Technical Bought a 56 Mercury lead sled. Questions

Just a FWI, there are 2 different height windshields for the ‘55 and ‘56 Fords and Mercurys, one is about 1 1/2” taller than the other.
What’s really strange about your car is it looks like they used the roof off of a 2 door hardtop which would have used the shorter windshield.

 

I would start buying Ford and Merc windshields from junk yards, so I had a few to experiment with. see if you Cancun one close and then move the metal to fit. Or start over and try to sink the stock glass into the cowl without cutting. When I did my 49 Buick I cut the cowl and used stock full sized glass. Ended up with hidden wipers and extended the hood to cover them. You have lots of options.

 

Very Kool .

 

If the work already done was of good quality, you can afford to experiment with windshield area. Sinking the windshield down into the cowl as others have said may be the best way to solve your problem. As someone said, you can move the metal around, but you can't move the glass around.

 

Bad Chad has an episode on you tube where he does a windshield for a 55 or 56 Mercury using lexan and a BBQ grill. His first attempt was a disaster but his second attempt was successful.

 

The Sarge hasn’t been back. Y’all scared him away. Or maybe he’s practicing glass cutting.

 

Actually, that is a 1958 Studebaker Hawk. Packard had merged with Studebaker before going belly up and Studebaker was using up inventory by adding the Packard Clipper taillights to the Hawk models before Studebaker itself went bankrupt also in 1966.

 

Not a Hawk. Just a Packardbaker. They tried to make a Stude President look like a Packard, with the stupid front fender extensions to fit the lights and add on fins to fit the Packard tail lights. Obviously it didn't work. This is a 58 Hawk.

 

@BJR I agree, the one posted earlier is just a "Packardbaker".

However, there was a also a 1958 Packard badged Hawk.

 

A thought would be to make a card or poster board template of the windshield. Take the template and lay it on a piece of aluminum flashing that may be picked up at Home Depot, Lowes or just about any builder supply. Then put the aluminum in the windshield and secure with some small sheet metal screws. That should give a good representation of what the windshield could look like. Tape everything and aluminum foil around the opening and every where you don't want resin stuck to. One way to go. Use paste wax for mold release on the flashing and around the opening. Could do about three layers on the exterior then take cheap upholstery type foam cut into 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 square ribbons. Stick the foam in about 3 inches around perimeter of the fiberglass. put foam verticals in about 18" apart and put 2 layers of glass over the foan and an inch or 2 on each side. The fiberglassed foam ribs will give it amazing stiffness. Mark with a fine where the edge of the new glass will be for trimming. Carefully lift off then there is a female mold to use. Wax the form and lay up 3 or 4 layers of glass. remove and trim. That should accurately represent the inside surface of the windshield that can be used to fit to windshields to find a candidate to trim.

 

How about making Your own Kustom taillights . Get some red and some white lexicon. A panel of overhead light panel for the reflection factor. Grab the heat gun and start forming.

 

All his attempts are a disaster!

 

Wraparound windshields are the hardest to chop. With good reason. You have to know how to chop them to keep the windshield fitting correctly, and not resorting to hacks like Lexan. The more you chop it, the worse it gets, and that one is severely chopped, so most likely, custom glass is in order.
I painted a Donne Lowe bodyworked 55 Merc, for Manny Bastiao. Came out nice enough to win a "Fine 9" at KKOA's Sled scene East, 1983 or 84. Later, Manny sold it, and the new owner brought it to a pretty well known customizer here in NJ. He chopped it. Used the "old school" tips that we used to use on more-flat shaped windshielded cars. Broke the glass going it. It was too narrow. Since you can't rebend glass, he was stumped. Brought John Pazsik and I in to look at it, since we had just did my 55 Olds chop successfully. There was no way stock glass could fit,and he actually wanted to try and cut 2 pieces, and butt them together in the middle to make up for being too narrow. Ended up using Plexi, and the car disappeared after a couple years.
Too many people out there with MIG guns, and not enough experience or knowledge to chop a curved glass car, without ruining it.

 

Here are a couple chopped 56 Mercs I borrowed from Moriarity's postings Windshields are tricky to do but look so cool.

 

Sometimes the results aren’t worth the effort. Being over chopped like that makes the body look fat. I’d find another top and graft on it, if you want it chopped, do it moderately. As was stated, chop the top to fit the glass, not the glass to fit the top.

In my honest opinion, that model had a good looking top from the factory, it’s hard to improve with a few hundred dollars what the factory spent a few million to come up with.
That info and a dollar might buy you a cup of coffee.

 

Yep. I've seen exactly one in my life, same color as your pic. Owned it for a couple of days back in the early 60s. Bought and sold without ever driving it.

 

If you know what your doing you will have no problem fitting the windshield in i cut one all down for that car and several other wrap around/ curved windshield for other chop tops reason there was no widshield in the car when i first sold it to a guy in VA right after cutting the winshield had to move from garage to another location and widshield gotten chipped with small crack in corner should have just put it in any way with the small crack but didnt ..And the car quarter panels are set up for 56 packard lights witch i have fewe if you want to buy.

 

So you built the car and did the chop? That's good news, now he knows that a windshield can be made to fit.

 

yes

 

The windshield, make a cardboard pattern that fits the opening with the rubber on it. Then cut a piece of lexan plastic using the pattern. Then get your acetline torch out with a very low flame and hold it about 1 foot away to the side that will be the inside. Start in the middle heat a little and bend a little, put it up in the window opening to check it. Do 4 or 5 inches at a time ang go Drivers side then Passengers side back and forth til you get to the outer wrap around part bend the drivers side to fit the car and clamp the window in the car, now bend the passenger side to fit and trim the window so it and the rubber can be put in the window opening and it fits. Then clean it with a very soft cloth. The other option is to buy 2 or 3 glass windows mark them up from your pattern and head to the glass shop and have them cut it, usually takes 2 or3glass windows to make one There might be a HAMB page on "How to cut a wraparound windshield"

 

Or have Ltorch make another one for you.

 

Great idea only problem with that is being i don't have a shop with a name people feel they can pay me with a pizza pie or a thank you only and have no idea how much time things take.

 

I think you're cutting yourself short. When you can do a job that isn't readily available and an art, just be up front with the shopper and fair to yourself. Glass shops around here are $100.oo an hour or more. I'd tell him to bring a glass. If it breaks you still pay my time. Charge for every hour you put in. I have no problem dealing under those conditions with a Glass guy.

 

Remember the customer is paying for your experience in cutting curved glass, which very few people have today.

 

Most local shop don't even want to cut flat .

 

I found a gentleman that been doing it for years..I saw him on a TV Show here in Virginia and he is waiting on me to get.

 

I got a gentleman been doing it for years here in The Virginia Area

 

He wants to sale ???LOL

 

Absolutely...I'm in no rush, I'm just trying to get things lined up so I can have them.