'49-'50 merc grille shell...tech????

with the scarcity of merc grille shells why couldn't some one do a credible job using 3"-4" exhuast type tubing?with the emphasis on CREDIBLE.
your thoughts???????????

 

It can be done... it will just take time, and if you have the right tools too

 

Hey,

In theory, that would be "just doable" !

The number of pie cuts you would need to even be able to begin to form a passable shell, would make most just shape each of the changes in shape from pieces of metal sheet

Good luck

Swankey Devils C.C.
" It's time for another Tea Party ! "

 

with all the slicing and dicing by the time you install whats left it looks doable with the tubing cut to fit??????

 

your gonna wear out your question mark key.

 

Gotta wonder why no one repops them in steel. How many dies would it take to stamp them up? Those and the 53-55 Stude lower pans, have to think you could sell them by the truckload. Dunno if you could make a million and retire but I'd be surprised if you couldn't make the tooling investment back.

 

there's something wrong with it????

 

I've heard of people using conduit

 

Just knock a few up in fiberglass and make a killing........

 

Bend some half round pieces of sheetmetal over your knee and start shrinking and strecthing the edges till you got something. At least that was what I was going to do until I got the one shell I have now! It would be some work, but you end up modifing one so much putting them in different openings you probably would be better off making one anyway.

 

Why waste something like this on an old car? This is a NOS '49 surround I think I'm going to make into a wall hanging.

 

I wanted to build my own surround, but in the end, it just sucked too much. I like to think I'm pretty handy with a chunk of 18ga, but there were just too many difficult compound curves for my skills.



I ended up scoring a surround that was cut in a few pieces and pretty bashed up, but at least most of the hard to make parts were there. It still was quite a bit of work to finish it off.



My advise is to bite the bullet and buy one. I would much rather make something rather than buy it, but that surround it one hard sumbitch to make..

Good luck, -Abone.

 

Buy one, +1 to what abone said. I moved my 51 surround back using a spare junk 49 roof for the upper contours, but it still looked nothing like a real deal grill shell.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but are there any techs or just advice for modifying a '51 shell to line up with the hood lip? I don't like the extended hood look, I'd rather make the shell meet the hood.

Add me to the list of guys who wonder why they don't make those shells out of steel new. Someone was making fiberglass ones but those aren't really useful unless you're doing a direct replacement on a stock 49-50 Merc restoration.

 

I got a piece, 49 or 50 Merc, from a buddy of mine. I think someone trimmed it to put it in a 50 ford. I used a 51 surround and the piece I got. It would be easier to modify a good 51 than make a new one out of scratch. Just my opinion. ETHER

 

Here is my suggestion. If you need it right now, look hard on eBay, Craigslist, and on the HAMB. Post a WTB: Shell in the Merc Social Group too.

Also call through these companies that I compiled, especially Mercuryland and the Mad Greek guy:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331564&highlight=mercury+parts

 

'FLAMEDABONE' and 'ETHER' , you guys are gluttons for punishment. GREAT WORK!

 

that shell is awsome, gives me ideas for my 52

 

Hey,

I haven't worked on one of these in a while, but I think there are some areas of the part that are "deep draw" meaning that you're asking the sheetmetal to stretch, and compress without ripping or forming buckles. That usually requires ''double strikes'' and very intracate die work & a alloy of steel that will lend itself to all of this. Good die work, as opposed to the crap we get from off-shore, in sheetmetal parts, is very expensive. The guy in Oregon doing the '33-'4 bodys has 1.5 million ( that's million with an M ) tied up in tooling . I'm bettin' it will be some time before he sees black ink on that project! This part could be made from smaller stamping and welded together, but than you're talking more hand work and more fitment issues. Given the numbers that Mercurys were built in, all over the world, and the time that has passed, pressing a shell from sheet, that would fit a '49-'51 well ,would be tough. I've never found any of the repopped parts for Mercs to be outstanding, fitment wise.

Swankey Devils C.C.
" Spending a nation into generational debt is not an act of compassion ! "

 

I think you are much better off finding one,regardless of the condition,and repairing it. Rather than trying to make one from scratch. Too much going on there...Lots of radius's and compound curves.

 

Look at how closely the lower grille shell mirrors the upper one on this Merc. This was done with exhaust tubing.

 

thanks much for the pic mo.if you hadn't kept the curve going on the lower parts it would look right on the money (?).it would be great to see it without the grille in it, so that the inner parts could be seen.YOU MAY HAVE DONE IT!do you have any other pics?

 

i dont think that's mo's car...i think his was a shoebox,,,,that merc was built by a guy from somewhere down south,,VA, WV, or soemwhere like that i believe,,,,,ive seen the car in person ay gettysburg,,that guy does pretty nice work,,,,i think he told me that the center of the grille was made from a shopping cart grate or something like that......
i think if you were determined enough, you could make something pretty close to a merc shell,,,,,,maybe not identical,,,but close i'd say

 

While it's not a merc surround it is close. It gives you an idea of what can be done with some hand tools and time.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55750

 

Exellent link. Keep in mind, the guy doing the work is Brian Bass..To say he has "skills" wouldn't even begin to cover it...There is a huge ammount of work there.

-Abone.

 

Right you are, Jim. And let me clarify, jivin jer ... just the bottom of the Merc shell is tubing.

Check the subsequent post by THE235KID. My shoebox was done in a similar fashion, using larger dia. tubing ( 2 1/2"). I split some 90 degree bends down the back, made some relief cuts and hammered them up into a flat plane. Two straight pipes were angle cut and butted for the top bar. The top was finished with flat stock cut to fit, pie cut in the center, and lipped over on a sheetmetal break.

First pic lifted from the internet shows Merc shell/shoebox installation.





The following pix are of my homemade grille shell:

 

People always forget but the 53 54 Willys had a good grille opening similar to the merc shell. It would be a good one to use for pieces. But hell, they are probably just as hard to find as a merc one.

 

thanks mo.

 

wow that was a great thread, you have to subscribe to that one!!!

 

as with most things the more data you have the easier things are.i'll bet if you took a $10.00 contour gage and made 4-5 measurements from the the bottom up through the top to the center it would pass the sniff test.