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50 merc chassis swap

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 1badrat, May 2, 2012.

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  1. 1badrat
    Joined: Dec 28, 2008
    Posts: 210

    1badrat
    Member

    Has anyone put a mercury on to a crown Vic police car? I've found one for 400 bucks and it will haul ass!!! I'm wanting to put my 50 merc on it!! But my merc is 119" wheelbase and the crown is 115"!!
     
  2. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    you'll also find that the crown Vic's tread width is going to be way to wide to run any thing but modern high backspaced wheels. Best look elswhere for suspension for your Merc, and keep the stock frame.
     
  3. outofcontrolreb
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 4

    outofcontrolreb
    Member

    I'm in the process of doing it right now. The crown victoria I have is a 97 and it was given to me for free. I have the mercury body and the crown victoria frame all together just in the process of fixing the rust in the merc doors and mounting the front end. The only thing I have to do is move the front wheels back a inch or two. But other than that its working out really well. Any questions feel free to PM ME.
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2012
  4. chevyburb
    Joined: Apr 17, 2006
    Posts: 169

    chevyburb
    Member

    A friend bought a '49 Merc @ Hot August Nites auction & it was sitting on an '85 ish
    Olds. fit perfect and rode like a new car.
     

  5. 19Fordy
    Joined: May 17, 2003
    Posts: 8,027

    19Fordy
    Member

    The stock 49-51 Mercury wheelbase is 118 inches.
     
  6. 1badrat
    Joined: Dec 28, 2008
    Posts: 210

    1badrat
    Member

    Thanks guys for the info!! Wish I could get my hands on a 74 Pontiac tempest four door!! I was told the merc body will bolt right up!! Almost scary that all the body mounts match up!!
     
  7. jfrolka
    Joined: Oct 4, 2007
    Posts: 898

    jfrolka
    Member

    I guess im a tree hugger type when it comes to these old cars but use the original chassis... they ride very nice!!!
     
  8. LOW LID DUDE
    Joined: Aug 16, 2007
    Posts: 1,223

    LOW LID DUDE
    Member
    from Colorado

    friend of mine is doing a 50 with a police car crown vic. Tons of work to modify everything and he hasn't got to the rad support stuff yet.On his the car is going to sit too high I think,unless you channel the body down over the frame. You might as well since a lot of the floor has to be cut anyway.Yes it was too wide to clear the rockers so he cut the side rails off and fabed new ones. Good luck.
     
  9. Dirk35
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 2,067

    Dirk35
    Member

    I put my 49 Ford PU (51 front clip) onto a 1979 Mercury Car frame cause it was free and the truck didnt have a frame. Ive widened the front fenders 2" so far and its still a tight fit. I had to cut out the frame rails where they kick out to make a wider platform and ended up using only the front and rear suspension. It was a TON of work and the Car frame is too wide, dont do it!
     
  10. I'd keep the original frame if you can. I have a big GM frame under mine, and it looks like a ton of work to make the floorpans and stuff all line up.
     
  11. CharlieLed
    Joined: Feb 21, 2003
    Posts: 2,463

    CharlieLed
    Member

    The only rationale that I have heard/seen that comes close to justifying a chassis swap is one that uses the mid-80's GM chassis when the floorpans in the Merc are all shot. Dick Dean did a number of these, you may want to do a web search to see what is still out there. A Camaro/Firebird IFS and a Lincoln MKVIII IRS make a nice combination on the stock frame.
     
  12. Stonebird
    Joined: Dec 19, 2008
    Posts: 109

    Stonebird
    Member

    Another vote for 80s GM chassis. Dad put 84 Buick Park Ave chassis and floors under his 49. The Merc floors and frame were really bad. Cut the firewalls just above the trans humps and added some rectangular tube to widen the rockers to meet the merc body. GM stuff lined up really well and makes the chassis and drive line part really easy. Not finished yet but should ride nice and no problem if you need parts away from home. Just be prepared for LOTS of welding. Another local guy has one on a crown vic chassis and floor. It didn't seem to work out as well. Don't know if it's the chassis fault, builders fault or both.
     
  13. 61falcon
    Joined: Jan 1, 2009
    Posts: 772

    61falcon
    Member

    if you want a car that rides like a new crown vic then drive a new crown vic. leave the merc on the original frame. my .02
     
  14. Yeah, well, good luck with that. When you DO find one :rolleyes: let the folk at Ripley's know.

    IF, by chance, the moron who told you that meant a Pontiac LEMANS, I'm sure he also told you that the difference in WB can be made up by using chrome locking lug nuts.

    Cosmo
     
  15. koolkemp
    Joined: May 7, 2004
    Posts: 6,005

    koolkemp
    Member

    There was a tech article in I think Custom Rodder , years ago for this swap, was no where near bolt in but it worked well, the 4 had a little longer wheelbase, but i agree it would be way easier to find the Merc than the Lemans!!
     
  16. russthetinman
    Joined: Feb 13, 2009
    Posts: 40

    russthetinman
    Member
    from KC MO

    Has anyone used the stock a arms modified to accept ball joints? My trunk floor is rusty what the best replacement?
     
  17. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Frame swaps are ok when you either don't have a frame or the frame is junk for one reason or another such as an accident or sever hacking due to past engine swaps.

    On the 51 I had (had it for 33 years) I swapped a 67/69 Camaro / rear steer Nova subframe into it with great results and we drove it close to 90K that way. If you cut the Merc frame off just behind the stock crossmeber the Camaro subframe slips in place and the back end of the subframe rails tie into the Merc crossmember with a bit of trimming. The stock Merc core support sits on the little crossmember that is in front of the main crossmember on the subframe with just some rubber spacers.

    After driving it that way a number of years including one trip to Texas and Bonneville in 1988 I decided that I didn't want to deal with the broken rear leaf spring and crack in the frame at the rear and pulled the frame out and put a 75 Monte Carlo frame under it. That took hacking out the sheet metal above the rear axle to clear the frame along with stretching the Monte Carlo frame by cutting the welds where the rear subframe section connects to the side rails and slipping it back the required distance and rewelding it. I got tight for money and was having a storage hassle and sold the car without finishing it but the buyer did finish it an has driven it quite a bit in the past ten years. That's a long winded story to say that frame swaps are never as easy as some people tend to think and none of them are a bolt in.
     
  18. LOW LID DUDE
    Joined: Aug 16, 2007
    Posts: 1,223

    LOW LID DUDE
    Member
    from Colorado

    I agree with 48 Chevy .there is no such thing as a bolt in easy frame swap.Be prepared for tons of fabrication no matter what frame you use.
     
  19. Dirk35
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 2,067

    Dirk35
    Member

    You are in Ardmore. If you are ever up my way and want to stop by and see why your should NOT do it, feel free to drop me a line and you can stop by and see it. The truck is currently my Avatar picture.
     
  20. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    Isn't this something that Dick Dean told a magazine reporter, pulling the writers leg? In truth he had mated the floor pan out of the GM car to the Merc body, if I remember correctly. Scarey how this kind of stuff hangs around. "It's in writing, it's gotta be true!"

    As usual this is off the top of my head and could be ALL WRONG.
    Larry T
     
  21. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    D Dean did it for years
    This 40 was done on an olds frame by him many years ago and put back on a merc frame at considerable effort.
    [​IMG]
    I didn’t see it before but I can imagin how bad it was by some of the other scabbed together crap that was still there when I worked on it.
     
  22. Do not do it. The crown vic wheel tract is to just to wide. Allot of mercs have been put on 70's 80's GM frames with there gm floor pans with ok results usally to save a badly rust out car. I have even done a few any years ago but learned the hard way the gm frame is a little to weak and alot of work. If you do a gm frame swap i highly recommend you strength the gm frame by add a x member as well as strength the body's inner rockers. If your floor pans and inner rockers are savable i highly recommend you keep the stock merc frame and upgrade it to your liking
     
  23. need louvers ?
    Joined: Nov 20, 2008
    Posts: 12,903

    need louvers ?
    Member

    296 V8 touched on something I was going to say earlier. that mid to late seventies Tempest or Lemans four door chassis is something Dick Dean did a big article on about 1984 or so in a short lived TRM publication called "Street rod Illustrated". There were a number of small "oopses" that went along with it, like the wheelbase being a couple inched too short. This was solved by lengthening the rear control arms and drive shaft. The rear frame horns required allot of reshaping to work, and I can tell you that the tread width is bordering on being too wide. All in all, I remember reading the article and thinking, Why? I also know that just as 296 V8 stated, most of these cars have been replaced back to a stock Merc chassis.
    Another quick note on this deal. There has been reference to another article done a bit later by I also believe Dick Dean about using a later G.M. chassis that utilized the floor pan from the later donor car. Cut the rusty Merc off at about the middle of the fire wall and discard the bottom, cut the late model at the firewall and discard the top, join what's left. Kinda okay to save a real rusty car car I guess, but lots more work than just adapting good suspension and brakes to an original frame.
     
  24. 296 V8
    Joined: Sep 17, 2003
    Posts: 4,666

    296 V8
    BANNED
    from Nor~Cal

    Rethinking … I dint mean to sound so down the frame - floor pan swap thing.
    Its probably the best way to go with a real rusted out car.
    In fact I planed to go that way with a rusty 59 chevy sedan delivery I had … that I never started.

    If done cleanly and planed well im sure it can be pulled off … and the big plus its easy to channel at the same time.
    One thing to keep in mind also is later model donor cars (like the ones mentioned) relay heavily on the body and frame as a combo …. look at the same car as a convertible …. they beef up the side rails a ton … so IMO build accordingly.
     
  25. Food for thought, the cars Dick Dean put Mercury bodies on all had perimeter frames. Note the picture above, frame rail just outside the fuel tank.

    The Crown PD car you are looking at most likely is a unibody construction. No real frame to support the car with. And I can guarantee you it is going to be a shit-load more work to rebody the Crown Victoria than to just put disc brakes and air bags on your stock Mercury suspension.
     
  26. Take a look at this thread THE GREEN MILE and read it all the way through. PLEASE!

    Consider the work involved here and remember that your Mercury is NOT a unibody car like the Lincoln is.

    And for all that is great and holy, get your wheels centered in the wheel well!

    [​IMG]
     
  27. 1badrat
    Joined: Dec 28, 2008
    Posts: 210

    1badrat
    Member

    Ok, everyone thanks, and thanks for the rude remarks! Cosmo!, I'm not using the crown vic, I have a o sub, and rearend I'm gonna put in, and I also have a complete running driving 70 impala four door, with shitty body, I thought about! But more than Likley the camaro swap!! Does anybody want a merc flathead and tranny, not going to use that boat anchor!!!
     
  28. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I'm generally not a fan of frame swaps (ala the S10 swaps everyone wants to do) but I do remember that magazine article where they swapped some Olds frame under a Merc and they said it was scarey how close everything was to being the same. They even used the Olds firewall and grafted it into the Merc cowl. I think they were also doing those frames under the fiberglass 50 Mercs that were being sold for a while.

    According to the article the finished product rode and handled well and wasn't a big deal to accomplish.

    Don
     
  29. young'n'poor
    Joined: Jan 26, 2006
    Posts: 1,281

    young'n'poor
    Member
    from Anoka. MN

    Frame/floor pan swap sounds like a pain in the ass. I would avoid it unless the floors and frame of your merc are rotted away nearly completely.

    On another note, I'm not an expert but I thought crown Vic's were body on frame, not unit body.
     
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