Projects 1949 Mercury barnfind resurrection

Hey guys good morning, I’m fairly new here, first Time poster. I recently picked up a 49 Merc 4 door that has been sitting since 1994. The goal is to get this car road worthy in the next 3 months and get it to its first show. I’m slowly trying to get it running. I’ll be adding to this thread periodically so you guys can see the updates. And asking questions, I’m excited to hear some insight

 

Welcome as a new poster and on your new Merc custom.

 

Looks like a good one to work with. Concentrate on getting it running and driving safely. Maybe we'll see it at some Michigan shows.

 

That’s in a lot better nick than I thought when I read barn find.

 

Love those old Mercs. Nice find

 

I’ve sent my paperwork for the 2024 Detroit autorama. The engine was locked up when I brought it home, I did manage to free it up with the exception of one sticky intake valve on the passenger side of the block. A lot of what I’ve read in the threads here states heat from the engine running may free it up, so I plan to try that. The clutch is seized to the flywheel and the brakes are rock solid. I’ve got most the components to plumb the brakes and fuel lines. And also have a lead on a functional Rochester 2 jet carburetor. The original tea pot seems to be pretty crunchy. The car is fairly solid being a Michigan car, it desperately needs a trunk pan. The family of raccoons that were living inside the car were dedicating in the corners of the trunk and wasted it all away to nothing.

 

I had a moment to swap in a new battery and cables tonight, with the head off and no plugs the motor spun over quick and free. Now that the head is back on and the plugs are in I can’t seem to get the car to turn over. It’s got me scratching my head

 

Looks like it'll clean up pretty good, a worthy project.

 

If you replace the pressure plate and don't need the original for a core I may be interested in the original pressure plate

 

Will it turn over heads on with no plugs?

 

Made some progress last night, finally got the motor to rotate with it all back together. Replaced the solenoid, points, condenser, rotor and coil. However I’m still on the hunt for spark. The wiring inside the distributor seems highly suspect as well as the wiring to the coil. Any thoughts? Also I found out my cluster lights work

 

Are you still trying to start the engine with the two coils and the crappy cables from the tuesday picture?
I would recommend to test at least which of both coils is worse and take this out of the way. New cables only for dizzy and coil are easy and for sure worth the work.

 

The distributor ended up having some issues, I pulled it Sunday night and sent it to my friends at Brother’s Custom Automotive in Troy MI to have Bill go through it. I did snag another distributor from my uncle Thursday as well. However last night with this other installed I have now lost voltage to the new coil. I’m thinking it maybe related to the ignition switch but I haven’t had a chance to pinpoint it yet. I may take a brake from from engine work to start running new brake lines and installing the new master cylinder and wheel cylinders. And probably plum new fuel line while I’m under the car.

 

I got to spend a little bit of time with the car today. I’m waiting on the last of my parts to arrive but I couldn’t wait any longer. Brakes are ready to be plumbed, new tires installed, drivers door repaired and lowered 4” in the rear today. Plan is to level it out and get the front down a bit. Unfortunately the car still isn’t running but it is close. I dropped the distributor off with bill at Brother’s Custom Automotive to have it rebuilt, so it’s ready to install. I should be seeing brake lines and fuel lines in the next couple of days, plus I have a new gas tank to install as well. It won’t be much longer here and I can focus on the interior and exhaust!

 

Welcome to the HAMB. Love the project. Good luck making it to the Detroit Autorama.

 

Love it! Great looking car. One task at a time. You'll get there.

 

Ya know...someone has GOTTA ask about those "well endowed" mannequins.

 

Those are womakins.

 

Managed to drag the car over to my uncles shop this weekend and made some major progress. Just waiting on a fuel pump to be delivered. And to touch on the subject of the mannequins, I picked them to flake and throw down some candy on for this year’s panel jam. But the car has kept me a bit occupied so I have had a chance to get to them

 

Already looking better than when you found it for sure.

 

Once again made some good progress this weekend, finally heard the car run under its own power after 30 years of sitting in a pole barn. We managed to patch the floors and get the lights mostly functional as well. First start up was a bit of a smoke show as it burned off all of the leftover transmission fluid and acetone that we used to unlock the motor. Second start up with coolant and and an oil changed proved to be much better but still a little Smokey but mostly just residue.
https://youtu.be/irK3bMvD3Cw?si=NDJXf8WMA7NISrby

 

dropping the ass, and putting some white walls on that ol girl makes a world of difference.

 

Slowly making progress, I drove the car for the first time Saturday night. Rode great and drove straight. It still has a hefty miss. I started working on the door cards Sunday and finally finished up tonight. Should be able to get them in with this odd 60 degree day we’re going to have here in Michigan tomorrow.

 

Spent just a little bit of time with the car this past week, but got side tracked painting a dash for another autorama car, we’ve got 13 days til move in. Interior is moving along nicely. Door cards are in and I’m getting ready to start the package tray. Club plaque is mounted and I still need to cover the seats. Found the heater core has sprung a leak and the generator isn’t charging.

 

Hmm...seeing the plaque in your back window leads me to believe that I will likely meet you in a couple weeks... My brother is also in the Suspects.

 

Wow, quite a transformation already, she looks great!

And you need to post pics of the womakins once you get them painted!

 

I like it!

 

That dash looks fantastic!
Have you tried copious amounts of marvel myster oil in the gas and oil? Sometimes that can help that last valve free up.

 

guthriesmith I will see you there!

 

Spent some more time with the car this week. Covered the seats and finished putting fur into the package tray. I’m currently in between jobs so I spend all day Tuesday polishing the car. It’s really come around. I still need to spend some time polishing the chrome but so far I’m happy with the progress. We had a 60 degree day here in Detroit so I ran the car down to the car was and rinsed it off. We did block off the heater core as well. Tomorrow I’m going to take a look at the generator and possibly rig up some exhaust to keep the fumes down. I did try to paint the skirts last weekend however I had an odd chemical reaction which caused them to shrink and start to lift. I’ll probably figure that out also