My '51 Merc, can you help me out...

stock bumpers,o.g. skirts,floating bar grille buried in a mixture of deep maroon paint,then stripe to taste with a pinch or two of appleton,with a side of dual smittys....sounds good ....yes?

 

'50 bumper up front, '51 in back, original skirts and either black or maroon is the plan.

 

Update: Car is over at my friend's body shop in over by 90th and Harlem. The aftermarket Briz bumpers are off, the fake spots are off, and the lake pipes are gone. I delivered the '50 front and '51 rear bumpers along with brackets to Paul so he can quickly figure out how they will fit. Once he does that I will pick them up and take them to Calco or Voodoo Larry for chroming.

Plan is the following:
-gloss black paint
-'50 front, and '51 rear bumpers
-215-75 WW radials
-Moon discs for now
-Repaint the rims black they are red now
-strip current grill and re-use unless I do Desoto teeth.
-20% tint on side and rear windows.
-Welding in Hudson fuel filler door on driver's side

If anyone has some excellent condition taillights that would be more pre 1960 style let me know. I don't want to do Merc taillights but I would do something else. I know my '59 taillights are not trad so I'm open. I'm sorta open on the side mirrors too but we'll see. I wouldn't mind side mirrors that are also more pre 1960.

Car will be stripped to bare metal, some funky spots will be fixed, and it will all be done 4-8 weeks from today.

I will start taking pics as of next time.

John

 

This 'shop for some reason makes me want to do silver flames:

 

I'd like to suggest gold flames with red pinstripes.

 

I like the stock 50 Merc mirrors.

 

How about siliver flames with white pinstripes?

My lil side mirrors are a tad small for the car, but the stockers look a bit too conventional *ducks as Bob swing on me*.

 

Hey John,
Glad to welcome you to the world of 49-51 Merc ownership! I've been looking over this thread and I feel sometimes we can be overwhelmed by input from other people. Everyone has different taste, but in the end it is your car and you have to make your own decisions. Picking a theme is the first priority. Over the many years of restoring and building custom cars I have often see projects change direction in mid stream. Whatever plan you decide to follow, make sure you don't get sidetracked by the newest and neatest gizmo. There is nothing worse than seeing a traditional themed car loaded with billet pieces. They just don't go together very well. What are you looking for? a street rod/custom or a traditionally themed car? Decide on an era, and stick to it. The days of the modern interiors and billet in 1950s cars are over. I've got a nova clip and latemodel GM steering column under my 51 coupe. I bought the car this way. I have finally gotten around to building it, and guess what? It'll have a traditional 51 Merc frame under it. That frame combination doesn't work with my vision.

About 2 months ago I went down to Pennsylvania to pick up a 51 Merc 4 Door that I bought off eBay. I got this thing for a song. Body was in great shape, car was extremely complete, nice chrome. The reason it didn't sell for more? The damned colour. If it had been black it would've gone for a lot more. When I got it home I wanted to make a few easy changes that would have quite the impact. I think I succeeded. All it took was a Fulton Sunvisor, dummie Appleton spotlights, black powder coated stock wheels, a set of Coker Classic Wide White Radials, and a Fatman Fabrication lowering kit (2.5 inches on the front, 3 inch lowering blocks on the rear.). I have a warmed over flathead, dual exhaust and a full tuck and roll interior planned over the next few months as time allows.

I am posting a before and after picture for you to get a feel. Watch the HAMB as I intend on posting a thread detailing the build of my 51 coupe. It'll be cool. A total 50s custom. Stay true to your vision and you can't go wrong.



Before



After

Have you ever considered using a 53-55 Corvette grille? It looks great on a Merc.

 

Have you ever considered using a 53-55 Corvette grille? It looks great on a Merc.[/quote]

No it doesn't! Never saw one that fit the opening or was mounted to where it didn't look like "i've got this....i'll just use it". Out of all the choices available,there are many other ones that look better than that. Stock grill even looks better than a Vette grill.

 

Only because you've never seen someone who can do it right. Trust me they look good. Get the right metal man and anything can be made to look factory. That's the difference, the right metal man. But hey, we're all entitled to our opinions.

 

I will eat some "humble pie",and agree with you on that! It all depends on the guy doing the work and his vision. My opinion is based on NEVER seeing one with a Vette grill,that was done nicely. And, YES I have seen many,many,Mercs! They are my passion...I have about 2000 or so pic's of different Mercurys. Custom and stock. Now,i'm no expert,but I do consider myself Merc "enthusiest"!!! HA HA HA!!!!
I hope you didn't take my comments as erogance!!!

 

It's not that I don't like floating grilles, but that I don't like what you see behind the grille. So I'm gonna reuse my modified stock grille for now though I did buy a '55 Caddy center bar and had thought about making with that.

 

Update, I can't decide on the taillights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone has some mint '51 stockers pm me please. I was looking at the Hirohata '52 Lincoln ones, are the rear 'fins' stretched for those, ie. a few inches longer to help transition them?

 

I think you have to extend the fender only below the tailight. If you take a close look at the Hirohata bumper, you can see they cut a "V" out of the bumper to make room for the extension. Congradulations, you've picked the most expensive tailights one could use for 49-51 Mercs. Just kidding, they are really cool looking no doubt.

On this car, the tailights are mounted higher than the Hirohata so they float over the bumper. No bumper relief required.

 

So Mike, are you saying I should hold on to my NOS set? I honestly think the Lincoln lights are some of the best looking lights you could put on a 51. Only other ones I really liked and thought about are 2 59 Caddy lights frenched into the very bottom of the fender, right above the bumper, with just enough of a gap to keep the ridge going down. There used to be a 51 in this part of the country with flat black exterior and red and white striped interior (stripes were about 1" - 1 1/2" wide), I think it was called the candy stripe, or something like that. Looked nice, I wonder what happened to it?

 

Yea, just keep them in the basement fireproof safe. I don't think they have safe deposit boxes in the banks big enough for those. Some things will never go down in value, a deuce roadster or a 2 door Merc, and a set of Appletons or Lincoln tailights.

 

I dont care who you are, that guy in the all black infront of the Merc has GOT to be sweating.

 

What's the going rate for a set, I'll go for it if I can find a set.

 

Okay bringing this older thread back up to update on my car.

My car has been at my buddy's body shop for a while. Since it's a small shop, he's been working on it here and there but any insurance work takes priority. Paint is mostly stripped, and he's found some crappy work here and there, like the driver's side quarter was hit at some point, and there was a centimeter of bondo in a one foot section. The sheetmetal below the trunk lid is very bondo'd up too.

The '50 front bumper, and the '51 rear bumper got mocked up on the car, and then I picked them up Friday to drop them off for chrome. I also bought a '51 rear bumper overrider (that thing that goes up and around the license plate), so the rear will have that too. Will be dropping off the bumpers this week to a recommended chrome shop.

I elected to go with 1953 Chrysler/Desoto taillights. I bought a decent set off eBay last week and they are at the shop now. These are the same as Flamedabone is running, mucho thanks for the extra pics he sent me.

Car is also getting a Hudson fuel filler door, that should look pretty cool.

Also wiring up a Spal door popper setup.

I am still painting the car black.

I am unsure on grille.

I am unsure on the wheel covers.


I need to buy a replacement '51 rear glass, mine has a ton of scratches. I'd consider buying that sheetmetal below the trunk lid if anyone has that piece otherwise my friend will make a new one.

Also, the passenger hood nutcert (the nut that the bolt screws into), is stripped out. Do folks typically open that up and just weld in a new nut? Also we're not too enthused with how the hood shuts, feels like it's going to scratch the cowl up, do folks do anything like replace the hinges with newer ones? We are worst case going to fab up some rubber guards.

While I'm not happy that there was some bad body work under the three coats of paint, I'm excited about what the car will look like in a few weeks. I'll take pics next week.

 

Cool John,,,,,,Keep us posted!!

 

Thanks Ether. I was rereading what a lot of you guys suggested in the beginning, and I'm basically doing most of it. I realize now that I prefer the look of a early to mid 50's custom.

Any Merc'ians done this 2001 Intrepid hinge?

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204616&highlight=shoebox+hinge+suck

 

Awesome John! I can't wait to see the finished product! I wish I could get this guy near me to sell his to me but alas its rotting away in a field.

 

I'm going for 51-55 elegant/ sam barris, that kinda look.

who sells repop '49 caddy hub caps?

 

Been a while since I updated this thread.

Car is all in primer, all the major body work has been done for a while.

Here are the changes and repairs that had to be made...

Removed 1959 Caddy tailights, went to 1953 Chrysler taillights idea from Flamedabone
Had to replace trunk lid
Had to make major repairs to tail pan
Passenger side quarter was not fully welded to car, had to be finished
Driver's side quarter panel was pushed in 1/2 inch, bondo'd up. Had to be repaired
Gas filler door was badly welded, had to be redone
Hood had to be replaced
Door lines had to be reworked
Had hood hinges rebuilt by 51Gringo from the HAMB
Bought Winfield lower skirts to replace my '51... Still fiberglass
Cut out headlights and went to later '52-'54 style bigger lights
Removed dummy spots
Removed lake pipes
Purchased and rechromed '50 front bumper
Purchased and rechromed '51 rear bumper

Friend has done a very good job taking the to this point but I have given him a March 15th deadline to get the car into final paint, otherwise I'm going to pull it. Such is the challenge of working with a small shop.

In any case some recent pictures:

 

was

 

Very Kool!! I didn't realize that you were going to change that much. The Merc is
yours now, no one will every recognize it and say "that was so and so old Merc."
The tail lights look good. It is a kool change without taking away from the original
lines. Very classy kustom treatment.

Just a suggestion. This may not be a good one but it is something to think about.
Because so much body work has been done, why don't you suede it for now and
make sure everything is going to be ok and not move around. That was one of the
reasons why we didn't paint my Merc yet. Paint is expensive, and I'm glad that I
waited for paint.....Just a thought.

Love the Merc and I can't wait to see it on the road. Keep the faith brother you
will be behind the wheel in no time.

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

It's a thought, I'll definitely keep it in mind Mick.

 

McVey cadillac parts repops em,,,,not cheap, but an excellent reproduction, , , ,BTW, the car has come a long way and is looking fabulous!!

 

Oh I bought a set of 1955 Studebaker hub caps to use with the car.

 

Good looking car, even before.

So when does it get out of jail?