1952-59 Ford 53 Merc Gasser Build Thread: Project Quicksilver

Ok I figured I would get this started as a baseline for everyone wanting to follow. I'm building a very period correct g***er drag car, basically as it would have ran around 65-66. Safety updates are ok but it won't have any billet or other modern type parts as long as there's a good equivalent traditional part that makes sense in cost, strength and availability. It will be powered by a little SBF circa 1965. Toploader 4 speed and a 9" rear with 4:30 gears and a detroit locker. Disk brakes up front, drums in the rear. The nose will come up slightly by installing Eaton coils with an extra 2" added to them. The rear housing was ordered 1" narrower than a '65 Mustang so it should give decent room for 28" tall 9" wide pie crust slicks mounted on original style steel wheels. I'll add more details as we move along but for now, here is where it is:
Here is how I found it. Was in a building in VA since the late 80's, in primer. Overtime the poor prep job gave way to surface rust coming through.
Lots of surface rust but basically zero rot anywhere.
Front clip is now off and the engine is ready to come out. Very clean frame...
Interior removed, again very clean, only minor surface rust in the front but it's not crispy. The dash is now out and getting prepped.
Here's that crispy looking hood mostly stripped. The original primer has been an ordeal to get off, multiple strippers and finally an aggressive 3M stripping pad did the trick. This is ready for some light bodywork and then primer.
Starting to strip the body, the primer is coming off very quick and if you compare this to the original driver's side pic above, you can see that rust was nothing to be worried about. I did find some "bondo" but it was to fill waves and some dents. Nothing scary. This was about 5 minutes with a 3M stripping pad.
Here's the engine as it sits today. No, it's not staying purple. It will be black with gold valve covers like a hipo 289. This has all forged components, **** crank, Callies H Beam rods and Mahle pistons. Final ***embly in a couple weeks, extreme ported iron heads, custom ground Comp cams billet roller, high rise single plane intake and a 750cfm carter (edelbrock) carb. Estimated at 480hp at 6500 rpm. Hoping for the quickest '53 Merc on Earth!

So there's the baseline as of today. Dec 8th. The axle should be delivered by Friday and that's when the fun will start. Need to strip the bottom of the car and lather it up with some POR15. I will update this post as things take shape...

Oh, and a little extra treat that most at the Meltdown Drags won't anticipate, this will have a ram air/cold air intake setup. You guys know those big vent pipes coming in from the grill to the interior? Will, they will be feeding a Thunderbolt style air cleaner housing instead... More to come...
Brandon

 

Need a spare ? $135 shipped still nice and shiny.

 

Sounds like a busy winter coming up for ya. I'll be following.

 

NICE !

 

Will be following also. Can't wait!

 

A little too cold here today to play in the garage, don't have the heater hooked up yet. So, I went to the ba*****t to start the upholstery part of the build. Going with a 60's style diamond pleat. Black with red s***ching. Still trying to decide on thick or thin pleats. Basically kind flat or ****y. Best way I can explain it Any 60's guys here have an opinion? I don't want it to look like a coffin Anyway, dug into the seat and here's what it's looking like.
The seat was recovered sometime in it's life, with a slip cover style so the original was still under it. The nice duct tape is a real plus for looks!
Bottom looking not too bad. A little surface rust here and there but actually very nice bones.
A couple pins and screws later and the backs are off. Ready to peel the skin!
First layer off and Cool! More duct tape! Weird racing stripe theme...
Upholstery cover is off, original cotton batting is flat as a pancake. No "cushion" left at all.
Well this is fun, the first layer of foam under the cotton has also given up any cushion. In fact it's basically turned to foam rock. Just crumbles away... All of this and those support wires you see will be gone. No need for the wires with the modern style foam... There's also vintage horse hair in here. Well, I hope it's horse hair...
The layer of cotton, foam rocks and Trigger is now mostly off. Here's the springfoam and those old support wires. They were attached with hog rings and jute twine on the ends. Helps distribute the weight of your can on the old seats...
Here's the stripped seat (bottom) frame. I've got a little cleaning/wire brushing to do on it then I'll hit it with some rust converter and paint the frame. After that will be making a pattern and adding new foam.
Still need to strip the seat backs and also the upper back seat. Strangely the car did not come with a back seat bottom so I will cut a piece of plywood to shape and make a foam seat, like what's found in a lot of the roadster hotrods... been there done that...

More to come... side note: should have worn a dust mask... yuck.

 

I'm watching this. Rocky foam is also what my seat foam looks like, Its crumbling onto the floor.
Regards.

 

A little more tinkering before I had to head out of town... I'm de-badging alot the car due to not wanting to burn cash on replacement emblems and such, and also give it a mild custom look to the body. I experimented with "lead" to fill the holes in the fender. (that dark wash looking stuff is just temporary zinc anti rust) Using metalworking solder (no lead) tinning flux and a torch I went at it. The end result is perfectly smooth fills that I couldn't knock out with a punch. Good in my book! I used aluminum tape for temporary backing so the solder wouldn't just fall through. While it looks a little toasty I only put enough heat into it to melt the solder. No warping at all. 15 minutes to fill the fender start to finish... first time for everything!

 

Awsome, It is really nice to see this done. As I read your posting, the warping issue was on my mind and i was going to ask about it. Ive done it a few times, fixing the old radiator or just to to some household stuff like fixing old lamps, wife asked.
Really cool. What is that underneath the holes?

 

Rui I used aluminum tape like they use for heating and cooling systems. Very thin. I took one piece just slightly larger than the hole and stuck it to another larger piece so when it was put over the hole there was no adhesive showing to contaminate the fill. Without the tape the solder falls right through the hole. Someone who is an expert at it could probably do it without a backer but I can't. (First time!) Anyway, when i was all done I just removed the tape...

 

Smart! Thanks.

 

And about the seats? Post pics, will ya?

 

yup, as soon as I get the foam I post some rebuild pics.

 

Been stuck on the road, nothing too exciting to update except I got the center section for the rear. I about fell over when I saw it. I wish it was a visible part because this thing is amazing. ***embled and dialed in by the Roush Racing NASCAR gear man. I picked a "vintage" N case for looks but everything else is straight up NASCAR stuff. Completely rebuilt with new bearings, springs etc. Everything polished for least amount of drag possible. This is total overkill!! 31 spline detroit locker with 4:30 gears, one piece billet retainer, one piece billet yoke...

 

Nice!

 

Find a 9" center in a salvage yard for your car, and make this one a table lamp! lol. It's beautiful.
Nodular cases are really hard to find.

 

I think I know why. The guy I got this from has about 100 of them. I'm not kidding. 100. Plus all the newer NASCAR ones like Mark Williams, Yukon and Strange. He's been prepping all sorts of road race cars for years. I stood next to a small fortune in limited or no use NASCAR parts.... it was crazy...

 

Been away for awhile, finally back into the Merc project. The car is in for a face lift right now. I decided to have the majority of the bodywork and paint done to try and save some time... I'll still shoot the roof as it's getting a old b*** boat flake job with red candy... Was able to s***ch a little more on the interior. Update pics below...

Diamonds are a G***er's Best Friend... Not many remember but Gas Cl*** cars were required to have upholstery up till 1967. Just finished s***ching this first door panel...

Some shots of the car undergoing it's makeover... Shaved most of the trim off, even though it was nice I needed open space for lettering etc... If anyone needs a set of exterior moldings for a '53 Merc, let me know
Oh, that's all just a skim coat of filler. Any holes found were patched. There were 3. RR lower quarter (made a patch, aftermarket fit like ***) both fenders in the bottom under the trim, just the outside, the braces were great)

 

AWSOME upholstery work, I bet your bodywork is too.

 

Lookin great!

 

Thanks Man, Really appreciate that. Excited to have it done soon...

 

Who did you get the rear from? I'm interested in a locker/posi in a 28-spline with a 4.10 ratio.
Thanks!

 

Here's the link to their ebay store. They are local here in NC and the real deal. No scam stuff and WAY more detailed then a lot of the other stuff out there. The one I got was ***embled by Roush's NASCAR gear guy. If you check out their store, they have a couple listed but they will make them any way you want. They recently bought out Waltrip's gear stuff so they have plenty. Side note: these guys set up very high$$ retired Cup cars that you can drive at VIR. To the tune of many thousands for a day... but it basicaly comes with a pit crew and everything... Cool stuff if you are into that...

link here: http://stores.ebay.com/OvalSpeed?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

 

Looking really good Brando. How about some more reupholstering pics?
Keep it up.

 

The upholstery looks beautiful!

 

Thanks, shot them a message and I'll see what they say, the $$ looks good on the one in the auction.

 

You flat out cannot beat the price and what you get from them. It's really an amazing ***embly, I wish it was visible! I think I paid around $800 for mine, that was with a vintage N case and some heavy duty stuff for drag racing. They build a lot of them for prostock drag racers... Good luck with it, great guys.

 

thanks Rui! I'll do some better pics when I do the next door panel and seats...

 

Sneak peek... bodywork done, edged in around deck lid and doors... being shot tomorrow. Wimbledon White... the candy roof will be in a couple weeks...