Projects WINTER PROJECT - 49 Merc

Here's a pic of the front end for reference

 

You guys are talented!

Great work on the car and all the things you did on it. Just think, It's a chopped Merc!

Joel

 

Thanks Guys,

Yeah can't go past a chopped Merc and she's coming together great, one last hurdle to get past (Engineer) and hopefully she'll be on the road early next month for Day of the Drags.

 

Man,that sucks! Having a guy giving HIS opinion of wether or not your car is road worthy. That would take over half the old cars off the road here in the states,LOL...That would leave nothing but trailer queens and total restorations!
That also ruins for the guys like me who want to drive their car while they are working on it!

 

nice job, thats gonna be a awesome merc

 

Yeah kinda sucks, they do have guidlines to stick to so just a matter of fitting within them. Yeah I got a feeling we would wipe out half the US cars if our standards had to be met.

That being said my merc is now well over a lot of the regulations requirements.

 

Geat job! Bet there aint many chopped mercs in Oz.

 

thats some sweet work right there. are you leaving it black or is there going to be a splash of colour

 

I loved the mean stance of this chopped merc in the matt black and chrome look, so I'm sticking with that.

Matt black and chrome exterior, gloss black and chrome interior, gloss black and silver engine.

I'll get some pinstriping redone so that may be the extent of colour. But you never know she's not finished yet so if you've got any suggestions on how I could add a splash of colour and retain the black look I'm open to suggestions.

 

True there aen't many Mercs in Oz total, that's actually something I'd like to gather numbers on, although I do know of a few and there are apparently a few getting built as we speak.

Funnily enough though one has showed up recently at a rod run that is very similar to mine, just a lot rougher at the moment, but hey I'm sure they are enjoying it.

 

very nice work, keep it up. Looks great.

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks guys,

Yeah I'm stoked with the way she's coming together, will be on the road in a couple weeks hopefully, I just have an issue to resolve with the engineer which could be a major setback but hopefully we'll sort that out.

 

Hey GRP Cruiser,

That Merc is lookin great! great project.

Having "guidlines & regulations" to follow ain't all a bad thing....... given some of the total POS vehicles I've seen, here on the roads in SoCalifornia.

Vehicles that need to be worked on don't belong on the road. Primer spots are one thing, vehicles with bullshit welds, rusted frame, floor, suspension, old brake hardware & wiring are all trouble lookin' for a place to happen!
If we don't keep our side of the deal clean, it isn't long before some knee-jerk leftist politician moves to have all vehicles over ten years old taken off the road under the guise of protecting the public from itself.

Swankey Devils C.C.
" It's time for another Tea Party !"

 

What you say is correct pimpin paint. GRP I'm intrigued to know what the engineer's issue is.

 

Thanks Pimpin Paint,

Very good point, don't get me wrong I agree, I'm all for regulations and having vehicles on the road that are safe. Part of my upgrades have been to make the Merc a lot safer than it was.

 

Hopefully it's not an issue and provided with some more information I'll work through it with the engineer, we had a brief discussion about the car being LHD. There may be an issue with this given it has a new Jag steering rack and an upgraded engine from the original.

It's just a tad frustrating at the moment given I've spoken to the engineer about stuff over time and it's never come up as an issue previously, but hey that could just be bad communication on my part.

Given the Mercs current status and the plan to leave it LHD I don't want to be coverting it to RHD now, i'm sure you'll understand. That being said I've spoken to some guys at the RTA and they didn't see it as an issue so I'll sort this out tomorrow.

 

Hey,

Did Mercury production make it down to OZ? That'd be a site, a RHD Merc!

That would be a drag if you were made to comply with the mandate, but a RHD Merc is better than no Merc!

I fear, atleast up here in the states,that our days of unregulated motoring are numbered! Given the current crop of "Nanny-state ''socialist leaning legisiation now on the motor law books, all under the guise of protection. Once upon a time we had no seat belt law, no helmet law, no bumper law and fenders were 'iffy'. Now as more older vehicles are on the road, and as said vehicles are involved in accidents and break downs in traffic, we all come under the "eye", maintained vehicles and junk. A good portion of the money troubles of "The Big Three'' in Detroit, started when the Gov'mnt stuct its' nose under the tent flap, now there's no stopping them.
When you drive, watch out for the other guy, cuz he ain't watchin' out for you!

Swankey Devils C.C.
" It's time for another Tea Party! "

 

No need to explain yourself, I dont know why anyone would question your actions, your taking this 'project' merc and turning it into a very nice machine.. I think your doing a great thing by keeping the caddy engine too! Great job and keep us updated on the progress!!
-Anthony

 

Here in New Zealand there are a lot of RHD Mercs.
Have owned several myself. A '49 and a '51.


.

 

Ok GRP cruiser, I understand. I know you can import and register a car that's LHD. I also know of cases where people have found out that you cannot actually build a car LHD. I'm guessing you're in a grey area of what constitutes 'building' a car. In your case swapping in a Jag front end albiet still LHD?

Good luck, it will be a good driving car in the long run.

 

the rego issue topic revolves around engine capacity > 15% original need to be (insert: allegedly) RHD. Yet to be confirmed/denied by RTA.

 

Update:

The engineering issue has been resolved, fortunately it should be fine so the Merc's staying LHD, Phew!!!!

Well back on track and looking good.

 

Somewhere on the net I snagged pics of a bare metal (perhaps chopped) Merc, 49 or 50, and I believe it was right hand drive. Looked wild!

 

Yeah there is a bare metal merc RHD in Oz, will try and get a photo put up once I can find it.

 

If this is the one you saw, it is a good old KIWI car from here in New Zealand.


.

 

Great that you have shown all you have had to do to get your Merc roadworthy here.


I like American based Customs and performance cars, but at many recient shows and events it is starting to look more like an American invasion with all these LHD cars

Was there a reason you chose to keep it as a LHD car, instead of converting it to RHD

 

No, sorry, not that one.

 

Oh OK.
I thought UnIOnViLLEHauNT might answer it as he mentioned it.. lol

 

Thanks, there does appear to have been an influx of American cars to Oz over the last few years but I think that's a good thing. Althogh I presume that has come to an end given our plummeting $.

There are a number of reasons I left it LHD, probably the main one was just avoiding the time and hassle at this stage, for some reason I also just like the idea of leaving it LHD. There are other reasons eg what to do with the dash, these dash's don't convert easily and so i'd have to redesign a dash which I could have done but for the time being I just want to get it on the road. I'll see how it goes, if I don't like it once I'm driving it as some stage I'll look at converting it.