bought a 1949 ford murcury m47 pickup..all original and running a 255 v8 flathead..everything is there..but now not sure if i should chop and drop or sell...if i keep should i keep the frame or go with a s10 or bronco
should i keep the motor or go with something newer.?
thanks ..
how do i add a pic ?

4shared - truck - shared folder - free file sharing and storage

 

I say chop, slice and dice that baby up. Put it on a S-10 chassis. Also dump a SBC in that puppy.

There's a lot of Mercury trucks out there and they aren't all that pretty.

 

Welcome . Do your homework and research before you go wild carve that MERCURY up .

 

is the original frame broken??.
I say throw some gas in it and drive it.

keep it original. they are getting hard to find like that in decent shape.

or do like Bob said and hope the wrath of the mercury gods has mercy on your soul.... hahaha.

welcome to FTE

 

Bob, Bob, Bob...that's just mean.

 

I'm not seeing a lot of mercy here.

 

Ohhhhthat would be a shame to chop that one up......it needs a little tlc but.....

 

Do you know for a fact that it has a Merc 255 in it? Merc trucks except for (I think) F-6's came with plain old Ford 239's.

 

I think you struck a chord!!!!

LOL.....

Oh....and by the way....Welcome to the forum. Everybody here loves truck pics. You should post a few.

Dan

 

(Did I miss something?) First Id like to welcome you to the forum. I took the liberty of viewing the pictures of your truck in your album and to me it looks like you could do just about anything you want to do with it. Its a nice truck and would be nice to see it get the TLC it deserves after so many years of service. Id hate to see it chopped up, IMPO If your not quite sure what to do with it at this point, You mite start by getting it road worthy, drive it and enjoy it for awhile untill you know what suits your taste and needs and then start planning your project. Its your truck, so do what you will like, and try not to get caught up in doing things just because other people are doing it to there trucks. You have a great truck, and you have found a very friendy, site with a ton of expeierence in all aspects of rebuilding, or restoring these wonderful old trucks. I look forward to seeing whatever you do. If I read right your in Canada? if so we have several other Canadian members.

 

What ever you do don't make a rat rod out of it or screw a great big set of moose horns to the hood...lol.
Jimmy (underthebridgejim) here has good info for you and your truck. Play with it for a while and you will begin to see were to go with it.

 

Hey Dasentinal,
Welcome aboard! I think Bob was pulling your leg - I also took a look at your pics. It looks pretty good. A few free thoughts:

o Changing Chassis - I've been here for a while & so far I've never seen anyone successfully change chassis. You get into it & see how much cutting & hacking has to be done to the frames & it dies in a pile of parts.
Even if you somehow get it back together noone will buy it & it won't be worth the years of effort. We've got a hacked up F1 available for sale in town sitting on a 4x4 Bronco chassis - been for sale for years - no buyers.

o Get it running & drive the heck out of it. Body work takes forever - so just keep it rough for a while & get it driving.

o If you want to go more than 45 mph you will want to change the rear end to something with friendly gears - An F100 9 inch or Explorer 8.8. It's a weekend or 2 project - we bought our's at a salvage yard for $125.

o Change out the rusted brake lines & install a 2 chamber Master Cylinder.
Another weekend or 2 but you want to be able to stop.

o The Front Ends are normally worn out on these old trucks. Changing out the front Axle & Steering is a big expensive project (>$3000). I'd upgrade the worn steering components & existing front end - you'd be surprised how nice it can drive.

Good luck over there & have fun! Post some Pics of your progress.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1 (351W/AOD)

 

What Bob actually means is that you should preserve that truck as an original. There aren't too many of the Mercury trucks left, especially in the condition that yours is in. If you want to modify and old truck, then get a Ford version of this truck. They're still common, unlike the Mercury version. Sell the Merc truck to someone that will appreciate its rarity and use the money to buy a Ford to use for slicing and dicing.

 

thanks all ..frame is fine..all new brake lines and there is a master cylinder under the cab..was told its a 255 because of the speedo gage ..it was on the road last year than parked and not used..it stands 6'8" tall so i think ill at least get rid of the 16" wheels

 

Keep the 16" wheels if you plan on replacing them. They'll be hard to find later in case you want to switch. 16" are all the rage now.