1963 Mercury Meteor Wagon

octanefam submitted a new Garage Item:

1963 Mercury Meteor Wagon

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Congratulations. That has potential of being a near museum piece. If you do it up meticulously, you should be afraid of taking it on an open road. The 289's already in there and could give way to a 302 Boss, making it an enviable sleeper. Looks like all the trim is also there:



If you could get your hands on these tidbits...:

 

Thank you. Plans are still in the air what we want to do but first thing is get it running. Should be a 260 but the valve color looks like 289 but i doubt that engine has been taken out of this gem.

Thanks

 

I'm almost sure, unlike smallblock Chevies, that the 260 was an only child and that the 289-302 has little in common with it, besides peripheral components. A closer look should betray exactly which one you have. The bottom image might just be a 289 with a 260 airfilter housing sticker, though:

 

There's a rare one. Get it running and driving asap. Not pretending to know your kid, but the young ones lose motivation easily if the project is overly ambitious. Would be fun for the two of you to just give it a cleaning, and tune. Then throw on some Supremes and cruise until the next step.

 

I own a ‘63 Meteor custom with the 260. Precedes the 289 as far as I know. My valve covers and air cleaner are Ford red ( orange). Have been told the 289 looks just like the 260 from the outside.

 

If I had one of my old J.C.Whitney catalogs, I could determine if there are differences between the two, through comparing re-build gasket kits

 

Congrats on the wagon, I had a 62, 2212v, 3 on the tree sedan witch was a fun car. I've seen a few 221's over the years but all were in 62 Fairlanes and my Meteor. Although the 289 was apparently available late year in 63 for the Meteor I have yet to see one, but have seen them in the full size Fords.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Windsor_engine
(more on all the engines in the link)

The small-block engine that was identified as the Windsor engine was introduced in the 1962 Ford Fairlane. Displacing 221 cu in (3.6 L), it was designed to save weight, using thin-wall casting with a block that does not extend below the centerline of the crankshaft. The engine uses a separate aluminum timing chain cover, which differentiates it from the later 335-series Cleveland engines that use an integrated timing cover. All Windsor engines use two-valve-per-cylinder heads, with "2V" and "4V" designations indicating the number of barrels (or venturi) in the carburetor. The valves are in-line and use straight six-bolt valve covers. Coolant is routed into the block by the intake manifold.

The design was soon bored to 260 cu in (4.3 L) and again to 289 cu in (4.7 L), then stroked to 302 cu in (4.9 L), settling on the most common displacement offered until the engine’s retirement in 2001, nearly 40 years after the basic block design debuted

 

Here are the differences, including ones separating early and late 260's:

If you could get your hands on any remaining Mustang of this type in good shape, its rarity should command high value:

 

My Meteor is a one family car, I was 6 years old when I first rode in it in 1963. As such, I have collected some spare Meteor parts if anybody is interested. Includes a rebuilt 2 speed automatic, various trim pieces, engine parts.