Just wondering, has anyone ever tried flipping the rear window up-side-down when doing a chop on a 51, (to avoid that flow problem.) It seem like it might work cause the curved edge might avoid dipping too low like the straight edge/corners do now. I think the top edge isn't as wide as the base so it might not fit. But I know someone out there has had the window trimmed away completley and must have tried this? ____the TROUT
Dont do that -those flipped window chops are always weird *** looking disasters.... But then I dont know much about that kind of stuff....
my buddy did it to be different on a 51, i would reccomend against it too. the roof line didnt flow right and i didnt like the way the lines parralled the trunk funky. i have seen one other 51 done that way too and it didnt look good to me either. but thats just me
I'm not gonna try it! I want someone else to try it. Maybe I'll try it on a plastic model first. I have a 49 anyway. How about the three piece 49 window....Anyone ever make the middle gl*** open out or slide down like the later 60s Mercurys? I often stink-up my car when I drive. Trout
I actually think it visually flows better. Maybe if it was recessed? The trim kinda throws it off just a little.
on his if you put a piece of welding rod across the roof to the window to visualize the flow it dipped where they met by about 1/2-3/4 of an inch. then the top of the window where it meets the trunk the metal just didnt flow right to me. everybody has different taste
Thanks for posting those pics slddmatt. Its exactly how I thought it would look especially near the beltline. The rest of it fallshort a bit, I can see that. (frosty21) I agree the trim is a little heavy on the eyeball & maybe if it was set in low and deep, countersunk,with the roof ending on a visor-like lip on the top edge? I don't hate it and I expected it to look worse one the sides. Be nice on a lift-off Carson stlye roof. Overall your buddy has a nice ride though, not my favorite tail-fin treatment, looks painful... . __Trout
they are repopping those Merc rear windows in clear, green or grey Laminated so it's possible to trim those offending corners
my buudy thinks outside the box a little on the fin treatment. he built the car to sell. nobody really minded the rear window but the fins had to go . he ended up cutting them back off and frenching some 53 merc taillights on it and basecoated the whole thing black. it sold within a couple of weeks after the changes
OOPS!!! LOL! He needs to stay in "the box"! HA HA! After the tailights were changed,it looked pretty good. Rear window flip wasn't working for me either.
The reason this top doesn't flow smoothly is that the roof was not cut down enough to match the lower gl*** height, resulting in a dip. For this chop to look correct, either the roof needed more taken out of it, or else the window opening actually needed to be raised up just a bit. What is really nice about reversing the window is that the points will fit exactly to the width of the body only with the gl*** lower. Downside: heavy molding on roof instead of beltline. I reversed the window in my '49 and it flowed great, but I set it in last, along with a drooping piece of trim board to set the contour perfectly.
The reason it doesn't flow is that either the gl*** needs to be raised or else the top needs to be shopped more. I chopped my 49 and reversed the gl*** and it flowed perfectly because I did the same thing as you.
6 yrs old post...Damn ive been here that long...it still looks funky even if it flows perfectly at the top. the curvature of the window frame at the top when flipped, being a 49-51 looks very odd when meeting the line of the trunk. there is a 49 or a 50 locally that runs around that has if flipped, its a nice job just looks weird..Heres another bad 51 had a nice flow up top but that lower section looks bad.
Look at any professionally framed painting or photograph and there is a subtle larger area under the art than above. That is one problem with having the bigger stainless trim on top instead of the bottom. With Palle's Lucero (**** Dean) Merc and Wolf's examples of outstanding fitted 51 backlites, I can't see a reason for flipping it. There was a Gold Merc though with suicide doors that somehow did pull it off. I wish I had the pic to see what was done different on that one. Wow, Matt, that is really is a wierd joining of shapes between the backlite and red trunk.
Yeah, top heavy on the bigger stainless on top and the trunk line as Matt mentioned doesn't work. The flipped 51 gl*** takes on a 66 Barracuda look.
thanks for asking that question and for the pics that were posted. I have wondered adout this also and will remove this idea from my brain. how about that barracuda rear gl*** on a merc? .. just kidding, but there is an old mag article in the 70s that used a camaro rear gl*** in a choped merc. UGLY!
I like the Barracuda look, but the red Merc with reverse gl*** is not well-executed. It appears the gl*** is too far forward as the gl*** 'points' are considerable narrower than the body where they meet. I like things that are different, but the end result needs to be good. I believe to reverse the 51 gl*** and make it look right, it is imperative to match the points of the gl*** to the original location, only left to right and vice versa. This way, the window will be aligned and centered with the body perfectly. The gold Merc mentioned above might be the one I saw in a small pic in Rod and Custom magazine a few years ago. Normally I would chop the roof first and set the back gl*** in last, but in the case of reversing a 51 back gl***, I would probably reverse the gl*** and tack it into place first, then figure out how much to chop the roof in order for everything to flow smoothly. After 34 years full-time autobody experience, I know how to make things fit.
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