The Ford method of exiting down below is cleaner and makes more sense especially if you have power brakes. There is some interference between the booster vacuum lines and the speedometer cable using the correct Mercury exit location but this is the way it is going to stay as I am building a correct original car. Alan

Why do you think Ford and Mercury were so different in that area, something as simple as a speedometer cable and they choose two totally different places to exit the cable ?

tom in iowa

54 Merc wagon

54 sunvalley

Thanks Marc. I never noticed that hole in the firewall until you mentioned it. I had expected that the speedometer cable would exit far below that like on the Fords. On page 42 of the Mercury Shop Manual you can clearly see the cable exiting that hole next to the master cylinder. Thanks again, Alan

On mine, there is a reinforcing panel welded to the firewall on the engine side where the m/c installs. 1.5" from the left edge, facing engine, just under the pinch weld ledge is a hole. That's where mine passes thru.

Marc

'54 Merc ragtop

Pt Townsend, WA   

                                                                                                                                   

Can anyone with a '54 Mercury tell me where the speedometer cable exits the interior through the firewall? I looked at my two '54 Fords and the speedometer cable exits through the right side removeable sheet metal plate which surrounds the steering column tube. The Ford sheet metal panel has a factory stamped embossed hole in it with a rubber grommet and the cable exits there. However, neither of the two sheet metal plates which came with my Mercury have holes in them for the speedometer cable. Thanks, Alan S. Freeman