I like the shape of the rear window, looks like it's sunken into the trunk some. Is it removable somehow? And does it get glued into the body, is there still a gasket? Curious to know how that'll be accomplished. I tried that with my '53 Ford but it didn't turn out near as nice, and always leaked, although mine was a very amateur job.
the gl*** is sunk into the trunk. it is removable albeit not very easily. it will have a gasket and glue. when we install the gl***, I will take pics and upload them.
I agree across the board. It does look great and Paul is a great craftsman. Thank you I am very happy with how it's turning out and am very happy with the work Paul has done.
thank you i am very excited with the progress being made. that is a huge compliment! paint is aways off unfortunately.
on a side note, I bought another car. I think I will use the monarch parts on this car and swap the mercury parts to it and sell this one as a project.
Good luck trying to change tires after the drop. It's a PITA. My next project is borgeson power steering. Got all the parts except the coupler. I haven't found ONE THREAD that describes the exact coupler needed. Borgeson wants $22 for one ($19 shipping ground if you can believe that) but never said if it fits 54's. We'll start our conversion after turkey day and post the results when we are finished.
I am very aware that the rear tires are a pita but it will deal with it to look cool. lol. did you have your 54 for sale this summer? if so it's a great looking car and if my car had sold it was very high on my list to replace it.
A Monarch Sun Valley? Is that even what they called that? I didn't even know that existed. Kinda rough but wow, that's gotta be ultra rare. I wonder how it got to California, unless you bought it out of Canada and had it shipped.
It's a monarch lucerne they made 200 of them. I feel like the sun valley is fairly rare especially being a no power options and manual trans. That lucerne is ultra rare in my opinion. Its in Washington basically at the border. Mevand 2 buddies are going to bomb up and pick it up first weekend of December.
The best method for changing tire on my '53 is to deflate the tire (if not already), then install new tire already deflated, shove it up in there, reinflate, skirt back on and we're good.
The Ronnie Dragoo car was/is my inspiration for the car. It actually my screen saver on my work computer. I have the 55 paint division trim, restored 552s and an accessory steering wheel for it. I do think i have decided not to use the 55 trim I am worried it's going to be too busy.
I just found your thread, great build! I bought my first Sun Valley in 1962 and my next one in 1978 which took 36 years to rebuild. The top rear corner stainless trim is extremely hard to find. I have many boxes of '54 parts if you need anything. Also, if you are not going to re-use the sail panel trim pieces (t****zoid) I might be interested.
thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I have been looking for top corner piece for 8 years and only found one. the Canadian monarch I bought does appear to have both sides. the roof will be getting the sail panel trim currently we have not decided if the factory piece will work or if we need to make them from br***. if I don't use the factory pieces I will let you know. post a pic of your car I would love to see it.
beautiful car! I feel like my car is fairly rare it's a manual and the only power option it has is the seat. manual brakes manual steering as well.
My SV fits the same category as yours regarding options: 3 speed with overdrive, no power steering nor power brakes; no power windows nor power seat; no other factory options (except radio) nor accessories. It seems odd that the one ordering the car chose the high end model but also chose not to include modern (for the time) luxury options. These cars are rare, with only 9,761 models produced in the US (a few more in Canada) and I believe that their preservation is crucial to the cl***ic car hobby, either as restored of as cool customs such as yours.
I've got a '55 Monarch Lucerne 2 dr sport coupe; project car with the same roof skin used on the '54 hardtop. Other than, of course the the same, slightly taller wraparound windshield used on the sedan, new for '55. The equivalent Mercury, is, the Monterey level. I don't recall the exact number of these Lucerne's built, I remember the production was small. That data can be found in a book that's out there on Meteors and Monarchs. Some may recall the Lucerne name again used by Buick way over in the post=HAMB years. This car does have rust ac***ulated till the late 70's. It's been indoors since. For someone with the right skillset, it will keep them busy, and is absolutely saveable. The front end treatment of the '55, in my view, looks better than what was done with the bumper in '56.
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