Projects >>>Chopped 1949 Mercury :cad/lasalle combo, period build circa 1954<<<

No problem unkl Vic! I enjoyed working on the Bonneville car with you and Damon!


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Awesome sheetmetalwork!! Subscribed \,,/

http://www.pinheadlounge.com/hellvis

 

Vallely!!!!!!

 

Thanks man. Hopefully i will be
Getting a lot more time in on the sheet metal in the near future.
The bumpers are going under the knife soon as well.




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Whoa, mind-blowing...ka-boom! what an amazing build, very inspirational! Just when I thought so many mercs looked the same. But this car is truly different in the details. Can't wait to see it finished.



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Thanks man.

There are so many over chopped, over customized, slammed on the ground shock factor mercs out there. They actually make it ez for me to build one "different".
In all reality i am not building anything that hasn't a heady been built, and multiple times at that ...I'm just using some of the greatest custom mercs as templates and practicing restraint.

Thanks for noticing the details






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I may have missed it but I saw where you said how you lowered the back of the car but what did you do on the front?

 

I ended up using a set of dropped uprights from fatman.
The decision to use their stuff came after ruling out most all other options.

First:
I put 1" lowering blocks in the lower control arms
Wasn't happy with how it drove...

Second:
I undid the first then
I flipped the original up rights but couldn't get through the travels with out a substantial amount of bump steer. Even after building a new lowered drag link and idler arm.

Third:
I undid the second and tried running a set of early 90's ford van springs but wasn't happy with the spring rate....shorter spring + heavier spring rate = stiffer ride.

So really, the long and short of it is this...
A stock spring rides nice so I stayed with that. Dropped uprights are perfect... So long as the geometry is right and you build a dropped drag link and idler to meet up properly with the steering arms and box (Which I believe are now also available through fatman).











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Thanks. I have never been able to find the Merc drop uprights on Fatmans website for '49-'51. Must be something you have to get in contact with them about.

 

Yeah I had the same issue. I have friends that work there or that have worked there so I was able to get the inside on what they had


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here are a few pictures from today.



I really need to find a better rear bumper, but this one is good enough for mock up (its dented and twisted all to hell). stay tuned for the Kaiser bumper guard install. I am hoping to start on that this weekend.



and here's an over all shot of the Iron lords shop.... the junk the clutter and the projects. 6 guys in one shop isn't always awesome but it has made for a ton of good times!



panoramic of the place.....cleaner than its been in a long time!

 

Did you make a buck and bend the rod with a torch to form the shape for the tailights?

Brent

 

that's how they were done. the lenses and 5/16 round rod cam from Winfield. they were priced affordably enough that it wasn't worth my time to build a buck and make them.... normally I would do this type of work, build a buck and bend them up but I was really excited to have parts from gene Winfield.

 

Killer. Dude I love your car and I think it's going to be one of the greats. You've got so much talent and I'm super proud to call you a friend. This Mercury is Kray-Kray ya heard!

Tail lights were a perfect addition to the car.

 

This is truly turning into on of the best custom builds the HAMB has seen in a long time. Love everything you have done so far.

 

Cool project, cool friends, cool shop!

 

That is sooo true. That's my 29 tudor in the corner. I cant say enough about how grateful I am to be around these guys. ALL are super talented and super nice guys. Makes me smile alot

 

Thanks JJ I sure do appreciate you!

Thanks man, hopefully the car (when finished) lives up to all the hype!!



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I am already in love with this car. Caddy, straight pillars.. it's perfect.

 

Shit! Thanks guys!
Perfect may be a stretch but I am sure as hell trying for it.

 

Fabulous work! Looking forward to the rest.

 

WOW!!! Those tail lights turned out great, bub!!! LOVE IT!

 

Loving this build, have only just found it and read through it today, what a birthday present, thanks

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Nice work as always dude! Inspiration for my 50 merc!


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Very nice work!

 

Thanks J.B.!

Thanks bub! And thanks for stopping in today. Always good seeing you!

No thank you!! happy birthday

Thanks man glad to help with the inspiration

Thanks man!




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Looks great,i like that tail light treatment.Keep it up!

 

man that looks great. And it's even got a caddy! Nice work!

 

The direction of the build for your Merc is right on.
Here is why the build is right on. See the pics of a Merc built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Build start was late 1953.
The color picture was September, 1955.
The black and white pics are 1962-63. In 62-63, the Merc was my daily driver, snow and all.

But, the cool thing, the Merc had a 331 Caddy, Cad-LaSalle 3speed side shift with a floor shift conversion, lowering blocks-rear, lowering spacers on the front control arms, beautiful red/crème rolls and pleats, mile deep black lacquer, obvious body mods. A few things not visible in the pictures or not typical of chopped Mercs at the time were 2 small motorcycle running lights for tail lights mounted to the inside of the rear bumper guards, the original vent shades over the front door wing windows, opening rear quarter windows and chrome rocker moldings. Between 1955 and 1962, the dual quad carbs were removed and Chrysler Air Temp air conditioning was installed along with the air intake scoops on the rear quarters.

It was daily driver for all the owners from 1955 thru 1965. Only shown at two outdoor shows and one indoor show during that time period. During the mid 50's, this Merc's build quality was at very high level and a street driven custom.

After chasing rumors and stories for ten years, a few years ago I found the remains of the Merc in a storage building.

Getting a bit long winded here, just wanted to let you know that your Merc hits it and why.

Thanks for sharing and keeping it right.

Curt R