[rotorwrench]

The Mercury cars of the mid century era did use a different clutch than the Ford cars. They wanted one that was a bit heavier duty than the 9.5-inch Long type so they used the Borg & Beck 10-inch. It has an evenly spaced bolt pattern like the later diaphragm type clutches. The 49 & 50 were the same with the 1 3/8-inch 10-spline type input and sometime in early 1951 around February or so, they changed to a different transmission & bell housing set up. The later 1951 transmission is more like the earlier Ford types with the narrow 4-bolt pattern, diamond cut gears, and a 1-inch 10-spline input pinion. The clutch was still Borg & Beck but was changed for the smaller spline & new style throw out bearing.

Early 1951 Mercs were same as 49 & 50 but the later 51 Mercs were different. The bell housing is a larger cast iron unit but still had the rotating fork equalizer set up for the clutch. In 1952, the Mercs used the same transmission & bell housing as the 52 Ford cars since both made further update changes for commonality.

The Mercury 885 Holley carb would be out of place in a Ford car application but it is a decent carb for a Mercury application. It has a bit larger CFM rating than the Ford 8BA type. The 8BA type is easier to work on and the carb kits are less problem to get a good one. If a person changes away from an OEM Holley type then the ignition has to be changed as well since they are matched as the Holley Load-O-Matic system. Use either the 8BA with all its components or use the 885 but don't try to mix & match. There are slight differences that might cause problems.