Looking for advice - Merc and Desoto Pan

I am to the point in my build that I am going to put the 53 desoto pan into the merc. I have some preliminary cutting done and have spent some time on saturday getting in place.

what I am having a hard time doing is figuring out how deep it should be put in, how low to the bottom of the fenders to mount it, do you use the lower stock pan or just weld and brace the grill into it and am looking for any advice, or even pictures if you have em, on the fabrication side of it. Seems every car i see and person I talk to says, "yeah it just fit right in and looks like it was made for it", well, that is easier said than done for me.

So, if you have any advice on this, shoot away.

Thanks,

tok

 

Here are a few shot of mine. Your right, it doesnt just jump on in there and bolt itself in. Hope the images help. You can check out the full build on http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=229300 and http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264470
Good luck. ETHER

 

Hey tok,

I'd let the grill tell you what is what! The location of the grill will
determin how far up, down, inboard or outboard the shell needs to
be. Fit the grill itself where you want it in the opening, then figure how
you need to fit the shell to frame the grill.

S****ey Devils C.C.

"Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"

 

Brian, do a full mock up with the grill, bumper, everything. That will tell you what direction to go it. Mostly the bumper will tell you where it should go...unless you want to completely redo all the bumper brackets.

 

Great question Tok.....on mine I have it pushed back as far as it will go with the outer teeth hitting. I had planned on repositioning then teeth so they would slide back farther. I have seen some with just the outer teeth pulled in slightly but didn't care for that look. I have also seen the outer teeth trimmed up to allow then to slide back a bit. So I would like to know what is the preferred method as well.


I have tacked the Desoto pan to the Merc pan so far and plan to mate the two once the position is set.​

 

thanks for the advice. Sawzall came over on saturday and we got it to that point in the picture. I have been scouring my archive and it seems like each person has done it differently.

About the small teeth on the ends, looks like alot of people have shaved them down to fit real snug inside the curve. I have nothing against that, but those ****ers are hard as hell to get ahold of, so before I do, I want to make sure.

also, looks like the bumper situation is alot different than i thought at first. Seems that either the desoto bumper or the merc (which I will use) covers a good portion of the lower tooth part. Much different than I thought.

does anyone have a picture of the pan welded or positioned in without the teeth?

tok

 

Eyeball,

Just wondering how much chop you have on the Merc. ?

Looks good.

 

did any of the guys who have done this used the original lower pan? Seems not, If you have, did you put the brace in it or make one up?

tok

 

i just went for what looked and fit the best. had to trim the outer teeth a bit but i like the outcome. i grafted the desoto pan to the outer edges of the merc pan when i did this one. fit up real nice

 

this was 00mack's merc done in early 50's i went back and cleaned up alot of it. desoto pan was welded on top of stock merc pan.

 

Thanks guys for those pics. I will be messing around more with it on thursday as I spent some time getting the front end put together tonight.

matt those pictures make it so much more easier to see. Thanks

tok

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, cuz the merc looks great! But, does anybody happen to know where I could get one of those lower desoto pans? Does anybody make one brand new? Thanks guys!

 

they make fibergl*** ones, no one makes steel. which is why it is sought after.

tok

 

Who makes the fibergl*** ones? I'm thinking that if I could see one, I could possibly fabricate it out of steel....

 

mercuryland - not cheap and fabricating it woudl take alot of time I would think over buying a grill. Just my 2 cents.

tok

 

hey
I know this thread is a little dated but I put a 53 Desoto grill set in my 51 Monarch ( Canadian Merc) this weekend, see attached pics. The one piece ***embly can be removed easily so I can switch out my 51 Monarch grill (got one now!) or my 51 Merc grill. I just have to undo the front bumper bolts, loosen up the end bumper bolds and lower the bumper almost even with the pan, then the the 53 desoto ***embly slides right in and out,

Fabrication|:
I formed 1/4" square bar pieces to fit the pan and made "L" brackets for each "tooth" from 1/8" x 1" flat bar and a washer. The "L" brackets were fitted and then welded to the washer while bolted the the tooth. The pictures will help show what ai am talking about.
With the 1/4 bar ***y in position on the pan I lined up the center one first, tack welded it, then the end ones, and tacked them... The rest was aligned off the car, carefilly checked, then welded. Enjoy! Dennis.

 

More info.
The merc parking / signal lights wern't ready yet so I made some simple bulb holders to get it by the safety check, you can see them in the previous post pics.
Total cost:
1/4" x 1/4" sq bar and 1/8" x 1" flat bar, some 1/4"-20 1/2" boltsand washers - $20 bucks.
11 piece 53 desoto grill teeth set with old faded silver paint (over the chrome-I got them this way $75 bucks.

Total 95.00 bucks plus welding metal bending time.
Nice.....

Dennis