On a Mission with a Mercer
/Days left to start of tour: 153
My 1915 Mercer 22-70 Sporting Four is powered by a 300 Cubic Inch L-Head four cylinder. Rated at 70HP it is a one year only engine and was heavily based on the Del-Tel race car. Extremely modern for it’s time it features full pressurized oiling to mains and cam, as well as the quite unique USL starting system integrated into the flywheel. It’s a joy to drive but like all old cars it’s always in need of some TLC before a long journey.
Losing a rear hubcap on the Mercer has always been a concern. The rear hubcaps retain large springs which in turn hold in the full floating axles. In short, lose a hubcap, the axle will pop out and you’re on the side of the road. There was no way to properly tighten them to my satisfaction so Loctite was always utilized. Lucky for me it turned out the hubcaps were actually incorrect for my early Mercer and the original units had a locking mechanism. Unlucky for me , basically none exist in useable condition so I had to make them.
When going through all the brakes the emergency brake clearly needed a little attention. The adjusters for the brake lever position had been fully welded so adjustment wasn’t an option. Upon disassembly it became clear the pins and actuator shaft were heavily worn. So I made all new pins and bushings. Luckily the brake lining was in great shape because the brakes were setup so poorly they would only hold the vehicle at a stop. These are a Timken design with eight individual adjustments per side and setting them is a time consuming process, I probably took the drum on and off 20 times per side to get them dialed in.
While working on the rear brakes I decided to take the hubs apart and check the bearings. The video says it all…I ended up replacing all four hub bearings with sealed units. I’m always amazed at the terrible things a lot of grease can hide.
Lastly, I have been working through issues on the valve train. This all started out with the idea that I should give my Mercer a valve job and it escalated quickly from there. The first issue I encountered was a doozy. Two of the port plugs were seized in place with carbon and one decided to crack instead of loosening. Not an ideal outcome. To be honest, I knew these plugs were an issue because a lifetime of grinding, polishing, and nickeling had left the Hexagons very misshapen and no tooling would fit in them correctly. I managed to remove the cracked plug with the aid of marine epoxy without damage to the block. I decided to re-make all the plugs and create matching tooling so this experience won’t ever be repeated.
I’m currently working through the remaining valve train components and likely the majority of them will need to be replaced. Got to love these high mileage antiques! Special thanks to the Smith family for all the support and information, couldn’t have put it all back together without you guys.