~ Whole Fiberglass Merc Bodies?? ~

So im browsing around on Egay and found this! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Repl...015QQitemZ250214398965QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I was just wondering why would you want to use fiberglass? Doesnt it crack after a few years? And why with Mercs being so damn cool and popular why hasnt anyone came up with replacement panels? like grill surrounds, quarter panels, fenders? You can find them for everything else but Mercs wtf? anyone wanna start a company? = )

anyways skool me about wanting fiberglass

 

thats kinda cool,, for racing an shitt,, idunno much but i do think its kinda neat

 

I know gene winfield did both fiberglass mercs, and 47 fords in the '80's.
at that time mercs were super popular, and people were resorting to using four doors , and too far gone rust buckets to make thier coupes and convertibles... sound any thing like today?

 

i do belive i know the man that made this car amd its suppose to be very well made for a glass car , this car was painted yellow at one time unless its another body i do know the body was sold but to who i have no idea ..

 

Didn't Butch's Rod Shop have a body like this? I remember seeing a black gel coat one at the NSRA Nationals once when it was in OK City.

 

They dont seem to be too expensive. IT would be sooo cool to have this in your kids room and have his bed in it = )

 

I like the idea of doing some weight reduction, does anyone sell a fiberglass hood?

 

So many rodders,so little steel! Hey,it's "Traditional"they were using glass Ts in the late'50s

 

I would absolutely get one of those if I had the money/space.

 

Looks pretty cool IMO. It would be pretty tough to find a real chopped merc body for that kinda dough. (that isn't a complete basket case)Good to see there are still a few "affordable" ways to get into the hobby. Sure it's not the real thing, but it sure beats the hell outta building up a Honda.

Todd

 

i think a rustbucket or 4 door conversion would be less work that that glass body. you still have to do EVERYTHING to it, floor, inner structure, hinges, bond inner panels to the door skins. if you want a working hood so it looks right, that's up to you too.

 

im thinking ray is right on this one , as far as i know the bodys are in the 20 grand area .. i might be wrong on the exact amount but this i do know they are expensive..

 

I think these are $6k. Nobody would buy one for $20k. A complete running steel two door is less, and a done chopped one can be had in the $25k area.

 

I dunno, one part of me doesn't like Fiberglass... it isn't original, etc..

But the other part of me - it's lighter, cheaper, plenty of benifits. Most of us wouldnt batt an eye at using 'glass panels to lighten our hot rods, why not a glass body as well (think of the weigh savings on one of these sleds).

It doesn't appeal to me... but I'm not sure why. It seems like it satisfys all of the requirements...

 

No rust....easy repairs....replacement panels available....very competitive price....popular modifications included....bolt it on to a more modern chassis.....easier and faster construction.....not having to redo decades of bad repairs.....listening to a bunch of "traditional experts" whine.....Priceless!

 

There have been a few shops that have attempted to make a business out of glass body Mercs but as has been stated here, there are still too many steel body Mercs available (not to mention the negative view of glass bodies) to make this a profitable venture. Gibbon made some nice bolt on panels; fenders, grille surrounds, splash pans, and quarter panels...they sold their operation to another company some time ago but the panels should still be available.

 

Thinking about this more, I think a lot of the negative connotation associated with 'glass stems from incomplete builds.

If you build one of these, and finished it out 100%... I don't think anyone would care if it was 'glass... but most people slap a glass body on a chassis and call it good... raw 'glass seams and edges sticking out and all.

Finish it right, and it will just feel like a corvette

 

That ebay Merc looks rather incomplete and cheap.

In the past, P & J (not Pete and Jake) offered complete/assembled bodies, Winfield offered completed bodies and parts, and Gibbon offered parts and convertible conversions.

 

for $6k might not be a bad deal the ones i seen pics of were the first ones poped out and they were high dollar and they had one running and almost complete except for the interior and the car looked pretty good i quess if someone could re-pop enough of these it would make the price come down a lot ..

 

jay you need to get one from dave and complete it , slam one of those killer paint jobs on it man

 

im not talking about glass replacment panels im talking about solid metal ones. Would you happen to knwo the name or number of the company your talking about?

 

Not my cup of tea, but hey, whatever floats your boat. ya know.

 

I never liked kit cars. They're nothing more than a novelty to me. I don't care how nice a build turns out, when a "real" one rolls up next to it, it kills any fiberglass buzz that might have started.

Diamonds vs. CZs... your wife knows the right choice.

 

Gene Winfield makes a merc fiberglass and has for a few years now. You can buy different parts from him also. His # is 661-824-4728. hell of A nice guy! Thanks, BOBBY FORD

 

i would HATE. and i repeat HATE to see what happens to the person if they ever got into a wreck... fiberglass doesnt offer much protection...

 

212 post and you come off as a wise ass with comments like this...

No thats priceless....Ha Ha... Nothing wrong with glass. Remember kids some day its all gonna dry up and if the government lets us play hot rod ill bet most of em will be glass repops or all you youngsters will be building 76 Cordoba muscle cars..
Dave

 

I would absolutely love it!.....The only problem is that I don't have time to build anymore. The last car I bought,(a '65 Coronet 500, about 100 miles away), sat for two years waiting for things to slow down enough I could go get it!

I called the friend I bought it from and said, "keep it...and keep the money for storage. I don't care if you put chickens in it, I don't have time to build any more!"

It's not all bad, though, when you work on an endless string of "toys" seven days a week. ~

 

Gene Winfield 1994 Catalog

 

Anyone know what frame you can use other than a Merc's, without to much work?

 

the "Awesome50" car is pretty cool,but again thats for racing. www.awesome50.com the game is real cool to check out.