Customs >>>So Long Hussy.....My New '52 Mercury!!!<<<

Anybody know what going on here....

 

Congrats. Very nice car. If you modify the skirts so the flare is lower and straight across the bottom edge and even with the bottom edge of the rear quarter, it will really make the car appear LOW. Only a slice of white wall will show.

 

Some more options....





Something like this perhaps...


Or stock '54 Stuff look really nice too!

 

Anybody have any other ideas on the front end of this thing???

 

Yeah....park it at my place!

 

You posted so many pics, I had forgotten what it looked like. When I got back to the original post I realized I actually like the set-up it has. Could you be over-thinking this here? Or is there something I am missing?

 

Used 55 Pontiac on my 53 Merc.
TwoChops

 

Brent, no not at all. I am aware that I could definitely leave as is or at the very least do something small like bumperettes. Sometimes I see the car in one light and I say it's good as is and then other times I feel like there is something missing. I just want to make sure that if I start saving for a paint job next winter or spring that I'll have all the body work and modifications done. I would hate to paint it and then find the perfect front end or something. Just daydreaming really. I did this with the '26 I had too, everybody said it was perfect when I got it and that they I should leave the radir wheels on there. Well I went ahead and changed a few things and I felt I had made the car 100 time better just by swapping out the wheels.

I want something simple so if I could just adapt a bumperette to the grille that would be best but I'll play around with a few things and see where it goes. If I feel like I am taking away at any point well I'll just leave it where it's at. One thing is for sure though, the car is getting some Sombreros next week!!!

 

wow, how did I miss this? You are building quite the stable down there... looks great...

 

Now is that just the Poncho center bar and everything Merc under it? This seems to be the most common front end treatment for good reason. Looks great!!!!

 

Nice Ride!! I just love 50,s mercs.

 

Getting rid of two picking up 1.5. I am thinning the heard my friend!!! I would like to keep this lineup forever now. I have no vision of buying or selling any more cars until I can afford to house and insure them all. For the next 2-10 years all you'll see from me is a '35 Ford and a '52 Merc. '32 is in the shed and '54 is in storage at the shop. '29 Roadster partial body will be hung on the wall this weekend.

I'm going to try my hardest to save that '54 for my son if he should find an interest in it when he comes of age. I think that would be pretty cool and full circle since it was my first old car.

 

Why yes I am. Being a good designer also means know when NOT to make changes just for the sake of making changes.

I wouldn't go with anything newer than your taillights.

 

That would be cool. That's what my Dad did. I don't know that he intentially kept it just for me, but it was something that he was never going to part with, no matter what.

 

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Pontiac sheet metal was narrowed 1-1/4" The lower bumper is 54 Merc.
Here's a photo of different idea that I was trying out.

 

Touche'. But I am pretty certain that is not the "be all end all" of front ends. I'm not saying it should be completely changed but doesn't it seem like something is missing? Look at Morty's '54....the front end looks so great but not sure it would if those bumperettes were not there. The '52 Bumperettes however are pretty ugly so I am not going to put those suckers back on. Like I said, I'm just day dreaming to see if I can come up with anything cool.

Yeah I agree about going with stuff between 52 and 58. I am going to try to keep it in that range. But something that I haven't said is that my lack of talent in Metal fab will ultimately keep me from doing anything major to the front end unless I can enlist some free and good help somewhere!

 

Now that is perfect!!! That looks right at home and custom all at the same time. Please explain in further detail!!!!

 

See, there's a key word highlighted in red. I have a feeling you'll save at least one more car in 2010. It's like Chris says, "I just wanna own em all!" I think that applies to a lot of us.

 

Hahahaha!!!! I found myself looking at Cobra Replicas last night and wondering how cool one would be with a 354 Chrysler under the hood. Then I was like what am I doing? You can't be serious right now can you??? Well I feller can dream right? I plan on staying in my home for another 10 years. Then I would like to build a home where I can store some more shit!!! For right now though, I want to focus on being a really good dad and spending all my free time with my family driving around in the Merc!!! The '35 will be my alone time and I am so stoked to drive that thing this summer!

 

The lower bumper is still mounted at stock height. The upper
parts on each end are cut off and the brackets for the bumper
were reworked so the bumper could be lowered down. The
pieces at the bottom of the front fender shows how much the
bumper was lowered. The grille bars were made of tubing.
I still have all the modified parts laying in the top of the
garage. The sheet metal between the bumper and the grille
also had to be modified.
TwoChops

 

You don't want to sell those do ya??? It looks absolutely great!!!

So was the top of the bottom bumper cut so the top bumper can be lowered down over it? Then those two filler panels on the quarters were made to fill the space after the bumper was dropped down?

 

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yes and yes

 

We spent all day Saturday working on the Merc and getting it up and running. I have to thank Jeremy and Dustin (aka Big Lovin') for helping me out.

We spent the morning digging in a muddy field for some replacement parts that I needed like Clutch linkage and hood hinges. The hood hinges were a real pain in the ass but we finally got both of them so those will make their way to the car in the next few weeks.

At about 9:30pm after wiring the car and hooking up the linkage as well as filling fluids etc we had the car running and sounded awesome!!! We did have a snag on the water pumps though. One was leaking from the shaft so I guess I should assume both need to be replaced as they were not rebuilt. I'll see if I can get them ordered this week if I have the cash and then I should have those replaced by the end of the week. Who knows but I am really close to driving this thing!!!

 

That is a nice addition to your family! And Im sure your tike addition will be proud to.
Congrats on both!!! That Merc is BAD ASS!

 

Thanks rustyhood!!! I need to pickup a radiator hose today and get it fitted as well as putting the hood back on and I should be ready to go! After that it's a few small things to finish up and I'll be ready for the summer.

 

Did you consider rebuilding your water pump? I've rebuilt a couple and there wasn't much to it. A lot less cash ...... I believe I got the kit from Speedway, can't remember right off. Just a thought....

 

If it were me I'd buy the new "improved" pumps. They are WAAAAAAY better then the orriginal bushing type, cool better, last longer, etc. Plus, I've rebuilt many-o-pumps and the kits are usually around 50.00 each....so 100.00 to do your own and *hope* they work, or 180.00 for a nice set that'll last forever. Just my opinion and I am a cheap ass too

 

The car is too cool for you!

 

Did consider doing it as I am going to attempt it on my 265. But I heard that they are pretty finicky and that I would probably not get it right the first second or tenth time.

I think the water pump is sealing itself. I was told by the guy that rebuilt it that he did rebuild the water pumps but the seal was probably hard and that once I run it for a while it would seal itself. This is actually turning out to be ture maybe. I'll keep you guys updated for sure but those speedway ones are on my list if it does not pan out.

I know....I'm lame. I'm more of a 88 Camaro kind of guy with a tunnel ram and two holley 600 up top. Right Chris!!!!







Oh, I got the aluminum radiator painted tonight as well as once of the pulleys. We also adjusted the clutch linkage so that it does not just catch right at the top. Did I mention that I drove the mother fucker tonight!!!!! It was absolutely awesome!!!!! Did find out that the driveshaft is to big (girthwise) and not balanced so I was getting a shit load of vibration. Should have that fixed by the weekend!!!! I'll post some pics when I get her home.

 

Congrats on the drive. That's a great car pimp daddy.

-mikethegreek-