Was wondering what to be on the look out for while checking prospect 49-51 mercs?I know the obvious rockers and trunk/floorboards,but is there certain areas to be careful of?Ie:window sills,cowl panel area rot,frame kmembers etc? Iam looking at a local that has been here parked since the 70's and need to be informed before I talk to the owner.An employee is gona get me incontact with the vehicles owner to see if we can come to some agreement.I would like to save the car before it turns to beer cans or fertilizer,vandalized,or apparently stolen like his vette that sat next to it up till 5 years ago!Seems like there is a push in this area lately to scrap stuff for the high prices there getting edit: If any N Utah guys know of this car(Iam sure a few do)Please let me know as much about previous transactions with the owner so that Iam aware of whats been said?
Its over by the lester park in Ogden.I Have the owners name,but having to relay interest through people in contact with him!
I have driven past this car every morning for two or three years and never saw it until I looked for it this morning. Sorry no useful information.
LOL funny how that shit happens huh!Been by thgere a hundred times and never noticed stuff.I remember seeing it back in 1988 at that same spot.Use to have a 58? vette sitting next to it,but apparently was stolen from there 5 years ago,Damn thieves! Like i said,i got the owners name.Now just to get incontact with him is the hard part it seems.
I have a 51 merc and have done the rust repair thing. You may have to repair areas that noone will ever seen. Well if it's been parked there since the 70's the #1 villian is RUST. What you see on the outside is normal and fixable. But it's the stuff underneath that will put you in the poor house. Open the hood and check cowl behind the inner front fenders and the doors. Lift up and down on the door hinges and see how much play there is and what else moves. Check for rust at bottom of front door pillar where it joins floor. Oh yeah, double check the floors and the trunk floor too, including the spare tire well.Then you must get it on a lift and check out inside the rear fender wells, the inner rocker panel s( shaped like a rectangular box)that runs the entire length of the car from the front cowl to the inner rear fender.The floors are welded to this also. It literally holds the car together and is probably rusted away and MUST BE REPLACED along with the floors. They do make replacement pieces but they are $$$. Lots of work. Another rust area that you can't see is the sheetmetal behind the upholstery that is behind the rear fender panels. Also check the frame to body mounts and surrounding area. How are the drip rails? Merc sheet metal and parts are not cheap although 49-50 lower rear quarters are being reproduced by Sherman Parts. Good luck.
Hey, "If" you can weld, read a tape measure, and use tin snips, you can fix this- you're not splitin atoms, just repairing an old Merc. Take a good look at the body to frame mounting areas, and the torque boxes of the frame, tough, but not impossible to repair. Ya can do this! Swankey Devils C.C.
lol True,figure its a merc and can find a patch panel,or some way to fix just about anything on it.But the next problem is getting in touch with the owner.That seems to be the real challange at this point!
My body looked "fixable" until I got into it. The inner rockers are the worst. They rot from behind and you have to fix them before you do the outers...otherwise you won't have anything to attach the new outers to. The only way is to pull the body of the frame. Also, check the front fender to splash pan connections...mine were rotted to hell and I'd like to find new front fenders without the rust- which aren't cheap. Also- the quarters...if you have enough to work from you'll be okay. If yours are like mine and have half the bottoms missing, it would be worth it to ante up the mony to find decent ones that aren't rotted to hell. Nice ones could be $1000 each, easy...Just my .02
really good info, I'm heading down to Denver area tomorrow to check out a merc.Now i know exactly what to look for. I'll be taking my son's fridge magmets with me.....fridge magnets don't lie!!!
Awesome.... Thanks mercman51,this is the kind of experiance and info i need! The fridge magnet i never thought of,they are small enough i can stick one in my pocket and check the filler with it while Iam there.People might think iam looney for sticking fridge magnets on a car,but it is in central ogden....it might be common place lol hope your merc find turns out good Mad-cad
Well I just got back to my house from Lasalle Colorado where I checked out this mercury woody wagon for a well to do buddy of mine. Well this $90,000 merc has a rotten rusted through drivers floorpan,and the guy was firm on his price.Some car dealers are just crazy with their prices. Here's a link to pics of the car http://douglasautosalesinc.com/menu.htm I'm glad I read this thread before I headed down there today.
Whats with the lack of progress in yer signature mercman51? It looked like great progress was bein made but no new pics on yer site?? Are ya still pluggin away? Koolkemp
I hadn't worked on it for a while (the whole summer) due to too many other things going on, more recently, it's been parked in the drive for the last couple months while I helped Sticklifter do the bodywork on is Chevy in my garage...waiting for the weather to break so he can come get his car...then I'll get back on mine...
Make sure ya keep us informed of any progress eh! It gives me hope for the rotten 51 Monarch coupe I picked up last fall( almost 40 yrs in a junkyard).Yours is rust free compared to this thing lol!! Koolkemp
Yeah...I wasn't worried about rust, never have been...'till I started taking mine apart and pieces of adjoining body parts stayed with the parts they were bolted to. My rockers were shot, my quarters are shot, (and about 4" are missing) my fenders up where they bolt to the splash pan are shot, the splash pan is shot...I'd like to find replacements, but I'd have as much in replacement panels as I have into the whole car if I did that! I'll just have to re-make, patch, repair, etc...the good thing is the doors are good, and the trunk lid and hood are like factory. I'm thinking of going Hirohata-style on the quarters, so they would need considerable massaging anyways. I'll update, no worries- and, Thanks! Mercman
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