1949 Mercury Build, 4 doors and No roof...

And no experience either... Some of you might recognize this from a previous post about 7 months ago. And against my best judgement and a few other opinions I had to go out and purchase it... "I swear it wouldn't leave me alone, it followed me home."

Earlier post
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=643752

Since then, I have had it mechanically cleared at some trusted/sleazy shop in Pacoima, where it was quickly named by the local mechanics and guys there as "EL AQUACATE" which means avocado for my gringo brothers.

below are pictures of when I first saw it and then at the shop.

Since then, It's now being sanded and "rebondoed" then left a primered black, until I can save some more cash and figure out what color I'm going with.

 

More Pics...

 

So meanwhile, again not having any mechanical skills but can surf and type like a champ, and after countless hours reading all of your helpful posts, I was able to rebuild my dash.

See pics...

 

And after a trip to my cousins Powder Coating and Electron Plating shop in Garden Grove, and countless hours trying to figure out how to do this, I was able to complete my new dash...

 

I'm almost done restoring the old dirty interior, just needed a good cleaning and some touch up. Then have to figure out how to cut up my new acquired window trim and weld it? so it fits... I have a laundry list of things I need to do and wish to do, but I just want to drive the Merc already and hopefully find it it's new name...

Let me know if anyone want to know how I did any of the work, however I pretty much found every tip here on this board.

Thanks again for all your help guys,

Paco, going Loco...

 

I'm also planning on power coating the rims to match the dash. So if anyone is interested in selling an old set of rims, or maybe even swapping out these chrome ones for a plain set, let me know.

 

Rad! Clearly you need to paint it green when you get the Benjamins in order, after all it is the Ävacodo.

 

I love it. Sometimes having it unfinished is more fun, then your not so concerned about where you park or where you drive it. You can buy coloured primer for it do shoot it in green again with primer and drive it.

 

I love that dash! The interior is all I have left to do on mine. I didn't see you mention...is there a Carson top or something?

 

If it does not have a Carson top put that in the budget.
Nice ride . I would have brought that home too.

 

cool car

 

Congratulations! I'm glad the nay-sayers didn't scare you away.
Here's some inspiration Bad Bob posted up in an earlier thread.




And as was mentioned before, Gibbons makes a fiberglass top.
http://www.gibbonfiberglass.com/components/mercury_conversion_kit.asp

 

Do a 2 door conversion, car is cool regardless.

 

That thing is cool as hell!!

 

I'd like to know more about what you did with the gauges. Looks like you replaced some of the smaller gauges with newer ones and repainted some of the face places to the speedometer, clock, radio. What did you do in terms of voltage conversion? I currently have my 50 Merc dash disassembled because I'm getting things rechromed and debating what to do to get all the gauges functioning. I'm like you and learning as I go. Any info you can provide would be helpful.

 

Wasn't the bad guys Merc in the movie Grease (1978) originally a 4 door sans the roof? I may possibly be hallucinating. You do have a nice ride, though.

 

A buddy did a flat/suede purplish 4dr with a carlson top years ago,BAD ASS ride! anybody in central Nebraska may have seen it..it belongs to George Simmons in G.I, geeza i lost almost all my finger prints hand sanding that monster....now thinking about it that was 14yrs ago.

 

looks good, nothing wrong with a capped moredoor. if it wasnt raining i was driving mine all the time, sometimes even in the rain accidentally. if ya need a roof, i know of a couple of places to get one with the flow of my old purple and orange one in my album

 

Thanks everyone for your support and inspiration... And yes, I had the privilege and the pleasure to speak to "The Legendary Gene Winfield" about doing up a Carson Top, he still has some of the fiberglass molds and am probably going that direction eventually $$$.

I have some more pics, I stopped by Jewel City Auto Body to see how the sanding, bondo and primer were coming along and well, I couldn't be happier...

Should be done by the end of next week...

 

Here are the doors and hood as well. Seeing all the work that was getting done, I said screw it and tore the carpet out. Afraid to look, since I didn't do this before buying the car. (big no-no, I know I know) well I decided to face my fears and do it. I was planning on just cleaning the carpet, then eventually have a friend who can weld lay some street signs on there.

Well, fortunately they weren't that bad. Just a little spot on the driver side, you can tell it was patched before.

I also took the hood and trunk hinges, and radiator support (i think that's what it's called) off and dropping them off for powder-coating, going with the same red to match the dash.

 

49Dreamer, yes I replaced the smaller gauges with newer ones and did repaint the Speedo and clock. The Radio I just gutted out the one I had and rechromed the bezel(?) I had to ebay around for months before I could find a clean looking dial face plate. The one I had, had aged horribly. Then I just put made a white background to it and pasted an orange dial post. (I'll post close up pics later for ya).

As for the gauges, well, since the Merc has some kind of 80's Camaro front end welded on, (not donor lower like I originally though) it's already 12 volt. I originally tried to restore the old gauges, but realized there is no way I could figure out how to convert down from 12 to 6, let alone wire the whole car. (which I have to do). So what I did was find some aftermarket gauges that would fit. I wanted to the Dash to be as nice as possible, since I don't have a top to hide under, it will be the first thing people see. So after looking around and trying different ones, I came across these. All you have to do is cut the chrome bezel and they slide right out, then just drill some holes into the back of the original housing. Make sure you remove the white glass retainer slide and use silicone to attach the glass to the stainless steel faceplate. See pics attached and let me know if you have any other questions...

This is the thread that "TwoChops" shares the radio idea that I used. Thxs TwoChops...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418849

 

I dig it, a carson top like the one in the old magazine article thats done in a driveway would be great on this merc. I believe it was a Rod n custom magazine article.

Screw the floors, fixing them is almost always like opening a huge can of worms, it makes you want to dive way into the project and next thing you know your doing a quick frame off resto.

 

Yeah, your right man, the more I see the more I dig into it, and the more i dig into it, the more i see! Its a vicious cycle of time and money, now i understand the 10 year restore! I'll just wash the carpets and fix that small rotten part. Besides I got other things to worry about, like getting a custom cut windshield.

And from what I've read, I'm just doing 2 pieces of just flat safety glass. My question is do I need to use some cut/fitted original windshield rubber moulding and do i have to use the center post (both parts) for it to stay on.

I'm planning on using both, I just have to resize them and figure out how to cut and reweld? But I am still missing the interior center post.

Thanks again for the inspiring words!

 

Thanks for the gauge information. I always liked the 49 dash over the 50 and 51, but ended up with a 50 merc. I guess that's one of the advantages of having a 49 dash is being able to use aftermarket gauges. Your dash came out looking great.

I completely know what you mean when you say one thing leads to another. I only wanted to trouble shoot my headlight switch. However, that has led to rechroming the dash surround, rechroming the dash insert, looking into a new steering wheel, new steering column and fixing the not so well sealed firewall. One thing always leads to another.

 

Nice. Looks like that's a good reason for me to consider a '49 dash swap so I could run some newer gauges.

So Camaro front stub? Yours has the first radiator pushed out a bit more in the nose, something I might end up doing with mine. So the factury u bracket would have to be put behind the radiator right?

 

If your interested in glass you might check with Bob's Classic Auto Glass. He advertizes the one piece glass but it would have to be shortened. He might be able to make one up that way if you can give him the dimensions.
http://www.vendio.com/stores/bobscl...t/1949-1950-1951-mercury-1-piece/lid=24558547

 

Give Matt a call to sort out your options.

 

Hey Pro Stock John, I honestly don't know how or what was done on it concerning the radiator or the factory U bracket??? I can take some better pictures if you wanted to see what was done. And yes, as far as a camaro front end, thats what I was told was done and could see the insides welds when I had it lifted before buying it. Of course I didn't really understand what I was looking at. But I can say there were NO cracks... I know, I know, Amateur Hour... but I'm learning every day with every busted knuckle, just like I'm suppose to I guess...

Oh and thanks for the window info, but I like the split flat glass look with divider. And I'm sorry if I missed it earlier, but which Matt where you referring too...

So I swung by the auto body to see the progress and boo, same as last week, no new progress, guess they got busy again... Guess I have to keep on coming in and bug them to work.

 

Oh well, guess it gave me some time to get more power coating done.

Here's the radiator support, along with trunk and hood hinges...

 

slddnmatt he's posted in this thread, he's in Riverside. He has a glass guy that's good. I'm guessing you could get custom glass made, and then use stock gaskets that have been shortened. Does your car still have the factory garnish moulding for the windshield?