Customs New here. 54 merc questions

Hello everyone. I’m new here. I have been building with a couple buddies in maryland for a long time. I’ve always been into lowriders and mini trucks. Just finished up an Ls swapped body dropped square body ranger. My p***ion has always been body and paint. Metal fab. Smooth and clean lines.

so for years I’ve always wanted to build a mid 50s merc. I got a hold of one plus some other cars as well. It was buried In a barn. Upon pulling it out I noticed the front end is different. Headlights are from
A 53 Buick. Frenched. The louvered hood has been worked around the bottom corners as well. Grille and bumper are diff as well. Looking for some insight on what the bumper and grille are from. And if I’m right on the headlights. Door handles are shaved. Cool attempt at frenched tail lights too. Any info would be appreciated.

 

Cool old custom, looks like they lowered the center bumper bar to the bottom, grille bar looks like either 53/54/55 Oldsmobile or possibly a '55 New Yorker bar with amber turn signals added to it. Interesting hooded tail light treatment. Also looks like maybe the quarter panel blisters were reworked into scoops?

Hard to say when it was done, but it's neat, and a car worth preserving.

 

Welcome. Cool for the Mercury. Your body and paint p***ion can be used here.
I don't have any info for you, but welcome.

 

I don’t plan on changing the body up just Want to finish what the man who started it obviously wanted to see done. I have a lot of love for old customs. One of a kind.

will def be picking the boards brain from time to time. Looking forward to it !

 

This is good to hear, it's exactly what this car needs. It's kinda rare to find someone from a mini-truck background say that but I'm really glad you feel that way.

Another thing I should mention, the hood hinges on these cars are very prone to breaking and really, really expensive to replace. When you open the hood, it helps to pull slightly forward on the hood while it goes up, with a wiggling motion if need be, just due to the design of the hinges. And next time you open it, spray each pivot point thoroughly with some kind of penetrating lubricant. If they work now, you'll want to be careful that they stay working in the future.

My '52 Ford has the exact same hinges. Careful lubrication and opening them with a slight pull-forward motion really helps (if it's sticky to close, it doesn't hurt to push the hood lightly backwards as it comes down as well. You'll get a feel for it after a while).

 

And the hinges are a lot of work to replace as they are part of the air ducts.

 

This is the rebirth of a neat old mild custom.
Welcome to the HAMB from Illinois.

 

Welcome to the HAMB.
Be sure to join the Maryland subgroup.

1. Go to the "groups" pull down icon at the upper left corner of the page.
2. Click the "social forums ".
3. Click "geographic ".
4. Click "Maryland".

It's pretty active & helpful to have more local support friends.

 

got car to one of my barns in the light. Found the p***enger side trim in the back floor. Looking forward to start wrenching

 

Headlights are Buick. Grille bar lights look too small to be Olds imo.

 

yea I did some research and the headlights are from a skylark??? correct me if im wrong.

also frustrating to see someone who takes a grinder to a beautiful steel dash to install a Jenson CD player in it..why not just hang it from the bottom side of dash. that'll be coming out..welded up and dash fixed..

 

Well apparently my posts of my current build were deleted. I didn’t realize that posting a previous build that included an ls engine was against the rules. That’s enough for me to pull the plug. Here. Thanks guys for the info so far and the appreciation for my merc.

 

Stick around, you will be glad you did. A lot of help and information is available here.

 

You will miss out on a ton of knowledge on your Merc if you bail on account of your deleted posts with the off topic engine.
This is a traditional hot rod forum with a narrow focus but overall the most knowledgeable members in the game. All of us have had threads deleted don’t take it personally, just check the forum rules.
Don’t walk, to much information here.

 

When I first saw your car I thought it wasn't a 54. I've been waiting for a picture of the dash, and that's not a 54 dash. The car is probably a 52 or 53.

 

Yeah on my 53 and 54 when you close the hood ya gotta go push the corners down by the cowl cause they stay up....definitely gotta wiggle it coming up too

 

This thread will get locked if you keep posting those pics. 1965 and older ONLY. Go to the main page and READ THE RULES!

 

Just so you know, pictures of cars made after 1965 are not allowed here. It's got nothing against you personally, but if you insist on posting pics of newer stuff, your thread could get locked. Better to delete those pictures before that happens.

Those are the rules, don't let them sour you on the board, the Merc is a worthwhile project.

 

But it has a 55 belair dash. Doesn’t that account for anything ?

i understand now. I’ll be More mindful

 

Glad you didn't take off, I and am sure others would like to follow along on your project. Lots of knowledge on here. Welcome and Good Luck.

 

If you don't get a thread deleted, you ain't t trying. Moriarty's bark is worse than his bite!

 

Right Hahhaa so am I allowed to drop a small block Chevy from 1977 in my merc? Just wanna clarify for future posts

 

Yup.

 

Can’t leave the other one that made its way home with me out of the conversation

 

Welcome. I’m glad you stuck around. I’d put the Mercury on hold and build the Chevy.

 

Welcome to the HAMB. Looks like you got baptized already. I had a non-traditional, but kinda cool Buick pic deleted way back when. Live and learn.

The headlights bezels are either '53 or '54 Buick. Doesn't matter if it was the Skylark model or not. Same headlight on Special, Super, Roadmaster and Skylark. '53 was stainless steel with a checkerboard pattern. '54 was a plated pot metal piece (if I recall) with only horizontal lines.

The pic of the front is a little blurry. Is it possible the bumper is from a '55, '56, or '57Packard?

 

'60 Impala 2 door hardtop is another worthy project.

Most flavors of small block Chevy are fine around here, doesn't really matter if it was cast in 1957 or 1977, in the same way as buying a new set of Cragar S/S wheels would be fine since they existed in 1964 (but only in 14 and 15 inch diameters). As long as you're not planning on putting some kind of electronic fuel injection on that engine, you're good. (and honestly, even if you did, just don't post pictures of it or talk about it. If it doesn't show up in pictures or get discussed, stuff like that won't get your thread deleted).

 

your 61 is absolutely beautiful man. Color, stance, wheels....just beautiful.

yea I am getting the idea around here with the rule thing. sorry for my previous posts but I've always sorta been a stubborn person. lol. yea the 60 is getting wrenched on as well currently. I've got a problem with old cars and trucks. I don't care if they are a pile of rust ill just stick them in the front yard as yard art. I just can't get enough

cheers guys