Looking for my next Zephyr.
Hey guys/gals, My name is John and as you can probably tell, I'm a big-time Ford guy.
I am on this site not because I own an early Fox (yet), but because I'm searching for the right one. Namely, I want a Mercury Zephyr in either GS sedan or Z-7 coupe form. A Fairmont will not do, a Mustang will not do, and a Capri will not do. No offence, but I want my Zephyr. Also, I do not want a 2.3L or 4.1/5.0, just the 200 CI (3.3L) Inline 6.
The reason I feel so strongly is because of my past experience. I started with a 1983 Zephyr GS with 218,000 miles on it for $100. I sold it and repoed it twice before deciding I wanted to keep it. This took place in Washington state. My brother in Arizona ended up needing a car and I loaned him the Zephyr on ONE condition: I wanted the car back when he was done. Sadly, that's the one condition he failed to meet. Two years later, he decided to leave my beloved GS in a parking lot with the keys in it. Still ran and drove with 250,000 miles on it. I was furious.
Cut to a few years later and I'm back in Washington. A buddy calls and tells me he has a car I'd be interested in. I drive over and it's a 1978 Mercury Zephyr Z-7, sitting on blocks. 200 Inline 6, was blue but is now black with blue interior. I paid him $100 for the car, drove to the junkyard and bought some black steelies from another Fox and went back to get my "new" baby. I cranked her up, the 6cyl just purred. I burned tire outta there and drove that Zephyr as a daily driver for a year or so before the carb started acting up. Now, my experience is with fuel injected cars so I left the carb work up to who I thought were professionals. They said the original carb was toast and I should just buy a new one. I went to Autozone and bought the most expensive carb they sold for the car. They installed it and it never ran the same. Adjustment after adjustment, the car never ran right again. To top it all off, somebody broke into the shop where it was being worked on and poured sugar in the gas tank. The fuel filter stopped it from getting to the engine but I had to pay to have the fuel system cleaned. My living situation was falling apart and I had six cars, plus the ill-running Zephyr, to deal with. I sold them all except two and left. I ended up getting $80 for the Zephyr because it had gotten so bad that it barely ran. The guy who bought it posted it on Cardomain. This is his site: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/259447...ercury-zephyr/
As you can see, I tried to contact the guy but he hasn't returned the notion.
So, very long story short, I'm looking for my next Zephyr. I almost bought a 1981 GS sedan with 40K on the clock this last week but the dealer wants $3,000 for it.I think that's far too much. Not only because I paid only $100 for each of my Zephyrs but because it's just outrageous for a 32 year old Mercury 4-door. No matter how much I love these cars, I can't see paying 3X it's value. I offered the guy $1,000 for it. No go. $1500? Nope. Price is apparently firm. He put it on eBay and I bid the car up to $1,000 and it didn't go any higher. His reserve was a lot higher so it didn't sell.
My current daily driver is a 1996 Ford Aerostar XLT, which I love. I am on a limited budget (isn't everybody?!) and I am not willing to give up the van to get a Zephyr. Besides, without working A/C and power steering, the Aerostar isn't worth much on the open market. Oh yeah, she also has 215,000 miles on her original 3.0L V-6 and 4R44E trans. I no longer own the other cars (not even the Tempo pictured on cardomain), just the Aerostar.
Thanks for taking the time to read my "novel", lol, I'll try not to post such a long post in the future.
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Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI
Boy, do I miss my Zephyrs. 
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