Message from Sled: Also same as the driver side had to replace all the way thru the upper 3/4 panel,looks nice now...finally i can see the shape of the roof in place at list.. A bit of fightin tack weldin the A pillars and ta-da....looks bitchin ,i reckon... Next i tried to set the angle i wanted on the B pillars..wanna have a very dinamic effect,even when the car is standing still i like the impression that is movin forward... Maybe is too much,but who cares?? I have to leave the roof as is now,cause gotta reinforce and build from scratch also all the passenger side inner/outer rockers,A pillar ,lower B pillar and so on...ah,and the floors too...well,basically everything!! As said i do not accept any tolerance bigger than 1mm,so it will be better than factory built when done,and much stronger too.. I noticed also a huge factory gap between the A pillar and the door,from inside...looks kinda stupid,so later on will modify the door to get the correct gap there too..it will be covered but still is too big to leave it... More to come,stay tuned....
Sled: Ok,some different wiews with the placed roof and the B pillars slanted...i'm pleased with the lines so far... Can't wait to see it on wheels on the ground,for the overall effect.... Next will tack weld the pillars and secure all the roof section,then jumpin on the bottom again for more sweat... The new roofline gives me good vibe to go on anyway... Hope you like it guys....
Hi Sled ! 1950 Merc coupe is a sweet car to build a custom car on and many have tried , few has succeded . Ofcause as always "customer is always right" and everyone is different but looking at the killer kustoms built by the Ayalas and Barris bros it seems they all had close to the same proportions between the top and the rest of the body . Sam Barris -49 Merc , Jerry Quesnel -49 Merc , Louie Bettacourts -49 Merc was very close to 3" vertical in the front (translates to 4" on the A-pillar) and 5"vertical in the back edge of the rear side window . This gives the pleasant propotions these cars had . I have done or bin apart of cutting 6 -49-51 Mercs by now and all exept one was cut this way . The one I did diffrently was 3 1/4" in the front and 5 1/4" in the back , this was my second chop on a -50 Merc business coupe and the brothers I did it for cheard me on but I ended up thinking it was too much and went back to the 3" & 5" formula ! One basic proportion needs to be met in any chop (I think) and that is the upper edge of the door windows arc needs to be close to the center of the door . Ford and Merc bodys those years (-40-51) were slating forward and thats why the 2" chop more in the back is needed to compensate that factory flaw ! GM bodys the same years didnt have this basic problem since they were in stock form fairly parallell in the window opening and looks great with the same amount of chop front and back . Also the top skin ark also needs to have its highest spot close to the center of the door in order to fade nicely back towards the rear window . The major "NONO" is the transition between topskin and rear window , this "absofreekinlutly" needs to be a nice flow instead of a "DIP", this is whats separate the beautyful ones from the others . The harder chopped tops the harder it is to achive this and the more problems you get around the sides of the rear window . Thats my two cents , good luck guys ! Wolf
Sled: Back to the lower section again...rear seat section as usual gone,same old crap..a new one made!! Then fits nicely...is like a puzzle, a piece at the time...i like the shiny new bit ,and again and again...ah!!! Also time for the new inner rockers...note on the original ones they have only 2 square metal blocks to keep the thing tight... But 1 more on front will be added..actually i'm surprised that does'nt come from factory...basically where you put the first step when you're jumpin into the car...that's why the floors tend to bent over the years too... Ok,got some more for ya.....
Sled: New designed inner rockers,all the way up to A pillar...more stability here now!Also new front floors in palce after a careful planning to make them fitting perfectly nicely in place...More shiny stuff on,let's keep going on also on pre fabbed A pillar...this took some time to build it in different pieces.Gotta be right,no forgiving at this point,cause the whole door alignment is based here...if is wrong,even a little the whole side line of the car is fucked!!and i hate do things twice!! But according to the driver's door looks correct...Still some adjustment to make but i'm happy with it...
MercMan51,great attention has to be given to the rear windows,especially since i want the stailess trim on...and the lines also to follow the right countour..will be peaky here.. If i remember well, 51 Gringo put a great tech post on the stainless window trimmings time ago.... But yeah,here is 1 of the points where the real quality cars show its class... yep,they will be rounded accordingly...
Hi Wolf,thanx for your kind reply,really appreciate..well,we can talk for long here about trad customs and top chops,as you know... I'm not sure to fully understand your last part but basically i get the point where the front upper door lines have to flow nicely in the rear window... also very important the correct curvature of the rear window,including the stainless steel...yes,i wanna have the stainless trim around,more classy.. but of course more angled is the chop more the side rear windows trim needs to be reworked.. But this is a crucial point for a cool flow,visually talkin... In case i need some help i'll PM you.... thanx again....
Man! This is serious bussiness!!!! - Oh while I think about it, I have a rusted out ashtray from a '49 merc. Can you restore and build me a car from that?????? I'm sure you can. Hats of to you man! Klaus
Message from Sled: This will be the last update for now,i'm pretty much at the actual build ...Brand new A pillar,in 4 different pieces...i have the patterns from the driver side,and will be faster this time.The hard yards on creating this is all over and if fun at this point cause every piece replaced looks shiny and new... Still a lot of patience is required,is a crucial point ...all the door lines are based on this part. Next move will be the outer rockers but are already precut and waiting to go .... Actually i buoght the cheap ones from US time ago,but they are in 20 gauge steel and absolutely crap...you can't use em! Build them myself as usual...
I haven't followed this thread for a while but WOWZAS what a lot of progress in just a few short months!!! I can't wait to see the chop done- looks like I won't have to wait too long! Excellent thread details and pictures too!!!
Well,probably Pinstriper 40 you're right...i'm going MUCH faster on this passenger side cause the headache to think and create from scratch the inexistent parts on driver's side is over.. I'm keepin all the templates/cardboard patterns for the next Mercs also.. So,it helps a lot..and many thanx also to some fellow Hambers which helped me out when needed...ETHER,Mid-Century-cruiser and so on.. As said the light is still far away but every new part now it makes a whole difference.. I guess Terry Hegman on the Millenium Merc put something like 8000 hourse on metal work,read it somewhere... Plan is to finish the A pillar,1 day something...then put the outer rocker and will move up to finish the top again... Does not take long... Well,also was lookin today some scketches on the angled side windows..that's intriguing me,a tricky part to do... Gotta find out a good number of Ford window moldings to work em out... Well,stay tuned...
Solo_909,well...patience,patience and more patience...some tools help of course,but not that much.. BTW,still waitin an english wheel (a good one) to get the roof done..but if not arrives in time...well ,more patience needed... A funny thing really helps..just don' take a whole look...concentrate in a piece at the time..so,you don't see the whole mess... Hey,you gotta be optimistic sometimes to get this shit done...
Well you sure said that right. Between Tom & Sled, this will be a very sought after ride. Put me down for first option.....
LIFESTYLZ,yeah...get your ass in the garage and start the Lincoln kustom then..cmon mate!! I'm curious to se how is evolving that thing too... Or do you wanna see my Merc top finished first??Ah,ah,ah... Btw,keep up the good job.....
GO....SLED.....GO....Man you are making my build look like a breeze!!!!! Keep it up and keep us posted!!!!!!!! ETHER
Hey ETHER,as you going buddy??Thanx for the push as usual... But man,you're the one who started on a 2 door to save an ex 4 door and converting it to a 2 door again...what a building circle!! Hat off to you my man...great job! Actually i like the idea to inspire other fellas building theier rides..and sometimes you gotta go the hard way to really enjoy the whole thing.. Yep,more updates soon.. What about yours??is running by now???
Message from Sled: Slowly some progress on the A pillar,finally done.This part alone is made of 26 pieces,and is very fiddly to make.Plus have to perfectly aligned in any way,cause the door set up and full body lines...Tricky!!! But so far everthing fits there,will see when the door is mounted what the truth is... I noticed that from factory there are some gaps on measurements,far from perfect... So,now is comin out even better than stock,makes me happy about... Also on the last pic i just mock up the sill plate,and looks almost done...drilled by now all the holes and currently welding it in place... At list some solid base is done... Shortly will jump on the roof again,but before is necessary to brace the rear end/ trunk area tight togheter...is kinda twisty now!! Well,that's all folks ....
Janne,started early december 07 more/less...stripped out all the car,made the inventory and ordered the first parts which took long to arrive here... Lost at list a good month on logistics on stuff i needed,arrived late... Still need to buy a pro english wheel and a planishing hammer...really needed to speed up the project and make top notch panels... Have to say that most weekends i was into the thing... Was totally fooled after the sandblasting,the car was not even good for parts.. Right now i'm scratching my head on how to align and level the whole rear end..there are no references apart than the frame. All panels are rotten and shaky,cannot use'em as a pattern But ok,the show must go on...
I've never seen a worse car rebuilt but it's obviously being rebuilt by the right person. Was this the best of the 7 Mercurys you have? And people thought I was crazy when I had my '40 Mercury. Mine was cherry in comparison. It's good to see one saved - they aren't making them anymore... well except for this one in Mexico.
Rathbone,as stated before i was totally fooled after the sandblasting...honestly during the first cleanup the floors looked quite solid, and yeah...lot to to on the body but was hell when i saw it blasted and primered.. That's why " swiss cheese"... But i took the challenge anyway,knowing that was much more than some kustom mods in and there... Funny but i never tought don't do it...or you're still in time ,get another one...nope! Honestly i did it because was a 50....if it was a 51 i would'nt take the challenge! But the 50 is by far the most difficult year to find,at list here in Mexico. The other 6 are FAR better,thanx God....ok,they need some floors but nothing extreme as this one! And body is ok,roofs also...something affordable we can say...normal projects,ya know! I do have a 40 Merc coupe in almost mint condition also,1 owner car,no rust ever....superclean! That one will be easy as piss to chop and kustomize then.... Especially after this task... Hey,was your 40 a coupe???
The Jalopy Journal
