to get one that can use shielding gas even if you don't add it till later.

It is hard to beat Harbor Freight 4.5" angle grinders, I ran my first one forever and abused it before it finally wore the brushes out and the brush plugs were basically welded into the holes so it ended up being trash but a new one was like $10, the most affordable cutoff wheels and flap I have found are on Amazon they are even cheaper than HF and last a long time (the flap wheels at least)

My newest welding helmet I got off Amazon a large viewing area automatic darkening helmet from YesWelding, I like it.

BTW the frame is super hard to weld on because it is galvanized and probably over your head which is really tough because you will be assailed by "hot balls" (if you don't know what those are, you will)

Hope that helps you some I am sure others will have suggestions.

See Ya,
Mike

[Groover]

This warms my heart:

"I was planning to get an electrical guitar after I saved up some money (since I’ve been interested in a while), but I think I will instead buy myself a welder, mask and an angle grinder to Replace rusted areas of the mainframe."

A man's got to have his priorities and you certainly have yours.

We bought a new Hobart 140 Mig welder from Rural King for about $500 nearly ten years ago. But in the Midwest at least, you can find them used on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for half that all day long and twice on Sunday. In many cases they are barely or never used. Somebody thought they were going to weld something, bought the welder and then it sat. Or farm auctions, etc. If you're welding thick steel, the 140 will barely do it, but don't make that the first thing you do with it, cause it takes practice. And as noted, galvanized sections are a booger and have safety issues (read up on that, well ventilated area, etc). Auto dimming helmet is a huge convenience that I highly recommend. Angle grinder... we bought the one available at the store at the time we needed it, which was a DeWalt for $79 and it spun and spun and grinded and grinded for years and years. When it finally died, we bought another of the exact same. Still running. If you're going corded, I think you'll be fine with any of them under $100. I can't speak to cordless which sounds convenient, but I'm not sure about the practicality over the long haul. Something about the sturdy feel of the corded.

Make sure you buy a few pair of comfortable eye protection, good leather welding gloves, hearing protection, and WEAR THEM. You are too young to lose an eye. And it sounds like you like music. Nothing like the din of grinder all day to ruin your high-frequency hearing. And if you wear eye glasses they are not protection during grinding and you will pit your glasses with metal frags, etc.

Let us know what you decide and ask for help as often as needed. When we started our project, neither my son nor I knew squat about welding and grinding. We hummed and hawed for almost a year before we finally decided to give it a try. I still know barely more than squat, but the car hasn't fallen apart yet.

[Cris4942]

Hey guys been a heck of a week. Thanks to mike and Groover for the advice and what not. It’s really nice to feel so much support behind me. I’ve thought on what I want to do, but before I continue on that subject I want to assess what I did today. It’s been raining for such a while now that I haven’t gotten any work in or worked at all. Pretty much just need two days of work just to get enough to buy the tires since I made some expenses but that’s not so bad. I found the culprit to my headlight issue! Which is a bad headlight relay. I had it in mind since a few months ago when it went out but I didn’t have money to buy things to test with and I just didn’t want to make the wild guess and get it wrong. Switch works, but after a light test, it proved that there is too much resistance when current goes through. I don’t necessarily think it was a waste of money since sometime in the future I plan to switch to a 12v alternator and the tools I got sure will help.
Now for welding, I’m still looking through my options. I’m considering renting a machine, or just buying a titan from harbor freight since it looks like it’s a nice option especially since there’s a lot hidden. Just need to figure out money wise what to do. Might work on the exhaust and tightening a bolt that I left but I gotta wait until rain goes out.

[Cris4942]

Hey guys I have some questions. I was watching videos on relays and other electrical systems when all of a sudden a thought popped up in my mind. Now the thermostat that the car previously had is a 160. So naturally I replaced with another 160. Thinking back, my car always stays around 190, and when it’s overheating it’s 210 +. Since the thermostat opens up at 160 but the car when performing goes up to 190 it means that the car is constantly letting the coolant flow not allowing it to stay in the radiator to cool off and open up when needed. Meaning that it’s basically running as if it had no thermostat with of course of the obstruction of the thermostat itself. Now in theory, running a 180 will actually let the coolant remain longer periods of times in the radiator allowing it to cool of more effectively. Now, it’s almost always 90+fin Houston during summer (and traffic is bad), so this Is where concerns come into play.Let’s say I make the change and when it comes time to cooling down it initially cools it down a bit but just like the 160 keeps the thermostat open because of the heat (and traffic)therefore logically allowing the car to overheat at an even faster pace.

What are y’all a thought on this?

I know it’s me sounding dumb, but I know that me just trying to question different aspects will Help me learn better

[Groover]

This is not my field of expertise, but I don't know any reason why you'd want to run a 160. If it were me, I'd move up to a 185 and see what happens. Good news is, it's not a difficult swap if you have to change it again for some reason.

[Jims65cyclone]

If you've replaced the thermostat with a new 160* unit and it's still overheating, I don't think the stat is the problem. I think your cooling system, the rad and/or the block, is dirty. I'd recommend removing the thermostat, then using a cooling system flush according to the instructions. Prestone and Zerex make flushes I've used before with good results. After flushing, leave the stat out while you test drive the car to see if it still overheats. If it does, pull the rad and take it to a rad shop to be vat-cleaned. While you've got the stat out, boil it in a pot of water on the stove to confirm its opening properly. With a 160* stat, it should fully open before you begin to see bubbles in the pot.

Jim

[Cris4942]

Hey Jim, I actually did everything you just mentioned. Even got a new thermostat and everything. Got it vat cleaned and everything. Definitely helped it out. It won’t overheat right away, but if I’m having a busy day where I’m hanging out with my friends and Im driving from place to place that’s whenever I have to make sure keep a look out on thermostat. Maybe I’m over reacting on the overheating but most year round car is cool as it could ever be. But summer boggle things up. Car usually runs at 190 so first thought is that maybe thermostat it’s not allowing the radiator to cool down coolant since it’s constantly running through. I think I am over reacting. I’m taking it soon to change the tires 30 mins from my house, I’ll se how it handles then. Just don’t want to have to worry on the temp and have to let it cool down for a while

[popscomet]

Are you sure it is really overheating ??? does it smell hot..puke water...in some caes the needle may be reading high on the gauge,,,but it isn't running that hot...POP has changed the sending unit in the block and the gauge would read different..sometimes hotter sometimes cooler...I went thru 4 units in a day til I found one that make my dash gauge read where I wanted it on a 65 f100,we had built when son was in HS,,,,someone said on here they did not see a reason to ever use a 160 stat,,,,well on this 289 cobra I have,,we started with a 180,,,,did not like where the gauge needle read at times so we installed a 160 ,,going down the road it reads about 165 ,,,sometimes depending on what gear or whatever else it might climb near 170-175 never no warmer,,,so there is a reason to install a 160 !!,,,,,I grew up with being told by the old heads,,,,,160 for summer...…180 for winter for a heater....but todays engines run hotter,,,altho yrs ago I took the 192 stat out of my 4.0 v6 ranger and put in a 180,,,runs much cooler and still has a heater come winter,,so I run it year round,,and it doesn't seem to trip the computer up thinking it needs more fuel cause it's winter and cold,,,thanks good luck pop

[Jims65cyclone]

You say the car usually runs 190*. How do you know, since the factory gauge didn't have numbers? Do you have an auxiliary temp gauge? Could be a bad sending unit. First thing I'd try to do is determine if the gauge is lying to you. Can you get hold of a non-contact thermometer? If so, I'd shoot some temps at the top and bottom of the rad and and at the sending unit and compare them to the gauge.
I don't agree with your theory about the 190* stat holding up the water flow so it has more time to cool in the rad compared to the 160* stat. Once either stat us fully open they allow the same amount of water to flow through them. The stat's job is just to control the temp at which cooling begins. Your engine should run its coolest (and least efficient) with no stat installed. Has the car ever actually over heated, i.e. released steam from the rad cap?

Jim

[Cris4942]

This is why I definitely come here for advice. The car itself has puked coolant and smelled hot and died from it before I vat cleaned the radiator and flushed it. Last time I drove it (it’s been nothing but raining) it went up to 210 before I stopped and let it cool down can’t quite remember if it smelled hot. I do have an auxiliary temp gauge. And no, the cap didn’t necessarily showed steam. I will buy a non contact thermometer and check it out either tomorrow or the day after depending if I have work.

Really glad you guys bring me to my senses before I get ahead of myself and do something dumb. I really mean it. Pops, mike, Jim and everyone else.

Did end up buying the black walls after giving it some thought

[Jims65cyclone]

If you've flushed the block, vatted the rad, have a 160* stat (installed properly with the pointed end toward the rad) and the belt is tight so it doesn't slip, you should not be over heating with a stock 6 cylinder. Have you checked the timing? If it's too far advanced it can cause it to run hot, though you should also be hearing spark knock under load in that case. I don't recall what tran you have, but your timing should be 6* BTDC for manual and 12* BTDC for auto.

Jim

[Cris4942]

Jim, I actually think you hit the jackpot. I completely forgot about the timing, and thinking about it I’ve heard the spark knock you’ve mentioned but completely forgot about it since I’ve been working. I’m on my way from work now, I’ll make sure to take a look into it.

I had asked my dad previously but he probably didn’t know much on that section. Regardless I’ll inform myself and take a look into it either later tonight tomorrow morning

[Cris4942]

Jim and pops ( I remember pops mentioned it to me a while back) y’all are just the man. Literally hit it right on the spot. I can’t believe I forgot about the spark knock. I’ll fix it up after a shower and test it out tomorrow. But I seriously think y’all did it