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Author Topic: 1974 Mercury Bobcat Drag Car Restoration Project  (Read 1308 times)

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Offline jeff931

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1974 Mercury Bobcat Drag Car Restoration Project
« on: June 21, 2018, 06:57:56 PM »
New member, new project:
I bought this old drag car on the internet last fall, and had to drive across most of the country through the US to pick it up in Nova Scotia, but it was a great road trip! By the time I got home with it, there was snow on the ground, so it got shoved into storage and I didn't get to start work on it until spring, which was also late.

Its a '74 (I think) Mercury Bobcat, its been gutted and a 2x3" mile steel frame and roll cage welded in from the firewall back; its set up for a small block/automatic and has a narrowed chevy rear-end (with a spool and strange axles) and a ladder bar/leaf spring rear suspension; the front frame and suspension is still stock.

The door panels, floor, tunnel and firewall are aluminum panels, and it came with a fiberglass hood (with an ugly scoop), fiberglass bumpers, a glass windshield, lexan windows and a home-made lexan tail gate. And its rolling on old-school centerlines with rotten Goodyear drag tires.  I dreamed about centerline drag wheels in high school, but I couldn't afford them! now I finally have a set, 35 years later! LOL

But its old and tired and dirty so I'm restoring (?) everything back to what a Pro Sportsman car might have been in the late 70's/early 80's.

I've torn out all the aluminum interior and got the frame exposed now, going to get it soda-blasted so I can see the welds and work on something clean. I think I'm going to put in a 22 guage steel floor, and make all new aluminum tunnel and firewall panels.

I'll set it up with my Cleveland block using an aluminum front motor plate and steel mid plate, set the C6 in behind that with a new driveshaft, and then build headers from scratch (nothing available any more). I'll have to rebuild the steering column too, the last owner hacked it up to fit around a chevy engine I think, so its all gotta go, but I can save the steering wheel and the quick release hub.

The front end needs a complete overhaul, the shocks are rusty and all the rubber bushings are completely rotten, but it looks like the steering rack has been replaced recently.

It already had a fuel cell and a Holley blue fuel pump in it, so I can re-use that.

It already had a decent plastic bucket seat in it, but the seat belts were all expired.

The fenders are a little rotten, the doors are a little rotten, but the paint on them isn't bad so I'll leave them alone until I decide to replace them with fiberglass stuff. I'll make new lexan windows for it.

Long way to go, and I'm still going backwards, but this will be a fun little car in a couple years; I'll race in NHRA/Pro Sportsman, just trying to get close to 10:00 @135 which shouldn't be hard in a 2400 pound car!
sorry, no pictures yet.

1974 Mercury Bobcat Runabout, drag car under restoration, Cleveland 377 stroker/C6 auto/12 Bolt

Offline Wittsend

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Re: 1974 Mercury Bobcat Drag Car Restoration Project
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2018, 11:01:11 AM »
Seems like you have something to start with. Being diligent and not making excuses is what I've found to get most large, long running projects done. All the best.

Offline russosborne

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Re: 1974 Mercury Bobcat Drag Car Restoration Project
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2018, 02:56:48 AM »
Any updates?
Nice looking car.
Russ
In Glendale, Arizona

RIP Casey, Mallory, Abby, and Sadie. We miss you.

79 Pinto ESS fully caged fun car. In progress. 8inch 4.10 gears. 351C and a T5 waiting to go in.