Readers Rides....Jim's '49 Mercury Convertible Part 1

Readers Rides…Jim’s ‘49 Merc Convertible Part 1

September 27th, 2009 Posted by: Steve --> · No Comments

Jim and I have something in common. We are both working on 1949 Mercury Convertibles. Jim was nice enough to send some pictures of his project and a great short story about how he purchased the car.
After looking at the pictures, Jim was smart to purchase a tilter from Accessible Systems. This let him do the rust repairs with the body mounted on frame. A very good idea for a convertible car.

Here is what Jim had to say about getting the car. What a great story!

“Talk about being blind with lust! I flew from Portland, Oregon to West Palm Beach to inspect this car before deciding to buy it.

I felt a need for adventure, so decided to drive it from Florida to Oregon in January when it hadn’t been driven for 18 years. I showed up at the airport complete with a snowmobile suit, raingear and a Norwester hat.

Two days later I had new tires, rebuilt brakes, a duct taped and rotted top, and an engine that purred like a kitten. Unfortunately I forgot a couple of details. I hadn’t flushed the cooling system or replaced transmission or rearend seals.

I only made it 230 miles before getting towed in the middle of the night to a radiator shop. When they told me how long it would take them to replace the core, I decided to pack it in.

I did have the foresight to have friends drive my tow car out to Florida, so we rented a trailer and finished the trip in less than grand fashion.

That was 12 years ago and I’ve finally got to this project. At this time all the cancer is replaced and I’m within a day or two of having my parts car frame converted to the convertible specs”

Thanks Jim, Send us some more pictures! If anyone else has a restoration project, send me some pictures and a short story about it. It doesn’t matter if it’s finished or in progress, we want to see it! Email me HERE