Projects RoRi's 1950 Mercury

I picked up this 1950 coupe at an estate auction in February 2015. A Mercury has always been my dream car. I'm excited to finally own one. This is going to be a long term project and I hope to use this thread to keep myself organized and seek help from the community along the way. I want this to be a very traditional early 50's style custom.

These are the pictures from the auction house on the day of the auction:







The car is very solid and completely original and complete. The only rust being in the drivers rocker and the spare wheel well. It was last registered in 1974. I'm****uming that is when it was wrecked and stored. It was definitely stored indoors.

A better picture once I got it home:



Put some cheap tires on it, brought it inside, and started****essing the damage:



The gravel pan, fender, and grille surround need replacing, but luckily that is all.

 

That grille surround will cost you the price of three fenders. Try to straighten the one you have.

 

Nice start!

 

Good Score! That is an Outstanding car to start with. Well done, congradulations. I've owned my 50 Merc since the 60's. I'm also told I'm a pretty good metal man so I disagree with your statement of replacing the front gravel pan, grill surround, and the fender. I know in today's world if that was my car I would repair and metal finish all 3 of those pieces. By the time you find out how hard they are to find and the kind of $$$$ they bring you may decide to do the same. Looking forward to your progress.
The Wizzard

 

Looks like a very nice car. And I'd happily buy that bent up grille surround off of you if you decide to replace it. The one you have there is basically gold.

 

OK, I'd be pretty impressed if someone could metal finish that front fender back into shape! I could see grafting the headlight area from a rusted out fender onto this one to repair the damage though, the fender looks real solid aside from the smash.

 

That fender does not intimadate me at all. The Best part of it is that nobody has got after it with a ballpene hammer yet.
The Wizzard

 

Nice start, congrats on scoring the Merc! Grille surround and pan I'd probably fix, fender you can find fairly easy if your not up on your metal working. I actually have a passenger one if your interested. Make the rockers also. Take your time and keep the pics coming!

 

I pulled the gravel pan off of the car. It is nearly torn all the way through and folded over on itself. I'm holding onto all the old parts just in case I can't find replacements and have to try to get them repaired.

 

Well, when you find a nice grille surround I'll give you 50 bucks for the old beat-up one.

 

If I were doing the fender repair I would start with it still all bolted together and get the fender roughed out first. Unbolt as necessary for access. The gravel pan may look bad but it's not beyond repair at all.
The Wizzard

 

u still looking for grill surround? i have a nice one i would sell u 400.00 if interested call me at 719 641-5571

 

I'm in Oklahoma, guess I need to add that to my profile somehow.

I did find a grille surround:



And I made a trip up into Kansas to pick this up:

 

Picked up a pair for factory 51 skirts at a local swap meet, complete with all hardware and retaining wires:

 

Chris at Shoebox Central was able to help me out with my sheetmetal needs. Picked up a really nice pan and a fender from him this weekend:

 

I'm drooling over that minty fresh grille surround and the Desoto grille with matching pan and bumper! Those parts you found are top-notch stuff, this is going to be a very nice car. I'm sure someone would be thrilled to buy your bent up grille surround too.

 

Nice solid car to start with it looks like....I'd rather work on the fun stuff than fix rust any day. Good score on that Desoto set up for sure. What are your long range plans....mild custom or a chop?

 

Good for you !!
Glad you have a real Dream Car.. very cool indeed !!

 

I have NOS Right Fender

 

Thanks, I guess I will be making a trip up to Nebraska soon...

I've added a few more parts to my pile too:

 

oooh yeah 50 Merc..if i could afford one this would be my dream car too.
great score and great parts you have there though. Keep on!

 

Since your going to run a Desoto grille, all you really need are the ends of the stock pan to about the center of the seam under the light. Then you just graft them together. Too bad you couldn't salvage your ends

 

I like it!


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/index.php?threads/My '47 3W Dodge build..960954/
My build.

 

Damn, you're just finding parts left and right! And nice ones at that, too!

 

Congrats. Nice merc

 

Great find! Looks like you are collecting some great parts too!

 

cool 50!

 

Picked up some great NOS parts. A passenger side fender and a drivers side rocker: