Projects 1950 4 Door Merc Build...Sort Of.....

Bro you need some thick skin around here. Its your car, you posted on a public forum so expect to have opinions pro and con!. I have learned so much from this board and I was one of those guys that had limited knowledge on cars. Live and learn!!!!

and I agree stop the A-hole referances

 

I agree totally, coming off like a jerk will cause nothing but pain.........

 

So is that what custom cars look like in the future?

Not diggin the chop.

 

Welcome to the world of Mercury custom owners and good luck with improving/restoring and repairing your custom!

I can see that you have some work ahead, but thats the way it is with old customs...
For inspiration from of a quality built Mercury custom: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345525&highlight=mercury

That custom does at least give med a lot of inspiration!

 

Never forget that a car does not have to be perfect in order to have fun with it.
Get the brakes and steering safe and just drive it. Many times people get caught up in doing all these repairs to make things perfect. That body is not gonna fall off the frame. Just ignore the rust and drive your Merc til the wheels fall off.
And to shut up the keyboard commandos take pics of your car in fun places like Malibu, a street fair in East LA or up by the Hollywood sign.
Good luck with your car

 

hey, THINK ABOUT IT!!....you are 38 years old born in 1972 or so....This Merc is 60 years old born in 1950.....Give it a BREAK......the few things that need fixing aren't the end of the world...like VonWegener said just make it safe and dependable and DRIVE it...None of us were born Knowing how to work on these things or even keep them running....Don't start out with a chip on your shoulder and don't be afraid to learn about your car, you have the desire to own one now treat it with respect and she'll give you miles of smiles I'm sure!

 

A few ideas here. I´d be looking at reshaping that rear side window as it´s not helping the flow at all.

 

If you don't want opinions, then what do you want? You start this thread, telling a story about how you got ripped/fooled into buying this car and then you proceed to show photos of the carnage. All the while you warn us to keep the negative comments down.

You want this to be some kind of "mutual admiration society" lovefest?

 

sorry but that paint job and chop is going to bring a lot of opinions from here.

"You want this to be some kind of "mutual admiration society" lovefest?" well said

 

Can't imagine you lasting long here..

 

"For the A-Holes... By dream car, I mean ...."

He's got a thing going for A holes.....

 

This guy has a real problem and it's not his Mercury.

 

The car has potential. The current A-hole owner does not.

-KK

 

Okay guys thanks this is the reason I didnt want to post this.. I'll just keep reading other guys posts, and wishing them luck. I thought this would be intersting as it really does get interesting, but I didnt join write this thread, or post this for opinions. I joined it for the brothehood, but if you guys are brothers, I 'll wish I was an only child...

Funny how, posting something means you ask for opinions.. This was a project post.. I'll leave it at this, let some of the real builders do thier thing... Thanks Guys....

 

My 2 questions then.

Why are you so grumpy with fellow HAMB members?

Are you pissed at buying a dog?

 

aww come on now... everyone takes a lil heat around here once in a while..
i for one would like to see, and hear the rest of the story. i think you deff have the rite guy working on it.. his stuff is sick!!, so i wanna know what happens??? a little tweaking, and the rite hubcaps and whitewalls like james d illustrated and you will have a pretty cool sled..
also like already mentioned .. i wouldnt get to carried away with the rust, just fix whats really bad .. its not gonna fall off the frame, and you dont want to spend more than it will be worth...
yes i just gave out another opinion, but i hope it was constructive, and helpful ... good luck with it, and dont end the thread... dave

 

Your car is in good hands with Erickson Kustoms. There isn't anything Rick and crew can't do and they do it well.

 

I am very pleased to see your merc getting well deserved attention. No you don't have to have it all perfect but it would be nice to see some people stop painting pieces of shit. Floors first please. I am constantly embarassed my outer panels look the way they do but nobody gets it. If I painted my car without doing any other work to it everybody would think I was a hero. I can't fake a smile so I work on mechanicals first. All hotrods and customs should be built to drive first period. With rockers like that bondo will start cracking with any real driving. I have seen way to many outer rockers get replaced without inner rockers it makes me sick. I once helped push a "perfect" 69 camaro conv. pace car to its trailer and the bumper guard almost fell off I wondered if this car even had pistons and it wouldn't have been the first time I have heard of that.

So good luck and I'm glad your here. So let's keep reading and posting. Maybe one or two cars can get treated right and restorations kept in order. This is the place to learn it all. Doing it right and showing what's wrong never gets old.

If you like worn out booze hags with pounds of foundation and mascara, paint before floors, because who cares whats underneath or what she looks like after she's been rode unless you like coyotes and if you do please keep them for yourself don't pawn them off. Let's stop building cars everyone wants to dump.

A self proclaimed A-Hole built to your specs just tell me what you want me to bitch about or I will make just something up anyways.

 

I would love to get into the topic of thick skin, but whatever. I guess it isnt fair to the guys who actually want to hear what I had to say. It just sucks to write something and have it disected when I'm not asking for it. I once asked for opinions on a paint job, so I expected the punches, but a thread about a car being built? I purchased a car that was already painted. Its a paint job, I can change it and will....

Thanks for ruining this thread.......

 

Whatever, you got a merc and thats something that a lot of us guys would kill for. Yes, old cars will have shit break every three second. you will always have to get dirty and turn some wrenches under them to keep them on the road. If you dont know much about cars now, after fixing all the shit that will break you will keep learning more and more and more cause that shit will definatly keep breaking.

try not to take the smart ass comments personally.

 

Hey, thanks for this.. I have never seen it.. Very Cool, thanks again....

I'll keep going.....

 

Look for Pro Stock Johns Mercury rebuild thread.

 

(Try to have a thicker skin, some of the feedback can be harsh but the board is a fantastic resource).

I don't want to hijack your thread, but I have a similar experience with my car. I bought it from a guy in SC, had a friend look at it, and it was a lot rougher than I had expected. Basically I think that if you got the car for less than the number posted, you did okay. After all it runs, it's chopped, and has tons of potential. It won't take that much to change the look of the car, ie. chrome bumpers. Good luck!

 

Lesson #1. When you post on a public forum, you invite opinions just by doing so.
Lesson #2. If you state you don't want any opinions and then started throwing out azzhole labels, then expect to wear the label yourself.
Lesson #3. There's no whining or crying, unless you just hack off a finger. And then it's simply a tear or two.
Lesson #4. Don't threatened to take your ball and go home, and then not do so. You look like an ahole again.
Ring the bell.

At least you did the right thing, Rick does great work for the Merc community.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words,,,

Let me go back up.This is important. When I have my car sent to Extreme Kustoms, all that was supposed to be done:

1. Full Air BAg Suspension
2. Replace GAs Tank
Thats it.....

I ask Rick to poke around and give the car a good going over.. Now back to where we are..

Rick tells me that the body is basically floating, because the body mounts are so badly rusted. The car in the state it is in is dangerous to drive.... Here is where I knew I found the right guy for me.... Rick said, Look there are a lot of issues, with this car, I suggest we fix only the necessary to make it safe, and install the gas tank. You should be able to get what money you put into this car back..Rick knew how much I liked this car. He also knew what budget I had given myself. Rick wanted me to abandon ship before I find myelf into a money pit I wouldnt recover from. Too Late, I had Merc Stars in my Eyes..

I tell Rick, fix it, and we'll proceed forward... After digging in to rockker panels, he finds this.. The previous owner, whoever of he many that owned it, replcaed the outter rocker panel with.. RAIN Gutter ! Thats right.. what you see is my inner and outter rocker panels. The insanely rusted, and rain gutter... THis is going to get real interesting..

 

I think either you start with a $10-20K car and fix all the bad stuff, or you buy a car for $40-60K where someone has fixed everything. My rockers have been redone, custom made but look like stock.

 

Don´t worry too much - it looks nasty, but it´s all fixable. I doubt there are many of us here who haven´t seen similar botched fixes. When it´s fixed, it´ll be right.

 

Rick of Extreme Kustoms, and the private messages I've gotten is the reason I am moving forward with this thread...

It is not fair to Rick, to not write on my experience with Extreme Kustoms and this build..

 

...or you buy a $40-60K car and find out it was a $10K car with nice paint!

 

Quick, question.. Why do the rockers have openings in them? Why the circles?