I am a new member having jsut acquired a 1940 Mercury Sedan Coupe. I posted earlier and several members were extrememly helpful with their comments and suggestions and based on one comment, I may already know hte answer tothis question, but here it is:
Does your book cover the respective car I have? I am thinking it doesn't as Stroker made a comment that this particular year did not share parts with Fords. If so, is there such a similar book for the 40MErc available?
As I am very new to this restoration process, this being my first but hopefully not last attempt, I would welcome any literature you could recommend that would be helpful in the process..
Thanks
Dale Cooper
I was emphasizing the uniqueness of this particular body, and trim and I didn't mean to imply
that there is no commolity with a 40 Ford. Many drivetrain and chassis parts are common to both, and I'm sure the 40 Ford book will have much needed information for this year of Ford
Motor Co. production.
Sorry Mike, didn't mean to butt-in, but I didn't want to leave the wrong impression.
Dan (Stroker)
Appreciate the clarification. It is a learning process for me at this point, and as a newbie, sometimes what I take literally may be more descriptive than anything else. So thanks and I am planning on getting the manual shortly. Jsut working on where I can do the restore here in Atlanta before I bring the car down from Oregon.
I am sure this probably will not be the last time I make an assumption, so I guess I will ask twice and think once from now on LOL
Looking forward to many more conversations.
Thanks again for the clarification.
Dale
thanks for that info. I had just responded to Dan before I saw yours. May have some questions as I go along..actually probably sure of it!
Thanks again
I concur that the 38-39 book is exceptional in it's detail, as Gary Mallast is probably one of the most thorough researchers we have; who documents everything, and leaves the interpretation of original archival information up to you. Given the acclaimed restoration of TomO's, example,
I would think that he would be one of the best resources we (the club) presently have available.
A lot of this is common sense, and over-restoring is perhaps as big a "sin" as putting the wrong
year fuel pump on. The bottom line is that this is supposed to be FUN! Most of us are not in the hobby to create museum pieces, but rather to build a car that is a credit to it's maker. In your case, the inspiration behind this beautiful little coupe was none other than Edsel Ford.
Dan (Stroker)
I do think the current 38 / 39 book would be a good reference for the 40 Merc in so far as the few similarities go,(drivetrain , etc.)
The book I am working on will not address the Merc directly but again, just the similarities.
By the way, I am one of THOSE guys that create museum pieces! They are extremely accurate but yes, highly over restored. This isn't for everyone I realize but fun? It's a blast for me
but for now, only being 51, I want to enjoy what my parents did as kids..Looks like on the right track needless to say..I too plan on having lot's of fun doing this..
There are many books that have a little information of the 39 and 40 Mercs. Because you want to make your car a nice driver and be able to display it on the Concourse, I would just start out with the V-8 Album, a 1940 Ford Chassis parts catalog (about $40 for an original one) and the 1940 Ford Body parts manual (about the same price as the chassis book). The reprints are have been reduced to a size that makes them useless for restoration work.
Then I would join the Georgia RG as there are a couple of nice 40 Mercs in that group. These cars will give you a good idea of what the car should look like when finished.
Once you have the car in GA, you can start with taking a lot of photos. I would get a photobucket account (free)( http://photobucket.com/ ) and when you have questions, you can link to the photo, when you post your questions in the Mercury forum on this site. It is also a great place to document your progress.
There are a lot of differences between a 39 Ford and your Mercury and some similarities. I don't have the 38-39 book, so I can't say if it would be worth the money to buy it for the chassis restoration. There are also a lot of similarities between the 41 Ford Chassis and your 40 Mercury, so you may also want to look at the 41-48 Ford book. If you join the RG, someone will have the 39 book and someone will have the 41-48 book. The owners would probably let you look at the books and then you could make your decision about purchasing them.
Tom
Thanks for the advice. I am looking into the RG now to see which one best for me in terms of location. I have a tax client who drags cars and his engine builder has a neighbor that has a 40 merc and gets his kicks out of working on flthead v-8s so looks like going in right direction.
I appreciate the info on the books and I will definitely pursue.
My priority at this point is to now find a place near me where I can keep it and work on it as my house is not conducive to such considering my steep uphill driveway and getting the car up it without knowing brakes, etc.
One thing at a time!!
Thanks again.
Dale