Projects Finishing a Kustom Merc on a budget?

I posted recently regarding the hunt for a 53 or 54 Chopped Chevy but it's been hard to find anything I like (I'm picky especially with the rear window!). I've had a chopped Ford shoebox in the past and a chopped 53' Chevy but it was a 4 door. I don't want another shoebox so its either a 53/54 Chevy or 49-51 Merc.

I found a merc that is chopped, on airbags and has a 350/350 motor/trans. The guy that built it appears to have experience building these!

On top of the car price, I'm thinking I'm dreaming trying to finish it with another $25k as a beginner or maybe not ($10k interior, $13k gloss black paint, $2k windows)? I could try to learn bodywork and to weld some to get it closer to finished and save on cost and let a shop do the rest? Could I save some going with satin color, or maybe I can paint it with a foam brush some beige or other color as I'm working on it so I can take it to shows a little and do some of the interior now? In the photos I see things like the hood being out of shape and I can't tell if that requires professional body work.

My instinct says I'm dreaming. Realistically I won't drive a car in my neck of the woods if I have $50k invested in it because I'm in a highly populated area so this may not be a good project for me, but perhaps I can do some things now and drive it around and see if my mind changes and if not sell it for hopefully near what I paid for it. Any insights from people with similar experience?

 

Congrats and good luck....she looks like a good starting point!

 

Cool ride
Nice start.
13k gloss black? Jambs interior pieces painted?10k interior?
Possible? Maybe. As long as expectations aren’t very high.
Too populated to drive? Drive it anyway

 

Thanks I haven’t bought it yet but am just trying to figure out if $25k more would finish it up.

 

Thanks I figure with $25k more it might be possible to finish the car but likely a stretch… I’m not looking to make it a perfect show car but I want a nice enough interior and gloss paint such that I could convince a good looking woman to put on a nice dress and go for a cruise with me on the 101 and not feel embarrassed

 

A good one will ride in whatever

 

Mines a budget build. Keeping the old 60s vinyl interior it had when purchased.
Plans are to smooth out the worst, spray it either flat black or dark grey.
Cruise it with a big ole grin.

 

Glass is expensive if you just want to drop it off and pick it up when it's done, especially for a chopped car. You can buy a windshield gasket for this car but it'll be for a full-height windshield, so that'll have to be modified, as will the windshield moldings inside and out, unless that work has already been done. Looks like the vent windows have already been cut down, if that was done right, that's a plus. But I don't see any quarter window frames, and those can be a lot of work to build. Does it at least have the rear window glass? Those are not reproduced and not exactly cheap to buy, either.

Also, the door windows require felt sweeps on the door and felt channels run inside the door for the glass to run through, all that have to be made to fit this car, and the inside window garnishes have to be in place to keep the windows in place. Are the garnishes cut and fit properly? What about the stainless trims around the door window and quarter window openings. Does this car have any, and have they been modified to fit the car? Some guys run the car without them, or replace them with generic plastic door edge moldings, but I personally don't like the way that looks.

Are you prepared to do any or all of those things if the car needs them?

Answers to those questions alone could swing your budget out by $10K if you can even find a reputable shop to do them. Glass in a chopped 50's car is a huge task. Although if all of those things are already done and it just needs flat glass cut and put in, that might not even take $2K. But I kinda doubt any of that is done yet, because if it was, it'd already have glass in it.

Is the $13K gloss black paint budget also factoring in chroming two bumpers, a DeSoto grille, and some tail lights and small stuff? Because that'll take a big chunk of it.

This is a cool car, and appears to have a lot of work done to it already. But if you're not looking to finish the build yourself, you're probably better off to take the money you do have and look for a finished car.

You might be able to get this one finished for the budget you have in mind, but most projects like this end up getting kicked around to multiple different shops trying to get finished, doubling the build budget and often never getting finished, or if they do, taking many years to do.

 

Yep

 

You can do the bodywork yourself find another hood don't paint it black it shows everything. I would go with a light color white,gray,seafoam green. The inside could be done on a budget seats carpet no headliner or door panels for now.

 

Got the rear glass now?
Garnish moundings?
Any of the original interior?

 

It doesn’t have any windows at all and I saw another photo with seats in the front. I’m assuming I probably need to get all the pieces but maybe he has the garnish moldings

 

Thanks! I assume I have to do all of the things you mentioned above! As long as its not structural, things like the garnish mouldings I'd be more than willing to try and retry until I get good and perfect looking parts.. The glass appears to be all missing so yea I can see that would take a big chunk of the cost! I also deep down really like the 53/54 Chevy more so maybe this isn't the right project if I'm going to get invested north of say $45k total. That seems very likely.

I think finding something finished or near finished and finding a better price on it ~$45k would be a better investment. I've seen a couple of 53/54 Chevy's in a finished state chopped and bagged for $50k, but its those damn rear windows and I'm picky with it! Thanks for the advice!

 

Thanks I bought a 50' Ford shoebox that I later sold and it didn't have the interior completed but it had the seats and carpets. I made some plywood panels and stained and varnished and got compliments on them. I'm sure I could do similar with the interior for this car if I did get it.

 

Outside of the quarter windows flat glass is flat glass and there are old been in the same old dusty building for generations glass shops around that can cut it especially if you make patterns. The quarter windows are the issue as they have to be cut to fit the trimmed down frames unless you flush mount them and that doesn't look right to me on a Merc. 49 back windows with proper trim go for some bucks though.
I'd replace the hood with a good one and swap meet that one and take the best offer.
Still if you have the body work done to a high level you can still find painters who do side jobs and some of them are pretty good if they are working at high end dealerships. True, if you take it to the go to custom paint shop in the area that 10K might be a starting point.
Same with upholstry, there are some no name guys around turning out some nice work for less than the big name shops unless the bragging rights for having that shop do the work means a lot.

I'd be asking around as to who does what around the area that turns out great work for a more reasonable cost.

 

I saw the car on marketplace so we must be somewhat close in the area. the add says it has a Cadillac bench seat. I did also just see a different post with the correct 50 mercury seat upholstered in black for pretty cheap that could help.

 

That body looks to me like it's going to need a lot of ironing out before even thinking about paint. If you do a quality paint job, you will want all the chrome and trim to be nice ($$$). Don't mean to sound negative, but realistically I don't think your proposed budget will get it to a state you will be happy with. If I were you (obviously I'm not, so take this for what it's worth) I'd look for a clean, straight Chevy, pay to have it professionally chopped, then deal with the details as time and money permit.
Just my opinion.

 

Thanks that I appreciate the advice!

 

Thanks yep!

 

Thanks for the advice! I think the Merc is a super cool car but if I'm in north of $45k I might wonder if I should have went with a 53/54 as that's the car I really like the most. I think if I start with a straight Chevy I'm going to spend way more than $45k as well once its chopped/painted/etc. Either way I think my budget is sort of unrealistic but maybe I'll get lucky and find something near the $50k that someone wants to unload and has the chop/rear window how I like it. Thanks!

 

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but looking at those pictures, it is going to take much more than $25K to finish that car to a respectable standard if you pay others to do the majority of the work.

1st, no self respecting shop will put out sub-standard work, even if the customer is OK with it, because they do not want their name attached to it. They will charge you accordingly, for their best work, because you are buying a rolling billboard for that particular shop.

2nd, The pictures show that car will require more than a metric shit ton of body work. Just look at the hood gaps and fit. I imagine most shops in the San Diego area will charge $100+ per hour. I can see burning up 250 hrs real quick, just getting that car straight enough to support a gloss black coating. Not to mention the cost of materials. So there goes your $25K and then some.

3rd, How much is missing? What parts are you going to have to purchase to complete the car? This could add up quite quickly as well.

4th, The big unknown? What kind of BS is hidden under that black primer? How much chassis work still needs to be done? What shape are the brakes, wiring, transmission, etc in. Problems with any one of those systems adds thousands to the project tab.

If you buy it, get it for as cheap as possible, knowing full well that you will likely end up blowing the thing completely apart. If you don't that is a win, but at least you are prepared for a bigger project if it comes down to it.

 

Merc has "the look" but, what does the body look like under black primer (?). have top bows for headliner? what suspension used w/bags? Power steering/rack? brakes all drum?yes, you can figure out how to do some of body work. can start with lowest price paint job by MAACO, or similar chain paint/body shops. interior can use wrecking yard seats. buy similar material and 1/4" wood paneling for doors. glass is another story. San Diego area might have some shop to help. not many willing to do custom. builder have any ideas on that? be far from trophy land but, to drive and get thumbs up a long the way yes

 

Move on to a more complete project that you can enjoy now. A good runs and drives with no missing parts and glass and interior.
Picking up someone elses dream seems to be the achilles heel of the hamb

 

If you can't do most of the work yourself, that car is a money pit. I bet you could find a finished one for less than it will take for a shop to finish this one. Chrome and upholstery are big ticket items. Bodywork to get the car ready for paint, and then paint will be another big bag of cash, And then you still have windows, and window frames to get done. And no one has mentioned engine, trans and wiring.

 

Thanks! So there are more photos that show the state of various things and I'm pretty sure this car was done very well right up to this point. I wouldn't be surprised if its a fellow HAMBer. He mentioned this is his 15th build of Mercs and I saw a photo of another one he built and finished and it looked amazing in the photos. I think most of the work I can't do myself so most likely the $25k would be eaten up real fast unless I went with a crappy paint job I did myself and spent more on making the interior nice. This just screams find something close to finish for $50k (seems 53/54 Chevy's go for less than the Mercs).

 

Thanks! I'm confident the work under the primer is good! It was built on a Nova chassis. I saw some more photos (didn't want to post every photo). I think the path to get a really nice looking ride will put me out of my budget. I can find a shop to do the glass and other stuff but I'm sure its going to get way out of my budget fast.

 

Yea I agree. I don't think I can finish this car and be at or under a total $50k pricepoint. That's my absolute limit.. sure I can buy what I want for more than that, I can dump $100k if I wanted right now but I refuse. The more expensive the car the less I'm likely to drive it in this crazy region I'm in (San Diego). I'm close to the coast and traffic and idiots everywhere make me hesitant to drive too nice of a car around. I struggled a bit with my chopped 50' shoebox which I had $36k into because of being stressed out with the way people drive around here. Still, call me crazy but I want a 53/54 chopped/bagged Chevy (the reason I sold the shoebox earlier this year)

 

Then keep it a beater if you’re scared to cruise it
Put a seat in it
Get some glass
Zoom zoom

what the dividing line between driving and too nice to drive?

 

Thanks maybe I'm asking the wrong question and I should be asking, what is the best I can expect for a Merc or a 1953/54 Chevy with $45k

I'm not willing to invest more than $45k right now. My other thought is what if I bought the Merc, did some basic bodywork (if I do a shitty job I can redo and rinse and repeat over and over again little by little as my skills improve) and paint by hand with a foam brush and do some beige color. Invest in the seats and carpet and make wood panels and invest in the headliner. I could probably learn tuck and roll and do the doors/kick panels. then if I really love the car and find myself driving it enough around here I could invest more to get it finished really nice.. otherwise I could keep as is and drive or just sell it. What I want is to not lose much money on my $45k investment. Thus far I've broken even or lost a tiny bit on all my past classics but its taken a ton of patience when hunting for something.

My 66 C-10 is a total beater, the paint was fading and I painted with a foam brush a glossy blue/green rustoleum color I mixed up and I love the truck for what it is (throw surfboards in the back and hit the coast).. no worries if a shopping car gets slammed into it and I still get waives from people. The Merc or 53/54 Chevy might be harder to keep as a beater and not feel embarrassed.. but who knows.

 

Having read a couple of your threads I think you could be better off finding a finished car and then have the mods you want done to it.
For example the car below at 25k should leave enough room to have a shop chop it and retouch the paint then buy a kit and bag it yourself. Just my.o2¢

https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/d/ventura-dr-bel-air-sport-coupe-hardtop/7886479126.html