Hello folks, Its been a few years since I posted anything on the forum, never rely had anything interesting to contribute . I didn't think my VW bus project would be suitable fodder LOL.. Any way at the tail end of last year I bought myself into a 1940 Mercury coupe. The car is a basket case to be honest, but the good thing, it was cheep.. and cheep is good cause I am not rolling in coin The cars sat at the side of my shed, waiting for some attention. First thing was to shore up the body so it didn't collapse under the weight of the tarpaulin hiding it from the neighbors.. Now I'm clearing some work for other folk I'm keeping time and space to make some progress on the Merc. Its a pretty rusty old car, but there is nothing really complicated about the way its been put together by Ford.. Most of the structural panel work of the body is basically flat steel with simple bends and no great amount of detail, unlike some of the earlier products .. The problem is that the body is so rusty a lot of the tell tail information that is often left behind after the rust has eaten everything else has also been eaten by the rust, therefore some of the details relating to how some of the body panels were attached has been left to guess work.. Im kinda hoping that any Mercury owners on the forum might be able to share a few photographs showing areas of detail so I can have a heads up when I start making some of the repair panels.. Im planning to make repairs to most of the body panels in between other work. I cant get the main shell into the garage just now so work will commence repairing the wings, ( fenders) Bonnet ( hood) and boot lid ( trunk ) and of course the doors.. The doors are probably the worst panel on the car as the lower part of the door frame is rusted out and separated completely from the outer skin. The outer skins are also pretty badly corroded. So with the skins being rotten and the frame being rotten the available evidence relating to how they attached to each other and how they sat in relation to the sub rail, is lost.. Im gonna start with the doors since they are so floppy If I get them whipped into shape I can remount them the the fairly solid A post and realign the B post to get a decent gap before I go chopping the roof off.... Oh did I forget to mention that bit LOL... A wee it of history on this particular car . It was brought over to the UK a few years ago by a fella who I believe bought three Mercs off Kevin Sledge . ( maybee Kevin can confirm that bit) Kevin Sledge was the name on the Pink Slip when I bought the remains and dragged it back to Scotland . Its only right to drop it and chop it I even have a 50 Merc flathead to go between the rails .. Im probably gonna ask plenty questions re this project, so your help will be greatly appreciated This is probably the only 40 Mercury in Scotland and one of very few in the UK ... I read somewhere recently that there might only be 50 of these cars left ? that sounds a bit low but who knows, Definately worth chopping it then Looking forward to contributing some more and picking your brains Thanks for listening Attached some pics... first one shows the car trying to escape from the picture left side ( check the crack patern in the gl***!!! I found this pic trawling the net) The other pics were taken during the process of dragging it home... a 1000 mile non stop round trip .
The rear fender in the first pic looks like a '39 merc by it location of the tail light and the small wheel opening. Can you post a pic of the dash? Looks like a good project its not a common car here in the states, looking forward to your progress in Scotland. Jim32
Cheers, will keep you posted on progress. Im not up to speed on the year identifiers between the 39 and 40 models .. but I'm up for a full education The rear fenders definitely have tiny wheel openings. The dash is a mess, pretty much just a hacked up perimeter that is not even fitted to the car so could be from any year and just came with the rest of the bits.. .However I have sourced a 47 ford dash that surprised me that it fitted straight in .. I thought it might have needed a little narrowing but its perfect as is.. The mercury dash would be cool, but the cost and rarity plus the condition of the shell means Its not really worth trying to source the proper thing.. The 47 will do the trick Im looking for pictures of the detail and method of construction of the door bottoms and the relation ship between the longitudinal at the bottom inner door frame and the sub rail, with the door closed and no interior door panel fitted.. just to give me some idea of how it fits together as I have nothing there to go on... Im also missing the original grille, they too are rare and expensive and not much chance of finding one in Scotland, but I have a late 30s LaSalle grille that I was planning to fit. I have hunted the internet for pics of a Merc fited with a La Salle grille and found nothing... Fitting one will bring a world of pain. Ive tried to draw the front end and what it might look like but im useless at drawing LOL.. The easiest way to get it to work would be to split the hood just at the belt line and mount the sides semi permanent so they could be removed for access. Im also a little concerned that the drop may affect the angle of the torque tube and wondered if raising the engine and trans would be required to level things out again.. The floors are toast, so fabricating a taller trans tunnel wouldnt be an issue.. If I had to compromise on the suspension drop due to torque tube angle, I was thinking about making the new rockers a little bit deeper and dropping the body aver the new floor a couple of inches lower. I was looking at the way Swiss Mike did his floor and can see a light channel, no more than 2 inches as a possible option. Plenty ideas to think over before the build begins. pics of rotten floors and sub rails and some support added from random s**** to stop it folding ....
Good luck on your new project , had no idea that `40 Merc. was that much wider than a `40 Ford . I know a `41-`48 Ford dash is wider than a `40 Ford .
That would be cool ... I have some pics of it , will post asap.. To get it to work wit the clam shell hood, I was prepared to split the hod along the belt line so the sides were fixed and the top section lifted . look forward to seeing what it looks like ... I cant find reference anywhere..
This is one I have on file, to show the style of grille I have / Thats the actual grill I hope to use if it works out .. ) Im not sure what year LaSalle it come off... If that pic is no good I can take others from various angles
Not mine but something for inspiration, something like this from the Detroit show? Dan GREENBURG's photo from 2014 Custom Car Revival There was another HAMB thread on 2 of these coupes being worked on simultaneously however I can't locate it so far.
Should look something like this, give or take. It's pretty hard to judge the scale of the grille to the car, so it´s a best guess.
OHH YESSSS.... I searched for ages to find a pic of a merc with that grill and could find nothing.. I guessed probably because it hadn't been done, probably because it would look terrible... BUT Dude you nailed it, That to me looks stunning.. Not everybody's gonna like it, but I love it Thanks for taking the time to do this Its now my wallpaper..and new avatar
I have my blue print now, thanks to you.... If I asked you to dull the chrome, flat the paint and add a few primer spots it would be pretty much as I picture it built .. nice in shiny paint though. I believe the base car you used was the one built by Rudy Rodrigez ( sorry for spelling) The side view of that car is stunning.. not that any other angle isnt equally stunning ... Hope the owner doesn't mind us grafting a LaSalle grill on it
JamesD awesome photo shop work, but the front does remind me of an Austin A40, sorry. A lot of work but you could make a merc grille out of stainless round stock.
I have to admit, the A40 thing crossed my mind too, but there´s a precedent set by this car, with a not dissimilar Packard grille. I think that works, though the original Merc item is pretty hard to beat. The upright grille almost made me want to put the headlights on top of the wings, like a '40 Chevy or so.
lol... I see where your coming from .... and now I cant look at it without thinking the same .LMAO .. might look different with the later headlight surround and less shiny
Yup, definately looks like the front of a Devon LOL... But back in the day it was a custom practice to extend the front fenders into the side of the body also not unlike the Devon... shoulda bought a Devon and saved the effort LOL.. . lasalle grill for sale LMAO
I wouldn't be so hasty to ditch the LaSalle grill. I think it suits the smooth flowing style. Never seen it done to one of these either. Forget the Devon comparison thing. One is an ugly chick and the others a hottie. . .
It definately has an impact... I havent seen it done before either, Its a lot of work to make it work but I think it would be worth it. It is a Kustom after all, an individual representation of what the builder thinks works.. Im not really put off by the comparison to the A40... I can see where you could think there were similarities...you gotta laugh, I knew not everyone would like it, but like chicks, beauty is in the eye of the beholder Even some of the ugly ones have a certain appeal The photoshop rendition is the first time I have seen it done.. Its a brilliant method to check the look, but in reality there is so much more that can be tweeked to see if it works better still. In the photshop the centres are off a wee bit, kinda looks like its gonna sneeze..LOL.. lift it a touch lean it back just a smidge and centre it and it will look different.. I keep hinting for a slight redo
I don't think the centres are off. It might look like that as I pushed the grille back into the car a little so the curve of it would could be made to fit the bonnet (which I think you`ll have to "blunt" a little). And the perspective on the pic I robbed the grille off was a little different too. As you say, it´s good to get an idea, but don´t take it as gospel. I started out with the grille mounted higher and it looked bad. Leant back? Really?
I see and hear what your saying... Having done the photoshop you will have taken the opportunity to move the grille around and see the different effects. Im just imagining how variations might look. I thought just a very subtle lean back, might soften the look a bit.. I like it now, but when Im doing the tin work I might mess around with various angles to see how things work together ... Im trying to imagine the slight lean back but your right, It would probably look terrible. .
Nice to see you back Ian. I was looking at the merc but was told I have enough on with the 38 (you must love welding) As for the A40 similarity just check this photoshop that James D did on another thread.
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