No turning back now! Cut the windshield frame free, pulled forward and stretched, welded back in place Will finish door header and then see how well we can lower the roof! Thanks for looking.
Appreciate it Dr. Dave, one of the "old guys" stopped by while we were working on it and I was telling him my plans to pancake the roof and he immediately replied "well if it doesn't work out you can always do a carson top!". Ya gotta love it! Really like the looks of your A, hope to catch up with you soon (Luckenrod?)!
Not going to be able to make Luckenrod....got a trip with the Mrs that weekend. I try to keep the playing field even and not make EVERY trip a car show trip. LOL
Finished pancaking the roof, I would have liked to lower the entire roof line another 2 inches but as I said in the beginning this will be a "driver" and as such it will be comfortable so I lowered it as much as I could and still fit in the car Trimmed 1 1/2 inches from the header . Trimmed 3/4 inch from both sides Tacked in place, we did reverse roll the roof but my English wheel is mid size and unfortunately we left some creases in the roof- will pound out later. Finished welding roof Ready for paint! I really would have liked to use a 49-50 rear window but they are far more expensive in this area than I'm willing to spend so will stay with the 51 window. I'm planning to keep the back of the lower window in place and lower it while raising the roof to end up with a uniform blend and then fill in the gaps (hope that makes sense). If I run into trouble fitting it I can always slide the window forward but I prefer the "longer" look. Thanks for looking!
as Neil Young said, "rust never sleeps", you are knocking it out of the box. Much respect for you saving this great Merc.
Thanks, I really do enjoy this and hope I can keep doing it for a long time! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Just stumbled across this. Not sure how I missed it, Your metalwork skills are amazing. The car looks great so far. I especially love the taillight treatment.
Thanks, I appreciate the comments. Still a lot of work to do so hope it turns out the way I envision. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Looking good!!! I’m with you, I prefer the longer look to a chop as well. The rear window on my 51 was slid forward when it was done. When I hardtop it, I intend to cut the window out and slide it back “where it belongs”. Lol Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Unfortunately one of the problems with lowering the roof is that the corner of the rear window falls below the belt line and I would like to use the chrome strip. I’ve been moving window around and looking at raising the roof to find the best way to do it, may take some time to get it right! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Haven’t actually tried a chop much less trying to fit a 51 rear window. One of the trickiest things of chops I understand. I’d like to keep the trim on the bottom of mine as well. I keep going back to the Hirohata chop. The back window stands taller than most it seems to me...not laid down as much as so many out there. It still uses the bottom trim, but the very bottom corner of the trim has been rounded, and I think that helps the look a lot, giving a little more room between the corner of the window and the belt line.
That is a great lay down! By pancaking my roof I’ve really created a low roof line to blend into so I’ve raised it but would appreciate any comments on the look- From these 2 angles I think it looks ok But when I lay my scribe on top the rear roof line looks way to high Appreciate any comments but I think I’m going to have to drop the window more to make it look right and the cut out the belt line which I had wanted to save. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Yeah, I'd agree, I think you might be coming back up too far in the back which kinda makes the flow go the wrong direction. Thank goodness you are able to get the car out and be able to mock it up and stand back. You'll find just the right spot, I know it! Here's a Dick Dean '51 Merc chop with a '51 rear window. This is probably the most laid down '51 window ever, so there's hope and a place for your window.
That is one of the best looking chops I’ve seen. Would really like to duplicate it, better get back to work! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Does anyone know where I can find a back window as flat as this one? Every window I've seen including mine has a "hump" toward the bottom. Thanks for any help.
I agree with you, that is the flattest '51 rear window I have ever seen. Mine had a big hump in it, too, but towards the top. I happened to have a friend who ended up with a pile of Merc parts, including several rear windows. I went through the whole stack and picked out the flattest one. Seems there is quite a bit of variation in them from the factory. I didn't know that until I read the Rodder's Journal article on Mercury Charlie's Merc. He went through I don't remember how many rear windows to get a flat one that fit the flow of his chop.
Always thanks for your comments and help Dr. Dave! Has anyone seen the glass from this company? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/233199243218 Appreciate any comments. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
From what I understand the glass from a monteray or a 4 door is flat.I have the glass from my 51 monteray and it is flat.
Many thanks for the info, I hadn’t heard that before so will start looking! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
While pancaking the roof resulted in the look I wanted it also created problems with blending in the rear window. I had wanted to keep the back of the window attached while lowering the front to meet the roof line but I wasn’t able to do that so had to cut the window free and reposition. Once that was done started filling in the side panels I believe I’ve got the flow I wanted but won’t know for sure until I can lay the window back in. Back to finishing up! Thanks for looking. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Always appreciate your comments, how are your projects coming along? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
No progress to report over here...just driving. I did finally hit the luck combination of twist, pull and tap to get the stuck transfer mechanism apart for my jukebox this week though. Haha
Rear window is secure now, I think I’ve got the angle right but won’t know for sure until I can set the window back in. I am looking for a flat window and do appreciate the suggestions, would really appreciate it if anyone knows of one for sale. Will finish the rest of the welds, remove the bracing and start putting the package tray etc. back in place. Thanks for looking. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Just finished reading through all five pages. Looks great so far, you've done amazing work considering how rusty this was when you started! I really like the look of those Buick headlights, and the grille and the tucked in bumper looks terrific. The chop is coming along nicely, it looks like you've finally got a handle on the rear window situation.
Thanks for the comments. Also thanks for the PM’s regarding a rear window- I appreciate the leads! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
That's looking pretty snappy right there. I really like the flow you got with that body line below the window and flowing around to the side. Whoever did mine just filled it all with bondo. LOL
Ouch! Really sorry to hear that as I’ve always liked your car- hope to see it back on the road soon! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Oh, it's on the road, half painted, wrinkly headliner and all. LOL. It's my "beater" custom and sees plenty of miles. LOL One of these days I'll tear back into it, but it's just so hard to make myself pull apart a running car at the moment with so many other projects torn apart, so I just keep banging it around as it is.
The Jalopy Journal
