Customs The Kirkegaard Merc, 1939 early style custom

Well Im at it again! I just got done chopping a '40 (Mexicali Merc) and now Im taking the axe to this sweet 39!

So I got a call a few months back from a real nice guy named named Tim Kirkegaard. Tim lives in Denmark but purchased this beautiful '39 merc out of Idaho through the internet. His plan was to ship it back home and have someone customize it there, but his good friend Palle (AKA the owner of the Jack Stewart 41 Ford) said he should just send it to me since it was already in the states. Thanks Palle! So after some talking back and forth for a few days the car was on a truck heading to my place!

Tim has been wanting a custom 39-40 merc for a long time, so when this super nice 39 came up for the right price he jumped on it! The mercs he's had in mind were JB's 40, my '40, and the Nachtfalter 39 built by Rudy Rodriguez. He really liked the slanted B pillar post on the Nachtfalter and the prototype idea, but he was thinking he wanted something that really looked like a pre-war or early post war custom which would be a little less chopped and not sitting too low. Tim was a undecided about how the car should exactly look so he turned to Rik Hoving to do some photoshop work, and to get an idea of what it could look like finished. Rik did a bunch of fantastic different images which I think confused Tim even more, but finally he came to one he liked. So then it was time to start cutting!

Here she is in all her stock glory! As you can see it's a really nice car that has been restored sometime in the last 15 years. You know, with a car this nice and original it's sometimes hard to start cutting on it, so I had to think about it for a little while.





Ok, I thought about it for 2 seconds, now it's time to cut! First thing to go was the fuzzy dice!



Next I took my time and carefully took all the upholstery out and wrapped it in plastic so we can reuse it. After everything was out I braced the inside of the car and started cutting. I always like to start with raising the front windshield into the roof to get rid of the big "forehead".



Next the B pillars came out.


Then I cut around the back window 3 inches.


Now the roof can come off!





I've got more pictures of the chop in progress and will post them a little later. Just wanted to get the thread started.

 

Sweet! You do some real great work.


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Here we go again!!!! Can't wait to see this one come together.

 

AWESOME! True craftsman! You rule Kev!

 

clean car to start with

 

Here a couple photochopped images that Rik Hoving did. The second picture was more what Tim was leaning towards, but I think it will fall somewhere in between, and the C Pillar will be slightly more stretched. Running boards are still an option at this point but it does look killer without them! Oh and the Caddy caps in the second photo are a must! Nice work Rik!

 

Another Sledge home run! Too Cool!

 

Wow you are just pumping them out now! I am looking forward to see how this one ends up.

 

Can't wait! Are you going to use the original window frames and b pillars? I saw Rik's photoshop and think it gives the car a whole different character. More like a coach built luxury car than straight up custom. Very interesting!

 

The picture came up as I was typing. I guess one of the defining styling elements is the retention of the stainless trim between the roof and catwalk. Most chops smooth out this area.

 

Hey Mike, yeah we will use the original window frames and B Pillars, but Im probably going to section them slightly just to refine it a little. Yes the stainless trim between the roof and catwalk will be kept on this one.

 

Very nice car to start with, and I like the direction it's taking. Typically, I'd be a bit nervous about cutting up such a nice car to start with, but knowing what it will turn out looking like, I think it's great.

 

While the roof was off I went ahead and stripped all the paint off and cleaned out the insulation from the inside.


Next I made an adjustable jig to hold the back of the roof. This sure made life easier because I really struggled when I chopped the Mexicali Merc roof.


So after I cut 5 inches out of the front posts I put the roof back on to to see what it would look like. Obviously the back looks funky but right away I could see that 5 inches was the right cut for the front.


Next I cut the C Pillar roof corners out and started pie slicing the the C pillar. Now I could start messing with the flow of the roof



After messing with the lines a little and lowering the back of the car, put skirts on it, cad caps and then it was time to roll it outside for a look.



It's a lot more mild of a chop but it will come down slightly when the A Pillars are leaned back to meet the roof. Also the stainless window trim will make it look an inch lower at least. This to me looks totally pre-war/early post war. I'm diggin it!

 

Nice work on the chop. I own a 1940 Mercury restomod .

 

Good lord. another!?! Nice!

 

Yep Keith, and a few more coming!

 

Bad ass! Its like an assembly line up there in them hills.

 

A thing of beauty!

 

Looks great, Kevan! What year are those Cad caps?

 

Keep it up and you will be doing these bad a!% chops in your sleep!

 

That looks awesome nice work

 

love it !!! thanks for sharing... great work...

 

WOW Kev...you've been fast on this one...great direction you guys are going with this one,totally dig it...also great to see a different approach ...keep the fun up and Tim,you'll be another lucky one on the club!!
Great to see the team work is payin off

 

Is that a stick of custom blend 75/25 laying on the sail panel i can just see thru the sally port... Shades of the maranga!!!

 

Wow Kevin, looking real good.The owner made a wise choice when he shipped it to you.I love the ideas you guys are doing on this Merc.I have always loved the early style chops on these mercs,even more so then the other way,well maybe not more but just as much.Its great to see this post treatment being done ,no offense to the Matranga style cars .Keep up the good work Kevin .

 

Well I've actually been working on it for a few weeks but yeah Im getting faster!

hahaha! Cowboy rules!

Thanks Jeff! yeah it's going to be cool to see a few different styles. It's hard to say one style is better than the other because it's all personal preference.

 

Very classy chop! I love the c pillar treatment!


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That second photoshopped pic (with the cad caps) looks excellent. You guys have very good taste. Kev, got any exsperiece chopping convertibles ??

 

Does my roadster count Chris? No not a lot I guess, but been studying them for a while. Kind of tricky chopping a folding top but by I think I can handle it! Are you bringing your 41 down???

 

Really great to see your work on Tim/s Mercury Kevan.
It was really fun to do the Photoshop designs... but those are relatively easy compared to the real metal work.
So far it looks really great, and I can't wait to see more.
I hope Tim goes for the version with no running boards. I really think that looks great with the way you chopped the top, The Caddy hubcaps and the overall look and feel of the car.