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Best way to bag a Merc???

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Zombie 51, Oct 22, 2009.

  1. Zombie 51
    Joined: Feb 18, 2009
    Posts: 284

    Zombie 51
    Member
    from New York

    If I decide to do an air bag set up in rear of the 51 Merc, whats the most economical way to do it? By economical I don't mean cheap. I dont want to put junk in the Merc. I mean the best product I can get without spending a fortune. The best bang for my buck. I would appreciate any advice on the subject, including different suspension set ups that have worked for you. Thanks!
     
  2. UnIOnViLLEHauNT
    Joined: Jun 22, 2004
    Posts: 4,827

    UnIOnViLLEHauNT
    Member

    I have been wondering the same thing, I usually just use massive blocks like a caveman.

    Have any pics of your 51 Merc? You are right by me, never knew there was another New Yorker with a Merc.
     
  3. slddnmatt
    Joined: Mar 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,685

    slddnmatt
    Member

    i would say a 3 or 4 link for the back and the bolt on stuff for the stock mercury suspension for the front (lowered uprights), unless you do a mustang clip or something. for a stock application fatman or jamco stuff, i havent used the jamco stuff. this merc sits pretty low and its running G78-15's which are about 28" tall with the fatman and 4-link with a panhard in the rear. if your worried about cutting the floor all up a 3 link might be your best ticket...
     

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  4. I did a 4 link and notch kit from suicide doors and pieced together my bag setup. Do yourself a favor and contact either Gambino customs or Kustombilder here on the HAMB for all the bag stuff. You'll save $ in the long run. Slddnmat, that Merc is OFF THE FUKIN CHAIN!!!! I love it. I wish mine sat like that.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

  5. Zombie 51
    Joined: Feb 18, 2009
    Posts: 284

    Zombie 51
    Member
    from New York

    Thanks guys. Hey UVH, yeah there are some Merc guys around. My 51 Ford is lowered using blocks and its wayyyy harsh. Gonna knock my own teeth out one day hitting a NY pothole.
    Matt...that stance is awesome. I'm thinking that Merc has the full treatment with a notch and deepened tunnel to get it that low??
    JK...thanks I'll contact them both. Real nice fab work on that notch!
     
  6. Gambino_Kustoms
    Joined: Oct 14, 2005
    Posts: 6,561

    Gambino_Kustoms
    Alliance Vendor

    we have a tail drager set up for you car call me i can help
    408 561 5744
    alex
     
  7. There are Plenty of Merc's in NY you just have to look for
    Them
    just my 3 cents
     
  8. I forgot to put the pic in my FTP site
     
  9. I'm very interested in ths setup. Are you saying you used bags in the back but not the front? Or you used the fatman lowering product in the front w/bags? What is a Panhard?
     
  10. slddnmatt
    Joined: Mar 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,685

    slddnmatt
    Member

    ace-k ya it has bags all the way around. it would sit higher in the front if it didnt have the dropped uprights. so those are a must if you want it low. a panhard bar keeps the rearend centered when the rear end cycles up and down. i prefer a triangulated one but they can get in the way of the rear seat area. the panhard bar swings the rearend to one side when it cycles so you want the longest one you can fit or a watts link or another type of locater. this one sits the stock gas tank on the ground and the front crossmember is about 1/2 or so. this merc had extra metal work done cuz there wasnt any....a tunnel starting from the T in the floor back will get you down.. looks low enough to me:) and thank you guys for the compliments
     

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  11. lowmater_tn
    Joined: Sep 20, 2009
    Posts: 83

    lowmater_tn
    Member

    nice ssetup on the Merc very clean
     
  12. I'll be calling
     
  13. Zombie 51
    Joined: Feb 18, 2009
    Posts: 284

    Zombie 51
    Member
    from New York

    Thanks guys! Great info. Especially about the panhard bar. Are there any common rookie mistakes that I should watch out for?
     
  14. 50merc808
    Joined: Feb 23, 2008
    Posts: 199

    50merc808
    Member

    SLDDNMATT your ride is SLICK! just wondering if you had to end up raising your wheel wells at all? I'm bagging my 50 right now, Gambino taildragger kit , my 710's are touching the top of the wells & the bag can compress down another 1.5 inches, which would leave my frame about 1/2 inch from the ground . i'll most likely end up raising it up but i was just curious what you ended up doing. I definately need those dropped uprights you have.
     
  15. nice ride. bag it-paper or plastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  16. flamedabone
    Joined: Aug 3, 2001
    Posts: 5,440

    flamedabone
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Mine didn't have lowering blocks or bags. I relocated the rear leaf springs (re-pop Plymouth Roadrunner reverse eye. They were free..) from under the frame to the inside of the frame.

    [​IMG]

    Here is the driveshaft tunnel.
    [​IMG]

    Good luck, -Abone.

    PS Slddnmatt. How many bitchn' Mercs do you have anyway????? That one looks killer. Is it the one that was kind of flat red for a while?
     
  17. That Merc belongs to a customer. The chop was all fucked up when the guy brought it to Matt and he had to cut the top off AGAIN and re-chop it! He does have about 6 Mercs though,hahaha!
     
  18. Not yet bagged but ready!!!!
     

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  19. If you plan to drive your merc alot and at real world freeway speeds I hightly do not recomend you bag the front king pin style spindle dropped or not period.

    For the most bang for your buck clip it with a 76/81 camaro with a set of 2" droped spindles and a min bag dia of 7". If you are not up for a clip you should upgrade to ball joint style a-arms like Jamco's with Gernada spindles or Mine with camaro spindles.

    For the rear I make a kit that you donot have to cut up your floor pans like the one posted on here already. My kit use a very strong ladder bar and is stronger than most 4 or 3 bar setups. I also use a full lenght adj pan hard bar. With 28" dia tires in the rear you can littery lay frame and you will not have to cut your floor pans to clear anything.

    For more imfo PM me. Thanks, Rick
     

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

    slddnmatt
    Member

    50merc you do not have to raise the wells but if you get to tall of a tire you will have to. going by a chart your tires should be right at 28" also so you should be good?? are your wheels centered in the wheel well? or prematurely bottoming on the front or back of the wheel tub? same thing with too wide or narrow of a rear end. might want to check that. as far as the stock suspension.... FOMOCO must of had there head up there ass for a few decades to run king pins on vehicles....damn i better clip all my mercs or get the ball joint conversions.... who knew:rolleyes:
    A ABONE i dont get to keep this one its a customers...none of mine are pretty or finished!! the wifes merc will probably be done before mine. im on mercury restriction im not allowed to bring anymore strays home. those 4 and the my other 2 coupes at the shop are what i have.:D the bare metal one is the bluegraygreen what ever the hell color merc in the pics up top.

    matt
     

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  21. SlowandLow63
    Joined: Sep 18, 2004
    Posts: 5,958

    SlowandLow63
    Member
    from Central NJ

    Ok spill it. I see you have a very small C-notch that doesn't go into the trunk at all which I like. I thought ladder bars on the street was a no no? I'm really curious.
     
  22. slddnmatt
    Joined: Mar 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,685

    slddnmatt
    Member

    with 28" tires and that small notch in question, that merc will not touch the ground unless its an independent rear. the yoke of the rearend hits the floor even before the axle tubes would meet the notch. you get to cheat with radials which will sit you lower than bias plys.
     
  23. Obsessedwithchop
    Joined: Apr 4, 2009
    Posts: 103

    Obsessedwithchop
    Member

    slddnmatt ur bare metal merc is a sexy beast!
     
  24. 51Gringo
    Joined: Jul 22, 2006
    Posts: 652

    51Gringo
    Member
    from Nor Cal

    I'm another that will tell from experience, there is nothing wrong with the stock frontend on these cars, rebuild it, modify the lower A-arms to accept the airbag, relocate shocks, and use 2" drop spindles. I drove the piss out of my Merc w/out one problem, and it layed w/ G 78's.
    The Jamco thing seems neat, but they're really expensive.

    Getting back to the original origin of this topic, I think you should use the Tri-angulated 4 bar suspension, by planning it correctly, reworking the lower back seat area is not that difficult. And that 2 link thing in that picture is going to break shit I'm affraid. Go with whats 'Tried and True'. good luck.
     
  25. Just to let you know I have been bagging cars for about 20 years now and mostly merc's & shoebox's. I have done the u notch 4 bar 3 bar thing to death in my first 10 years of baging cars. So when done correctly and with quailty parts they work well with bags but I strongly recomend if you are running this setup regulary inspect all the pivot joints and mounting brackets as they are prone to high wear and stress.

    I have found that a 2 bar setup (ladder bar) is much less prone to pivot joint failure and works very well on the street and can handle alot of horse power just like the Nascar guys have found it works for them on the race track. The other benifiet is that the pinon angel changes as you raise and lower the car:confused:. I set the pinon angel @ -2 deg max lift about 9". When you lower the frame rails to the ground the neg pinon angel increases to about -8 deg so as you lower you car the drive shaft tilts down away from the floor pan reselting in no need to tunnel your floor pan:cool:. The only draw back here is if you are driving very low at high speeds you may have some drive shaft viberation but that can be fixed also with a double back to back style u joint commonly used on alot of 4x4's.

    If you put a set of 28" tall tires on a rear end under a 49/51 merc and remove the axel bumpers from the frame and litterly set the frame on the axel tubes with the pinon angled down the frame will set about 1/2 to 3/4" above the ground and the rear end center section will still clear the stock floor pan. I put a 2" C notch in the frame to get it all the way to the ground and a little added extra clearnce. If you use a large rear end like a Gm 12 bolt or Dana 60 you will have to make a 1" tall box just over the center section of the rear end.
     
  26. alteredimage
    Joined: Oct 5, 2005
    Posts: 202

    alteredimage
    Member

    I'm sorry I just don't see how pinion angle change of 6* can be good. Where's your instant center on a 2-link? There is no flex and eventually something will fail.
    Just going by what we repair and replace from others on a daily basis.
     
  27. hombres ruin
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 3,305

    hombres ruin
    Member

    Great thread,alot of important info on here,i am very interested.
     
  28. If you ever get a chance to drive a bagged merc with ball joint converted a-arms compaired to what you are running now you would most likely change yours to ball joints asap and sell your dropped spindles to offset the cost.


    The price to upgrade to ball joints are about the same. If you compare the price of the kit to rebuilding your stock a-arms add a set of new dropped uprights and steering arm's and through in a set of disc brakes. All that will run you about $1,300. Jamco's and my kit sells fairly close to that same price. My kit includes the ball joint a-arms, forged steel spindels std or 2" dropped and steering arms, 11"dia disc brake kit.

    As for a 2 link breaking things ? If desined and installed correctly they are just about indestrucable. Look at a chevy truck for just one example. If you know me you know I realy drive my kustoms way more that the adverage person. I bagged my 49 merc with a 2 link setup about 15 years ago and has about 30k logged and my 53 ford truck was done about 12 years ago with about 20k logged. I have also installed around 30 2 link bagged setups for friends & customers with 0 failure. I did have to replace the bags on my 49 merc after 13 years of use.
     
  29. Zombie 51
    Joined: Feb 18, 2009
    Posts: 284

    Zombie 51
    Member
    from New York

    Once again guys, thanks! This is turning into a great post! I'm not planning to bag the front yet, but I will now consider the ball joint conversion instead of just dropped springs. I'll also be giving EXK a call. I'm really curious about his approach with the ladder bars.
     

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