1946 Mercury Convertible

[psogden]

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Very original car. Current owner purchased in 1976. Car came from the Nevada desert near Hawthorne with 82,000 miles on the odometer. It was probably assembled at the Ford Plant in Richmond, California in late 1945 as one of the first post war cars produced. It runs and drives well. Original paint can be seen on the under carriage along with some surface rust.

Although most post WW II Ford Motor Company convertibles had wood grain dashes, this car has a metallic maroon dash. There is no trace of wood grain on the dash or window frames—just metallic maroon. There is original factory paint on hood and trunk interiors, and firewall. The exterior was repainted in 1976 to match factory maroon.

Car was refurbished in 1976 to be a driver, not a frame up restoration. Owner has kept car as original as possible. 59AB engine was rebuilt in 1976 and car has been driven about 4,000 miles since. Transmission was rebuilt, brakes were redone, fuel pump, carburetor, voltage regulator, etc. rebuilt to get car running. New upholstery (simulated leather) and new canvas top were installed, window frames and dash were repainted to match factory colors. Weather stripping was replaced as necessary. Top rails were restored. Convertible motor pump and cylinders were restored and are in working condition today. Bumpers were re-chromed in 1976.

After garage storage for many years, owner has recently done the following: replaced fuel tank, sending unit, and fuel line to firewall, installed rebuilt fuel pump, carburetor, coil and distributor. The finest rebuilders were used for all these items. Brake cylinders & master cylinder were replaced. Cooling system was recently flushed. New whitewall tires have been installed except for spare. New muffler and tail pipe have been installed. Floor pan was refurbished. The original electrical wiring has never been changed except for spark plug wiring and a bypass ignition wire.

The car comes with many extra parts including battery holder (new with surface rust—but never installed), fuel pump to carburetor steel/copper fuel line (currently a neoprene line is installed), 4 rebuilt shock absorbers, ring and pinion gear, distributor, fuel pumps, carburetors, rear stainless steel window frame (the one on passenger side is damaged), tail light lenses, voltage regulator, spark plugs, set of spare vacuum tubes for radio (radio is not currently working), replacement wiring looms, several stainless trim pieces, rear quarter window seals, replacement gears for roll-up windows, hood release cable and handle, some dash gauges and more.

The original engine is not in the car. The car was registered with a new California serial number in 1976 at time of purchase by current owner, rather than using the engine serial number. Owner has not looked for original factory serial number on the frame near the steering gear but to the best of his knowledge the number can be located.

All gauges work except temperature gauge which was working recently. (This is probably an under dash wiring issue) New sending units have been installed. Clock is not working. Speedometer and clock glass could use a re-do. The radio antenna is broken. Windshield glass is original but pitted due to Nevada desert sand and could use replacement. Top fabric around 2-3 snaps is slightly damaged due to top being opened prior to unsnapping snaps while car was on display at Towe Museum.

Additional photos available.