The 1949-51 Mercury is the quintessential custom car. Thousands of them have gone under the knife in the last five decades, so it's a little surprising to discover how little aftermarket support there is for these beloved 'sleds. It's a particularly disheartening discovery if you happen to be building your own dream Merc.
The folks at Jamco Suspension have been doing their part to create new components for these cars, as well as similar-era Fords. Recently, the company got help from Randy Way at All Ways Hot Rods in Phoenix in developing a new power steering conversion to use in conjunction with the original Mercury suspension. Randy and his crew happened to be doing the R&D work on a customer's Merc, so I stopped down to document the process for the benefit of Custom Rodder readers. The conversion employs a strong power steering box from an Isuzu Rodeo. It's the same box found on many other Isuzu trucks and SUVs, and its small size leaves plenty of room for various engine swaps and exhaust routing using stock manifolds or headers. You supply the steering box-either from your local parts house, GM dealer, or salvage yard-and Jamco supplies the necessary brackets, instructions, and hardware. You send your Isuzu Pitman arm to Jamco so it can be modified to fit the Merc centerlink.
While the kit was designed for installation with or without the engine in place, the guys at All Ways recommend an empty engine bay to make things easier. One of the kit's many benefits is the ability to use the stock steering column location. No new holes need to be drilled in the floor, and you'll only need one steering joint to boot. The stock column-mounted shift linkage will need to be modified or eliminated if you maintain the original column, or this would be a natural time to add an aftermarket tilt unit.
From what I witnessed, installation of this kit is very straightforward, with comprehensive instructions and diagrams. If you have any doubts about your welding ability, though, it's definitely a good idea to have a qualified shop do at least that portion of the work for you.
After driving the test vehicle, I can say firsthand how well it works. Whereas many power steering setups are overly powered, leaving you with that "unattached" sensation, this system gives a natural road feel to the steering. Most of us have driven large vintage cars with no power steering and, well, we don't need to go there (Popeye arms)! Driving this Mercury was easier and much more enjoyable, leaving me free to work on that tough-guy sneer!
 Ron Hernandez's Merc is much...  Ron Hernandez's Merc is much easier to cruise now that it has a more modern power steering box directing the front wheels. |
 Here are the key components...  Here are the key components needed for Merc power steering conversion. You supply your own Isuzu steering box, and Jamco supplies the template, crush sleeves, hardware, bracket, frame notch-filler pieces, and necessary instructions. With the purchase of the kit, Jamco will also modify the Isuzu Pitman arm (as seen in the upper left here) to work with the Merc centerlink. |
 This is the stock, very manual...  This is the stock, very manual Mercury steering box. Note that Randy removed the engine for an easier installation. With the car on jackstands, the All Ways crew pulled the steering wheel, disconnected the column wiring, and unbolted the original column and steering box before sliding the whole unit out of the car. |
 The Jamco template was placed...  The Jamco template was placed on the inside of the frame and bolted to the stock steering box location. Easy. Then Randy used a 7/16-inch bit to drill out the forward holes through the template and the inner framerail only. The rearmost stock steering box bolt hole was enlarged using the same bit and a rotary file in a die grinder. |
 Moving the template to the...  Moving the template to the outside of the framerail, Randy bolted it up to the existing stock steering box through-holes and drilled the remaining holes. |
 The outermost hole on the...  The outermost hole on the Isuzu steering box was drilled out, as per the supplied instructions. |
 Randy then bolted up the box...  Randy then bolted up the box temporarily... |
 ...so he could locate the...  ...so he could locate the supplied tab to the top of the framerail and tack weld it in place. |
 The next step was to map out...  The next step was to map out the location of the frame notch that needed to be trimmed out for steering arm clearance... |
 ...The supplied instructions...  ...The supplied instructions and diagrams clearly illustrate how to do this. Randy wielded his trusty pneumatic cutoff wheel to cleanly trim the area. |
 A small factory doubling plate...  A small factory doubling plate inside the frame needed to be removed, but it was easy to pry out with a screwdriver. |
 Jamco supplies the triangular...  Jamco supplies the triangular boxing plates needed to fill the new opening. After tacking them into place, Randy again bolted up the new steering box to check for steering arm clearance lock to lock. |
 Once proper fit was achieved...  Once proper fit was achieved for everything, the two front mounting holes were drilled out to 11/16-inch so Randy could weld in the supplied crush sleeves. |
 This is what the inside of...  This is what the inside of the framerail looked like after all the welding was done. The welds still needed to be cleaned up so the steering box would sit flat against the frame. |
 The crush sleeves were also...  The crush sleeves were also welded on the outside of the framerail. Eventually, all of the worked areas of the frame were stripped to bare metal and painted for rust protection. |
 Well, this is it! The crew...  Well, this is it! The crew at All Ways cleaned up and painted the frame and engine compartment before the box was installed for good using the supplied Grade 8 hardware. Jamco modified the Pitman arm so it could be connected to the Merc centerlink, and a Borgeson U-joint linked it to a new column. With the engine in place and the power steering lines hooked up, you can see there was still plenty of clearance around the box. Better still, it worked great when Randy lowered the Merc back down onto Terra Firma and took it out for a test cruise. |