Growing up MEL
Posted: Tue 8. Jun 2010, 08:30
Hi ,my name is Keith Olson, I live in Northern Minnesota USA . I have been a MEL fan for over 40 yrs. My dad , uncle ,and I transplanted a 383 into my 57 Mercury convertible when I was 16 back in 1964. After that the top unlatched and laid out over the trunk of the car while I was careening down the highway against a hard wind. The body had other issues as well so I transplanted the engine into a 56 Merc. 2 dr hdtp. Lighter car, faster! This was the age of the muscle car. I didn't have money ,but I found a way to keep up and then some! Trying to be more adult I bought a much tamer vehicle and sold the 56. The guy that bought it outran everything with it including the highway patrols in their 440 Dodges and 428 FE Fords . Times where a little different back then. The law finally caught up with him, and the judge made him sell or go to jail. After only 9 months he had destroyed three automatic transmissions and six three speed transmissions . I examined one of the manual transmissions and found that the countergear had welded to the shaft , my opinion being that the extreme RPM (7000) of his shift points caused the problem because centrifugal force caused the bearings to run dry. The next Guy that bought that car, drove the car for a while ,then because of body rust issues pulled the engine and mothballed it all these years. He now has or is installing it in another 56 Merc. I and a friend raced another 383 in a 57 Ford in 1969 on a local dirt track. I still have that engine and is installed in another 56 Merc. 2dr hdtp which I intend to get running this summer. It has been standing for at least 10 years. I am also an Air Force Veteran ,was an automotive machinist for five years, taught high school Auto Mechanics for some years and have my own auto and ag equipment repair business The MEL is truly unknown and severely under rated.