Projects ‘51 Mercury Botched Top Chop Repair

I did a little homework today and was going to order me a new pair of Quarter Window rubber seals. Seems everyone that lists them is reselling Dennis Carpenter seals but are on back order and have been for years. That's kind of a big wrinkle. I did find one supplier that has a seal set for a Fixed quarter window. I didn't order them. What next?
These window units are unique in that the Glass mounts up in the Garnish Molding and fastens in the Body as a unit. The S.S. trim slips over the Lip on the window opening on it's own. If you just work that lip into a Tight radi. for a look you like getting the actual Glass frame tight enough to fit in properly becomes a real Job! Being able to draw the window package ahead a little is often a good choice to do a more manageable radi in the final piece. I have been able to never cut the Glass frame to get the radi needed for the corner but heat and draw down on the Buck and lengthen the top section. I have done the garnish molding mod just at the Latch catch and up around the panel. Here is a complete unit with Body molding in place under the lip of the rubber.

This unit needs to fit correctly in the Body cavity in order to seal right as well as hold the cut edge of the Headliner in place and the upholstery panel in place. Lot's going on there and easy to get sideways real fast. Doing the body corner finish takes a little forethought. For me I determine how tight I can make the Glass frame corner easiest and then do the Math for the body corner. On both I've done I went ahead and built the inner Garnish with the glass frame finished then built the Body panel corner so the S.S. trim went into place fitting under the Rubber seal.

 

As mentioned, I have lost the photos of me actually doing the Merc windows using the buck. I do have photos of an F-100 vent window and it's much the same. Here is the Stock F-100 vent. You can see how tall and to a point it is.

This glass frame is 5/16" thick same as the Merc. so I use a piece of 5/16" plate for the Buck. Notice the riveted hinge mount base. This is used for an index to make sure each time the Buck is replaced it goes back to exactly the same spot.

A buck will vary from job to job, but you must have some kind of index to insure it don't move. Here is the actual Buck for this job. Notice the notches. The one on the right-side fits tightly over the hinge bracket. That's my index. The 2 flat spots are for clamping while bending.


Buck in place and clamped in a vice. The V block keeps from crushing the S.S. frame. While heating and reshaping these pieces I preferer to let them wrinkle instead of stretch.

Reason being the thickness of the Buck being correct for glass channel will let you heat each one and tap it down flat then you file off what's left of the High Spot and all is well. Buck in and buck out after a little trim job.

Once done everything fits correct and looks well.

 

Damn! I lost several photos and info that should have been with post #91. I hate stinkin Computers! I obviously didn't hit a key I should have or did hit one I shouldn't have.

 

One of the things I lost in post #91 was that on the S.S. that goes on the Body flange was that when reshaping the corners on it I trim off about 2/3rds of the flange on the inside so I'm mostly working the visible side. The total flange is not necessary in the corners. I would cut about on the black line. Again, I make a buck as well as an internal corner die to push the total surface to avoid any kinks. It's amazing how little heat it takes to get the S.S. to move for you.

 

Excellent tip to thin out the backside of the corner! Makes it alot easier to reshape that way for sure. Thanks a bunch for the pics and info!

 

My pleasure. I wish I had some photos left of the Wood bucks I've made for corner mod's I've done. I like using wood there. It lets me clamp and push without impact. It also keeps it Flat if that's what is needed. A small hand held wood router and knowing where center of the new radi. needs to be makes a small job out of it. When cutting and welding them back together I often use the scraps to do test runs (sometimes several of them) to get my machine set spot on so I have less clean up on the actual parts.

 

Slacking off on the updates I am!

So after getting the passenger side panels tacked in I headed over to duplicate it on the drivers side.

Try as I might, I just couldn’t get the seam in the roof to come together nicely. Reshaped the roof metal some but it just took too much pressure on the bottom side to get the crown right. I couldn’t find any definite indicators but I think the roof skin may have gotten tweaked a bit in that area when the roof came down.

So I cut out the problematic area…



And made a panel that kept a nice shape/crown for that area. Large radius on the end to reduce warpage that seems to arise with square cuts…



With that tacked in I moved on to the sail panel filler piece…



And then the large panel after that…



Nice smooth flow now…

 

With the big panels tacked in I moved on to the side window rear corners. I used a piece of TIG wire to get a radius I liked. And then transferred that to the wood window template. It comes in handy a lot, eh?



Then with a combination of dollies and the stretcher made the first part of the corner…



Note that it tapers from top to bottom…



I’m sure someone can make this all from one piece. But that someone ain’t me . So I cut the other portion of the corner out of a separate piece…



Then weld the two together from the backside. Done carefully there isn’t enough weld coming through to create a problem with the stainless trim… I hope…haha. Then trim and tack the completed corner in…




Shake your head at the big hole that’s left to fill. And then fill it in…



While welding that corner in I started welding the roof together so I had plenty of places to skip around to and keep things cool…



Then just do the same thing on the other side…



And the rear window/roof just about all welded up…

 

What a transformation.

 

Man, I absolutely love stuff like this. You should be crazy proud of yourself for this one.

 

Lucky Merc...I can hear it sighing in relief...after being rescued and put on the road to Custom stardom...nice work Dan...

 

Go buy the rosin paper. I have a roll and use it for a lot of things. If you need to fold it, use a straight edge.

 

Got the interior parts of the chop welded up. Finished up the A-pillars/windshield opening. Finished off some of the exterior welds. Cut the bracing out and test fit the back glass.

Definitely over the hump! So I rolled it outside to check it out...

 

Great thread here doing good work.

 

Great save!

 

Nicely done , those quarter windows look like a bear....you might be able to fix them in place using late 30 s mopar window channel / gaskets...if that fits the theme...i eliminated vent window mechanism on my 49 dodge...i centerd /shimed and glued them in with silicone and they look amazing...sometimes you gotta get creative..

 

Great transition from the roof to rear deck!

 

Dang, I struggled just to make a trans cover

 

Looks great!
The proportions are very pleasing, glad to see the drip rail retained.

 

Man, for a 'save' that has come out better than most clean sheet chops. Great job!
(And ditto on the drip rails.)

 

Yes, yes, yes! Well done! The drip rails and rear quarter window shape, Outstanding! Back window transition, give yourself an extra pat on the back. Well done my friend well done. Now comes the Big step, getting it ready for paint. Best of luck to ya and can't wait to see it in color.

 

Nice job on the roof. It has a real nice shape and flow.

 

Very professional. great work.

 

Much better now.

 

When you work the sheetmetal correctly you don't have to spread so much lead! Right Dan?

 

Now for the tedious and time-consuming stuff. Got the B-pillar corners radiused. And the stainless trim fit on the passenger side window openings.

 

Wow, what a great build! Thank you Dan for the definition of “skill”. Really enjoyed this thread so far!

 

To say that work is "tedious and time-consuming" is putting it mildly. You patience and skill is impressive!

 

The slope of those B pillars is perfect. Just enough to maintain the proportions and and linear flow of the chop.