another big thumbs up from north of you, what an improvement! wheels and tires are the most important parts for the whole appearance! cheers, Carsten
I´m glad this Merc finally found you as its owner , you really deserve this car The wheels and tires are a great improvement! Maybe we´ll meet in Ölkam this year again!
What did your Cokers need to balance right? Mine need 300 grams a wheel. The rims alone were just 25 grams out. Ed
Hi Ed, sorry for the late reply. I don't remember exactly but mine also needed between 200 and 300 grams to balance right. The rims from Rally America were perfect, so it was the tires. However, my tire man did not worry about it at all. I have no problems when driving. I have been doing 70-80 miles for longer distances without a problem. Thanks Baumi, I'm glad I bought the car two years ago. It was an opportunity I could not let go. See you in Ölkam for sure!
As I am rebuilding our house I had no time to do something on my car for the last months. Last week I decided to give it a go again and install my pair of Appletons 112 that I bought in the Classifieds three years ago. (Here's a thread on how I reworked them: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-to-get-a-matching-pair-of-appletons-112.796057/) So these are the spotlights. I also bought a dummy spot to get new left and right brackets. Here you can see the original template (A big thanks to HAMBer @Atomic Kustom ) on the A-pillar. The two black spots are the position of the spots as proposed by Appleton. I looked at tons of vintage Custom pics and noticed that the spotlights were mostly mounted in a lower position nearer to the windshield. So I made a parallel line and marked my own position spots. The point of no return - drilling the holes for the brackets. After installing the brackets I drilled the big hole for the spotlights arm. As I did not have the original drill guide I made my own but that did not work perfectly. It was quite a PITA to get the arm in the correct position and I even had to use a reamer to enlarge the holes. I made my own rubber gasket and used window sealer, so the hole thing should be water tight (we have a lot of rain in Austria). This is the big hole inside the car which I had to open up a bit.
After everything was aligned I mounted the spotlight on the outside. Then I drilled two holes on the back of the A-pillar and fixed the spotlight also inside the car. I added the handle and voilà: I had also replaced the old wire with a new cloth one and wound it around the arm. I have read somewhere here on the HAMB that back in the day on customs the spotlights often were not connected and that's what they did with the wires. Both spots mounted: It looks easier than it is and it costs quite an effort to drill through the A-pillar of a painted/finished car but it was worth it I guess. And finally the car as it looks now. Now I am waiting for the day when I open the hood and smash it on the spots - forgetting that they are there now...
What a great looking Merc! I just rescued this one that's been in my family for 30 years. Oddly enough I painted my wheels a gold color as well. Happy motoring! (Leave the skirts on...) I need to lower mine still. Yours looks perfect!
Thanks! I am following your thread re your Mercury. Cool car and good story. I think golden wheels are a natural choice on a Merc ..
Haven't updated this thread in a while, so here we go: After I had caused a "tender touch" between the Mercury and my father-in-laws 1955 tractor (my fault - never move your car around in the workshop in the night after some beers), the flames on the passenger side were scratched. I drove the car with the scratches for a while but got fed up with people asking me what has happened. I was never very happy with the ghost flames on my car, so this was a good opportunity the change the flames to a more end of 5os style. As the paintjob on my car is not perfect anymore, I decided to give it a try and repaint the flames myself. First I sanded and filled the scratches: Then I touched up the damaged paint outside the flames with my airbrush. Then I painted the outline of the flames in Ivory. Finally I painted the flames in a very dark greenish gold: The same procedure on the unscratched drivers side: Then some layers of clear and blend in clear coat. It depends on the light but most of the time the touch-up of the scratches can't be seen. I'm happy with the result.
Side pipes were on the car when I bought it but I had taken them off years ago. Last week I put them back on for a change and I like it. Gives the car a late 50s vibe with the flames. Took the car out for a last ride today before winter. I enjoyed it a lot.
Yes, Jerry Quesnel's is one of my favourite mercs, but I do not have the balls to chop mine. My car was originally sold in Austria in 1950 and is one of the very few Mercs from that time that has survived. In fact, I only know 1 other example, a 4-door 49 that was also originally sold here. The 49-51 Mercurys, that you find in Europe today, were mostly imported from the US in later years. So I keep it a mild Kustom and most work can easily be returned to original if anyone wants to. Speaking of Mercurys in Austria, here is a flyer from 1950 by the Austrian Ford dealer who sold Mercurys back in the day (and Lincolns and Shoeboxes as well as German, French and English Fords).
Beautiful Car, love the Merc's can't wait to start on my 49, love the Hamb lot of great ideas in here [
Here's a little update. When I got the car 10 years ago, the engine compartment was a mess, everything rusty and dirty. As it was just an optical problem and everything was working, I left it as is and never opened the hood. Some weeks ago I replaced the carb..... as it happens one thing added to another and here is my 'new' engine compartment. Only thing left to change are the modern yellow ignition cables....
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