Projects My first build- 51 Mercury project

Hi everyone.
This is in case anyone wants to follow what I'm doing to my 1951 Mercury 4 door. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, or correct my mistakes. I am new to classic cars, but not to automotive builds. This is something I really enjoy, and I'm looking forward to this project.
I will be adding photos shortly.

 

I'll start with the outside photos.
Here is what I'll be starting with. This is how it arrived this morning...

 

Interior

 

Under the hood...




Some specs:
Small block Chevy 350 with lots of chrome
Holley 4bbl carb
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake
Flowtech chrome ceramic headers
True duals with Smithys mufflers
TH350 transmission

 

Looks like a nice solid start. Keep us posted on your work.

Neal

 

I'm liken that car !

 

Start by lowering it, cheap and will change the look immediately.

 

Looks like a nice solid car i like it

 

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Can anyone tell me if that's the stock rear end and what brand shocks those are?
Also, I was told it has a Camaro front end. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Rear is stock Merc Dana. Look for a little tag on it which will have the ratio. Monroe shocks are usually blue but not certain. As for the clip it appears to be a front steer GM Camaro or Nova.
Make sure it is welded on correctly and safely, check everything that has been modified cause you can't been certain that the work was performed properly. Just look at some of the workmanship others have run into after purchasing what appeared to be a nice car or truck.

 

Thanks, Slopok.

 

Just be aware that the front and rear wheels have a different lug pattern. I just can't help but notice the rear is still awfully high even with the lowering blocks and the U bolts are below the scrub line. What position are the shackles in?

 

I thought that was odd, too.
It's sitting high to begin with, but seeing that it had already been lowered and was still that high puzzled me. I'll take photos of the shackles when I get back to the house.

 

Nice project, def lower that thing. I like the suicide doors

 

Ok.

 

Here are the shackles. I still can't figure out why this thing is so high.

 

Your front steering geometry on the sub frame install looks real good right now . The lower A arms are level with the lower cross member. Best way to lower that now is drop spindles . just keep in mind that is a 1970 or newer front steer sub frame. cutting coils or any of the other cheap fixes is going to screw up steering geometry and cause a possible bump steer situation . Looking cool at the cost of safety is never cool! As far as the rear end it is sitting quite a bit lower than stock looking at the axle center line in conjunction with the rocker panel and it is set up with blocks the same way mine was at first but I agree in the pictures it looks higher than it should . great project , looks in nice solid condition. Larry

 

They are positioned correctly. Maybe try removing a couple of leaves?

 

They may be all bound up, make sure everything pivots as it should.

 

Just done little stuff today.
Mostly removing unrepairable parts.
Installed larger K&N air filter.
New battery tray and battery.
New battery terminals and cables.
Mocked up bubble skirts to cut down for rear doors to open.
New hubcaps up front.
Other stuff here and there.

 

I'll check shackle play and look into removing leaves.
I noticed today that I have a power steering box but no power steering pump. The connections on the box are just plugged. Will that even work?

 

Make sure that the firing order is correct, kinda hard to tell in the pictures the way the wires are run but definitely get them off the headers on the passenger side.

 

Thanks. I haven't checked order, but it's running smoothly. I moved wires off of headers and replaced negative battery cable that was melted to header.

 

The back end looks about as it should but the front clip has been mounted 'way too low on the frame. The car should sit with the control arms horizontal, but about 6 inches lower than it is now. You'll never be able to get the front end down as it should be without repositioning the front clip. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

I got a bunch of parts in a trade recently... Should i install any, or just leave them off?

In addition to having doubles of all chrome pulleys, chrome alternator, chrome water pump....I also have

 

Ok. I appreciate you letting me know.
So I need to take body off and have front end removed and put back correctly.

 

Personally I would sell the bubble skirts to someone and use 51 Merc skirts. Once you cut em they will be worthless. No need to modify with the original skirts. Here's a picture of mine with 3 inch blocks. Even if yours are 2 inch blocks it should be lower than it sits now.


How large are your tires? Mine are 215x75x15. You should be able to get the top of the whitewall on the front to be even with the top of your fender by using dropped spindles or lower springs. I agree with others that said DO NOT CUT your springs. Repositioning the subframe as a last resort.

 

No, probably just pull the doghouse and move the clip upwards in relationship to the Merc frame. You'll probably also have to re-hang the front of the motor and, of course, adjust the mounting points of the doghouse sheet metal. Not a huge job, and you might as well do it right rather than trying to use cut coils, dropped spindles, etc. and still not get to where you want to go.

Edit: In this respect I completely disagree with Slopoke. If you reposition the clip you'll have a great riding car that will sit low with no issues. Trying to "fix" the previous owner's mess-up with aftermarket parts is a big mistake in my humble opinion. Better to cut off his bad work and do it over the right way.

In my opinion the '51 Mercury 4-door is a really classy looking car, needing little but lowering, a mild cleanup and a set of stock '51 Merc 4-door skirts (They are unique, 2-door skirts won't fit.) to look great! Pleeeeeeeeze resist the pressure you'll get to chop it and goop it up with all sorts of bolt-on goodies. All you'll end up doing is f'ing up a really fine automobile.

 

Unless that is a MSD distributor in there now it appears to be one of the $49.00 China cheapos. If you say it runs well now I wouldn't put any of that other speed equipment on. After making sure it runs and stops safely concentrate on the visual appearance. Power steering pump and brackets should be relatively easy to obtain, just be sure to get the hoses also.