This might sound like a silly question but here it goes. I've had my 51 Merc for about a year now (just got it ***led recently in my name) and I haven't really done anything to it waiting for ***le. It' rough but complete. While waiting I've scanned the entire interweb, ideas, how to, ect. Now I'm good to go but I'm a little intimidated. It runs, flathead is gone has 302 with a C-6 but needs some body work. This is my dilemma. I'm afraid I'll ruin it doing it myself. Is this car too rare to learn on ? I think it's way beyond my capabilities. I know it's my car and I can do what I want but I'd hate to ruin a piece of history. What do you guys think ?
What- specifically- do you want to do to it? What's your skill level? Can you weld? Mig? Tig? What's your budget? What's your time frame? What will you do with the car? The better you can answer these questions, the better plan and more success you'll have. Hope this helps.
You don’t learn without doing. There’s a wealth of knowledge here. Looking at your first post it doesn’t look bad. What are the floors like? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/greetings-from-ventura.1331854/
Practice welding and bodywork a bit before you start, and ask questions whenever you need to. You'll be fine. As long as you're not filling holes with foam and pop riveting tin into place, you won't make it worse.
First one has to ask what the master plan is. It looks a lot better than my 51 that I owned did when I moved back from Texas and it had sat behind my grandfathers cow shed for 10 years while I was in the Army and then living in Texas. I never got it perfect but a lot of sandpaper and elbow grease and a few swapped parts got it to the point of pretty nice driver. What I am going to suggest for the time being is first make it safe and reliable to drive and don't worry about the "pretty or modifications" part. A jug of CLR and a pack of course scotchbrite pads might take that surface rust down to "patina" stage for the time being and can be done one or two panels at a time. Those drum style "conditioners" Like the Eastwood contour have gotten pretty reasonable with some of the off brands lately and My Contour is a beast on surface rust like that. The let you know you did a days work but don't dig into the metal like a lot disks do. I'd have to dig in the shed to see what I have but when a guy with a pile of cash caught me at a time when I didn't feel I had much choice I sold my 51 and he didn't want the chrome trim that think I have most of but haven't looked at for years. I can't show the car here the way he finished it out as it ended up being "off topic" but he went for a non traditional mild custom look. The main thing is come up with a plan and then figure out if it is a viable plan time and $$ wise. They don't have to be chopped to be cool or at least they don't have to be chopped right away. In todays dollars that costs a bunch to have done right anyhow. Make it safe to drive, make it reliable to drive and then. Slill level do what you are comfortable with and maybe push it a little but don't get too far in over your head. Replacing that rocker panel might be a job to farm out if you don't weld well. Last but not least, don't be afraid to ask on How do I do this right things. Plus you are welcome to pm me with questions if you need to. I might be a tad slow responding at times but I give honest answers and don't belive in the nonsense of giving the new guy the wrong info as a few clowns think is funny.
Biggest problem with them for a beginner is there is next to nothing for replacement sheet metal for them. Not even sure if Matt Townsend is still making parts to sell. Haven't seen him advertise that he has parts ready for sale in ages.
I see him installing them on customer cars. Haven't seen him say he has any for sale in quite a while. He use to do runs of them and then offer them up. Maybe he only does made to order now.
Go slow. Research everything before you get started. Be realistic about your abilities, but as others have said, doing it is how you learn. I)f you screw up, do it over. Everybody here has to do that sometimes. Make sure you have a decent place to work on it. Ask questions. Good luck!
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