Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

All week long I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about the oil pump pick up tube, now that the external -16 contraption won’t work. I went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of 1” plumbing fittings, and some steel 1” threaded pipe. The fittings were galvanized, and despite grinding off the galvanizing, the fitting welded like sht. I made sure that they were steel, but it was still a disaster.
Besides that,..it was gonna look like ass.

I needed to turn the entrance fitting 90*, tightly so that it would not be lower than the bottom of the pan. I got online and found two steel -16 90* fittings, and ordered them from summit. They had to come from the mfg...I still don’t have them.

I got online again looking for mild steel 1” mandrel bends so I could make the damn thing. I found th too, but the bend radius was too lazy, and would end up hanging just as low as the -16 hose end was.

While I was online, I start looking for some large diameter pick-up tube from some other vehicle, figuring maybe something like an F250 superduty would have a big assed pick-up tube. I stumbled into some diesel dude talking about how restrictive the factory Dodge Cummins diesel pick up tube was, with it’s 7/8” I’d , and several tight 90 degree bends..

That vid killed the plan to put those tight 90* fittings ( that still aren’t here) anywhere in the new design.

The whole week goes by, the engine is hanging with its pan off, it’s in my phckin way,...I gotta figure something out.

On Wednesday, 4 days since having to pull the engine back out of the car, I call the machine shop that decked my block and asked him if he had some big assed I.d. pick-up tube laying around that I could buy from him so I could cut it up and make one.

He said he did,..but it was in the other shop, and he’d have to hunt it up. That took till today. When I get there, he’s got two of the things from a Cummins diesel laying there, clean, waiting on me.

He won’t accept any money from me.

I get home and measure these things, they are 7/8” I.d. I need 1”. I decide to make two of them, and Siamese the two of them at the inlet. Whether just one would’ve been adequate, I’ll never know..the pan is now cut the hell up, and there is two of those damn things in there.

So,...now it won’t matter how hard I rage around the corner, there’s always gonna be some submerged pick up tube.
those heads are screened underneath,.for whatever reason I decided to make them removeable,...(like I’ll ever be able to get the tubes completely clean, ever again.)

I figured I’d put them in the pan. they’re tigged. If there’s some small pinhole in one of the welds, it can leak in the pan.

The outside however is migged...I trust that weld not to leak.

It does look kinda hideous though...but it doesn’t hang below the bottom of the pan, and it should never starve for oil.

a91what said:

Excellent work Mike, you continue to overcome the hurdles.. but at this point.... why not just do a damn tubular K member?

Click to expand...

It wouldn’t have mattered as far as the oil inlet fitting hitting the rack was concerned,...but if I go to try and put the engine in next time I’m down there and I still can’t get the engine far enough forward.....There’ll be something tubular in the future.

Oh,..and I wasn’t kidding about the Ranchero being my fav car,....And I’d trade the Monster away in a minute if one came along...it just has to be the right one...

Factory 429 SCJ car....I’m sure there’s one of these in some trailer park just waiting on me to come along. Makes me start thinkin maybe I need to put some vinyl wood on the current monster...
Anyway,..they’re out there... 9k buys this one...

I’ve probably dumped that much money on just this new engine already.....
Itll never be though....I’d go batsht crazy sitting in the boring assed interior.

And....this engine compartment....needs somebody who can do something more than twist a wingnut on the chrome aircleaner...


Meh....maybe I’ll just keep the Monster instead..