Register now to get rid of these ads!

Project "AREA 51" Merc moredoor to tudor progress pics

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ether, Dec 16, 2007.

  1. Well, a few of you have PMed me asking for some pics of the merc project, so i will try and catch you up to speed to where I am now. I have a few more pics but some are to big to upload. I started with a 51 moredoor, Texas car but got it in Alabama. Thanks goes out to my buddy Randy for helping get it. I had the oppertunity to pick up a two door shell in Michigan and was lucky enough to get in contact with GMGRUNT (thanks again to Jeff and the guys at Ionia speed shop) who hauled it down here on their trip to the 2006 Turkey Run. I then picked up a set of two door doors from a good friend of mine and the light turned green to go ahead with the build. I rolled the Merc in the shop in Feb 2007 and have been working on it when i have time between customers cars. There has been no looking back.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. First order of business was to get rid of the moredoor b-pillers. Now let me clarify something before I get tons of hate mail. I have nothing against moredoors, I was really going to do this one a bit different till I came across the 2 door shell and the price was so right I couldnt pass it up. After yanking out the pillers I bolted the two door doors in place and started measuring the moredoor and the twodoor out to see where I was going to cut them. I measured them so it was at the right places to help minimize the cuts for the top chop. I was going to use the 50 back window so the whole 2 door top was moved to the moredoor.
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Next up was to cut the tops off the 51 and the 50. First I had to brace the 50 back window. What i was going to do was convert to a two door and then chop it so I didnt have too much going on at one time. I took and wrote down tons of measurements from both cars. inside and out, took pics, printed and wrote measurements on printed 8x11 prints. Once I cut the top off both mercs I put the 50 top on the 51 (one instant convertible) and tacked it in place. Then I cut the quarters off the 50 and had to fabricate the lower b-pillers due to rust damage.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Now was time to install the partial quarter panels to fill in where the rear doors used to be. There is a bolt sticking out of the moredoor and a hole in the twodoor quarter that line up perfectly (kinda scary) that locates the quarter right where it needs to be. I measured them to see if they matched my previous measurements and started to weld bracing inside the merc. A little trimming, a bit of welding, and alot of grinding and the quarters were longer, looking a bit more like a two door. The inner quarter panels were rotted so i fabricated and installed them.
    Haircut time, marked everything out for a 4" rear (verticle measurement)and a 3" in the front (wrapped 3" tape around A-piller). Cut the 50 back window out and cut all the tack welds from previous convertion cuts. I trimmed off all taped and marked areas and removed the top. Ground all the "to be" welded areas of paintand replaced the top. Tack welded it all and leaned the B-pillers forward about 2"
     

    Attached Files:


  5. tfeverfred
    Joined: Nov 11, 2006
    Posts: 15,791

    tfeverfred
    Member Emeritus

    Man, that's a heck of a lot of work and a job well done. It should look great when you're finished. It's great to see a little head work in solving problems to get the results you want. Kudos.
     
  6. ss34coupe
    Joined: May 13, 2007
    Posts: 4,239

    ss34coupe
    Member

    great job, Ether, keep the pics coming. This will inspire a lot of us to turn that four door into two.
     
  7. Next was a bunch of little pieces from the b-pillers as well as the door window frames. Fabricated rear side window radiuses and final welded and metal finished everything. Tons of eyeballing and found placement for the back window, trimmed, fabricated filler pieces, and tackwelded everything. I then made some radius bars out of 1/4x 2 hot roll to assist in the filler for the panel behind the rear window. The desoto in the back ground was the donor for the grill and a few other pieces that I will be posting.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. Flop
    Joined: Jun 8, 2006
    Posts: 3,886

    Flop
    Member

    nice work man.
     
  9. solo_909
    Joined: Apr 9, 2006
    Posts: 1,786

    solo_909
    Member

  10. OK, so here comes the hate mail again. I got a 77 Camaro front clip and grafted it into the Merc frame. As I installed it I grafted it in two inches higher to get the rake and ground clearance i wanted. Off with the old and on with the new, the main reason i did this is becouse the merc front clip had some frontend damage from an earlier accident, and the camaro clip was FREE. There isnt anything like $FREE.99, although free does sometimes cost more in the long run. Next was the 53 Desoto grill and a 50 merc surround. The buddy I got the twodoor doors from gave me the partial surround and the only reason I can figure it was cut up was to install it in a 49-51 Ford. I used the partial surround and the 51 surround to make it work, trimmed the desoto pan and welded all the seams. Not to sure on the desoto bumper yet, I might use a merc bumper.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 12, 2012
  11. EdselRich
    Joined: Oct 12, 2007
    Posts: 287

    EdselRich
    Member

    damn now that's gonna be a nice ride
     
  12. flamedabone
    Joined: Aug 3, 2001
    Posts: 5,441

    flamedabone
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The 4 door was in waaay better shape than the 2 door, but damn that was alot of work. Did you ever think about building the 2 door instead?

    Outstanding post. Can a brutha get a tech-o-matic???

    -Abone.
     
  13. Chad s
    Joined: Oct 6, 2005
    Posts: 1,717

    Chad s
    Member

    Wow, I love the desoto grill! Nice work.
     
  14. Ok, so im not a big fan of the 50-51 waterfall dash. With all the options out there I didnt know what I wanted to use till I looked around at was available (isnt that what they did back then anyway). Hey how about the Desoto grill donor car!!!! Sectioned the desoto dash and welded the front 2 inches from a merc dash to it, WALLA, instant kustom!! Chevy tilt van column and a European wheel with a 51 merc button. Now for a bit of garnish molding, took 2 sets of front moredoor moldings to make one for the 2 door. On the back, unknown amounts of time and for the radius I used the rear radius from a rear moredoor garnish molding. TIP, TIP, TIP , If you are going to keep the tipout rear side windows, the window frame from a 6 window step down Hudson with tip out rear windows is a direct shoe in. Im not sure if I am going to keep the tip outs but thanks goes out to Rudy Bennett for the frames (he said i just had to put something from a Hudson on this build)!!!!!!!!! The moldings arent done yet and I will touch them up as I get closer to the interior. Im probobly forgeting s#!t loads but ill try to edit as I go.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. slddnmatt
    Joined: Mar 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,685

    slddnmatt
    Member

    lookin good ether. i need to start workin on the wifes merc. before summer!
     
  16. flamedabone
    Joined: Aug 3, 2001
    Posts: 5,441

    flamedabone
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Killer work. Any tips on the wing window???

    -Abone.
     
  17. I didnt want anything coming back later in the rockers and had some damage anyway, so i took the merc to a buddies house that has a long straight brake. (mine isnt long enough and thats my life story!!!) We completely redid the rockers inside and out in 18 guage cold roll steel. Not an easy chore!!!! After I got it home I cut the panel off the rear moredoor to fill in the missing area between the quarter and the door as well as weld the quarter to the body to rid the body seams.The front floor was a bit thin as well as the toe boards. New was fabricated from 18 guage and I will be doing the rear later just cuz theres no reason not too.
     

    Attached Files:

  18. thanks guys for the comments ive got more to come. Abone i will get some pics out to ya on the wing window and of the Hudsom frame. Matt, now you see how bad i need a post on your window stainless!!!! lol ETHER
     
  19. mazdaslam
    Joined: Sep 9, 2004
    Posts: 2,524

    mazdaslam
    Member

    Hey man,I dig it!! Superb job of blending all of those parts together to come up with a very good looking Merc. The dash is a nice departure from the normal stuff you see.Great job!
     
  20. All welds metal finished. Read deck lid corners rounded and shaved. I used a hanging pedal assy from a fox bodied mustang and will be using a SVO master cylinder to get this boat ancored.
     

    Attached Files:

  21. Taillights!!!!???? What to use? Well, 54 Merc of course. Man what a pain. Made frames out of 3/8 solid bar, split taillight, heated and streached at least an inch. Tons of eyeballing and still dont know if its right!!!! Pieced in all the surrounding sheetmetal and metal finished. Then what to do about the gas filler pocket. I plan on driving this thing and dont want to have to worry about splashing petro in the trunk and the square door has to GO!!!! I got a door and catch can from a late 90'S lincoln and grafted it in the quarter.
     

    Attached Files:

  22. Here Project "AREA51" sits today. Tons of work. Thanks goes out to all the HAMBers who have helped out with the info received here on the HAMB, and to an understanding as well as patient wife. There is still alot to do and i probobly forgot to write a ton as well. Im more than happy to help with any questions to keep the KHARMA flowing. Still to come is a bit of finish work of whats already been started as well as 54 ford fender lips, 49 merc park lights (thanks goes out to KoppaK for the donation), frenching in 54 merc headlight rings,T-bird interior, and a powerplant. Ill keep you posted to the end and then.................................ROUTE 66!!!!!!!!!!!!! HERE I COME!!!!!!!!



    ETHER
     

    Attached Files:

  23. Concrete B
    Joined: May 12, 2007
    Posts: 228

    Concrete B
    Member

    This car has come a long way since I saw it in June. Badass man.
     
  24. BOBBY FORD
    Joined: Oct 6, 2007
    Posts: 700

    BOBBY FORD
    Member

    super, duper info. this info is invaluable to me . thanks for info on hinges
     
  25. bonesy
    Joined: Aug 14, 2005
    Posts: 2,999

    bonesy
    Member

    Looking very good.
     
  26. bonesy
    Joined: Aug 14, 2005
    Posts: 2,999

    bonesy
    Member

    I love the play by play - thanks.
     
  27. i used a hagan after market fuel door kit. i got the tear drop shaped one. i mounted it on the top crest on the rear quarter. it's not traditional by any means,but, it blends in almost invisible. works great. a friend of mine has his in the trunk. after watching him put gas in that thing many times i decided that wasn't happing on mine.
     
  28. by the way, your car looks better everyday. top notch.
     
  29. hotrodmatt
    Joined: Mar 11, 2006
    Posts: 209

    hotrodmatt
    Member

    Hot damn. You are the man!
     
  30. MercMan1951
    Joined: Feb 24, 2003
    Posts: 2,654

    MercMan1951
    Member

    Very, VERY nice work. I can really appreciate the amount of time you have invested in that and it's coming out great...very inspiring as well. I have the same taillights for my Merc, and was going to do the same...thanks for the pics. Keep up with the updates...I can never get enough Merc stuff... :)
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.