1949 Mercury

-

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

Gasoline

Here is the basic premise of cool. Take anything with four wheels, remove the top...instant cool. Ever taken a ride in a convertible? The wind blowing through your hair (even if it is only the hair on the sides and back), it's cool, right? So, years ago when I saw guys on the west coast taking these four door Mercs and turning them into roadsters with chopped down windshields, I knew this was something on my "bucket list" that I had to do. So, here it is! This began life as a '49 Mercury four door, and along the way transformed into the wild car you see here. The roof was cut off, doortops too, the windshield was cut down approximately 4 1/2". The reason the windshield was cut down that much is after a ton of research and keen eye studying, I found the most common amount guys were taking out of these in order to make a carson top (or buy one, depending on location) was 4 1/2". There are a few shops out in California that make the tops for these, and I believe that was what most were saying. Although this car currently has no top, just imagine how cool it would look with a padded white top! That was the plan with this. The car is shaved, nosed and decked in the usual fashion, and has been lowered to a nice stance with a slight rake downward in the rear. The windshield is Polycarbonate Lexan with no wipers, no wipers because it's got no roof! I did make glass templates if you want to add real glass later I have chopped a good portion of these cars and I will explain to the buyer how it is installed should you decide to get glass cut. It's got 4 Broadway bias ply wide whites, and has a set of '57 Cadillac hubcaps on front (just trim rings in the rear), just to let you know it's from New Jersey! (Yes, before there was a Snooki or Situation, there were '57 Caddy's on all the kustom cars!) It's got some decent chrome on the front and rear, definately nice enough for a driver. What you see here is just lightly cleaned, no chrome polish or anything. The rear bumper has a kink in it on the left side bottom as you can probably see in the pics. The grill is original '49 Merc and SUPER nice. The center section isn't rechromed, but shows decently with minor pitting. The grill halves are superb except one mounting tab (drivers side lower mounting tab cracked, not really noticible) You may notice the parking lights missing. I had bought some brand new chrome '49 parking light assemblies for this car, and promptly lost them somewhere in my garage. If I find them, I will include/install them, but due to my penchant for disorganization, they are missing. Moving on into the mechanicals it has a cleaned up underhood with a very presentable Chevy 305 and TH350 mated to the original rear with a custom made driveshaft. Brand new transmission cooler, fresh tune up components, bunch of new parts here and there. Original gas pedal and linkage was upgraded to a GM style throttle cable. Hurst style floor shifter clicks the car into gear. The drivetrain setup was removed from a friend's running driving car when he decided to upgrade. The brakes are basically all new, all new solid 3/16" brake line, all new hoses, brand new Wagner master cylinder (not resleeved or rebuilt, brand new) and all four new wheel cylinders. The car was upgraded to 12V with a brand new neatly installed Painless style wiring harness with modern mini blade fuses, no frayed wires or sparks to worry about. Now, let's get down to the skinny and fat. I have been working on this here and there when I have had time, and I have gotten to the point where it's about time to fire it up and work out the kinks. I had about an hour last week and putting the battery in the fuel pump let me know it was no good. I decided at that point it was time to list her up. I just last night had a chance to get a new fuel pump (electric) and am hoping either later today or Monday evening to put it in and see what happens, but at the moment it doesn't run and drive. There is no exhaust on it yet, didn't get to that part. There is an exhaust shop near me that does nice work reasonably and I was going to go that route. The car has a funky interior with grey carpet, off beat Jolly Rodgers door panels (this car is really all about attention) and some nice vinyl seats in black/white that could use a good cleaning but are in nice shape. The top of the back seat has a tear in it as seen in pictures, but other than that they are nice! A good scrubbing and you would have some excellent driver quality seats. Original handles/cranks were retained with escutcheons, but obviously there is no sideglass. The regulator is still in there though, in case you decide to install a top later and put side glass in it. I really would have liked to get this to be a driver and enjoy it, but I have to get started on my '51 coupe soon and in the meantime am building a chopped full custom '49 coupe for a friend serving overseas, so free time is extremely short and that car takes all priority! I have seen some cars on here with way less work done and in terrible shape for the same amount as my opening bid, so I am sure this will sell. If I get a chance I will try to get it running, but I can't promise anything. Any questions let me know, happy motoring and good luck bidding! This car is for sale locally and I reserve the right to end the auction at any time if a local cash offer is accepted. There are a lot of Mercs on here that seem to go week to week with outlandish reserve prices, constantly at auction. This car is priced low and described honestly, so I doubt it will run more than once before selling.