1978 Mercury Colony Park

1958 Mercury Colony Park Roof Rack

We need some help in locating the roof rack that came on the 1958 Mercury Colony Park.

Not sure if it was made by Ford?

Any help in locating one or receiving information that will help our search would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Chop2

 

Successful day of junkyarding, got a full set of arm rest bases (uncracked) and 2 more fronts (if anyone needs a set) plus some trim for the rear doors (mine is a little mangled) and a dash clock that I'm going to convert to a desktop clock and send to my friend that sold me the car because he was always so happy with the working clock in the car.



I'll be making a post later of some of the sad longroofs I found at the yard

 

So as you can see in my pile of parts up there I snagged a dash clock from one of the donors. It wasn't on my list since the one in my car works fine, but it was just laying on the floor so I grabbed it and a plan hatched.

The previous owner, and good friend, Mental, was very happy with the fact that the original clock still worked in the car. Sometimes it's the little victories that make us happy. So I took a chance that this thing still worked, and it does.

I dug through my supply of ac to dc adapters and found one that put out 12v at 1amp and wired it to the clock, checked the time over a full day and it held time fine so I built a little enclosure for it (no comments I suck at woodworking) and pinstriped it in the same colors I'm using on the wagon. Once everything is dry I'm going to pack it off and send it to Mental and his wife (who loves the wagon more than both of us) as a little christmas gift.

 

I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.:2_thumbs_up_-_anima Congrats on finding your parts, too.

 

Great car-I so love the older Ford and Mercury Wagons.
Would love to know more about the BABERALLY.

 

The short answer is its a 5 day scavenger hunt/road rally from NY to New Orleans (although its starting in VA this year due to lack of hotel availability in the north east due to hurricane repair crews)

The cars must be purchased for $500 or less but the real point is to be driving something either a) old and interesting or b) terribly decrepit

Every night we all convene at a hotel and lick our wounds, repair damage, drink and swap stories. Its a great deal of fun.

Theres some trip journals from prior years on my website (www.misfittoysracing.com) and the site for the rally is www.baberally.com

2013 is the last rally for the US, its run by a UK company and they dont have the time to continue it in the US anymore (but there may be a US company stepping in with a replacement, details to come....)

 

Started some more work today. I started cleaning and prepping the new arm rest bases. Even the good ones are showing cracking around the center screw hole by this point in their lives. The one in the car is completely destroyed so I wanted to take some preventative measures on the new ones.

You can see the cracking here



And on the back



Everything is still solid so I just wanted a little reinforcement. I cleaned it well and then sanded the back for a little tooth. Then I added 2 layers of fiberglass, should be more than enough for years of continued service.



Sadly the SEM paint I got is a terrible match which kind of ticks me off since I took the time to order a color chip chart first and the chip is a good match, but the actual product is at least 2 shades too light. I ordered a can of the color I thought it should have been in the first place, before I got the chip chart and I'm crossing my fingers. If its a better match then I need a lot more of it as most of the plastics inside need dyed anyway so even if its off a bit I can keep it consistent. The SEM stuff does lay out beautifully and provide a great finish though so a big plus on that. In the past I've always cheaped out and just picked up duplicolor vinyl dye at the FLAPS, definitely nowhere near the quality of the SEM product.

I also took a few moments to try and figure out why the rear window goes down but not up. You can hear the motor running in both directions but it wont go up on its own, it does if you give it a little help. I pulled the motor out and cleaned everything up. The gears look good but there's a metal gear pressed in a plastic gear and the best I can figure it has a "slipper" mechanism of sorts built in to keep it from breaking the window if there's resistance or something. A view of a replacement gear.



So I assume something is worn out inside the gear, the one on my car doesnt look the same as this so I think the design was probably changed at some point. Either way the gear was $28 or a complete replacement motor with gear was $30 so I went with the new motor to make sure everything was good.

 

Warm(ish) day out, wife is out shopping, time to get some things done.

So this is why I grabbed the arm rest from the junkyard


Pretty bad, so off it comes.
With the 2 next to each other you can see the color match is fairly close. I bought the SEM color chips and the chip match was Camel so I ordered that first. Not even close, the chips aren't very accurate. I went 2 shades darker with Bluebird Brown and it matches the Camel color chip pretty close and is a good enough match to the old interior color.


Installation is the reverse of removal as they say. Much better.


On to the tailgate window. Pulled the old motor popped in the new one...hmm fought me a bit. But it went in and then I hit the switch and the window didnt move I could hear the motor turning but not motion. The gear was not engaging the window regulator. I pulled it back out and put it next to the old motor and the problem was obvious.

Old on the left, new on the right, they are not the same size


To make a long story short I had to disassemble both gears and modify the old one a bit to work in the new motor but in the end it all worked. These little plastic bits are what were completely non existent in the old motor.



Of course they were not quite the same size like everything else so I had to grind out the gear carrier to fit them. I tried to just swap gears between the carriers but the new one hex shaped to hold it in while the old one is toothed. Nothing easy about it...ugh.

 

Excuse me, but what's with the "warm'ish out" statement?

As I glance out the window and see a mix of rain and snow flakes (eeks) I'm thinking there is something wrong with your pictures. They are way too bright and sunny, way to dry, way to as you put it "warm'ish".

Looks like you had a fun day getting the stuff fixed that are annoying when not functioning they way they are supposed to. It is nice to be able to just tinker away knowing that you don't have to depend on the car as your daily and only driver. Having to get creative like you were just makes the functioning end result that much better.

 

Started the day in the mid 30s, with the sun out its up in the high 40s now so a good enough day to be outdoors. Fitting in as much as I can before we get those snow flakes you're enjoying

Indeed, its almost therapeutic to just be able to tinker at your leisure and get a nice sense of accomplishment at the end of it all.

 

Merry Wagonmas!



The wagon was a big hit at the wife's christmas party. It was parked right out front of the Sheraton Society Hill in Philly all night. The valets loved it and told me that everyone walking past the hotel had to stop and take pictures of it. Kelley still hates it, but perhaps a little less now.

On the down side I lost dash lights and fuel gauge on the ride out, hoping its just a fuse. Fuel gauge was never very accurate anyway but the needle disappeared clean out of sight.

 

Very nice! And I just can't resist:

 

Just caught up on this thread, looks like you're having a great time with the old CP. Thanks for sharing! for resto category post rating!

 

Well Clark wasn't around but cousin Eddie did stop by for a photo

 

That is one beautiful looking Colony Park. I have always liked the front ends on those years. They were very classy and always thought they looked like a Lincoln station wagon.
I still believe the 74-79 Lincoln/Mercury high-pile carpets were the height of Ford luxury interiors. The same goes with any ford with the ghia emblem on it as it had the same luxury carpet and interior appointments.

Very Nice.......:2_thumbs_up_-_anima