Guest Rudedog Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Well it's official, my wife hates me and hates my car even more. Just kidding, she just hates the car. Hello everyone, I have been lurking around the far corners of this forum for a few years reading about the magnificent work that everyone has done and marveling at the resident knowledge. I had another project that has moved on but in it's place I was given a new one. I thought it was about time that I tried to contribute to this great community that I have been enjoying for a while. So without further gilding the lily, here is the newest project that my wife wants to run me over with. Its a 1955 Mercury in Tropic Blue. I love the color and its all original with about 60k on the clock. The car was owned by the same family since new before it came to me. In 1979 the car had the engine rebuilt, new tires, and a few other things. Immediately after all that work it was parked. Fast forward a few decades and the original owner's daughter brought the car from California to the Seattle area. She decided to sell it and my dad bought it maybe a year ago? He worked with my uncle and completely rebuilt the front suspension before giving it to me. He gave it to me as my birthday present, or at least that was his excuse, I wasn't about to complain. So as you can see from the pictures, its in great shape. No rust at all, there are a few dings here and there, the woman who sold it admitted that every dent in the car she put there. Despite the patina and appearance though we have already made a really great discovery. We have the original receipts from the work done in 1979, included on the paperwork is the mileage of the car. If everything is correct, and so far there isn't any reason to suspect otherwise, the motor has only had about 400 miles put on it since. We also have the receipts for the tires showing that they only have about 400 miles, but unfortunately they are approaching 40 years old and the car was not raised off of them for all those years so they ride like you are going over speed bumps. So I'm not sure yet how far this will go, for now I am focusing on the few bits of mechanical that need attention, mostly suspension, checking that the long time idle didn't cause any other mechanical issues, then I will do the body work and interior. Oh and tires so my dentist doesn't have to replace rattled out fillings. I work full time, move every couple years, and have a toddler, so I know progress is going to be terribly slow, but I am determined that I will have this thing roadworthy soon and I'll post updates as I have them. I hope you all like! Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacerman Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Good luck with the project. That car has great lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Nice looking project. I wish my body was that straight on my Mercury. Going to look nice when it's all cleaned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Nice car! Always liked the Ford/Merc hardtops that year. And the continental spare looks great on that car -- in my eyes, a lot of continental spare setups on other cars look ungainly but it really integrates well on the Merc. To me it looks really good as is......get some new tires and do some basic mechanical preventative maintenance, and drive it. Plenty of room for a child car seat ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rudedog Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 9 hours ago, r1lark said: Nice car! Always liked the Ford/Merc hardtops that year. And the continental spare looks great on that car -- in my eyes, a lot of continental spare setups on other cars look ungainly but it really integrates well on the Merc. To me it looks really good as is......get some new tires and do some basic mechanical preventative maintenance, and drive it. Plenty of room for a child car seat ! Yes, I love the lines of this car as well. My previous project was a 1954 Lincoln Capri (its the yellow car in the garage in the photos). I loved the car and it was similar to the mercury in that it was straight as an arrow and virtually rust free, but the butter yellow color never really did it for me, and the lines just are just a little to bubbled. Oh well though, it's moved on. The continental kit on the car looks great, but I discovered it has caused some problems over the years. I don't know if it is a common issue, but the kit has two mounting bolts that attached where the license plate bracket goes. Over the years it looks like it flexed and stress fractured the steel. There are two, inch-long cracks going from the bolt holes down where it was tearing away. Luckily where it is torn is a flat panel and the gas tank is out of it right now so it's an easy fix, if I can ever get the time to do some welding that is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry B. Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 The 55-56 Mercurys were great cars, looks like you got a nice one. I had a 56 Montclair hard top and I remember it was a big comfortable car. Mine didn't have a continental kit on the back and if it was me I would remove it, the rear overhang must be tremendous. Nice cruiser you have there, good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Yaros Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 On 8/23/2016 at 6:34 AM, r1lark said: Nice car! Always liked the Ford/Merc hardtops that year. And the continental spare looks great on that car -- in my eyes, a lot of continental spare setups on other cars look ungainly but it really integrates well on the Merc. To me it looks really good as is......get some new tires and do some basic mechanical preventative maintenance, and drive it. Plenty of room for a child car seat ! I could not agree more. As a rule I HATE continental kits, but this one does seem to integrate very well with the lines of the Merc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Great looking car, my first two cars were 55 Fords. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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