Looking at what I am told is a '49 Mercury and having some problems Identifying it. It looks like the rear tailights have been changed to Lincoln tailights, but it has a split windshield and a mercury beltline.Unfortunately I am not near the car so I have to depend on pictures and emails. While trying to get the info off the firewall I was told that: Style # 90N74 Body 88182 Then on the left of the id plate was the #17 on the right was DEN then 59C From the information I could gleen from the Net these #'s don't fit. Not sure if they are for a Lincoln. They don't have any papers on the car. So I appeal to the great wealth of knowlege here to keep me from making a mistake...
This may not be of much help but: The 74 in the style number denotes "Sports sedan" or 4-door with notchback in any of Cosmpolitan, (baby) lincoln, or Mercury. The 9 probably confirms a '49 model. the fact that it has the "Mercury" beltline (if you're talking about the kink in the middle of the front door) says it is NOT a Cosmo; but it could be either the (baby) Linciln or the Mercury. The split winshield was common to both the (baby) Lincoln and the Mercury. That last number "59C" makes me think it is a Merc since "C" was code for the Merc engine. What does the front clip look like? Lincoln was distinctive. What engine does it have in it? If the original engine is there, count the head studs and check where the distributor is. Lincs have 27 stud heads and a rear mounted distributor.The Merc wheelbase is 118"; the Linc is 121".
The front end is off the car in the pictures and from what I see it is all mercury (unless it was purchased to replace the Lincoln front end). Unfortunately the engine and tranny are not in the car, and I am not sure the wheelbase....Thanks for the help...
Two other things that might help you identify the car are the gauge cluster, and the backlite. If these haven't been changed, the cluster should have round speedo with two smaller, round gauges on either side. The backlite (rear window) should be 3 pieces on a '49, with stainless division bars between the 3 pieces. There are other differences, but these two should help identify the year. Oh yeah, as was stated before...BUY THAT CAR!
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