49-51 Merc front bumpers

So I bought a '50 front bumper for my '51 Merc which up until recently had those Briz bumpers. Ideally should the bumper line up with the fender opening, or sit a few inches more forward?

I will be running a '51 bumper in back and that will be flush fit with the body with an appropriate gap.

Still planning black but sometimes I feel like painting it red.... decisions, decisions.

 

Did you get brackets with it? 49/50 has a 2 piece bracket, 51 has a huge one piece.

 

Red looks kinda ****py,unless it has all the trim. Otherwise it just looks like you poured the paint on it,Streetrod looking...

 

Bumper:
Yes I bought year-correct brackets for each of the bumpers. My front grill pan needs to be fixed so it can be shaped however we need it. I'm talking about the space if any between the back of the front bumper and the beginning of the wheel opening. On Bob's car there his front bumper is pretty much flush, which is what I plan to do , but I've seen 4-5 cars that have maybe 3-4 inches of body between the bumper and the wheel opening.

Car color: Agreed, since I've hung out on the HAMB, red now feels street rod, and for some reason I ***ociate that color more with Fords too. I could paint it gray/silver like the Cobra movie car, then folks will bug me forever at every light and every time I get gas. I still lean towards black since it's the cl***ic color. But the American Graffiti car was maroon right?

 

Yes,the 51 in A M was maroon. It's a great color for customs.

 

Whatever you do don't base your 51 after the American Grafffiti pile! Ill see if I can get a pic but either Ether or Flamedabone did a segment (I think Ether) about bringing the bumper back to the wheel well opening.

 

I think what he did was shorten it,cause it was too long.

 

Bob could you post that side shot of your car?

 

I thought this car was lost, but the pic I posted looks very recent, here is the link:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2400/2503849213_6068eb6724.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/braintoad/2503849213/&h=375&w=500&sz=138&hl=en&start=4&sig2=hcerYcZ5cY5uiZpTcVcLEg&um=1&tbnid=AWugpnbvqYF_sM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&ei=QSF2SKCFIJWIiwGAyq19&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damerican%2Bgraffiti%2Bmercury%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

 

Here you go!

 

Bob post the one Scooter took. Thats a rad pic and dead on center. Not devaluing your pic taking ability!

 

I talked to Bo Hopkins and Paul LeMat at the GNRS,and they said the Merc was being restored to the way it was in the movie. When Brian Setzer owned it,he pinstripped it and lowered it,put some WWW's and straightened out the body. That pic looks like it did in the movie,except it wasn't that shiney.

 

I don't have it. I tried to copy it from the HAMB contest thread,but it wouldn't paste. I have another one.

 

How's this one?

 

Blurry.

So that pic I posted is the the original A/M Merc and it's now restored? Bob did you sell that Winfield grille, if not I'll buy it.

 

Yes,that's the original car. I have a pic from when Brian owned it and it looked much better. I'm glad they returned it to the way it looked in the movie,but it sure was aweful!
Yes,I sold the wing/grill,to Rock n Roll Daddyo,at the HAMB BBQ. He's gonna put it on his Hudson.

 

Do you think the grille/wing in the AM Merc is a Winfield or something like it? I also have a 55 Caddy wing here and was going to try to use these dummy spots on the ends like that one guy did, but the one you had looked pretty nice and good quality.

 

That one on the A/M Merc looks like it was made from a bumper. I'd stick with the Caddy one. What happened to the one that was on the car? Did the paint come off? If you want one like the one I had,it's actually a replica of a stock Kaiser grill.

 

It almost looks like the middle of a second generation Camaro bumper.
I always thought that the 54 Chev grills and the early Corvette grills looked good in the Mercs but fort a 51 I still like the stock grill with the sections where the bumper guards were removed filled with sections of the 51 grill.

 

Whatchu fools talkin bout? That looks like a stock 51 bumper!

 

We were talking about the one in the pic of the A/M Merc.

 

It does look like a Camaro front bumper!

 

I still have my customized '51 grill but some folks think it's not rad enuff.

 

It would be difficult to come up with something that looked right that hasn't been done before.
The problem is making the grill look like it belonged there in the first place instead of being stuck in as an afterthought or get by.

 

What grill is that? The one that was in it was a 49-50 grill.

 

Yeah whatever my current grille is, I still have it. Body guy is moving slow but we agreed on that, he has been picking away at my car.

 

hey Bob lets see Brian Setzers version of the graffiti merc

 

It's too small,and it doesn't show much of the whole car. I'll see what I can do.
Basically,he lowered it,more pinstripes,and wide whites.