Hi There. Im building a 1951 Mercury it was a fourdoor but im converting it in to a twodoor. I have also chopped it. I have used all orginal fourdoor doors etc. It would have been good to find some coupe doors to use but are impossible to find in New Zealand. Im just make the rear side windows. Does anybody know the length of the bottom of those windows. Please see photo with arrows. Also I have made this window and im not sure it looks rite. Anybody out there who has a helpful opinion I would appreciate. Thank you.
it looks good the window size and rear sail panel. every chop is a little different so someone else window size might not be right on your car.i can get you a stock measurement if you need looks like you have a good start keep us posted dave
I can take a measurement for ya tomorrow, it looks to short for the height. At first glance i thought i was looking at a shoebox business coupe window..Here is a pic of a 51 I cut a few weeks back. its chopped 4" in the front and about 4.5" in the rear. Your flow on the roof looks pretty good.. One thing I just noticed is your B pillar is thick like the front door, where the coupes pillar is a lot thinner, so you will loose some of the "window opening" their.. Your lenghth over all looks pretty close if drew an imaginary straight line from the front edge of the skirt up to the window looks like the B pillar on door needs to slide foward about 1/2" and then move the rest foward to close the gap. That will add some length.
Not disagreeing with you Matt... but there have been well known samples of the much shorter quarter windows in the past. Personally I do like the longer quarter windows better.... but... this side view of the Wally Welch Mercury shows very short quarter windows.... and it works very well. It might have to be the shape of the window that looks more like a Shoebox side window.
Hey thanks for your help guys. Yer I think my window frames are to wide I actually didn't realise this till you said so. I have another pic if somebody could get that measurement too it would be much appreciated. I am not sure how much of a chop my mercury has as my father started building this car over 30 years ago, before I was born. I would say its not as low of chop as yours maybe like a 3" chop. I would like to get this merc looking rite so nobody would be able to tell it was once a fourdoor.
I think if you slide the piece of the window frame you have on the front edge forward to meet the door gap where you have that wide space to fill now you might be close. Another thing that might be throwing things off a bit is I think the rear end of the top is a bit taller and rounder on the 4 doors than the 2 doors. While the flow of your chop looks good, it might be a bit taller/fuller over the back seat area than you usually see which might be making your 1/4 window a bit taller than some other chops.
I agree with ya Rik, nothing looks wrong at all on Wally's Merc, The window "looks" just as it should be..On his conversion the overall shape is what I think is throwing off the look, like its too pointy in the lower back corner. If it was a larger radius in the rear the window would take up some of the meat on the side profile and wouldn't look like it shoots straight up to the B pillar like a stock chart..
i think matt is right the window in his drawing made it better,once you get one side right make a template to match the other side
When Ralph converted my 4dr into a 2dr, we only extended the door six inches, which is four inches shorter then a regular 2dr door. The reason we did this is to make sure the back window proportions looked ok.... I like what you have done and it looks kool. Keep the faith you will be cruising in no time. Happy Trails, Mick
yea mate your welcome to come check out the merc. I just watched your video of your Lincoln that's a nice build. whats the difference between a merc and a Lincoln? I see they have a different grill. Im in Taupo
The Lincoln is 4 inches longer from firewall forward. Firewall back, all body parts are interchangeable. Lincoln came with a 337 cu/in big block flathead V8. Very heavy motor. I have a 500 Caddy now which is heaps lighter. I have a '49 Dodge grille in it now. Also Jag front & rear. Can you PM me your email address and I'll arrange a visit. Keen to see your Merc.
The chop looks good. A fella here in town just imported a four door 51. All original with flatty ad 3 speed. I think there are some photos in the latest NZ rodder. Are you keeping the original back window or putting earlier oval 3 piece type window in? What's your plans for running gear?
Check out Ether's 4-door to 2-door conversion for some inspiration. Shoot him a PM if you want any advice, he's a good guy to talk to... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229300
Im planing on just keeping orginal 51 rear window. To be honest have not thought much about running gear maybe use a GM late model Ls1 or similar. Have just been consintrating on getting all sheet metal work done as its costing little to nothing( bottle of argosheild) and just my time and patients.
Looks like you're doing a real nice job. Bit of a trip north but I've got an unrestored 51 merc 2dr tucked away in Auckland that you're welcome to check out (hell you can even borrow parts for measurements or mock up of you want) Also got a 51 Chev that I converted from 4-2dr so dealt with a lot of the same issues
Good to catch up today Tim. Hope the time we spent there was of some use. You have some great stuff in your sheds. A man's dreams for sure. Cars and machinery. Cheers mate. Clive
Very nice conversion work. I think with the thinned pillar the proportions will be very nice, you're doing an excellent job. Hope you can find a proper vintage engine to use for your drivetrain.
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