Hello, My uncle just bought a 1951 Mercury wagon that is in need of some help. He also just picked up a rolling frame and motor from a 1951 mercury sedan. The reason for the rolling frame purchase was only the flat head motor. When he bought the wagon the motor is not correct and was rigged to fit, we think the motor is from a 46-48 era merc. My question is this, will the frame from a 1951 mercury sedan fit under the 1951 woody wagon? I have taken a few measurements and so far they look the same except for the extra leafs under the wagon. the frame that came with the wagon is bent in the front and has lots of rust, the rolling frame is in VERY good shape and straight. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Also, any knowledge of where we could source the wood sides from would be a huge help, we have found a local guy in SoCal but the price is way up there. Maybe that is the best we can do but I thought I would ask......... thanks for the help
Welcome from Illinois. I believe all models had a 118 inch wheelbase so it might just work. Might need some reinforcement like a convertible though. I would contact slddnmatt on here as he is the go to guy when it comes to Mercs and he is also in California. Good luck with your Woodie.
There are several really good wood guys in CAL. Doug and Suzi Carr own the Wooden Carr in Signal Hill, Ron Heiden does beautiful work in Encinitas, and there are several others. I am recalling Cincinatti Woodworking. The work is very time-consuming and therefore not cheap. There are some take-off panels and pieces available sometimes. Just decide what you want to end up with, as far as the quality of the car. There is a publication from the national Woodie Club called Woodie Times you might want to subscribe to run some ads and a GREAT event called Wavecrest in mid Sept. in Encinitas. I haven't had any luck using the search function lately, but I think there is a cool thread on here about woodies and I seem to remember some in Longroof thread an Let's see your Wagons, or something like that.
If the Mercury frames of that era are anything like the Ford frames they will interchange,the springs both front and rear on the wagon will be designed for more weight but swaping springs is a minor problem. There very well may be a few more body mounts on the wagon but that's about all I can think of. HRP
They are different part numbers in the catalog. There is also a frame chart which shows the different parts of the frame (other than the side rails) and the only difference I'm seeing there is the rear crossmember, wagons are 3/4" narrower. That may be enough for the part number difference, just wish it showed the side rails.
Thank you all for the help, I will post some pics when I head back to his house this week. I measured the frame width at the front horns and they are the same, I measured wheel base and again they are the same. I haven't had the time to crawl under the car to take better measurements but I planned on doing that this week. I hope they will work out due to the fact the rolling frame is in such better shape. Again, thanks for all the help!!
The National Woodie Club, technical advisor for 1949/1951 Ford and Mercury "Woodies", is Rick McCloskey, rick@rickmack.com. Rick specializes in the restoration of '49 to '51 "Woodies". If Rick doesn't know the answer I don't know who will. Think about joining the National Woodie Club.
Convertibles and wagons always had something different added to the frame but they were the same basic frame. You may want to keep the VIN number on the front right K-section. Folks that play with these higher dollar cars like things to match up. Look for different outer body supports that may have been added to the wagons. It wouldn't be too difficult to put missing parts on a sedan frame. Sedans and coupes all had the same frame. The 49 thru 51 Lincoln Mercury overhaul manual has a good section on the frames. The ch***is and body parts catalogs will get you even more info.
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