Customs 50 Merc Restoration Project--The Beginning

Dang Joe, that car makes my 51 in the basement look like a basket case. It may look bad but with a bit of time it will shine like a brand new penny. Not to mention you will KNOW it is all good and solid when you are done. Theres a little satisfaction knowing what it took to get it to the stage you want rather than wondering whats under the paint and body work someone else did before you bought it. Ide rather start with one like this than a fresh driver with no picture documentation!!! Im right up the road a couple hours from ya, so yell if ya need a little help!!!! Oh and keep us posted!!!!! Chad

 

Like some of the others have said....looks pretty solid to me...I hadda replace the lower 8 inches of my 49 AD (and in the cowl 15" inner and outer) plus replace the rain gutter....

 

looks can be deceiving when buying these money hungry creatures. as much as i would love to buy a clean driver its alway nice to bring home one that shows the metals condition, LITTERALLY!! thats about the closest to a clear coat mine will see for awhile hang in there joe it will get there, the purty one was probably 3X as worse as yours....

 

PIcked up my front sheet metal from the Media Blaster today. The inner fenders and headlight buckets most likely are beyond repair. No real surprises on the rest of the parts. All are now in gray epoxy primer.

Front fenders were repaired at one time with fiberglass mat and bondo. Made sure the blaster guy did not hammer away at that area with media and induce more damage. Will take the grinder to that area in an attempt to get to the bare metal.

 

At 60 years of age, these cars have been worked on a lot over the years.

 

From what I can see so far, this Merc might have been touched only once. The repair methods used appear to be from the 70s IMO. Probably was a quality repair back in the day, but 30+ years later, it is showing it's age.

The original color appears to be a light green, or sea foam green, but changed to a darker, almost evergreen color now. The jambs, firewall, inside the trunk were all painted. This leads me to believe someone did a nice job back then.

 

Hope you're feeling a little better about the car. You've got a great project there.

 

Yeah, thanks. Got over it, now down to the real work....

 

Spent a couple of hours on the Merc today. Most of the time was spent scraping the rest of the undercoating from the interior front and rear floor. I wanted to make sure all the potential rust was undercovered, especially under the rear seat. No new areas to work.

Also did some research on rust removal methods. Their is a very thorough HAMB thread on "Serious Rust Removal". After studying the thread, I decided to try some Evapo Rust instead of media blasting.

 

Today, I removed the gas tank. After removing it, I got a good look at the underside of the trunk floor. Decided it will be easier to replace the entire trunk floor than try to patch it as originally planned.

 

Here are some close up pix of the trunk floor from the underside. Not real bad, looks worse because of the undercoating. I was surprised to see that the previous owner replaced the steel fuel line with copper tubing.

 

Joe, congrats on the Merc and I will agree that it seems to be in great shape considering its age. I can also relate to your frustration, when I bought my 50 I thought it just needed some Naval Jelly !!!! HAHA man was I wrong luckily for me the good lord put Unionvillehaunt 10 mins away from my house. Thanks to him my 50 is now alive and kicking.

 

Thanks. I have been talking with Chris about doing some work on the 50 eventhough he is in NJ and the Merc is here in GA. Gotta go where the talent is when it's about a Merc.

Just received a BITCHIN custom Merc chassis from Slddnmatt via ChopnWeld. A sweet deal for a seriously sweet chassis. Can't beat Matt's work. This chassis probably won't see the 50, but I have my eyes on a 51 that will fit like a glove. Stay tuned for the 51 Merc build.

 

Been working hard and fast on the Merc. Doors are off and cross bracing has been installed. Removed the driver's side inner & outer rocker as well as the driver's side floor.

 

I love Merc's and your's will be awesome. You are doing it the right way and when done will be perfect.

 

Cut out the rear floor pans today. Will post some pix later. Bought a Speed Blaster spot media blaster. Wanted to try it on the hard to reach places that need cleaning before the patches go in. Worked great for spot blasting. Still waiting on my Green Mountain inner & outer rockers before I get much farther on the floor work.

 

G"day mate.
Saw the new toy you have there and congrats on getting it a new lease of life.
You mention as above you got qtrs from CARS,Inc.
Can you give me some more info as I can only see that they supply the sills.
Thanks in advance.
Tom

 

I see u picked up some Green Mountain inner and outer rockers.... could you please post some pics of both when you get them AND let me know how to get ahold of green mountain.... thanks

 

Here is an update to this project. All rust repair is now complete. Chassis has been media blasted, primed, and painted. Bottom of body and firewall were media blasted, primed, and painted. Body is now back on the chassis. BIG difference from the day I brought it home. Lots of work, but I am happy to say it was all my sweat equity that is bringing this Merc back to life. I learned alot about sheet metal fabrication and welding on this project.

 

More work on the Merc today fitting the brand new rear quarter panels from C.A.R.S. Inc. Nice fitment IMO. Green Mountain Inner/Outer Rockers look great next to the new rear quarter panels.

 

Wow!

You know that's gonna be well worth all the effort when it's done. Fantastic job.

 

It's coming along very nicely enfieldjoe. I just got some of those quarter panels for my 51. I have to modify them to fit the 51 but they are nice.

 

Finished installing the heat/sound insulation material on the floors today. Not Dynamat, but Peel & Seal from Lowe's. A fine example of a re-purposed product that has automotive application and cost effective!

Got to thank the HAMB for this idea. Lots of talent on this website and great HAMBers that are willing to share the tech. THANKS!