A few weeks ago we showed you some photo of the 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler that Erin and Lou Whitfield (Lou is doing most of the work but it is Erin’s car) are working on out in California. Lou is no stranger to the Aero cars and is not afraid of hard work plus he has a lot of skills and talents many of us wish we had. In just the last few weeks he has made some great strides on the Gurney but he says he still has months of work ahead of him.
Lou says that photos he has provided are with the car dressed out with some of the parts just sitting on the car and the tires and wheels are off their Cougar but work well for a fast photo session. It is easy to see that this car is going to live up to Lou’s excellent build reputation when completed.
In our phone conversation he told me of some of the battles he has gone through with some of the most minuscule and silly things that always take up the most time. I heard a bit of frustration in his voice but it has obviously been overshadowed by his dedication and persistence to get this classic ready for Erin to drive to the Talladega event in 2014.
Lou is not afraid to stray from the 100% restored book of how to do it guides. But do note that it has the wheel lip moldings which few Spoilers have been able to retain. Note: Spoiler II cars do not have these.
The engine compartment is not like the way the Mercury engineers designed it but it is too bad they didn’t have Lou on their side at the time. I really like the hand made snorkels on the air breather. The silver paint on the fan safety shield also adds to the compartment. A Ram Air 351 is also a nice touch.
As long as Lou keeps sending photos we will keep you posted. Thanks Lou and Erin, great car!
As for the wheel lip moldings, this car was equipped with them form the factory.And the wheels and tires shown are what we’ll be running on the car-255-60-15 on the rear and 235-60-15 on the front.Wheels are 15X8 with 4 1/2″ B.S. on the rear and 4 1/4″ B.S. for the front so as not to cause interference on the upper ball joint.
Since these pics were taken I’ve installed a new stock front end and the new springs cause the front to sit so high that it’s embarrassing. The front needs to come down 3″. Just another problem I’ll take care of.