78 Mercury zephyr wagon

So im a token new guy around here but i really enjoy the budget builds and would like to keep a log of the slow process of building something again. Long story short is i had kids(twins) and got laid off so i sold the race car/toys. Fast forward five years and i buy an 89 mustang notch 4cyl/auto car as a base to start with. Car was rougher then it looked online and i ended up buying it running for 400 bucks but ever body panel on it was dented. A few weeks later i seen this wagon sitting at a little dealership ive bought beaters from in the past so i stop and ask about it. Tell my wife about it and start debating buying it. Well last year on my birthday i came home and the wagon was parked out front. turns out my wife thought it would make a fun family cruiser!

first day home

Well it blew a brakeline on the drive home for her and the interior smelled horrible but it was a one owner car with 108k and she managed to pick it up for 200 less then the guy told me!. purchase price was a grand total of 800 bucks and the original manual, build sheet, and other dealership crap was included.

spent 2 weeks like this

Ended up with new brake hardware, lines, pads etc just to get it back to road worthy because the system was so old and dirty i replaced everything to make it safe to haul kids.

Next project was removing the nasty interior to get rid of the mothball smell and find out if the car was as solid as it appeared. car was ordered with the optional rear carpet, ran into a slight dissapointment at this point. Most of the driver side floorpan peeled up with the carpet! being a native ohio car i wasnt horribly suprised but the next step was patching it. is what the floor looked like. After this it was just a few small things to get it ready to drive, including exhaust, temp and oil pressure gauges and my leftover 5 inch tach(ricey i know)

is how i drove it last summer, life got in the way of the engine swap this winter so i rolled it back out with the 200 and threw a new power steering pump on it and removed the spring helpers from the rear. My boss is a bodyman and has talked me into getting this ready for paint over the summer as funding allows. aside from a small rocker dent and a dent in the fender lip from someones door its just sanding work. Car will hopefully be back on the steelies in the rear soon. just have to get the 37x8.5 mud terrains i used as snow tires on the mustang dismounted and new tires mounted. Still not 100% sure what engine/trans it will end up with but being 2.5hrs from the nearest dragstrip has me considering actually trying to make this thing turn and try autocross!

is how it currently sits, i do have a diffrent DD but most of the summer i drive the wagon daily!

You certainly don't see too many of these running around anymore.

I love longroofs.

May I suggest a 300 straight six?

Also, us that thing on the fox platform?

Dusterbd13 wrote: I love longroofs. May I suggest a 300 straight six? Also, us that thing on the fox platform?

You could buy one with a 200 six, but the 300 is a bit big and doesn't bolt in easily.

The fairmont was the first run of the fox body.

A friend in highschool got one of these from his grandma for a while. It may or may not have been returned with seed burns in the upholstery. Also evidence of a minor carb fire. I like these.

If the plan is to turn it into something like below, I heartfully approve

If not, I still approve. Love those ugly old things.

Other than the floor pan it looks pretty solid!

It's the wrong body style, but how good is your body guy? A 7/8ths Wagon Queen Family Truckster with a 2.3 turbo would be the E36 M3.

Dusterbd13 wrote: I love longroofs. May I suggest a 300 straight six? Also, us that thing on the fox platform?

actually a 300i6 is the powerplant of choice right now. the price of 2.3t donor cars has gone up alot since i did the swap in one of my old mustangs. i dont want another small block foxbody and the 200 even "built" isnt much in the way of performance

fanfoy wrote: If the plan is to turn it into something like below, I heartfully approve If not, I still approve. Love those ugly old things.

Maybe a long ways down the road, i really like the look of it for sure

This is cool! I had a friend who dropped a built 460 into one.

2.3 Duratec from a ranger and the 5 speed from a NC Miata. Start collecting turbo parts....

I have an SVT Foucs (Zetec) Engine for sale. Swap would be epic.

Jealous.

Looks like a fun project. 8)

RossD wrote: 2.3 Duratec from a ranger and the 5 speed from a NC Miata. Start collecting turbo parts....

Skip the collection. Just pull a Lima from a Turbocoupe.

N Sperlo wrote:

RossD wrote: 2.3 Duratec from a ranger and the 5 speed from a NC Miata. Start collecting turbo parts....

Skip the collection. Just pull a Lima from a Turbocoupe.

ive done the 2.3t from turbo coupe and merkur donors, if i was going to do another 2.3 i would go that route. while fun i tend to lean towards keeping the car carb'd at this point

So i woke up this morning to some snow instead of the 60 degree weather we have been having, my garage is non insulated so i decided to just take a drive out to work and talk to my boss about seam sealer. he handed me this Hes been keeping it on the shelf for his nova project but he figured i wouldnt need a lot to finish this. The car will get a carpet kit eventually but its not high on the list of prioritys at this point. Will probably just bedline the floors and keep driving it. when its nice out its so much better then my winter beater is too drive!

I may have missed it but engine and trans combo is in it right now? I like this thing.

crankwalk wrote: I may have missed it but engine and trans combo is in it right now? I like this thing.

200ci i6/c4/3.08 open diff.

Best 4 dollar mod ever, universal exhaust hanger to replace the one i removed on the hitch! no more tailpipe rattle!

I say a 351W with a c6 and a big shot of nitrous.

crankwalk wrote: I say a 351W with a c6 and a big shot of nitrous.

That was the first thought, id really like a 460 but then the car would never turn again!

finally applied the seam sealer and that stuff is horrible smelling! Havnt done much else, helping a co workers daughter out by doing the engine swap in her trans am after work has killed my free time! Did find out that i need to put the steelies or atleast a better offset rear wheel on it, cant put more then 200lbs in the back or the tires rub since i cut out the spring helpers

i lack the patience to do this in large portions, but i have the 2 bad spots in the quarter smoothed enough to make me happy. one more to go before i move to the door.

is how it sits now, this is going to be a long summer of the car slowly being covered in primer!

Good job. A little here and a little there and it adds up over time.

Well its back in the garage while i try to figure out what i want to do with it. Avoided getting hit head on by a lady on her cell phone in a suburban but hit a huge pothole that found the weak points in a 36 year old suspension. I can keep it a cruiser and just throw new tie rods on it but the drag racer in me says i should hunt for a manual steering donor and forget turning! so today i just worked on cleaning some of the leftover glue from insulation out. nothing to exciting! before after

This picture just makes my garage appear larger then it is, backed clear in against my toolboxes