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Post Info TOPIC: 1952 Mercury Led Sled


FOREST, ONT

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1952 Mercury Led Sled
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Here it is my new project/driver. It's a 1952 Mercury two door hard top. It's chopped 3" or 4". Not exactly sure how much. Lowered a couple inches. The hood is louvered. There is power brakes with discs up front. An aluminum rad. Looks like a lot of the wiring has been replaced. The guy that owned it before had just put new Coker 3" wide whites all the way around. At some point a 305 chev and 350 turbo was put in it in. 

I don't know much about the history of this car. I bought it in St. Catharines. It was one of those questionable ad's on Kijiji. It wasn't well written and didn't make a whole lot of sense. So I watched the ad for a month. Then I called the number. I got the it's not my car, it's my buddy's. When I asked for the buddy's number he said I had to call the mechanic that had the car. I thought here we go another send me the cash and I'll ship you the car or some bullsh** story like that. So I called the mechanic another buddy of the owner. After I talk to this man on 2 different occasions for about 45mins each time I thought sounds legit. We set up a time to look at the car. Then with a pocket full of cash I made the 2 1/2 hour drive with truck and trailer to St. Catharines. 

I never met the owner of the car. His buddy told me it is a Texas car. It was around St. Chatharines for 25 years. It was flat black for most of it's life. Suppose to be well know in the area. The chop was done in the states along with a bunch of the other work. If anyone know more about this car I'd like to know. It sat in an apartment parking lot for a few years before I bought it. That all I know about it.

Here is some pictures.

merc12.jpg

The Duramax had no problem pulling this down the highway at 120.

1952merc1.jpg1952merc2.jpg1952merc3.jpg1952merc4.jpgmerc13.jpg1952merc7.jpg1952merc8.jpg



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NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

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I,m not sure but that car looks very similar to one that used to sit in a driveway on Mountain Rd. It moved when the house was sold and the owner moved. If i remember he had a large yard sale before the move.


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BRANTFORD, ONT

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Congratulations. I love traditional looking customs. The chop looks great. Please post anything you find out about the history. What are your plans for the car?

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Bob T


FOREST, ONT

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Styling
I was told the old fella's wife passed away and he sold the house. He now lives in an apartment.

Bob T
Thanks. Me to. When I started looking for a new to me ride it had to be 59 or older. I wanted a custom but my price range limited my choses. Then I thought if I could find something that was done years ago and needed to be redone that would work. Plans are to keep it looking traditional. I'm going over the mechanical first. I have a 327 and a 700r4 that I plan on putting in. It needs a paint job and some body work but that's not in the budget right now. Took it to a buddy that owns a body shop last fall. He said that the paint is to thick and it needs to be stripped. I want to strip the roof and put lace on it. We'll see how far I get before summer.

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MARKHAM, ONT

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Looks really cool.

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NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

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RumblingBolts wrote:

Styling
I was told the old fella's wife passed away and he sold the house. He now lives in an apartment.

Bob T
Thanks. Me to. When I started looking for a new to me ride it had to be 59 or older. I wanted a custom but my price range limited my choses. Then I thought if I could find something that was done years ago and needed to be redone that would work. Plans are to keep it looking traditional. I'm going over the mechanical first. I have a 327 and a 700r4 that I plan on putting in. It needs a paint job and some body work but that's not in the budget right now. Took it to a buddy that owns a body shop last fall. He said that the paint is to thick and it needs to be stripped. I want to strip the roof and put lace on it. We'll see how far I get before summer.


   Yep. That makes sense. I always had a good look at the car each time I drove past. it reminded me of my early years and some of the cars in the area. I also remembered that the 52-54 Mercs were some of the best articles in the old Car Craft mags. Those were the days of the small Car Craft.. Good looking car. Happy cruising this summer. 

 



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GTA

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RumblingBolts wrote:

I'm going over the mechanical first. I have a 327 and a 700r4 that I plan on putting in. It needs a paint job and some body work but that's not in the budget right now. Took it to a buddy that owns a body shop last fall. He said that the paint is to thick and it needs to be stripped. I want to strip the roof and put lace on it. We'll see how far I get before summer.


 

Looks like a fun car.

Since you didn't ask, I'll offer my unprofessional opinion biggrin

Focus on the mechanical first and get the thing running, stickered, plated, driving and put some (A LOT) miles on it.  The paint looks good enough in the pics (I understand that pics can be deceiving) but what worries me is what MAY lie under that paint.  "Paint too thick" could mean TONS of bondo too.  My point being that you could find yourself in a HUGE financial hole (also, your car could be an inhabitant of a body shop for YEARS) attempting to repair shoddy body work and then the cost of repainting as well when, if you'd left well enough alone (for the time being at least) it would have been totally acceptable as a fun driver without sinking a TON of money into it (then spending a ton of time worrying about rain, stone chips, bird crap, door dings etc affecting your perfect paint job).  Guess it all boils down to what you want out of the car and how you intend to use it.

Nothing wrong with "vintage" paint that shows the scars of a car that has been used as a ... CAR.

Just sayin'

 

One other thing to think about too ... poor or "patina'd" chrome might look odd (bumpers etc) when mounted on a car with perfect paint ... Yep, might as well add the cost of rechroming into it too smile

 

Alrighty then, I've said too much already ... enjoy your car. biggrin



-- Edited by Pete Moss on Wednesday 21st of March 2018 02:53:14 PM

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PORT HOPE, ONT

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Where do you think all the project cars come from on KIJIJI. A lot of people really think you can just throw a small block or LS swap it in a weekend. I agree drive it . Ed

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NIAGARA FALLS, ONT

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flatblack55delivery wrote:

Where do you think all the project cars come from on KIJIJI. A lot of people really think you can just throw a small block or LS swap it in a weekend. I agree drive it . Ed


 Definately drive it for a year and make your notes on what is a top priority repair first. If you jump in with both feet right off the bat it could snowball on you. Drive it and enjoy it for a year and then have at it. 

 



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CLINTON, ONT

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Awesome .   love it .  



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FOREST, ONT

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Lots of good advice. Thanks guys.
I actually bought this car at the beginning of July last summer. I got it on the road by August. I drove it around my area only getting about 30mins away from home. Just in case it decide to leave me on the side of the road. I start fixing things pretty much right away. I had to put a new drivers door mirror on. The back window is lexan and was very discoloured. I've cleaned it. I'll post pictures. The carb was junk. It was a quadrajet. Took it off and rebuilt a 600 holley and put it on. Fixed a couple lights. The drivers window was not rolling up right. Took the door apart. Adjusted the tracks not perfect but much better. The drivers seat back was broke. One of the hinges on the seat back was broke off. Welded it back together. The exhaust off the manifolds for about the first 2 1/2 feet on both sides is definitely not how I would have done it but works. It started leaking on the drivers side. I cut it off, ground the muffler cement off the joints and welded it together and reinstalled. I just finished putting in new king pins and bushings. Now I have the 3rd member out of the rearend because something is not right. Not sure if a bear is out of it. The ring and pinion don't seem to be meshing together quite right. I can't turn it by hand and when I turn the yoke with a wrench I can feel every tooth going together. I haven't got into it more then that yet. I'll post some pictures of the paint soon to.

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FOREST, ONT

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Here some picture of the back window.

merc12.jpegmerc13.jpeg

Used Meguiars Headlight Restoration Kit on it. Worked great.

merc14.jpeg

Half done.

merc15.jpeg

Much better.



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BRANTFORD, ONT

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Great job on that rear window. I've used Lexan Mar 5000 and is pretty tough stuff. They also repop that rear window and it can be cut as the original couldn't. I really like the flow of the chop. Some screw it up pretty bad.

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Bob T


NIAGARA REGION, ONT

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This car spent a lot of time in my driveway...the owner had a lot pf bad luck....put in a nice 302 Ford and went to Kalamazoo....broke an oil pressure line and did not notice till it blew up....had a well known engine builder rebuild it and it wiped out a cam in the first week....put in another used engine and it too was crap.......It had been driven for years with the flathead and a late model automatic. The front suspension was stock but cut springs and the disc brake kit put on.. Put in a new wiring harness and rebuilt the gauges. It has led under lighting with a remote and some dip switches on the kick panel......



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DavyJ


NIAGARA REGION, ONT

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The chop was done in Westchester NY for a cost of 10k USD.. there was a lot of money dropped into this car. the body is not too bad, some stuff in the lower rear quarters, but nothing that will stop you from enjoying it. I know the front suspension and steering box were rebuilt, but the last time I drove it the steering box still had a lot of play in it. As stated above the old guy who owned it had some bad luck and was also into a couple of other cars, a 52 Merc rag top and a 36 cabriolet, both of which were sacrificed to the shops that built them for unpaid bills........... this Merc came from California , the rag top came from Texas, cause I went and picked it up....... Also it had bumperboyz replated bumpers front and rear. Enjoy the ride and feel free to pm me if you need to....Dave J.

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DavyJ


FOREST, ONT

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Thank you DavyJ for all the info. I feel bad for the pervious owner. I wasn't told much about him but I know a little. I really hope his luck has changed for the better. My family and I had a lot of fun driving the car in the summer. I'm sure we will have many more. Thanks again.

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FOREST, ONT

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Got some hub caps for Christmas. Thanks to my wife. The front two are on.

1952merc14.jpeg1952merc13.jpeg1952merc12.jpg



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