My new project. And introduction.

[AZMerc39]

Hello y'all,

My name is Ken, I'm 29, an Air Force vet, and living in Southern Arizona.

Picked up this 1939 Mercury sedan last Friday. Hope to learn a fraction of the wealth of information y'all have to get this car back on the road. Current plans are to resto-mod as a street rod. But I do want to be able to daily it as well. The previous owner already did some modernization to it, so I plan to as well.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by AZMerc39

Hello y'all,

My name is Ken, I'm 29, an Air Force vet, and living in Southern Arizona.

Picked up this 1939 Mercury sedan last Friday. Hope to learn a fraction of the wealth of information y'all have to get this car back on the road. Current plans are to resto-mod as a street rod. But I do want to be able to daily it as well. The previous owner already did some modernization to it, so I plan to as well.

[ford38v8]

Ken, that's an amazingly straight find you have there, congratulations!
The good news is that it is a pretty rare bird these days.
The bad news is that it's a pretty rare bird these days, which I'm sure you've already found out. Take care to not discard anything in hopes of replacing with new or better condition.
I see from your profile that you're into kyaking. I've done a bit of white water rafting myself, and given your location, you have a fabulous resource in your own backyard! Go for it before you get to be my age. The Colorado is still on my bucket list, too late now.

Alan USN Seabee '59-'63

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Ken, that's an amazingly straight find you have there, congratulations!
The good news is that it is a pretty rare bird these days.
The bad news is that it's a pretty rare bird these days, which I'm sure you've already found out. Take care to not discard anything in hopes of replacing with new or better condition.
I see from your profile that you're into kyaking. I've done a bit of white water rafting myself, and given your location, you have a fabulous resource in your own backyard! Go for it before you get to be my age. The Colorado is still on my bucket list, too late now.

Alan USN Seabee '59-'63

Thank you! Yeah, I'm definitely seeing the scarcity of certain part and pieces. I'll try to restore what I can, but I know it's going to be a long term project. As long as I can get it running, driving, and stopping, I'll be happy. Everything else can come later.

As far as the river goes, you can still kayak the lower Colorado below the Hoover dam. It's usually not too bad and lots of hot springs. There is a kayak club near me, and most members are retired, so if you can move, you can float yourself down the river!

Thank you for your service!

[Clem Clement]

I tried to send congrats on your find, but the Barn ate it. Super Nice. Save the paipnt do not repaint. Hub caps original??? Lucky you

[AZMerc39]

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Originally Posted by Clem Clement

I tried to send congrats on your find, but the Barn ate it. Super Nice. Save the paipnt do not repaint. Hub caps original??? Lucky you

Thank you. Leave it with patina and clear coat? Not sure if the caps are original, but i assume so.

[ford38v8]

Definitely do not clear coat over original patina. Do that and you wind up with imitation puke. Sorry to use such graphic language, but I must speak the truth.

[petehoovie]

Stick with the patina...Wipe it down every now and then with GIBBS oil...
This is what I did on my original '34...

Gibbs Brand Lubricant, Penetrant, & Conditioner

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by petehoovie

Stick with the patina...Wipe it down every now and then with GIBBS oil...
This is what I did on my original '34...

Gibbs Brand Lubricant, Penetrant, & Conditioner

Sounds like a plan. In the Navy when all the vehicles were battleship grey, we simply used diesel fuel on a rag. A quick shine without elbow grease, protects the paint and metal. Next day it's dull again, but a quick wipedown and the brass is in his happy place.
Dunno how basecoat/clearcoat would take to diesel fuel, but it smells all military and macho!

[Shoebox]

Welcome to the Barn, from a fellow '39 Merc owner. This place is an awesome source of information. Another good place to check out is the Early Ford V8 Club of America, their website even has a Mercury specific forum.

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Definitely do not clear coat over original patina. Do that and you wind up with imitation puke. Sorry to use such graphic language, but I must speak the truth.

Makes sense

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by petehoovie

Stick with the patina...Wipe it down every now and then with GIBBS oil...
This is what I did on my original '34...

Gibbs Brand Lubricant, Penetrant, & Conditioner

Appreciate it!

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Sounds like a plan. In the Navy when all the vehicles were battleship grey, we simply used diesel fuel on a rag. A quick shine without elbow grease, protects the paint and metal. Next day it's dull again, but a quick wipedown and the brass is in his happy place.
Dunno how basecoat/clearcoat would take to diesel fuel, but it smells all military and macho!

For the price of Diesel these days, idk about that.

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by Shoebox

Welcome to the Barn, from a fellow '39 Merc owner. This place is an awesome source of information. Another good place to check out is the Early Ford V8 Club of America, their website even has a Mercury specific forum.

Thank you. I may hop over there eventually.

[Bored&Stroked]

Thanks for coming to the Barn - it looks like you have a really great car to start with. It is rare to find any early Ford in that condition (at least from what I can tell). This is a great place for information as there are multiple folks here with 39-40 Mercs.

[Bored&Stroked]

BTW: The Ford Barn is really about keeping the cars here in as original state as possible. Hopefully your Merc still has a flathead in it . . . I highly encourage you to stick with the flathead as they are wonderful engines, have a unique character to them and it is what belongs in your Merc. We can help you with everything needed to get the car in top mechanical shape . . . using as many original parts as possible.

Many of us have built high-performance flatheads . . . with all the go-fast goodies available. You can take a 40 Merc engine and increase its horsepower quite easily, though there is always a cost involved when you start buying all the cool parts like heads, manifolds, etc.. The point is that you can surely make your Merc perform at a level that makes it comfortable and safe at today's highway speeds (even with a mostly stock engine) - you just need to plan and execute your build with those goals in mind.

Know what you want to achieve and budget for it. Ask a lot of questions before you chose your final build path. Truth be told, most of us have found that it takes twice as much money and at least twice as much time as we originally envision (that is how we talk ourselves into doing what we do!) . . . but it is worth it in the end!

If you really desire to go the street rod route, the best place to collaborate on that type of build in the HAMB (Jalopy Journal). The truth is, many of us have cars that are a good "fit" for both places . . . but we'd surely like you to keep your Merc as unmolested as possible! Your car looks very original - I'd try to keep it that way

[glennpm]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

BTW: The Ford Barn is really about keeping the cars here in as original state as possible. Hopefully your Merc still has a flathead in it . . . I highly encourage you to stick with the flathead as they are wonderful engines, have a unique character to them and it is what belongs in your Merc. We can help you with everything needed to get the car in top mechanical shape . . . using as many original parts as possible.

Many of us have built high-performance flatheads . . . with all the go-fast goodies available. You can take a 40 Merc engine and increase its horsepower quite easily, though there is always a cost involved when you start buying all the cool parts like heads, manifolds, etc.. The point is that you can surely make your Merc perform at a level that makes it comfortable and safe at today's highway speeds (even with a mostly stock engine) - you just need to plan and execute your build with those goals in mind.

Know what you want to achieve and budget for it. Ask a lot of questions before you chose your final build path. Truth be told, most of us have found that it takes twice as much money and at least twice as much time as we originally envision (that is how we talk ourselves into doing what we do!) . . . but it is worth it in the end!

If you really desire to go the street rod route, the best place to collaborate on that type of build in the HAMB (Jalopy Journal). The truth is, many of us have cars that are a good "fit" for both places . . . but we'd surely like you to keep your Merc as unmolested as possible! Your car looks very original - I'd try to keep it that way

Smart man and words. Keep it original, you won't be sorry.

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

BTW: The Ford Barn is really about keeping the cars here in as original state as possible. Hopefully your Merc still has a flathead in it . . . I highly encourage you to stick with the flathead as they are wonderful engines, have a unique character to them and it is what belongs in your Merc. We can help you with everything needed to get the car in top mechanical shape . . . using as many original parts as possible.

Many of us have built high-performance flatheads . . . with all the go-fast goodies available. You can take a 40 Merc engine and increase its horsepower quite easily, though there is always a cost involved when you start buying all the cool parts like heads, manifolds, etc.. The point is that you can surely make your Merc perform at a level that makes it comfortable and safe at today's highway speeds (even with a mostly stock engine) - you just need to plan and execute your build with those goals in mind.

Know what you want to achieve and budget for it. Ask a lot of questions before you chose your final build path. Truth be told, most of us have found that it takes twice as much money and at least twice as much time as we originally envision (that is how we talk ourselves into doing what we do!) . . . but it is worth it in the end!

If you really desire to go the street rod route, the best place to collaborate on that type of build in the HAMB (Jalopy Journal). The truth is, many of us have cars that are a good "fit" for both places . . . but we'd surely like you to keep your Merc as unmolested as possible! Your car looks very original - I'd try to keep it that way

Thank you. The only thing I don't want to keep original is the motor and gearing for the most part since i want it to be reliable on modern gas and usable as todays speeds. And in AZ, I need A/C. The previous owner has done a few things to it already, such a adding a fuel pump, crab dizzy, and changing it to 12v. If the motor is original, I wouldn't mind getting a second motor to hop up instead of this one.

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by glennpm

Smart man and words. Keep it original, you won't be sorry.

I will keep it as original as possible while making is usable for todays world. I saw one of these 39 sedans with way more done to it than i want to do to mine still go for $20,000. That was 350 SBC swap, positrac rear end, different steering column and wheel, two piece front seats, etc.

I just want modern day usability since i do not plan to make it a weekend only car. They are meant to be driven, and that's what i want to do. But the world is vastly different than almost 90 years ago.

[AZMerc39]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

Thanks for coming to the Barn - it looks like you have a really great car to start with. It is rare to find any early Ford in that condition (at least from what I can tell). This is a great place for information as there are multiple folks here with 39-40 Mercs.

I cant wait to tap into that knowledge.