My '51 Merc, can you help me out...

Hi guys, I recently bought a '51 Merc, click on the picture to go to the 13 pic gallery...



What I would like to know is what changes should I make to make it more correct. Is there more than one scene or period for these cars, ie. is there a 50's look vs. a 60's look?

I'm not a huge fan of flames, but I don't plan to repaint the car anytime soon but if I did I would go probably dark maroon or burgundy.

Do the bumpers look like something custom or something that came off another car, I was thinking Checker Marathon for some reason.

The interior on this car is a tweed explosion, what would be correct, custom leather or vinyl?

 

I like the 50's look,myself. Those bumpers just suck. Hard to beat the stock ones. Rolls and pleats look good for an interior. As far as making it "correct",it's more inportant to make it correct for you. Mine's correct for me,but might not be what you like. It's hard to come up with something unique,with a Merc. So if you want to make it look like a certain era,study the old guys,Hirohata,Bettancort,Sam Barris Merc,Ayala Bros. Mercs,etc. Rikster has a shitload of research material on Customs.

 

I agree with Bad Bob...make it what you want and please remove those bumpers...they are aftermarket ribbed bumpers. Yikes. Unless that's what you're into...then ok. It's now your car so make it yours! Makes me wish I had never sold my '51 Merc. eerrrr ohwell should of would of could of I guess,,,, cool ride and good luck!

 

Put some bias ply wide whites on the car, loose the lake pipes and the spotlight, and find a nice pair of stock merc bumpers. The v-butted windshield and the lack of stainless around the window openings scream streetrod as well.

Nice car though, it won't take much to bring it out of it's tortured state.

 

The bumpers suck.They are a bad interperatation of 37 DeSoto bumpers.In order to put a stock 51 bumper on the back ,you have to remove that rear pan that they made because the stock 51 bumper ends wrap around the 51 quarters.The wonderful thing about the front end is that it has a 50 Merc grille shell.I would throw stock bumpers back on it,lose the grille.I think its great that you want to put oem stainless around all the windows.I would at least go through the measures to have functional vent windows.Youll need a set of wide whites and since something tells me theres a subframe in this thing ,do what ever you gotta do to pull the wheels in .All in all ,this is what I would consider a good cut.Id bet it was done using the TOMMY STEADMAN video.The car has major potential and Im glad ya got it,whoever ya are!As far as mercs go there was an early 50s look which is what the famous BARRIS/AYALA cars were.That was west coast and when they were on to different things,the East started cuttin em.So I would say a standard.chopped 51 with a 54 Chev grille,57 Cad caps and scoops in the hood sides would be a late 5os east coast or mid west style.As far as 60s style chopped mercs ,we go back to the west coast and think of over the top radical cars like Winfields Solar Scene and Rod Powells 51.I think it rocks that you are gonna take this thing in the right direction because youre starting with a very good "mold".Right now it has a late 90s "built to sell on ebay" look and its a much better car than that!!!!Hats off and congrats.Oh and as far as the interior goes,to make it traditional,naturally youd need a complete gutting.Seems like alot of nice stuff to throw away but hey ,its a money car and Im sure itll be worth a shitload when youre done!.If your gonna redo the body there are several tried and true traditional choices like 52/54 Licoln or Merc,55-7 Packard Clipper,stock frenched 51's and many others that youd find alot more pleasing to the eye.Having said that after lookin again,The placement of the taillight openings is correct and there are lots of cool things ya could do without surgery.

 

Oh yeah and loose the plate holder.it is your car do whatcha want.

 

Hey Squig,The man knows hes got the goods and knew where to come to get an education.Im sure he could teach us a thing or two about his area of expertise..

 

I suggested some '50 bumpers,so he wouldn't have to mess with the rear apron. It should work with little modification. '54 Chevy grills look great,I agree. Putting the stainless back on under the windows would help out alot.

 

Here's a nice 50's style interior...Sam Barris Merc

 

Here's Barris' exterior and another perfect one, just pulled them off the merc picture thread a few pages forward.

 

original bumpers and chrome the grille would sure go a long way to improve the looks of that car. that Sam Barris merc interior is a great example of what a proper merc interior should be.

I'm not a big fan of lakes pipes or spotlights. if it were mine those would be off as soon as I got home...at least the spots are not mounted on the hood like some bozo's do

 

Thanks for all the comments guys, I have a thick skin so I definitely am wanting to know what's good to keep and what crap would have to go hehehe.

Yeah I totally don't like lake pipes and spots, but I might have to keep the spots until I someday repaint.

Now how come a '54 Chevy grille vs. say a '53 Desoto grille with those distinctive looking teeth?

 

John, I to am in the process of correcting some of the less traditional styling on my own merc. I have owned mine several years intead of jumping in to quickly I have studied many mercs to decide on my favorite parts and ideas. in the meantime I drive it lots and really enjoy the hell out of it. making plans and collecting parts has also been a blast. take your time and like Bob said check out ricksters sight. study the great organic customs of the day.

 

Well John,if ya use the big Desoto teeth yad have to find a splash pan from the Desoto to mount the teeth on top of.They do make 51-53 Desoto pans in glass if ya want to go that route.Both 53 Chevy or DeSoto would suit the car fine .Those are just a few common and actually overdone options ,however ya can be real creative when it comes to the early era of Southern California customizing with a nice floating grille consisting of components from different makes of the era!

 

The 53 Desoto overdone???? Hell I call it spot on and traditional!!!! Just very hard and not to cheap to come by! ETHER

 

I think you would be amazed on how much a change in bumpers alone will make.

New tires and caps will also do wonders!

I would change the teeth/grille long term and probably get rid of the caddy taillights when you paint it at some point.

You have a great start, that is for sure.

 

There's nothing wrong with REAL spots! It's the dummy ones that are cheesy looking,IMO,of course...

 

Hey I know what ya mean.My chopped 49 has a 53 DeSoto grille but like ya said its expensive as hell including teeth ,pan and chrome and after all that if the placement of the grille aint perfect it looks stupid.Ive seen a ton where the teeth are not placed right because of the position or lack of a pan.

 

The only thing I dont like about the desoto grill is the amount of change its going to cost to make it shiney again!!!! Just hackin on ya 00 mack!!! ETHER

 

I saw one at the Primer Nats,that the teeth faned out towards the ends! Instead of facing straight forward. It looked stupid! The Desoto grills i've seen that look really good have 11 teeth.

 

THAT MY FRIEND IS BEAUTFUL!!!

 

another nice one...

 

If you look at that one,the teeth fan out just a little. That's not what I was talking about. The one i'm talking about,the last two teeth are almost sideways! YUK!!! Don't think I took a pic of it.

 

Mine really sucks because the car only had 9 teeth.For historical reasons,since it is the first chopped merc on the east coast,Im keepin it that way.The original owner used Rolls Royce style Lucas fog lights to fill the gap!Look at my post called Maratta Choped Merc.The two shown here aint bad but I like em set straight ahead.

 

that is sweet!

 

Bob, I know what you are talking about. man that must have looked awful. I bet they were trying to get them to fit in the cabinet without having to trim the last one on either side. Heres mine, I trimmed mine. The bumper is a desoto but im going to swap it out for a 51 merc one I have. Just trying it on for now.
We dont mean to steel this thread, I guess we are just letting you know what your options are. I too would loose the bumpers, trim out the window openings, trash the interior, swap or chrome the grill, and chuck the taillights! Oh and while your at it, how about spraying it a color that never dates itself, like BLACK!! WAIT, thats BAD BOB's ride!!!
To make a long story short, its your ride and we would all do something different but at least you have realized something has to change cuz very few of us would do nothin!!
Check out the pic index on www.carnut.com or the 49-51 merc thread on here and pick out the stuff you like. Then add it to your ride as you go. ETHER

 

Hey I got an idea!Cl
one the Ether mobile!Naah ,yad have to start off with a more door!

 

Black is very cool, and one of my favorite colors, but we'll see. I don't anticipate repainting the car in 2008. I can see the current grill getting rechromed maybe, but I need to start doing more bumper research. I like bumpers that don't stick out a whole lot, ie. not a like a '57 Caddy with those giant bumperettes.

 

Well my friend I heard ya but if by some chance ya wanna see what ya described,New Yorks own Gary Chopit built a frosty pearl pink 51 vert with a complete 57 Caddy front bumper.

 

I like the way they look with Desoto front bumpers. The problem is,there isn't a rear bumper that matches it. I don't like them with different bumpers.