Projects The Mexicali Merc, another 40 Custom in the works

Subscribed! I agree on the ugliness of the roofs,they remind of the Aussie Willys 37-42 that used the Holden roofs. Yuck!

 

Its friday Kev..you should post of some cutting by now,do you??ah,ah,ah...

 

Hey it's the three amigos!, I had'ent realized that Kevan started the thread, despite the drama with the shipper, I had a great time with you guys, Not every thing is bad in Mexico, I've been pulling stuff out of there since the late seventy's, Boy was I pissed aboat Reno's car, I was really impressed with his selfcontrol, and he did'nt let the incid'ent sour his stay in Tijuana, the three of us had a really good time.
The incid'ent reminded me of some war stories aboat pulling out cars out of Mexico, aboat five years ago , My friend corvette don purchased a 1969 convertible yenco camaro in a small minning town called zacatecas in Mexico, bitch'en place , it was founded in the late 1500's by the spanards, what a beutiful place, anyway it's sits aboat 500 miles south of Texas, we went to buy the car, everything went smooth, but there was'ent any trucks heading to tijuana, all the trucks went south to Mexico city which is aboat 2000 miles south and heading in the wrong dirrection.
So we are with this car and it's parked out in the street and no way to get it home, any way I see this 1952 jimmy stake bed truck and there was this old man selling papayas out of the back of it, so I asked don if he wanted some fruit for lunch, The old man was a real friendly guy and ask us what us gringos were doing out here, so I explained the situation and he replied;" shit I'll haul the camaro for you, I only have a half a load and I can sell my fruit when I get to Tijuana" so we struck a deal , it was only 500 bucks and a way out of the problem. The next problem was how to load the car, there was'ent any loading docks in town, but I notice a three foot embankment across the street, so we bought some 1x12 x16 wooden planks, man it was scarry loading the car, but we got it done.
So the old guy tell's me " I'll load the papayas behind the car" and I answered " I 've got a better idea, how aboat stuffing the papayas around the car" papayas are a very soft fruit and are wrapped in newspaper so they won't bruise, I figured it would make a perfect mexican bubblewrap.
So we got the job done and flew back to Tijuana. The old guy told us he would meet me at my house in two and a half days , so three days go by and I get a call, It's the old man, he was stuck at the top of the mountain range just east of Tijuana. Mexicali is a city east of Tijuana, it sits below sea level and to get to tijuana, you have to go up this mountain range 12,000 feet in one shot on this narley narrow road, aparently, half way up the grade, the old man's air brakes went out. he stated to me" I aboat shit my self, I had to keep going up the grade with no brakes! I just prayed the engine would'nt stall , for I would have been a dead man for shure" there is no guard rail going up and he said he almost went over the cliff a couple times on the tight curves. He said he was waiting for some parts to fix his brakes and would arraive in a couple of days.
Anyway two days later the old man shows up, In the summer , it get's to over a hundred degrees out there and by now , all the papayas had gone bad, what a mess, the car was covered in this sticky mess and was swarmed full of fruit flys, but it arraived safe and sound, thank God for Mexican bubblewrap.

 

Great story

 

hahaha, I love that story Miguel. I think it gets a little better every time you tell it!

 

Man 40 mercs really do look better as customs!! Love this thing!

 

"Mexican Bubblewrap"...... hahahahaha

Cool thread..... gonna be a coool car.

 

Im from Mexicali and im gonna sue you for copyright infrigement ....not!!

cool car!!! im goin to Guadalajara next month i´ll see if i can find somethig cool as your Merc

im sure there´s a plethora of cool cars there
and yes el guapo i know what a plethora is

 

Wow, how did I not see this awesome thread before this?! This build is just getting started and it has already been a wild ride! I will be following this one for sure. I am really starting to want a Merc like this. Good luck with the build, and keep us posted!

 

I'm going to enjoy watching this build from a far. Lots of pic's please.

 

WOW, What a story, you can't make this s#@^ up!

QUOTE=magoozi;7784528]Hey it's the three amigos!, I had'ent realized that Kevan started the thread, despite the drama with the shipper, I had a great time with you guys, Not every thing is bad in Mexico, I've been pulling stuff out of there since the late seventy's, Boy was I pissed aboat Reno's car, I was really impressed with his selfcontrol, and he did'nt let the incid'ent sour his stay in Tijuana, the three of us had a really good time.
The incid'ent reminded me of some war stories aboat pulling out cars out of Mexico, aboat five years ago , My friend corvette don purchased a 1969 convertible yenco camaro in a small minning town called zacatecas in Mexico, bitch'en place , it was founded in the late 1500's by the spanards, what a beutiful place, anyway it's sits aboat 500 miles south of Texas, we went to buy the car, everything went smooth, but there was'ent any trucks heading to tijuana, all the trucks went south to Mexico city which is aboat 2000 miles south and heading in the wrong dirrection.
So we are with this car and it's parked out in the street and no way to get it home, any way I see this 1952 jimmy stake bed truck and there was this old man selling papayas out of the back of it, so I asked don if he wanted some fruit for lunch, The old man was a real friendly guy and ask us what us gringos were doing out here, so I explained the situation and he replied;" shit I'll haul the camaro for you, I only have a half a load and I can sell my fruit when I get to Tijuana" so we struck a deal , it was only 500 bucks and a way out of the problem. The next problem was how to load the car, there was'ent any loading docks in town, but I notice a three foot embankment across the street, so we bought some 1x12 x16 wooden planks, man it was scarry loading the car, but we got it done.
So the old guy tell's me " I'll load the papayas behind the car" and I answered " I 've got a better idea, how aboat stuffing the papayas around the car" papayas are a very soft fruit and are wrapped in newspaper so they won't bruise, I figured it would make a perfect mexican bubblewrap.
So we got the job done and flew back to Tijuana. The old guy told us he would meet me at my house in two and a half days , so three days go by and I get a call, It's the old man, he was stuck at the top of the mountain range just east of Tijuana. Mexicali is a city east of Tijuana, it sits below sea level and to get to tijuana, you have to go up this mountain range 12,000 feet in one shot on this narley narrow road, aparently, half way up the grade, the old man's air brakes went out. he stated to me" I aboat shit my self, I had to keep going up the grade with no brakes! I just prayed the engine would'nt stall , for I would have been a dead man for shure" there is no guard rail going up and he said he almost went over the cliff a couple times on the tight curves. He said he was waiting for some parts to fix his brakes and would arraive in a couple of days.
Anyway two days later the old man shows up, In the summer , it get's to over a hundred degrees out there and by now , all the papayas had gone bad, what a mess, the car was covered in this sticky mess and was swarmed full of fruit flys, but it arraived safe and sound, thank God for Mexican bubblewrap.[/QUOTE]

 

Here is another story;
In the early eighties, a friend of mine in Tijuana offered me a 41 ford convertible for 2500.dlls, the only problem was that the car was in Mexico city so he told me to give him a thousand down and the rest when he drove the car up to tijuana. Mind you , this thing still had the old flathead and was bone stock, but he swore the car would make the grueling 2600 mile trip. So he grabbed his brother in law who was an ace mecanic and a tool box and flew out there to drive the car back.
In the eighties , there were no early v-8 part houses in Mexico,and everthing had to be imported from Texas or San Diego so I was crossing my fingers the car would make it. By the secound day I get a call, they were stuck outside of Guadalajarra, the rear end started howling and they lost a rear wheel, the axle key had sheared so they made a metal shim for the axle and put some sawdust in the rear end to keep it quiet, and were back on the road. Two days go by and I get another call, they were outside Mazatlan and the fuel pump quit, so they bought a 5 gallon jerry can and the brother in law stood up in the convertible and gravity fed the flat head by placing the fuel can on the top of the cowl and running a hose threw the firewall. By now I'm thinking their is no way they are going to make it, they had 900 miles to go but I had faith in my friends.
By now it had been a week and I figuered the buzzards must have got my friends in the sonora desert, but woe and behold, they were just east of Tecate, they lost secound gear but were starting the car in third and weaving in and out of traffic so they would'ent have to stop, they were just sixty miles away, they lost a front wheel cylinder but stuffed a nail in the brake line and were going to keep going.
Four hours had gone by and the car finaly showed up, the car was making a racket and was belching water and smoke, they blew a head gasket just outside of town, but had made it and were happy to be home.
Mexicans are a very resourseful people and my friend kept his word, I spent a year rebuilding the drivetrain and drove and enjoyed the car for many years, in my book, my friends will always be the mexi--cans and not the mexi-can'ts

 

Cool story man!

VIVA LA RAZA!!!

 

"Mexicans are a very resourseful people and my friend kept his word, ...drove and enjoyed the car for many years"

Very good story!

I agree they often do a good deal more with a great deal less than many folks I have met through the years.

Cool thread - subscribed!

 

Yeahh,me too... i was laughing alone when reading it and almost smell the freakin mess of rotten papayas..guacala!!!

 

Miguel...first of all i have to THANK you for all the great help and logistics in Tijuana...first met and first adventure to go thru....you have been fantastic and i have no words to really thank you buddy...thanks to Kev to have introduced me to you...i was always reading your posts on the Hamb and it was clear to me that your generosity and desire to help guys are was big,but in reality is was WAY better to meet you in person

And these stories...ah,these ones are my daily living since years here in Mexico and i cant get enuff myself...love em!!!

This one below is really what mexi-cans are...clever and inventive what they have at hand...very true way of life!!

we need more of these entertainment stories Miguel...please go on

 

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Man , santa maria was crawling with chopped 39-40 mercs, hopefuly Kevan snapped some pictures of them, had a great time with Kevan , Parker and marky, got to meet the Swindelers, what a great bunch of guys, they drove down all the way from Washington.

 

Magoozi,yeah..i got the impression that there is a reborn interest of 39/40 Mercs all over and many news customs are in the process...we need more of these around.
Kev,post some pics if you can ...

 

Good to see you too Miguel! Good times! Just read the story about the 41 convertible you posted, great story!

 

Great story!

 

Finding all the bad patchwork and rust under the Bondo and paint is a bummer. I look forward to seeing what you have planned for this build. My understanding as to the ugly roof on these cars is that Ford/Merc designers started with the convertible body then designed and fitted this roof including the cowl cap. To me this particular chop shows the genius of Sam Barris. I can't imagine how he was able to get everything so perfect in the end.

 

Judging by the large number of customs and very few hot rods at santa Maria, I would say that customs are making a very strong comeback.

 

haha. We call it good old "Mexican Ingenuity" and my cousin is nicknamed the "Mexican McGuyver!"

 

Bad-ass story man.. lol...

 

lots of talking!!....!? we wanna see someone chopping here ha ha!
-palle

 

Emiliedk...ah,ah,ah ..you're right!!!! Kevan, show up with some pics..we all want to see moreee!!!!!

 

Wow just found this Thread...amazing stories and yes the Mexicans are very resourceful and wonderful people! Kevan the car couldn't be in better hands and I'm really looking forward to what you do with it. Love your car and if it comes out anything like it it will be fantastic. Boy looking at an original 39-40 Merc I was wondering who originally looked at one of those and said THAT would make a great Custom LOL................subscribed!

 

hotrd32,cool that you like the thread...it has been a cool adventure so far with some real drama included unfortunately for me..still no money from the idiot trucker and i doubt i will see a cent since the damage happened in Tijuana and we moved couple hours later across the border for Kev's return back home..so,i could'nt find so quickly a qualified insurance guy to quote legally the damage....oh,well!!!

But i was already over this lookin at the whole pic,having Kev working on my car and a dream came true after many years ,so i was more focused on the long distance custom vision done...

Plan is to make the very same chop amount as Kev's one,since i like em more chopped than usual...it will be lookwise quite close as his, exept for different personal details

the search for the right parts started already....stay tuned!!

 

A trucker in Mexico?.....no I don't think you'll ever see any money. Although the truck drivers we drank with all night with on the beach in Mazatlan were great guys and wouldn't let us pay for anything......good luck!