Trolling the wrecking yard today....

jimlj66

Well-known member
I have been looking for some parts to update the '66 200 in my Mustang. Today I found a 1982 Mercury Zepher with the 200. The car shows 88K miles on the odometer, which I think might be origional mileage. I wanted to have a head built/modified for a 2v carburetor, and get a Duraspark II distributor. Is there anything about this year that makes these parts undesireable? Right now I would use the DSII with my Autolite 1100 (cali car, no SCV) untill I got the head finished. Would this work? Anything about the rest of the engine that makes it more desireable than the '66 for a rebuild? If I buy anything, I'll buy the whole car till I get everything else I need.
 
I can't tell you right off hand, but if you had the Ford Six Handbook, you would have a list of the most desirable casting numbers. It's no help right now, but others will chime in.
 
that engine should have the desirable 3/4 v8 bolt pattern.see if the starter is below the oil pan rail.btw it might be a 250.
 
if you look at the right side of the block you will see a low mount starter and casting # E1BB on the big-bell engine.
 
Being an 82 Zephyr, it would have the bellhousing different from the earlier models, a low-mount starter.

The heads have the largest CC and largest valves. The 1bbl Holley 1946 performs just fine.

Your parts would bolt right up.
 
I picked up the car yesterday. I haven’t had the time to get any casting numbers yet, (holy cow, there are a lot of vacuum lines on this thing, I can't find the top of the engine) but from what I have read in the Performance Handbook, I think I have some good parts to work with. I spent a couple hours dinking with the car. EVERY connection from the battery to the starter was finger tight at best. After tightening everything, I dumped a bit of gas in the carburetor, and it started right up.
 
Howdy Jim:

Yup. The DSII will work just fine with your Calif 1100. Open the plug gaps to .045" or .050". Be sure to take the distributor, connected to the coil and the Module, and the spark plug wires.

YEs, there were alot of EPA crutches used on these models to meet standards. There was only one casting found so far that is more trouble than it is worth and that is a head found on an '80 Mustang with a DG suffix. It was a D7xx code.

E0xx head castings have all been fine- just an extra port on the side, below the carb flange. Some have a vacuum tap on the front corner of the log. Both are easily plugged.

88,000 miles is not too bad for these high geared econo sedans. Since you have it running I'd suggest a cylinder compression check. It's likely sucking a little oil at high vacuum. the 28 year old valve stem seals are long gone.

A couple of things to look for- What trans is in it? If it is an Auto, check the fluid. Is the brake pedal pad badly worn? What you're looking for is were the miles city or highway driving? Worn brake pedal rubber pad usually indicates a city car- not so good.

The thermatic air cleaner is one of FoMoCos better ideas. I don't particularly like the holley 1946 carbs because of their complexity and all the EPA crutches and limited tuneability, but I will always take the air cleaner system. The valve cover and throttle pedal and cable are also keepers.

Well, keep us posted on your progress and enjoy.

Adios, David
 
No update yet, that four letter word (work) is getting in the way. I'm hoping to do a compression test on it this weekend.
 
Until today I had not touched the car since parking it last fall. Something about work and home life that kept me away. The car was buried under about 3' of heavy wet snow. I had to take the backhoe and dig it out. I have been working out of town for the past few weeks, and it looks like I will be for the next month or two. I have a large shop to work in, so I loaded the car on a trailer to take with me on Monday so I have something to do at night besides sitting in the motel and watching TV.

The plans are to do a compression test to see what I have, then pull the engine and transmission and all the other parts I may need before hauling the carcass to the crusher. I will then have the head rebuilt with 1½" exhaust valves and modified for a 2V carburetor.

So, what kind of parts beside the engine/transmission should I keep? Will the front disk brakes from the Merc fit on my Mustang? If so is it worth the time and effort to make the swap?
 
So, what kind of parts beside the engine/transmission should I keep? Will the front disk brakes from the Merc fit on my Mustang? If so is it worth the time and effort to make the swap?

Have not tried to use these brake parts (car has the Mac. struts) you would need to do a search of the part numbers to see if use same disk and cal. parts. Compare the disk to a Maverick or Granada parts (with spindles these are near bolt on) to see if dimensions are same. Some type of a Disk brake swap is defiantly worth the time and effort. If you have the room to store you might also keep the rear axle and drive shaft, Master C, engine wiring, etc. some small items may save you some time with swap.
 
Unless I'm wrong on the years the Zephyr was a fox body car so the brakes are not the same as a Grenada. It would have four lug rotors if its the fox body but they are 1/4" different on the bolt pattern on the brake rotors.
 
I got the engine and transmission out last night. I can't read the casting code on the head, it is under a metal shield I have not removed yet. There is a tube going into what I think is the EGR valve bolted to the side of the intake manifold below the carburetor. Is this still a good head to work with, or did I just get my DSII I was wanting? Tonight I am going to separate the engine and transmission and get the engine bolted to the stand so I can start removing all the smog junk to see what I have.

What do I look for on the transmission to see if I have a C3, C4 or C5? There was a wiring harness plugged into the transmission that I don't remember my C4 in the Mustang having. Is that a product of 16 years of evolution, or does that tell you it is a different transmission?
 
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