My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Got back from way up in Kansas with dirty, crusty Mercury engine. Unloaded it last night and couldn't stop from tearing it down some. Standard bore with almost no ridge, don't quite understand this. No stuck valves, rings are free. Car sat out with no hood for a few years. Unless something is wrong down below, I could start this baby up. She's gonna come all apart, though. No cracks to the naked eye.

As they say, they're still out there I guess.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Before you spend a dime on it, magneflux it,
Ask me how I know ...

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Second the advice to check before you spend money on machine work. Pressure testing is important.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Not to worry, I made myself a little rig and pressure tested some blocks already. Machine shop guy does the magnaflux:

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Sounds like you are on top of it! :)

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Win, Looks like a good pressure testing rig. Looks like it's 1/4" steel, right? I made my first one out of 1/4" aluminum and it wouldn't seal no matter what I did. I think the spacing of the water pump attaching bolts allowed the aluminum to flex and leak. I made a second plate out of 1/2" aluminum that sealed fine.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Tubman: I woulda liked aluminum but don't have any big chunks lying around anymore. That stuff is expensive! I'd like to have an aluminum plate to use as the head, but rubber sheet and the actual head seems pretty good. But I had to also make a sheet metal backer to keep the rubber from blowing out.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

I made a plate that bolted on the thermostat housing of an old head and blocked it. I have saved a bunch of old used regular head gaskets and used them; it works fine. I have a good relationship with the guys at the steel supply place up here, so they let me scrounge through their "drops" bin. They usually let me just take it (especially if I bought something else) or just charge a buck or two. It's amazing what they throw out sometimes; that's where the 1/2" aluminum came from.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

standard stock bore. nice.

Re: My New 53 Merc Engine
 

Aluminum is pretty nice...