Projects 48 ford sedan to business coupe

Well here is my attempt at a build thread. I'm starting with my 48 2dr sedan and morphing it with a mercury business coupe. I like what Koolkemp did but mine will stay un-chopped. Besides putting the rear clip on I will be also putting the rusted out drop rail back on. It will get a 306 sbf with fenderwell headers, toploader overdrive and a ford explorer 3.73 traction loc rear. I'm in need of front garnish mouldings with crank wings and also rear garnish mouldings with flip out windows. The coupe had them but they are completely rotted. This will take some time due to the fact I coach wrestling for my local high school which is till February but I should be able to sneak some time in over the winter. Here is where I am at right now. I cut the rear clip of the green mercury just the other day. Thanks for taking the time to look at my project. BART.

 

I have a quick question for you guys.....besides sand blasting what is the best approach to attack the deep rust on the roof?

 

Good luck with your project!

 

Sandblasting or acid dip. There is nothing else that will get the rust out of the pits.

I guess you could use naval jelly, but that takes forever and you'll spend a fortune on the stuff.

 

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure if one of those "plastic bristle" strip discs would work or not. Hey Alchemy, what about a wire cup brush on a grinder and then some form of rust converter applied? Thanks again.

 

A wire cup brush will get most of the rust but not quite all of it. And it will put a fair amount of heat into the metal, so beware of warping the sheetmetal. Sandblasting is the best way by far...

 

I never trusted "rust converter". I'd just rather know the time I'm putting into it will not be wasted on some snake oil breaking down later. How much time and money are you going to spend on bodywork and paint?

 

Blast across the panels , not directly at then. warpage cause by blasting is a combination of heat build up and the sand acting like a million little hammers streatching the metal . Blasting across the panel reduces the heat build up and minamise's the hammer action. I f you can blast in some type of enclosed area where you can recycle the media , aluminum oxide works much better than sand but is to expensive to blast across the driveway. When I had my big shop I had one booth for plastic media and another for the aluminum oxide. Wish I still had the equipment but don't miss the overhead! Good luck on the project. I will be following along . I love it when guys make something from nothing! Here in Wisconsin we always have to start out with 2 or 3 car's to end up with one! lol Larry

 

Let me just tell you....the green mercury had absolutely nothing left of floor, trunk or rockers. I braced it with "new", solid doors on it before welding the rest of the braces in. When I cut the roof and rear clip off, the whole cowl fell back against the steering wheel. When I was hauling it on the tow dolly and would hit a bump the whole body would bounce off the frame. But, ironically, the roof and quarters are relatively straight and solid(minus the pitting) and only the lower front quarters are rusted badly. The weirdest thing was that this thing sat in a field for 40 + years and it rolled easily once I installed wheels on it. Now if I can only find the window garnish mouldings I'd be happy. Seeing how this is a short door business coupe it has the flip out quarter windows and it supposed to have the crank type vent wings in the doors. The only thing that I don't know is if this was an option on 4 drs because that would be great to know that the garnish pieces from a 4 dr would fit on my doors but I don't know if they had crank wings or not. Once I get the rear clip welded on I plan on taking the roof skin off to replace the rain gutter properly between the upper roof and lower body. Thanks for all the input.

 

Both the business coupe and the coupe sedan have the flip-out quarter windows (and I believe they're the same size for both); only the sedans and convertible had crank quarter windows. The crank-out vent windows weren't standard on the DeLuxe models, and I believe they were optional on the Super Deluxe; only the 'vert got them as standard.

You might give some thought to building a 'phantom' long-door coupe. The long-door coupe sedan has a more bulbous roof for headroom at the back (which is why common chops on those took a bit more out of the back cut, but that messes up the window proportions), you have the chance to correct that. You might even be able to work out crank quarter windows by using the sedan mechanisms.

 

I've not seen a business coupe with flip out rear quarter windows.

 

This one definitely had them. Not sure if it being a mercury made any difference. I may try to fix the ones that were there with pieces from my sedan if anything matches up that is.

 

Thanks mgtstumpy. I think I'll try it and then use a spot blaster for the tough to get places. Did a little playing with the car yesterday. This gives me an idea of where the new door posts will go.

 

I've owned a business coupe for 33 years. I kinda like them. Mine has crank out wind wings and solid quarter windows.

I'm with donno21, I don't think I've ever seen a business coupe with flip out quarter windows.


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If you look at the green coupe on the tow dolly you can see the stop for the flip lever to lock against if you blow the picture up. Maybe added by someone?

 

Yea, I see it.

I don't claim to be an expert either.

Maybe added? I don't know!


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I would do sandblasting.
Chemicals could show up later after paint if not correctly delt with.

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Either way about the flip out quarter windows I'd like to find a pair.

 

Yes, at one point I thought of adding them to my '46

I also thought of making the quarter windows roll down too....


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Hey Jim, I also really like the stainless trim around the door glass and quarter window which mine doesn't have.

 

Hey, yeah I really like that trim too. It's for the super deluxe models only. Sorry guys but I think the trim on the 46 is way more sexier than the 47-48's


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What is the secret to getting out our relaxing the door vent wing upper pivot rivet and what do I replace it with? Also, when installing the new glass, what is put in the channel to hold the glass in? It's done sort of black stuff. Thanks in advance. BART

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Do you mean the rust on the inside of the roof?
I have used a scraper and sanded it after-to remove as much rust as I could then used a small roller and brush to apply rust converter-when that process was done I applied a couple coats of rustoleum paint-the rust was encapsulated and never came back.


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Looking forward to seeing this build

 

This looks familiar !! Your coupe donor was mint compared to mine lol! The surface rust was really bad on mine, I cleaned as much as I could mechanically and chemically first, sanding discs , 3M strip wheels , wire brush all in an electric drill ( doesn't turn too fast harder to heat up the tin) , hitting in between sessions with some metal prep, let it sit there and soak in the pits. Repeat as often as you can then a light blast with not too much sand. As mentioned earlier don't blast it directly , come at it sideways and keep your distance. That's how I usually tackle it. Blast last ! Here's my sad sack coupe from close to world famous Peggy's Cove. I could still make out the last inspection sticker on the windshield , 1963.


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Hopefully I can pull this off Koolkemp. I'm also installing the rusted away rain gutters and this will not get chopped. My 48 sedan was in pretty decent shape. Heck, I drove it up on the trailer when I purchased it just to find out that the motor was cracked and the whole crankcase was filled with antifreeze and oil. I bought the car for $1500 so I wasn't too upset about it and it had a clear PA title. The short door donor car was a $200 purchase so I'm not too far financially into this. My dad had a short door business coupe when he was younger so that is why I am heading in that direction. It's getting a 306 sbf, fenderwell headers, od toploader and a 3.73 traction lock explorer rear. It's basically getting alot of stuff I have laying around. Steel wheels with caps. The mercury was originally turquoise with turquoise interior so I may paint it that color. It's also getting a 58 ford dash. As soon as I get rolling on this I plan to post pictures. I am also planning on using 58 ford leaf springs and hangers. Trying to round up vent window crank mechanisms due to the ones I have are stripped and completely rusted beyond use. Thanks for taking the time to follow along and give me some advice. BART

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Thinking about using this tachometer. Can anyone help me identify it? And the Sun is another option. Thanks.

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So....I guess no help with the identity of the tach with the "A" logo? I've searched the web and have yet to find anything on it. I even thought at first it was like a Big A Auto Parts thing.

 

I have two NOS passenger side wing window regulators for sale. I also have the wing window frames and pivots. And I have a full set of long door coupe garnish moldings with the swing out rear windows. You may be able to cut them down to work in your car. I just put all chrome garnish moldings in my 46 long door coupe, these are the moldings that were in it...

I am with everyone else, never seen a short door with tip out rear windows, but you are right it may have been a mercury thing, or someone made them