The Mystique Is Free From Its Sorrowful Life And Ready To Get Fixed 

"Vicente Esteve" (vicente-esteve) 02/25/2015 at 21:07 • Filed to: Mystique Flip

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Today my father, some great mechanics and I got to do the first step to get the Mercury flipped. Freeing it from the spot where it has sat for the best part of 7 years, and taking it to my fathers workplace where said mechanics will pull the transmission out. It was a good 4 hours to do the whole process, but it was sure worth it and getting to business a quickly as possible.

When my father and I arrived, a tow truck was already waiting for us. A flatbed Dodge with a driver who I swear could be a Junior buddy I sit with in the cafeteria. The first step was to put the car in neutral and fill up the tires so it could at least roll back. We were able to inflate the 4 tires which surprisingly retained air with the same strength as healthy young mens lungs. After the tires were done, I went inside to try and move the gear lever into neutral without success. The car's transmission was shot, so even moving it into neutral didn't seem possible. My father pretty much gave up and wanted to call a mechanic, but I wasn't having that. I broke out the owners manual where I found that the transmission had a brake lock, and it could be disabled if I stuck a screwdriver in the side of the console and pressed the button on the gearstick. After a couple of tries, I managed to pull it back to neutral and we gave the signal to the tow truck driver to get into the garage.

As the long platform truck positioned himself, we saw cautiously at the end of the corridor only to hear an enormous bang from the bumper structure of the truck colliding with the ramp. It was impossible for it to go up.

We realized this wasn't going to be viable, and the tow truck driver had to go do another job so he told us to notify him when the car was actually on the street. I then decided to push it, but the strength of 3.5 grown men couldn't defeat the 7 year old rust that the break pads had to plough through. Then we decided to use my fathers Tacoma as the tow vehicle, just to get the car in the streets.

As the chains were put into position, I stepped in the drivers seat of the Mercury and took the wheel. The sensation of knowing you will be pulled at any given second is eerie, but after the first pull and screech from the break pads the car rolled freely.

It was a bit of a struggle to turn it into the curve, but we managed and called the tow truck again. After a couple minutes, we were on our way to my fathers workplace with my hopes up and my motivation even higher.

The car was parked besides the workshop, where tomorrow it will be brought back to life with a new battery. As I want this to be done quickly, without much drama and mostly with my input it makes me delighted things are going as planned. More updates for later, and if you want to follow the last steps, im tagging this as Mystique Flip.

SJGeorge94 > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 21:09

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These used to be everywhere in the early 2000s in my neck of the woods

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 21:09

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That tow truck is awesome!

dogisbadob > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 21:19

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wow that key looks like a screwdriver!

Redd, the RX-7 that could > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 21:24

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I used to have a Mystique! They're great, until they break.

jkm7680 > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 21:30

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Mystique was never the right name for that thing.

Boxer_4 > dogisbadob 02/25/2015 at 21:35

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I believe that's a Tibbe key. It seems like Ford mostly used these keys in their European derived models in the '90s and '00s. Jaguar also used the Tibbe key.

dogisbadob > Boxer_4 02/25/2015 at 21:46

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It's a good thing the Focus never got it! There'd be such an uproar over this shit!

Vicente Esteve > SJGeorge94 02/25/2015 at 22:07

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I don't want to say they are rare here, but they aren't really common either.

Vicente Esteve > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 02/25/2015 at 22:08

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You should've seen my excitement face when I saw it turning around the corner towards us.

Cool thing.

Vicente Esteve > dogisbadob 02/25/2015 at 22:09

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Yes, Ford 00's keys were quite cool.

Vicente Esteve > Redd, the RX-7 that could 02/25/2015 at 22:09

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This already is broke, so its uphill from here!

Vicente Esteve > jkm7680 02/25/2015 at 22:10

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I would've prefer Tiara Victoria, since it sort of looks like a smaller CrownVic.

jkm7680 > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 22:20

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Sm70 nailed it at the "Mercury Mistake."

Vicente Esteve > jkm7680 02/25/2015 at 22:38

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We'll see how much of a mistake this is going to be.

dogisbadob > Vicente Esteve 02/25/2015 at 22:38

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Yeah, until you need a replacement!

Vicente Esteve > dogisbadob 02/25/2015 at 23:13

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Not for long!

jkm7680 > Vicente Esteve 02/26/2015 at 07:33

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I keed

Vicente Esteve > jkm7680 02/26/2015 at 07:41

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Just you see when its finished. It will strive in its honor, wear its opulent badge with unbreakable pride and growl from every of its 6 cylinders (If they still work).