[gennius]

Greetings to all auto lovers!

I have given my grandfather's car, i.e., the behemoth V-shaped 8 cylinder 1947 Ford Mercury Eight for restoration. But sadly, the person restoring the car, who told me that it would take a mere 6 months to complete the job, is still completing the same since 5 years!

Hence I finally have decided to take my foot down and have aimed to compel this guy to restore the car latest by September 2010! The paint job, wiring, upholstery, interior, etc. are yet to be completed. The engine has been fixed, remounted and has also run for a couple of hours. It generates significant amount of vibrations but I guess the same would disappear once the the air cleaner is mounted on the carburetor. The engine is run with an external fuel supply and an external battery and seldom back-fires and misses too. Moreover, it also takes a lot of time to suck up the fuel to the carburetor and hence starts after about 9-10 trials! I think that this problem would be resolved after the fuel tank is directly connected to the fuel filter.

So firstly, regarding the painting job, the car is NOT going to be painted in a heat chamber. I have heard that a heat chamber is inevitable for a smooth finish. He probably plans to paint the car under the bare sun along with all that redundant suspended particulate matter too! I believe that 5-6 layers of DuPont paint would be used for the same. Hence I would like to ask if the car should be painted in the heat chamber and would the aforementioned condition affect the overall quality and the finish of the paint?

Secondly, I seem completely lost when it comes to choosing the best rubber for the car. I have shortlisted my choices to Michelin and Yokohama. The tyre specification should be 205/75 R15, though the same can be altered with the average cost coming to around 5000 INR/tyre. Moreover, there are different types of tyres in the same specification too! So how should I go about selecting the tyres?

That's all for now. Will keep posting the updates on the car and will very shortly upload the pictures of the car too! For now I am uploading a sample picture of the car.



http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...1&d=1268143353



http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...1&d=1268142963



I eagerly look forward for all your suggestions!
Cheers!
Nilesh

[gennius]

I don't know why but the attachments weren't uploaded again.. So I'm posting the attachments again :

[the mole]

Please post pictures of the actual car. Without that we can render any advice. 5 yrs is a long time to get a car restored unless she was in a really really bad shape, I hope all the parts are intact.

[veldeep]

Here is photo of Pune based Mercury.Photo 2 years back.
regards
Veldeep

[Perak]

Why do you want to go in for radials. The stock size would be 6.50 X 15 for your model.

[amit V8]

Originally Posted by gennius

Greetings to all auto lovers!

I have given my grandfather's car, i.e., the behemoth V-shaped 8 cylinder 1947 Ford Mercury Eight for restoration. But sadly, the person restoring the car, who told me that it would take a mere 6 months to complete the job, is still completing the same since 5 years!

post pictures of your car. 5 years is a long time to restore any car, any particular reasons for such a long time??

[gennius]

Originally Posted by amit V8

post pictures of your car. 5 years is a long time to restore any car, any particular reasons for such a long time??

I will post the pictures as soon as possible, definitely before the week ends! I am as eager to post the pictures as you are to see them!

And a reason for such a long time is that the person restoring the car is a true devotee of procrastination. He mainly is into restoring jeeps and nearly a half a dozen of them under the roof every time I visit his place and also says that cars like yours take time to restore.. The parts are not easily available and if they aren't we have to make it ourselves and blah blah blah!
Whenever asked a question about the time required to complete a particular job, comes the patent reply "Yeh toh ho jaega! Yeh toh sirf 10min / 1 din / 2 din / 1 hafte ka kaam hai!" and thereafter changes the topic!!

[gennius]

Hey there everyone! I heartily apologize for the delay in posting the pictures. Had my exams going on! So here are the pictures of the car, all for thou :



EXTERIOR:























INTERIOR:




















UNDER THE HOOD:

























AIR CLEANER:








Continued...

[gennius]

TYRE DILEMMA:

The car is now fitted temporarily with puny ambassador tyres.



A 235/75 R15 tyre was fitted on this car and this is how it looks:







A view of the width of the big tyre:



A view of the width of the small tyre:




A view of the width of the big tyre on the left and the small tyre on the right:




POLL: Which tyre make should be installed on my vehicle?

1.) Michelin?



2.) Yokohama?



3.) Continental?



4.) Any other?




Smaller but significant things:

Have a good look at my prestigious car being used as a storage of its own parts (and some unwanted matter too!):





Those are the handles for pulling the windows up and down:







Yeah the boot. Filled before the car acquiring mobility (again):




This is the fuel lid of the car. This significantly shows the original colour of the car and how it is completely untouched:



Front suspension - Struts:



Front Axle:



Air Cleaner (Fully open). Notice the immense dirt inside it:




Clutch pedal, brake pedal, accelerator pedal:



E-Brake:



Gear lever (sans the knob):



Ignition key hole. Any idea what the on/off switch is for?




He has fitted leather on the inside too:






This is how the chrome parts of my car are stored in his garrage:




Notice the laminated border of the window. Does it look good or does the glossy feel make it look a bit cheap?

P.S. Worship the Immortal Greek God of Procrastination: = P




That's all the information I have for now folks! Do you require any other information, please let me know. I will post it straight away!

Please let me know your views, suggestions and any help regarding the places where parts like Dashboard instruments (clock, speedometer, fuel gauge, etc.) can be purchased.

Eagerly awaiting replies from all!
Thanks
Nilesh

[mbz180]

Nilesh,


From what I see in the pics, the tin work on your car seems complete and rust free. Did the engine require any overhauling? There is a Mercury of the same model as yours with my restorer, Bumpu Sircar, in his workshop here in Kolkata, undergoing major tin work (the roof had so much rusting that large holes were present when the car came).
I also see a 4 cylinder Mercedes Benz ponton (180/190) parked in the garage behind your car. Has that car been around in that place as long as yours as well? Any more info or pictures of the Merc?

[gennius]

Originally Posted by mbz180

Nilesh,


From what I see in the pics, the tin work on your car seems complete and rust free. Did the engine require any overhauling? There is a Mercury of the same model as yours with my restorer, Bumpu Sircar, in his workshop here in Kolkata, undergoing major tin work (the roof had so much rusting that large holes were present when the car came).
I also see a 4 cylinder Mercedes Benz ponton (180/190) parked in the garage behind your car. Has that car been around in that place as long as yours as well? Any more info or pictures of the Merc?

The engine did not require any overhauling.. The engine was just disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, some parts were replaced, reassembled, tuned and mounted. Nothing that major. I think this is the basic protocol to revive a vintage engine, right?

Since this car was parked in my dad's factory, people allegedly removed the dashboard instruments (like the clock, etc.) and either decorated the same in their house or sold it!!


Hence it is a tough job finding those parts. Do you have any idea regarding the person/organisation who could provide us with such parts?
I think your restorer could probably be of help to me! Can you provide me with his number please?

By the way, which vintage car do you possess? And what are your views on the tyre size and make which should be fitted into my car?

And regarding the Mercedes, it has recently joined the garage. It's in a pretty good condition (compared to my car) and I don't see any work being done on that car too!!!

[mbz180]

Hi Nilesh,


I have a 1958 Mercedes Benz 180a (ponton), hence my interest in the Merc at your garage. My car is being restored in Calcutta, by Bumpu Sircar and there are a couple of photos I think of the Ford Mercury (check out the Kolkata restorers thread under Bumpu Sircar). Currently he is doing the last stages of the tin work on that car. I will ask him about the tires for the car, because off-hand I don't know what size your car uses, and will also PM you his contact, after getting permission from him. My Merc has a long way to go before its complete, but you can check out my car's thread in the post-1950s sub-forum under the thread "My 1958 Mercedes Benz 180a".

Regards
Prithvi

[IndrojitSircar]

I had found some sources abroad when i was looking for some parts for the Mercury being restored at my dad's place.I got almost whatever we needed but then the owner didn't want them. However if you are interested then do drop me a PM or an email letting me know your requirement and i can find out for you.

Regards

[anjan_c2007]

I am reminded of Murphy's Laws which go on thus "Things are not as simple as they seem to be" and "Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget." And the next one goes thus "All's well that ends."
Stretching the thing from months to five years may have been intolerable!
The car is fantastic and will look pretty good if well restored.Would have been better if you could have transported it to Delhi for the restoration work.
For the meters and dash fittings you may try eBay.I am sure that it will be tough to procure these in the normal course.
For the tyres please go to the company's Indian website and contact their top marketing official saying you own such a car which needs tyres of such size. Also put in a request to make them available.I got the white wall tyres on my Landmaster the same way from MRF.

[IndrojitSircar]

Two years now. What's the status on the car ? Do update some pics if possible.