50 merc, bad chop, how do i fix it?

the car is covered in snow right now, so i can't get a good pics, here is a pic from when i bought it last fall. you will notice that there is a dip at the top of the rear window where it meets the roof.
totally ruins the lines of the car.
the chop was done 30+ years ago
before i start on redoing the car, i wanted to get my head straight on how to fix it properly.
thanks

 

I think I'd drop the bottom of the window down a bit, bringing the window more upright. Probably most of the work would be at the bottom of the window.

I don't know where Thunder Bay is but if you take it to Ian Berky he'll have it straightened out in an afternoon.

 

Just a rough idea of how. Cut out window to relocate. Longitudinal splits in roof to raise. Fill in resulting holes to contour.

 

I'd get the paint and filler out first and then see what your dealing with.

 

I'd do something with the lower part of the window like said above. I think thats where it looks sore. "Other than them Blingin trailer wheels" Carl

 

I would take it back to the guy I bought it from and tell him I'd been drinking heavily on the day I opted for it-didn't notice the bungled chop. Now that I have, I can only imagine what booboos lie where I can't see yet. Please give me my money back. Pretty please.

Or else, I would just leave it under the snow.

 

I definitely agree with those who suggest the best way to correct is lower bottom of the rear the window. Will require cutting around much of it, and extending the 'flat' area ahead of the deck lid, but that should allow the roof contour to flow with the window in an unbroken line and gets rid ot the 'humpy' look beneath the rear window. Considering the work to do a complete chop, this is not too bad......at leats it appears to be correctable.

Ray

 

By no means does the car look ruined or ....'ask for $ back' position. The idea above about slingin a little mud isnt that bad either. The stuff comes right back off pretty easy. Carl & I like the car.

 

seems a bit extreme

 

i agree with moving the lower area, less chance of ruining the arc of the roof that way.

 

gotta get in there and find out what's underneath the paint to really know how you'll need to address it, most likely cutting out the window like suggestion is what you'll need to do. if they botched that area i would want to see how they did the other areas of the roof as well, may want to redo some other areas at the same time.

 

It's not impossible, but might be more work than you are willing to do.
I did a thread here a few years back, where I repaired a chopped 48 Merc, where the rear window was ALL bungled up. Worse than yours. Lots of hours, and some new sheet metal panels made for it, but it came out fine.

 

Are you going to try to fix it yourself or have it done ??? I went to ericksons shop to get a quote on choping my merc. He had a real messed up mercs there that he was fixing with a fucked up chop like yours. After seeing how he fixed the chop on that merc i recomend you do it like he did. He cut out the rear window and frame and moved it foreward. Then he made new sheet metal all the way around the rear window. It now flows out bad ass. He posts here and goes by exk. Check out some of his posts.

 

I've chopped a Merc , so I'm very sensitive to the problem - and you see a lot of chopped Mercs with the same issue - especially 51's with the 51 rear window. Made worse by the fact the Merc rear window has a lot of "puff" to it, which is hard to match with the new roof contour.

That said, I'd proceed the same way as the previous posts - cut out rear window, lower and position more vertically, and raise the rear of the roof to match. Not too difficult, and the car is worth saving.

Be sure to roll it outside OFTEN as you do it to get a good perspective !!!

 

The door window frame doesn't seem to flow well into the side glass opening either. Something looks out of whack there too. Just an observation, maybe it's the angle of the photo, but that detail bugs me more than the rear window issue.

 

yes you will have to cut the back window free, and lower it then extend the metal between the deck lid to the bottom of the window. I never like when they remove the rain gutters on these cars. It does make the door tops look a little funny to me.
But it is a nice car anyways.
you may be able to see the back of mine in some of the pictures in the album on my profile. or if you need more just Email me.

 

I wouldnt worry about it the car looks nice in my eyes. If it bothers you so much I would have some one that has chopped a merc before fix it. I say that because they may know what and were to cut and well. If they do just the ruff in the cost shouldnt be bad at all.

 

truthfully, I'd leave it alone also. its at that "to nice to fuck with" stage. just wait tiil it needs more done to it.

 

this is like your wife asking if her ass is to fat in this merc, no correct answer dont plead drunk, will only get ya in more trouble

 

If you're going to do it yourself, just do it. There's no way to tell what you're up against till you get the paint and mud off it. It's really hard to give an opinion by that picture, but I'd say the whole window needs repositioned, looks like the front's down too much and the back's up too much. You'll probably have to cut the window out and redo it, slicing and dicing and making filler pieces as you go. Big job yes, but compared to doing a whole chop, it's not that bad.

A little tip, go to a hardware store and buy a cheap piece of 1/2"x10' pvc pipe and lay it on the roof with duct tape, it's a cheap way to get a visual on the right "flow".

 

And I assume you think you know something about fixing a bad chop?

 

I have the same issues with my 51. I'm counting on the superpowers of Bill from Moonlite Kustoms to fix it. Maybe he will have some input here.

 

Ha,, yeah, I don't want to do that ever again! What up G--ber?

 

Step #1 - Take more and better pics. When I got mine I took a bunch of pics from every angle before I started doing anything to it, see here:

http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewgallery.php?albumid=1&carid=14513

Are you in Thunder Bay Ontario?

 

i have more pics , just none better than the one i posted from the side.
i shovelled it off today to try and get a better pic, but the ice is thick on it.
its a balmy -11 C here today, so i didn't mind the shovelling
and yes thunder bay, ontario

 

I like it the way it is. If it were mine, I would change the color, but that is just me.

 

Drive it.

 

I'd take better pics so we actually can see the car in day light from diffrent angles..for me personally that pic does nothing for me whipe the snow off and show us what you got, car looks pretty decent from what I can see


nevermind just read your post above about the picts, my bad

 

Obviously NOT a MERC man...