1978 Mercury Colony Park

You can tuck the bumpers, or leave them and laugh at anybody who hits your chrome steel 5 mph bumpers in a modern car.

Thw8, I found the receipt from the dive bar we went to, it was called the Dew Drop Inn. Lisa thought that name was perfect for it.

dculberson wrote: Thw8, I found the receipt from the dive bar we went to, it was called the Dew Drop Inn. Lisa thought that name was perfect for it.

Yeah, I did notice the name etched into the tables. Very interesting place to say the least. I tried to describe the location to my buddy and he rattled off the name it used to be called and mumbled something about a shooting spree. We were many beers in so I don't recall exactly what he was talking about ;)

JThw8 wrote: I tried to describe the location to my buddy and he rattled off the name it used to be called and mumbled something about a shooting spree.

That does not surprise me one bit.

I knew that paint would shine up!

Hoop wrote: I knew that paint would shine up!

Shined up pretty good. There's still a lot of burn through in spots but it looks aged without looking abandoned now.

New heater core installed...30 minutes with farting around for cleaning dirty parts while they were out. I love old cars.

I vote no to the bumper tuck. That wagon is awesome....sure wish I had ended up with it. I like the paint too....I'd probably try to do something with the woodgrain and maybe wheels, but that's about it.

Cotton wrote: I vote no to the bumper tuck. That wagon is awesome....sure wish I had ended up with it. I like the paint too....I'd probably try to do something with the woodgrain and maybe wheels, but that's about it.

Yeah, Im reconsidering the tuck right now. This thing is turning out so clean Im trying to keep any mods reversible at this point.

On the list right now is:

New headliner (reed material for now, maybe back to stock later)

Fix door handles, these are seemingly impossible to find, I need the plastic base for the arm rests and switches, At this point I think Im going to try to salvage mine by fiberglass reinforcing them from the back and then repaint them with SEM

New woodgrain, leaning toward a bamboo veneer (again, beach theme) but still not sure

Air ride :)

Something with the wheels although the stock hubcaps are in mint condition and growing on me.

And if I really loose my mind....MORE POWER....this thing is kinda a slug, might just see what I can do to wake up the stock 400 a bit.

JThw8 wrote:

Cotton wrote: I vote no to the bumper tuck. That wagon is awesome....sure wish I had ended up with it. I like the paint too....I'd probably try to do something with the woodgrain and maybe wheels, but that's about it.

Yeah, Im reconsidering the tuck right now. This thing is turning out so clean Im trying to keep any mods reversible at this point.

It is a '78 Mercury wagon it is never going to valuable. I say chop away.

Oh and I got to drive her to work today, heat is working well.

Got to meet up with Dan (914Driver) and deliver his new toy. It's odd, he and I have both been around here so long it was weird to think this was the first time we met.

Now that it's not weighed down with everything in the back the need for lowering is even more apparent, the thing's got 4x4 status right now.

93EXCivic wrote:

JThw8 wrote:

Cotton wrote: I vote no to the bumper tuck. That wagon is awesome....sure wish I had ended up with it. I like the paint too....I'd probably try to do something with the woodgrain and maybe wheels, but that's about it.

Yeah, Im reconsidering the tuck right now. This thing is turning out so clean Im trying to keep any mods reversible at this point.

It is a '78 Mercury wagon it is never going to valuable. I say chop away.

You'd be surprised, in the small but active world of wagon aficionados even the malaise era wagons are starting to bring good money. Although they aren't a bunch of purists so tastefully modified is always acceptable.

JThw8 wrote:

93EXCivic wrote:

JThw8 wrote:

Cotton wrote: I vote no to the bumper tuck. That wagon is awesome....sure wish I had ended up with it. I like the paint too....I'd probably try to do something with the woodgrain and maybe wheels, but that's about it.

Yeah, Im reconsidering the tuck right now. This thing is turning out so clean Im trying to keep any mods reversible at this point.

It is a '78 Mercury wagon it is never going to valuable. I say chop away.

You'd be surprised, in the small but active world of wagon aficionados even the malaise era wagons are starting to bring good money. Although they aren't a bunch of purists so tastefully modified is always acceptable.

Yeah good wagons are going up in value. You got a smoking deal on this one.

I have a 72 LTD 4 door and you are running into the same kinds of things I am...door handles, trim, wagon/sedan specific stuff is really hard to come by. I couldn't find repro bumpers for the LTD, and NOS was $$$$, so I ended up getting a clean front bumper out of a junkyard in Nevada. Up to this point I was used to working on pretty common old stuff like TAs, square body GM trucks, Chevelles, etc, so the lack of parts availability for the LTD has been an eye opener. It's worth it though....for some reason I love driving thes old land yachts.

Yeah, big ford stuff from the 70s doesn't exist...its all used hunting. Keep me posted on what you are looking for if I run across any of it in my searches I will pass it along.

Ok, this one is very off the wall and probably just the rum talkin but I thought I'd see what folks thought. Been collecting stickers on the back windows of places the car has been. Went looking for some vintage looking stuff to represent the states traveled through and fell down a rabbit hole of interesting vintage stickers.

To hell with wood siding, what if I did the "woodgrain" areas all in vintage stickers? Travel stickers, beer stickers, political bumper stickers, just all era correct stickers (with some GRM hid in there here and there of course) Seems like it would be a fun way to deal with the wood siding, and allow for ongoing growth of that particular theme.

SWMBO isnt opposed to the idea, just not quite sure about it. I figure it could at least be fun for awhile and its definitely no worse than what is there now.

In reply to JThw8:

I approve. I think that would look badass. I would think with it bagged on some sweet wheels that you could have something really awesome there.

A little late but tuck those bumpers. Just do it...

singleslammer wrote: In reply to JThw8: I approve. I think that would look badass. I would think with it bagged on some sweet wheels that you could have something really awesome there. A little late but tuck those bumpers. Just do it...

I have this vision of a weathered travel trunk with all the destination stickers in my head only in station wagon form. The patina'd brown paint is my "leather" travel trunk, now it needs its stickers.

It's one of those things that I may do on a trial basis because it's quick and relatively cheap and if I hate it or the next owner hates it then hey it needed to be stripped for new wood anyway.

A little free time today, time to stop talking about stuff and do some things.

Started with a tune up, fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, rotor. Seems to run a bit smoother now, still a hair rough at idle. Power delivery seems to be better as well.

I started poking around to figure out where to mount the air ride components. I could have put them where the back jump seats are but I really dont want to loose those. On the passenger side rear there is a big compartment for the spare tire, thought about pulling the spare and taking my chances but then I wondered what was under all that trim on the drivers side.

Lo and behold a big old empty space perfect for the tank and compressors, heck I might get a bigger tank now.

Then I got tired of getting tangled up in the falling headliner so out it comes.

Install started on the new headliner. Kinda liking the look so far, fiddly work to get it in there, tried tying it off to the old headliner bows but that just made it look even wavier so I ran the sides a little long and then let them tension in under the trim so they all act as their own bows. That seems to be working well. Still a little wavy but this is suppose to have a natural "tiki hut" look to it so it's ok.

Looks good! I vote Yes on the sticker bombing

You have a really interesting artistic eye for cars, sir. YFH and (especially) the Wartburg are fantastic cars in their own right, but vintage stickerbomb?

I'm in.

ValuePack wrote: You have a really interesting artistic eye for cars, sir. YFH and (especially) the Wartburg are fantastic cars in their own right, but *vintage* stickerbomb? I'm in.

Thanks for the compliment. It's the frustrated artist in me. I want to be artistic but the only medium I have any talent for is cars :)

I think I may go for the vintage stickerbomb, the plan will be to strip the old woodgrain and lay down a cheap layer of white vinyl (I have plenty of that here) then stickerbomb over it so if I ever want to change it (or the next owner does) it can peel off in sheets rather than one sticker at a time.

I'm just hoping to get the headliner done tomorrow, I'm pleased with the look but hoping to get it a bit smoother by the end.

Headliner install is done. A bit wavy but it adds to the effect.

That is so stinking cool! I can't get paper to stick with that glue. Watching this with intense interest, Jeep needs a ceiling.

Dan

914Driver wrote: That is so stinking cool! I can't get paper to stick with that glue. Watching this with intense interest, Jeep needs a ceiling. Dan

No glue on this one, its held in by the side trim. Since the reeds have a bit of "spring" to them I ran them long and put the trim back loosely then stuck one side under and bowed it to get the other side in and the tension is holding it all in place. I was going to wire it up to each of the old headliner bows but a) its a royal pain in the ass and b) it only makes it look even wavier when I do that.

I figured with the beach theme it needed a dashboard hula girl. Then I found this guy and thought he was much cooler.