Game plan for replacing whole bottom of body?

Flipper · August 31, 2004, 08:08:16 PM

We bought a cheap old Mercedes off of ebay to "learn how to gas weld on".

It was $118 and not sure who got the best deal.

The bottom of the body is gone. The actual body construction is simple and should be easy to reproduce......my question is where to start? (somebody had started to "fix" it in the past. That is getting cut out too)

How do you support it / square everything up?

I was thinking really tall saw horses (inside of roof)...since there are no floors to get in the way.

.....and lots of turnbuckles to push / pull on the body to square it up?

Oh yeah, if the body work turns out OK...it might get turned into a street rod/drag car by my dad. If it turns out so-so, its gonna get turned into a drag car.

Flipper · August 31, 2004, 08:10:49 PM

wide angle before flat black

Flipper · August 31, 2004, 08:12:30 PM

Three $.94 cans of wal-marts finest flat black later....

enjenjo · September 01, 2004, 01:14:11 AM

I would get the body squared up, and the door gaps set, and then tack a framework out of tubing to hold it to the frame. The build the bottom, from the bottom up, first the mounts, then the floor bracing, and finally the floor. The floor can be done after removing the tube frame made in the first step. any pieces needed on the sides can be installed last.

jaybee · September 01, 2004, 10:01:06 PM

Good luck, that will make a very cool project!

How many Mercedes street rods were at the last event you attended?

What year is it?

Flipper · September 02, 2004, 08:54:51 PM

Quote from: "jaybee"Good luck, that will make a very cool project!

How many Mercedes street rods were at the last event you attended?

What year is it?

I think I have seen a couple rodded somewhere along the way.

Not really sure of the year. It was sold to us as a 30's Mercedes, but I think it is later than that. Maybe even up into the early 50's. If it gets built as a drag car, it won't mater. If it starts looking nice enough to put on the street, it might be a problem. I would like to register it as something 48 or earlier.

I think this is what it is supposed to look like.

Flipper · September 02, 2004, 08:57:52 PM

another view of that same car. I wish mine was that complete.

enjenjo · September 03, 2004, 12:41:22 AM

You might look at an 85 or so Toyota pickup for a start on the frame. Torsion bar front, disc brakes, Ford bolt pattern, and V8 engines fit in them easily. A Granada rear is a bolt in.

Flipper · September 03, 2004, 10:45:30 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"You might look at an 85 or so Toyota pickup for a start on the frame. Torsion bar front, disc brakes, Ford bolt pattern, and V8 engines fit in them easily. A Granada rear is a bolt in.

Why go with a granada rear? .....width or strength?

Would a 1991 toyota work? I've got one of those?

Here's a pho chop of what I leaning towards except the wheels and tires will be different

enjenjo · September 04, 2004, 12:16:18 AM

I don't know about the later Toy frames, but crawl under it and take a look, it might be your answer. You might even be able to incorporate the Toy floor and body mounts to save some work, but if the position of the seat is wrong, it's better to start over.