Assembling Doors, Installing Trim

 Still slowly plugging away. Working on assembling the doors which includes changing over to power windows and power locks. Lot's to figure out here, but I purchased all of the parts pulled from another vehicle, but I don't have a good guide to use for installation. So, taking my time. I am having to clean all of the old parts, remove all of the old grease which has hardened, re-lubricate, and fix any damage to the wiring harnesses.

I also need to do the beltline fuzzies. I just ordered a set from AutoKrafters for a 4-door Galaxie and am hoping to make those work since I have been unable to locate anything specific to a Mercury wagon.

And, I have been installing the trim. All of the trim needs to be washed up, overspray paint and primer by the previous owner has to be removed, dents knocked out to the best of my ability, and a quick polish. Most of the original factory mounting hardware is shot and finding something the works has not been easy. In most cases I can find something close, but requires modification. Very tedious work.

I did drive it out of the garage the other day, so it moves under it's own power, by it also leaked some tranny fluid, most likely from where the speedo cable gets installed, but I may have a bad seal at the shift arm that needs to be addressed.

More to come...

Slowly getting cut and buff done...

 Just a quick update on the progress of cut and buff (or in my case, wet sand and buff) the clear. I've got my process down pretty good at this point.

1) Sand 4 times with 1000 grit

2) Sand 2 times with 2000 grit

3) Sand 2 times with 3000 grit

4) Buff 4 times using heavy cut and denim pad

Just need to finish up the driver's door, driver side fender, hood, and front of the car and I'm done! Basically about 3/4 of the way done, and pleased with the results for my first time painting a vehicle, and first time wet sanding and buffing out a vehicle. Results below, and hope to post in a couple of weeks that I've moved on to finish up reassembly.

Working on Cut and Buff of the Clear Coat...

 Making slow progress on cut and buff of the clear coat, but it makes a huge difference. The new paint isn't perfect, but it isn't half bad either. I will try to get a decent picture of a finished panel soon. Very time consuming, and a bit stressful, but looking great.

Interior Reassembly is Under Way!

 Started on reassembly of the interior. Awesome to finally see the new upholstery in the car! More to come!

We have Roof Rack!

 After many hours of wet sanding and buffing out the roof, I have finally finished which means I can add the roof rack. The first step was to add the stainless steel strips back onto the roof. I saved the rubber strips that run underneath them, but everything was filthy. I started by cleaning everything with a stiff brush and Simple Green. After two passes, they just weren't clean, so i moved on to my old friend, stainless steel SOS pads. Two passes with those and they finally came clean.

It always amazes me when cleaning up old parts that have 50 years of filth, how much nicer they are after. Amazingly, once clean of dirt and oxidation, the rubber strips softened and significantly more pliable. What I also found was, after 10 years of climate-controlled storage they had shrunk by roughly 1/2". When I went to mount everything back up, the second mounting hole was roughly 1/2" short of the screw hole, and I had to cut new holes in the rubber strips. After that, they mounted without issue.

Like the stainless strips, the roof rack and its mounts were also filthy. I was very fortunate. My roof rack was missing when I purchased the vehicle, but I was able to find this one locally at a very reasonable price. The seller saved all of the mounting hardware, including the rubber pads that go between the feet and the roof. I did find that some of the hardware on the roof rack itself needed to be replaced which I was fortunately able to get from the local hardware store. After a little tweaking and adjustment, I was able to get all four corners mounted and discovered that nearly every hole is stripped. So, the rack is loosely held in place while I work out what I need to do next. I'll likely have to move up to the next screw size and grind the heads smaller as they fit into a countersunk pocket.

Super thrilled to see my wagon with a roof rack after so many years. Once I have that resolved, I will be moving back onto wet sanding and buffing out the rest of the vehicle. This will take me several weeks as there is a lot of work to be done there. More updates to follow soon!