Register now to get rid of these ads!

Customs The Kirkegaard Merc, 1939 early style custom

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Sledge, Oct 1, 2012.

  1. J.B.
    Joined: Jan 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,246

    J.B.
    Member
    from Sweden

    Hot damn! This will be great!

    Thanks for the nice words about my car, Tim. So, I got you hooked those 9 months ago, when putting my car out for sale? Well, this will be a fantastic one and it will end up more in the style of my coming LaSalle build than my Merc, which is a later (1950-51) style.

    Think about if we can get those Scandinavian 1939-40 Mercs together for the A-Bombers next year, finished or not. First weekend of August. That would be something!

    Kevan, you are just amazing and now I have another thread of yours to follow... :D

    And Rik has an out of this world eye for kustom design. Great job, buddy!
     
  2. sorry for hoppin' in from leftside, J.B., but one reason more for me to reach my goal, OSW 2013.. will be a nice date to meet all of ya! i'm developing a li'l gimmick on which you can recognize me. wait and see, it'll come out nice. what about Rik? will you be there?



    Carsten
     
  3. 53chevy
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,570

    53chevy
    Member

    Awesome work Kevan! I can't help but think of Merc John who lived around the corner when I was growing up in Riverside, Ca. back in the 80's, all the customs he was building in his garage. Love the direction on this chop.

    Kenny
     
  4. cleatus
    Joined: Mar 1, 2002
    Posts: 2,277

    cleatus
    Member
    from Sacramento

    It is so cool that the (small, but growing) community of people who are into early style customs now can easily and quickly span across oceans and collaborate like we all live next door.
     
  5. J.B.
    Joined: Jan 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,246

    J.B.
    Member
    from Sweden

    The true advantage of the internet. None of this was possible before.
     
  6. sled
    Joined: Nov 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,076

    sled
    Member

    Very true...and it helps a lot to find hard to get parts too and having great vastly resources out there with all friends lookin around ...

    btw J.B...i would love to have my Mexicali at the OSW13,to be part of the lineup...
     
  7. koolkemp
    Joined: May 7, 2004
    Posts: 6,005

    koolkemp
    Member

    It must be neat to be able to customize without fixing rust first!! Thanks for providing more early style custom "porn" for us junkies!! I love the no running board look as well!
     
  8. Excellent Kevan. Are you getting close to being able to do these in your sleep...or more like losing sleep pondering all the different subtle variations? :)
     
  9. Sledge
    Joined: Feb 5, 2008
    Posts: 1,731

    Sledge
    Member
    from Nor Cal

    Thanks guys. ok, so I've been working on the back window and the sail panels. For the back window I used a trick from my friend and expert metal man in Sweden named Wolf. He did a tapered cut back window on JB's Merc and it looks great. Tim requested this to be done on his car and I happily agreed! Since this is a more mild chop I didn't cut the window as much as JB's merc but still has a nice effect. Im sorry that Im not posting as much as I did on the Mexicali merc but I just dont have as much time on this one. We have a deadline to get it done for the end of the year.

    I chopped the center of the back window 3/4" and the outsides 1 1/4". So it has a nice 1/2" tapper.


    After the back window was tacked in place I started making the sail panels. I made the basic shape then clamped it on to see how close it was. Then it needed to be wheeled to get some curve. Here you can see the before and after.




    After lots of shaping and hours of fitting it was finally close enough to tack in. Now you can see the shape of the roof. It still needs the back window fitted to the roof but the basic shape is there.


    [​IMG]
    It's still a little high above the rear window and I will shrink this area slightly when I weld the back window in. The rear of the roof is very heavy compared to my merc or the Mexicali Merc but I think this gives the car a really early look which is subtle and cool. Some people will hate it but I think it's sort of an acquired taste you get from years of looking at early customs.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2017
  10. 1951Streamliner
    Joined: May 15, 2011
    Posts: 1,875

    1951Streamliner
    Member
    from Reno, NV

    Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Everything about this completely rules.

    :D
     
  11. Rikster
    Joined: Dec 10, 2004
    Posts: 5,795

    Rikster
    Member

    O YES.... very nice.
    The tapered rear window makes a huge difference, and fits the car much better. And the new sail panels look great as well.
    I really like the shape of the top, gives it a very much early 1940's feel.
    The combination of the reshaped rear quarter openings, the forward rake of the B-pillars and the round shape of the top makes it feel like something the Coachbuilders were doing back then.

    Well done Kevan!
     
  12. Sweet ass!!!
    Beautiful work!
     
  13. Kev...this car looks so good and so early.Like I said,this style is probably my favorite on a 40 Merc.It just so early.It is refreshing to see a Merc chopped like this these days.Looks so good,keep up the great work.
     
  14. thathotrodkid
    Joined: Feb 22, 2010
    Posts: 83

    thathotrodkid
    Member

    wow such a nice chop i love it !
     
  15. Sledge
    Joined: Feb 5, 2008
    Posts: 1,731

    Sledge
    Member
    from Nor Cal

    Yeah Cleatus, thats so true!
     
  16. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    Took the word right out of my mouth. It looks great with this comparatively mild and very subtle chop. Great work by both Rik and Kevan!
     
  17. DKroadsters
    Joined: Jan 2, 2005
    Posts: 190

    DKroadsters
    Member

    Great Kevan, that you started the thread, for others to see the amazing work, but also so that we can show the early style kustoms, is very much alive and will grow the next years to come

    I think the car looks fantastic, and i am very happy i followed Rik`s, Palles and Yours suggestions

    I have been in Wolf`s school too, an entire weekend at OSW, and ealier years when our roads have crossed, where he generously have told and showed me alot of details in the old Kustom`s world

    And as Rik truly say, it is easier to photoshop the roof than to actually do it in the real world

    But thanks Rik, for all the ideas and you too Palle for keeping me in the right direction

    It is so safe just to go with the well known and fantastic Kevans Roof

    So i really took a deep breath and thought what the hell, because i know i couldnt be in better hands

    Very, very good....... i smile each day when go to bed
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2012
  18. J.B.
    Joined: Jan 7, 2005
    Posts: 1,246

    J.B.
    Member
    from Sweden

    Looks great!
     
  19. sololobo
    Joined: Aug 23, 2006
    Posts: 8,378

    sololobo
    Member

    Super sweet! Damn that took guts to cut that nifty stocker. Beautiful car. ~sololobo~
     
  20. vonpahrkur
    Joined: Apr 21, 2005
    Posts: 977

    vonpahrkur
    Member

    Looking good buddy, top flows very nicely and doesn't look heavy at all in the back. On the contrary, it looks just right and well-proportioned for the amount the roof is chopped. Dig the rear window treatment as well. Out of all the different photo-chops Rik did, I think you guys came up with the right recipe for what is going to undoubtably be another fine early custom! :) Nice work.
     
  21. Sledge
    Joined: Feb 5, 2008
    Posts: 1,731

    Sledge
    Member
    from Nor Cal

    Thanks JB! I hope you dont mind we borrowed your rear window idea?
     
  22. JeffreyJames
    Joined: Jun 13, 2007
    Posts: 16,628

    JeffreyJames
    Member
    from SUGAR CITY

    I love this. You have a formula and whether or not you modify it for each customer it's very similar but it's exactly what these cars need. You my friend are the Rolling Bones or Kennedy Bros of '39-40 Mercs!!!!!

    Really inspiring to watch you do your thing.
     
  23. I love how the car is early Westcoast style and that style will be crushin the streets in another country.
     
  24. Wow Kevan........you're cooking on that sucker! Looks perfect buddy.
     
  25. devilscustom
    Joined: Feb 22, 2007
    Posts: 289

    devilscustom
    Member
    from Sweden

    Looking good ,can we call Sledge for Mr Mercury Chop ? Keep it up
     
  26. koolkemp
    Joined: May 7, 2004
    Posts: 6,005

    koolkemp
    Member

  27. LSGUN
    Joined: May 26, 2007
    Posts: 1,358

    LSGUN
    Member
    from TX

    This is what I love to see on here.
     
  28. Great looking chop. As has been mentioned it is refreshing to see an earlier style chop being done and done with such skill! Can't wait to see more.
     
  29. CheaterRome
    Joined: Jul 19, 2002
    Posts: 371

    CheaterRome
    Member
    from URANUS

    Kevan you are straight up KILLING it...in a good way! Beautiful vision on this collaboration all the way around.

    Excellent work and I cannot wait to see this thing done...Cad caps are the "new 16" flippers" as well. My bro had them on his 41 superdeluxe.


    WOW.

    Jerome
     
  30. froghawk
    Joined: May 9, 2008
    Posts: 857

    froghawk
    Member

    Just perfect!
     

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.