Projects Does this dress make my butt look big?

I liked the headlight/front end treatment. Reminded me of a cow catcher from an old steam engine. And who doesn’t like old steam engines! It just needed a chrome front bumper.

 

Mick,

A few colors that might suit you:

Blue One's Washington Blue



Rusty Rocket's Indian Motorcycle blue



bronze (don't know who the owner is; if it's yours please speak up)



Moriarity's Cadillac engine in (I believe) his '40 Ford



copper-bronze (unknown owner)



a red



another red
View attachment 5533902


I really like the gold engine and would love to see an entire car done up in it.

However, for your Merc I think that the two tri-5 Chevy pickups have the best color.

 

I’m not one to pick a guys car apart but if you’re asking for someone else’s perspective I think there are just a couple things, since the rain gutter has a kink I would just shave the gutter completely. Also a chopped Mercury has to have nice pinch weld stainless around the windows, it’s a must. I would also add some type of stainless on the body. And of course 4 whitewalls, pie cut bias plys are also good! 50s Kustoms look good with dark solid colors like Sam Barris Merc green, Buddy Alcorn Merc dark maroon… Mercs also look great with the stance a little higher in the front. Good Luck Buddy!!

 

There fixed it lol

 

@atch i believe the copper car is the guy who puts on vintage torque fest

 

I would certainly argue this point.

 

John @coolstuff

 

Mick , could You post a front view of Your Mercury?

 

Looks like the radiator could drain into the cockpit. Imagine having to build a hood top for this one. (Love the color.)

 

Mick, DO NOT cut this car up again! The only thing that is wrong with your car is whatever ideocracy's are there that make you sick every time you look at it and that you can never git pass the discission to leave after you paint it. I will also play the devil's advocate here on color and ask why everybody insist on painting their cars the same old shades that have been done to death. Unless its black. I don't. like solid colors on customs. Washinton blue and Buick Maroon are the same old same old. Alot of newer colors such as the dark green on my 2014 F150 look like a solid color but there are pearls mixed into the toners and when the sun light hits the body lines and contours it explodes into what looks like metallic but it's not, now the car looks custom. And the added benefit is a factory paint code that is easy to blend in in the advent of a repair. And I know I am at the bottom of the food chain around here because I think Jerry Titus's green Wichita style Merc was one of the coolest cars ever built. What can I say I have been a Custom Hotrodder all my life. lol Larry

 

@One bad 51 Merc, I can’t paint it a solid traditional color. My Merc isn’t really a traditional Merc. I’m proud of my Wichita roots so I have to have some paint that pops. Will have to be a new factory color with pearls. I have to have a factory color so I can match it when stuff happens. Good to see your a Titus Brothers fan. Jerry’s Merc was the talk of the town. I’m not into the rake but it was a Kustom and it popped.

I really appreciate your feedback. I need to move forward and I don’t want to go too far backwards. I got a lot of good suggestions and will be making some change. It still might have some issues when I’m done. But I can always show them pictures where it started. They would have to agree looks a lot better than it did.. That will be good enough for me..

 

How about this color?

 

Mick. The very first model car I ever built was Starbird's Predicta, in 62 or 63. I would have been 7 or 8. If I think it will make any car or truck look cooler and go faster, I will cut the hell out of every panel on it. But they all have to sit on a big and little tire rake. Can't mentally picture them any other way. Hell, even my jacked-up street freaks in the 70s had G60 15 formula1s on the front and L60's on the rear. The only reason to build a car to begin with is so people will say THATS KOOL, and you can say IT'S MINE! lol Post pictures as you go, there isn't shit for build threads on here anymore. Larry

 

Instead of looking at it as going backwards, just think of it as the next phase. A few tweaks and some color. Good suggestions so far.
Scoops above the headlights should be pretty easy and will help the front droop a bunch.
Just reshape the drip rail a little. The skirts need help; parallel the upper edge with the body line and the front edge with the door, try to make the radii bigger and both the same. Do away with the square fuel door or make one that mimics the shape of the quarter window and compliments the curve of the fender. Some kind of side trim would be good, but simple slender scallops might have the same affect. The color choice will either hide or accentuate the things that bug you. I like the ice blue metallic, or maybe a similar metallic mint green - both colors could be late model factory colors but still look like period show cars.
Looking at what you started with, man, you’ve done good! Just my two cents.

 

If it were mine...I would smooth out the bumps in the drip rail, likely massage the quarter glasses so they come down to more of a point, consider some sort of side trim and paint it. I have always liked the overall profile and really haven't ever even noticed the things I mentioned above until you sort of pointed them out for us. I just know it looks kool going down the road and will have to get used to it not being flat black as it has been most of the time I have known you.

So, who gets the honor of painting it?

 

I agree with GS It has a Kool profile and looks great cruising down the road

 

So I was having my morning coffee while looking at the opening picture, and Shazam!!
........I thunk a thought.
Is it possible that the fender skirts are on the wrong sides of the car and simply need to switch sides to align parallel with the accent crease in the rear quarter?

 

Thanks for the help. We all walk around a criticize kustoms. Kustoms are built all different sytles and usually no two are a like. I thought it would be kool to do it openly. The funny thing, most likely I wont be doing all of the suggestions. So guys will be walking around my Merc for years to come saying, Man I wish he would have fixed the headlights. Lol!

Eventually it will have stainless around the windows and wide whites for the rear but I'll have to live with it as is for now. The paint will be late 50's or 60's style so it will have some pearls etc., Funny you mentioned to raise the front. A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Dave and I had a good discussion comparing early 50s to late 50s stance with kustoms. My Merc will be more of a late 50s so we thought it shouldn't have the speed boat stance. It was fun talking Kustom Nerd topics.....

I agree

Duncan you are hurting me. After a color change, I realized the problem wasn't the color. Lol!

 

There was a factory colour out out a few years ago that was similar to the Livingston Merc that I always thought looked really sharp. For the life of me I can't think what it was on at the moment. I am pretty sure it was on a compact car. If I remember I will post it.

 

There is a Lexus color, don't know the name but it's a pearl light blue. I always thought it'd look killer on a Kustom.

I think it's "cerulean blue mica", but the google images don't do it justice.

 

One of the reasons why my Merc has been in suede for so long, I've been going backwards to fix the last phase. It has gone through a lot of phases. I'm turning 60 this year and its time to find the final phase for the Merc.

The scoops above the headlights is a good idea and I will be pursuing scoop ideas Thank you for the text and messages. I hadn't thought of that until you guys mentioned it.

The Gas filler door most likely will stay. I agree 100% with you but I drive mine a lot and its nice not being able to climb in to the trunk to fill up. Yep, I'm lazy....

Thank you Jeff.... The shows we go to its more about the people than the vehicles. We don't look at each others cars because we have seen them 100 times this year. I really appreciate the kind words.

I have a friend (Rod Baughman) in Bartlesville that is blessed with a lot of paint spraying talent.

Thanks Kurt

I don't think so because the 51 skirts have the four door hick up towards the front. Dr. Dave Taught that to me last weekend. Never took the time to realize it.. The skirts are going o have to be fine tuned, easy fix....

 

Great minds, That is vehicle that made me think if it. Should really pop on a Mercury.

Thanks for the help, I really think it would be a kool choice.. I like Voodoo Jim's Buick that is a light mint. (He calls it Purple Gang green Lol!) Man it really pops, would be kool to have the same pop factor.

 

Just be aware a LOT of the new Pearl colours are tri stage and super expensive like a few thousand dollars a gallon. Even the ones on economy cars.

 

K13 got it exactly right in his post and the picture shows that adding chrome in the right places really accentuates the flow of the car. I'd leave the rain gutters as they don't make a difference overall if you have other features that dominate the appearance.....and when a shower pops up they are pretty handy.

I think a dark color suits these Mercs better than light colors.......
Besides changing the lines of the fender skirt, I think the single biggest improvement would be that chrome spear(?) on the side of the vehicle. Without that, it a big slab side that needs something to break it's appearance up.........

 

That is what I'm afraid of, I hadn't priced it yet...

 

Lake Placid Blue would look great on it

 

Add more of a curve to the top front edge of the fender skirt.

 

Now that front end looks sharp with the chrome.

 

I was looking at the 49 to 51 Merc thread for comparison. A lot of the little things such as the fit of the skirts are common on a lot of the cars on that thread. I would add and subtract metal along the edges of the skirts to complement the adjoining body lines. Just keep in mind the lower edge of the skirt so that you maintain a reasonable parallel line between the upper and lower edge of the skirt. I am also not sold on the idea of the Pontiac style scoop on top of the fender, I think it will give the illusion of the headlight being even lower in the fender line. I would cut the headlight bucket area loose and tac a piece of round rod on top of the fender door line and raise the headlight bucket till it follows the flow of that line. and as long as we got the welder out, I would shorten up the front lower valance and tuck the bumper back to close up the gap between the back edge of the bumper and front wheel well edge. If I remember right this car sits on a mid 70s T bird/Torino frame, and that was the reason the nose was extended the way it was. There was an article on it in Custom Rodder back in the 90s. So, I am not sure how much you can move that back. If you're going to paint it in a shade similar to Livingstons, I don't think the window areas will be a concern, but I would go with the belt line stainless and tweak the drip rail. The body side stainless is so hard to find in nice shape and the work involved in making it nice is unbelievable, and nothing takes away from a nice paint job more than wavey trim going down the side. And NOW WE KNOW! why my car has sat on a chassis table the last 15 years waiting to get DONE!! I told you not to cut it up! lol Larry

 

Hi Micky, have you ever thought of two toning it, like blue on the bottom and off-white on the top at the accent line.