1949 Merc Build - Any Ideas

Rhys, In a few week you'll have a donor two door shell to convert the moredoor!!! Cant wait!!!!!!

 

I know I'm late commenting on this but thats pretty cool. Funny no comments on this.. Haters are everywhere..

 

First bit of vintage sheetmetal to the project thanks to whisky runner, 54 Ford wheel openings. Do you have enough material to work with here Chad? Yes, I'm the goofy looking one in the back. Regards, Rhys.

 

More pictures to come of the 51 Merc snuggled in the garage ready for surgery and donation to the 49 Merc (maybe), but thought I would post these quickly. This is from the return trip of our family March Break vacay. I finally met up with Ether and some of his buddies. What a great bunch of guys!!!!!!! Ether is a true molten metal manipulator, a sheetmetal surgeon and master mechanical dude. You could not come across a better guy. Ether's Merc is amazing, the thing fires up and rolls like it came off the line like that, the quality and amount of custom work is just staggering. I could have spent a week in his garage trying to take it all in (not to mention all the customer's cars). Again, Chad thanks for the 51 Merc, all the help and mounds of info. Well, back to work! Regards, Rhys.

 

Glad you made it home and through customs!!!! It was good meeting you and your family. The pleasure was all mine. Now lets see some build pics!! Back to work!

 

First day off of work in two weeks here so I am falling behind (It never pays to take a week off, you can never catch up). Spent the day in the garage working on the perimeter frame. Had to cut out the Canadian winter rot and build out. Picture of the Merc in its new spot, pretty tight in there. Regards, Rhys.

 

Still working on the perimeter frame. Just fabing in the tie points to the subframe sections. Hope to finish this in the next few weeks and then begin with mounting the Merc bodies. I have decided to section in about 8" down the centre of the two door from the four door to accomodate track width, etc.. regards, Rhys.

 

Man thats a lot of work, more than I would want. Good luck to you, it looks as you know what your doing. I will be watching this build.

 

You´re planning on widening the Merc? Ewww.... Please don´t!

 

was all on board until you mentioned widening the body!!! please no!

 

Adding 8" to the center of the Merc? Man that seems like a lot of work and the end result of a goofy looking Mercury to make what you have work. There was a guy in Australia or something, Mercules I think the car was, added in a bunch in the middle. Car looked terrible. Great work, but goofy.

 

Yeah, please do not widen that car. It will look awful and you will need custom glass ($$$$). Not to mention the work involved in widening it and it not warping, or collapsing on itself, or the doors not closing, or just closing enough to rattle and fall open. Widening the dash, tunnel, package tray, trunk lid, trunk floor, bumpers, hood, firewall, valence pan, etc. is a helluva lot of work.

I done a '54 F-100 cab onto a S-10 firewall and floor pan. Never again would I try to convert a modern floor into a vintage vehicle. And it was a truck, there was no back seat or trunk area to speak of. I'm still fixing things on it 2 years later, I could've clipped it and been driving it in 1/2 the time and 1/2 the money, even though it was intially cheaper to do the chassis swap.

 

"I have decided to section in about 8" down the centre of the two door from the four door to accomodate track width, etc.. regards, Rhys."

It would be easier to widen just the front and rear fenders. Do it (to scale) on a computer to see how it would look.

 

Please don't widen the Mercury body. Please.

 

Well, alrighty then! No sectioning of the body. I will have to come up with some more creative ideas to get things to fit. I have a month or so before I get to those issues. If anyone comes across these poor section jobs can you post? Thanks for the comments and advice, regards, Rhys.

 

Still working away. Summer is short here in Ontario and there were toys to enjoy. Fall has hit so back at'er. Regards, Rhys.

 

Looking forward to more progress and am glad you aren't going to widen it. The proportion's on a Merc are right on from the factory, at least I think I saw ONE that was stock bodied once. Your car is going to be awesome.

 

Anyone have a 1949 Merc dash for sale, pm please

 

I may have one Jimmy ! How soon you need it ? i bought a 49 and Going to put the 50 dash in it in a couple months ! Sorry didn't mean to jump in on your post ! This is what I'm going to do with mine !!

 

Man, you have been busy!!!! Glad to see some progress. I was wondering about that Merc. What the heck are ya going to do with the other one? Keep us posted

 

Ether: Can't find the one I built in 78 , sold it in 92 (Divorce) Been gone since 93 and nobody has seen it out in public. Rumors it went over seas , some guy has it in his private collection ETC.ETC>! So I'm building a new one ! The same way now that I'm in North Carolina now !

 

Finished off preparing the shell for soda blasting today. It will go out next week to "Enviro Surface Technologies", a new company in town. He charges $625.00 complete (all sheet metal bits and pieces you can jam in your roller, hoods, deck lids, dash, inner fenders, etc... all included in the price) picked up from your home and delivered back. Seems like a good deal? Regards, Rhys.

 

Might want to caution you against soda- here's why.....Although it will take paint off and leave a smooth as a baby's rear finnish,it will not do any kind of rust at all.If you were doing a 'vette,I would say go for it.I do not know what your man is capable of,or what he will do for you,but at least discuss with him. I had my doors and hood done.Even under where the stainless trim sits,around all the holes was some form of rust.=Spider webbing. It's on all mercs,as some kinda moisture gets there.The bottoms were even worse,and I had to sandblast myself to at least get most of it off.It's there,believe me,you just might not see it now.
If I could do it all over,I'de go media,or a sand that's been recycled a few times,which makes it not a coarse.
Just another option/suggestion for you.Not trying to deture you at all,just .02C from someone who's been there,and hopfully saving you a future headache.
The car looks great,and your making excellent progess.
Good luck,and keep us posted.-Kid

 

Good advice!!!! That was the intent to get rid of the rust, the factory tar undercoating (every where inside the thing) and to leave bare metal without the worry of flash rust. To me, that was the benefit with soda blast. Unlike most types of sand blast the soda does not actually "cut" into the metal surface and therefore; does not start to oxidize as quickly. Of course the benefit of less generated heat and panel warpage is also a big factor. Cleaning of all visible rust is the main objective so I can tell what needs to be cut away further or repaired. You cannot see in the pictures but the inner and outer rockers are opened up so you can see from one end to the other to clear all rust. I WILL ask the questions, INVISIBLEKID, as you suggested so both the blaster and I are on the same page and I'm getting what my mind's eye wants. Much appreciated, regards, Rhys.

 

Hopefully my reply helped you in some way. As far as the undercoating....Well,a heat gun and a scraper will be your best friend. My whole car was coated from end to end,and under the hood. 14 shopping bags full.Really! Get off what you can,'cause if it has to get blasted off,it's just more pressure=heat=time=$.Pick the spots that are notorious on our cars and start there,it will give you an idea....Looks like you've got things pretty much disassembled so you can see things.Blasting takes a while with undercoating,so be preparred!

 

InvisibleKid is correct about soda blasting. It won't remove the rust, plus you have to treat the metal to adjust the ph, otherwise paint adhesion will always be a challenge. Research media blasting, especially Dupont Starbrite Ultra, or XL, both have low silica content and are basically equivalent to 60 grit. Not excessively agressive, don't want to warp the metal. The key is to let an experienced blaster do the work.

I spent alot of time with a heat gun and scraper removing all the tar-like undercoating on my 50 Merc. Better to remove the majority of it then spend the time and possible damage from an inexperienced blaster trying to remove it.

 

Not much to speak of this week. Two door out for SAND Blast with a good, experienced friend of mine. Four door back home for the first time in a year or two. Ready to begin "cutting and chopping". Regards, Rhys.

 

Cool-Cool...I'm sure you'll keep us posted!

 

Heck ya!!!!

 

Pulled the four door apart today. Frame went to a new home. I will spend the next week surgically removing ever bit and piece from the shell. I spent the last hour looking at Chad's (Ether's) CD he gave me on "Area 51" with all the work I have ahead of me. It hurt my head. Regards, Rhys.