Oh my what a head ache but it turned out. You are blessed to figure out a way to have side windows. All kustoms go through obstacles during the build process. I have a tendency picking kool over function. Sometimes that can get you in trouble. Lol! Thanks again for your detailed post. It is a huge help to show what you had to do to go through the process.
Thank you, next videos will be basic cruising, I think seeing Kustoms driving around is a cool site to see.
Wow, MichaelVz51 What an intense and demanding job. Passion and good taste are everywhere. You came from far away on this piece of metal and you achieved a very high quality piece. Applause for your refined taste and great quality of metalwork. Congratulations that is a "chingonería" of merc 51 '
This is a great compliment from you sir, especially now that I have reached “chingineria” stays! Thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy your Merc as much a I am enjoying mine!
Thanks again StrayKat more to come once weather is better! I’m gonna drive the whitewalls of this! Plus, I wanna get radials next time...
So many nice details on your car. Color is very nice. Love the way the rear bumper blends with apron. Cool choice of taillights too. Same mirrors also.
Great catch on the headlights, but even with sealed beams they don’t light up the road enough for me and my poor long term welding eyes! I tried to pick the new style led’s that were as inconspicuous as possible and they work great.
Thank you Bib it means a lot coming from you! Look forward to meeting when we can after this disease let’s up on everyone. I want to cruise with you and your buddies once the time is right. Seems some so cal shows are being planned like the Ventura nation as LS and Santa Maria, I’ll be there for sure
For sure. We'll cross paths at some time. I miss driving my Merc. Needs to be repainted. I hear you on the headlight deal. Mine aren't that bright either. There are some lights that are awesome, called Z beams. guys used to use them on old Jeeps and VW's. They're flat. Love you're interior too....BUT!!! cup holders? hahahaha
Bad Bob, you are a bad man..........I'll give up just a little period correctness on the headlights in order to see. On the cup holders, we all need beverages for those long cruises and I can't ask my girl to hold our drinks because she's too busy on her phone when we are cruising, ha ha. Plus, the cup holders also double as a cell phone holder so I can play my favorite old school tunes through the system. Maybe I'll get some covers for them when I show it??? Hmm, now that may be a good idea in case I run into Bad Bob and his crew............
Just messin.....hahaha Mine is all messed up. Can't wait to finally finish it, interior and new paint.
Ok cool. If you want references for paint and or interior let me know. you better get on it cruising season gonna start soon!
Just waiting for my taxes to clear first. In case I owe some bucks....Paint this year, interior, next year.
I have a new engine, 352 FE, that will go in soon. Then new tires, battery, fluids, etc, so I can drive it to the shop.
Totally Bitchin Bob on using the FE motor, that is cool. All I can say is it ain’t gonna drive itself and like Matt Townsend says, stop dreaming and build it! His words are burnt in my mind and helped me get through the tough parts of the build.
Matt's a great guy. He's always my go to guy, when there's something I can't figure out on my Merc. Always look forward to seeing what he's working on.
Bad Bob, hope to meet Matt someday, he was inspirational in my build, I always like seeing his work too
Hello everyone, its been a long time since my last post. I have been dealing with some medical issues and are in process of getting all straightened out. I made some recent progress with the rear window trim and wanted to share with you. This seemed like it would be a simple piece to make but turned out to be very tough to get right. Originally, we tried to build the trim in a "Z" shape where it would overlap the outside of the top and lay flat on the glass, so we made it in two pieces and attempted to weld it together. The trim base material is thin stainless so it could be polished and this proved to be extremely tough to get right during the welding process even with the master welders I have on hand. The issue was that the stainless would keep moving around and not fit right AND it would discolor to point where polishing it would not work as it was too thin! The end result was to go back to the drawing board and make the pieces out of thin stainless but in an "L" shape where it extends over the top opening and lays flat on the glass on the edge. Once we got this to work, and it was a lot of fitting etc, the two halves were carefully welded, sanded and finished so I could polish the piece. To complete the installation, I used some very small "U" channel rubber trim I got from McMaster Carr that is UV resistant for the outside seal. We setup 4 screws to hold the trim in place and once installed, I ran a bead of black UV resistant silicone to seal the trim to the glass. This will work great as it provides a great water seal for the trim and glass and is hidden by the window tint. Hope this idea helps others. Next posts will be done once I recover and can complete the split windshield trim and surrounding glass trim which is proving to be a very tough project too. Here are some pics:
Sorry to hear about your medical issues, we will be praying for you. Thanks for the very informative post. This kind of post I like to see, it will definitely help others with their projects. The Merc is looking good and love the rear window treatment. Like they say Kool ain't always easy. If it was everyone would be kool... Keep us posted with the progress.
Thank you StrayKat, can’t wait to see pics from Lead Ain’t Dead too. I appreciate the good vibes coming my way, I’ll post more progress in hopefully about 3 to 4 weeks. Also I have another idea for a better cruising video of the car once I’m back in black as they say. Post
History Lesson: I had a guy reach out to me on YouTube after viewing my build videos saying that he was a previous owner of my car. He explained some features that were on the car BUT these features were in my videos so I was skeptical so I replied that it probably wasn’t the same car. He replied and spoke of some hidden pinstriping that were not in the videos so I started a conversation. This is where it got interesting and very exciting! He said that he had bought the car from an older guy from Nor Cal in the very early 2000’s. So, here is the timeline going back to the early 80’s according the my now new friend….. Early 1980’s: The older guy from Nor Cal had wanted to build a full sled style 49-51 Mercury. He searches for a bit and finds a pristine, clean, unmolested 51’ Merc in Palm Springs and buys it on the spot as it’s the perfect candidate for his build. What happens next is spine tingling and hair raising…. While towing this clean car back up north, the straps break on the trailer and the car comes off the trailer at highway speed! It then rolls up on 2 wheels with the driver side up in the air, goes a short distance and rolls further onto the passenger side, scraping down the freeway… It makes a slight turn and another driver plows into the underside and bends the frame sending the car back down on all four wheels and into a nearby field. The older guy, loads up what is now a wrecked perfect Merc after getting chewed out by the CHP and ties it down properly and returns up north. 2 years go by with the car in his backyard and the first order of business is to replace the frame- Now I know why there was both bad sheet metal damage in the passenger sideAND how the car got a P&J Merc Aftermarket Frame. Once back together, the older guy had a friend chop it, replace the rear window with a 50’ window and perform the hardtop work, unfortunately the “friend” had never done a Merc chop and this explains the absolutely shitty work. One they figured out that they had in essence ruined the car it was put up for sale, he said he had had enough. Early 2000’s: My new “Friend” buys the car as it was “dolled up” by the old timer from up north but doesn’t realize what he has bought until he hears the story from the old timers friend who was there for the trailer accident. Upon getting the car home to the Inland Empire in So Cal, he decides to put a drivetrain in and installs a 305 Small block Chevy and Turbo 350 trans. once he and his friends take a closer look at the car, they decided it was too much so it goes up for sale again. Early 2000’s continued: The next owner was a father and son who traded another car for it and it went to the El Monte area in So Cal. Once again, not knowing what they had traded for it was too much for them too so it was again put up for sale and purchased by a retired DWP guy who started to build the project in the high desert area of So Cal. Mid 2000’s: The new high desert owner puts the car in a body shop and discovers all the issues but decides to forge on. He gets into a beef with the body shop and many parts are sold from the original car by the body shop owner to pay for work already done. Next, unfortunately, the body shop owner dies and the high desert owner re claims what us left of this car. He then decides to put it up for sale and yours truly buys it. I have a few pics of it from the early 2000’s from new friend in the IE but we have lost contact for a few months. I will reach out him again in the near future to get more early pics and post here, it’s a crazy but very cool story that the facts line up correctly. more to come and I’m Excited to find history on this car and why certain characteristics exist. More to come
Vaya, michaelvz51 las locuras que hay detrás de cada coche, cuando tenemos el proyecto en el garaje no nos imaginamos por mucho cuántos kilómetros han recorrido, los talleres en los que han estado y lamentablemente también en manos de carniceros que han tocado su metal. De todos modos, por aquí se dice que los auos eligen a sus dueños, ¿verdad? Para recuperar la salud amigo y aquí continuamos
The Jalopy Journal
