Just thought I'd post a few pictures of John Juarez's '51 Merc here. @PasoJohn posted one last week on the previous page. Many of these are John's pictures. I mentioned on the "What Ever Happened To..........?" thread that John Juarez passed away yesterday (April 2nd) after an illness at the age of 80. John was a true custom guy with a little lowrider mixed in. He was a fixture at many events all over the Midwest as early as the 80s and within the last handful of years. I remember seeing his car in show features in magazines as a kid thinking this is the kind of Merc I wanted. Heck, I'd have taken any Merc! Still would. So sorry to hear of John's passing. He will be missed. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. Vaya con Dios Mr. Juarez..........E I believe John is the guy in the white shirt with black arm and neck bands behind the Merc in this picture. All locked up and ready to cruise. Arriba! Here's a write up in a KKOA Leadsledder about a Lincoln Land Kustoms show in 1984. John was pictured here after winning an interior award. After all these years I'm still looking for an interior picture of John's Merc. A close up shot. Sorry it's so grainy. Here's a shot from a show within the last handful of years. The car never changed much. Definitely an icon in his area of Illinois. Rest in Peace, John..........E
I redid the complete cat walk on this one and finished up a lot of unfinished welding, in areas that were considered done. Frenched the taillights, just enough so that the lens' still protruded out passed the body. Marcel DeLey made the driver side qtr, since the car was smashed in the left rear.
^^ Interesting. I've been curious as to why everybody seems to delete the body line on the catwalk when chopping Mercs. Is it for ease of the job, or a choice in making it as smooth as possible. I'm waffling between both for when I get to mine.
Whoever did the chop, didn't cut the roof across, from door to door to lengthen the top. They cut and moved the top forward til the A pillars matched up, again. Creating a smaller business coupe effect, with a longer cat walk. So the package tray had to be cut down, since the line from the top of the trunk to the back of the roof area under the glass, needed to be laid down This is what it looked like when I rcvd it. It didn't flow, at all This was C pillar and what they considered done, hidden under bondo. Not rotted out, just not welded. An all the work was brazed, together. Cave and pave.. I like that saying (smiles)
^^^ ??? Random comments on two posts made in 2007 ??? ^^^ Let's just see some Mercs. Here's two of my favorites parked side by side.
More pics from the same parking,,,, https://www.customcarchronicle.com/historical-custom-car-shows/1955-thrifty-parking-lot-show/
What is this bumper? Filled stocker, Chrysler product?? I think this is a good place to discuss certain mods on these cars. This particular Merc has the headlights hooded over a bit. I like to talk about options like that. Will look for other examples, but most Mercs seem to have stock-ish headlights, unless something pretty radical. I’m thinking about something like graphing on 55 Chrysler headlight buckets.
The Jalopy Journal
