It's begun. I bought this truck during the winter. Brought it into the shop in early spring. This week I got it cranking (it was not siezed) an ran a compression test. The numbers are not great but they could be worse. 115, 60, 80, 100 : 80, 110, 115, 70.

My plan is to restore the truck with a few modern upgrades for safety reasons. This forum has been a great resource for me so far and I'm hoping that this build thread will be helpful to someone in the future.

I have mechanical ability but I have never rebuild an engine before (I tore a few apart in the past thought). I also have no body work experience so this will be a learning experience for me.

I'll say thanks in advance for all the help and tips that I'm sure I will get. From what I have seen so far the people on this forum are great.

 

My current plan is a follows:

1) Get the engine running without a rebuild
2) Given that I succeed at point 1, then get it on safe rims, not widow makers, and take it for a slow drive and see how everything works.

From there I will decide how I want to proceed. Does my plan sound realistic?

 

Also...before someone asks...here are some pics.

 

Hi Jeff . Running and driving are fun but brakes are king

 

Love the Mercs. Looks to be in great, and honest, condition. You know about the wheels, and brakes are gonna need your attention. Unless you never take it out of first gear. Lots of good help to be found here. Stu

 

Those compression #'s aren't that bad. You might try adding an ounce of SeaFoam to each cylinder, letting it sit overnight, then cranking with the plugs out. It is good for loosening stuck rings.

Have you changed the oil & filter? If so, how did they look?

Can you take a picture of where the oil lines to the filter are connected to the block, at the rear of the engine? It appears you have the Canadian full-flow system, a pic would confirm. That is a very desirable feature.

 

Pardon me for noticing, there is the Mercury badge on the top grille valence but the park lights and grille say it's a Ford, Just wondering. Anyways great find and you will have fun with your build. It will be awesome to follow your experiences with it.

 

I have not yet changed the oil and the filter. So far I have just been cranking it without plugs. Once my carb & dizzy rebuild kits come I'm hoping to get it to fire. I was going to change the oil & pull the pan (not in that order) after that. The stuff that is in there now does not look bad.

I will get a picture of the oil filter hookups to the block the next time I am there. My truck is 5 miles from home in my shop.

 

That is interesting. I don't have any history about the truck so I can't really speak to that. I have included a picture of the "VIN" plate. I'm not sure if that gives any further information that would help.

 

This is what the Canadian Full-Flow system looks like. The filter element is NAPA #1021 for the full-flow system.

 

Pardon my ignorance on Merc trucks but an M68 is what size truck. What is the F equivalent?

Thanks for the pics. It does look in decent shape!

 

It's the equal of an F-3 which has a 6800 gvw rating. During that era the Canadians included the first two digits of the weight rating in their model numbers. The F-1 counterparts were F-47 and M-47. The F-2 model at 5700 lbs wasn't sold in Canada. The F-4 was the F/M-105, F-5 was the F/M-135. F-6 and above I don't recall. Stu

 

I noticed that as well but my guess is it's been in the body shop in the past . The Mercury name plate on the front is in very nice shape , thats good cause they are almost impossible to find .

 

These pictures are not the best but the show one place where the oil line connects at the back of the engine. The other oil line ran by the exhaust manifold toward the bottom of the block.

 

This looks like the system I have. Thanks for identifying it. I didn't even know I had something uncommon.