Jaynes chose to run all the...
Jaynes chose to run all the chrome on his ride (including a great-looking bumper overrider to protect the grille) because he likes it, and for the fact you don't see that many '40 Merc 'verts with the stock trim still intact. American Racing wheels (15 x 7 and 17 x 7) were wrapped with Goodyear Eagle rubber.
But one update Jaynes did do was to add a complete front and rear air bag system (something he'd found on e-Bay) to the Fatman Fabrications' Mustang II-type front suspension and the Lincoln Versailles 9-inch rear, which works with a triangulated four-link system and CoolRide bag setup. At this point the project was already nicer than any other car he'd owned, and it wasn't even finished! It also forced Mark to pay more attention to the build as he went along. After bracing the interior so it wouldn't shift when he moved it around the garage, Jaynes also built a sled-like device that allowed him to tilt the car to one side so he could easily work on the bottom of the car.
Jaynes then filled all of the firewall holes, hid wiring looms in the kick panels, and even fab'd a large sling to pick the body up (high enough to roll the chassis in and out) using his engine hoist. Having never done much of this work before, Mark was learning a lot, and then spent the next six months priming and block-sanding his convertible. What he didn't know about was how to use a guide coat, which was pointed out to him by his friend Jim Zehring. Jim knew body and paint as he'd spent 37 years in the business, the last 27 at a Cadillac dealership. Zehring offered to paint his car and Mark wisely accepted. It turned out Jim had his booth in a barn and, in the space of a weekend, not only two-toned the body (with '92 Cadillac Polo Green and '05 Jaguar Seafrost Mica RM paint) but covered both the top and bottoms of the hood, fenders, and trunk lid as well. After letting it set for a week back at Mark's place, he then wet-sanded the finish and buffed it.
During the build Jaynes had to collect some of the parts he didn't have for his car, or at least repair what he already had. He could have made it easy on himself and gone with a kustom look and dechromed the convertible, but since he had most of trim and he liked the look of it he decided to put everything back on the car. And though he did have to use the parts from five different grilles to get one good one for his ride, he was beginning to learn about how rare (read: expensive) '40 Merc convertible parts really are.
The rear two top bows were...
The rear two top bows were laid back 4 inches to give an illusion of a slight chop. The black Haartz cloth top (with hidden black snaps) folds down for the full in-the-wind driving experience. The grille for the original body burned in a fire and became a puddle of pot metal, so the grille he eventually ended up with came from parts from five different grilles.
The rest of the build went together well, with Mark relying on Dave Middleton and Performance Clinic (Beavercreek, OH) to supply the car's Chevrolet 350 engine, which uses some Comp Cams internals, a 9.5:1 compression ratio, and '69 350 heads fed by a single Edelbrock carburetor attached to an Edelbrock manifold. The transmission is an '85 700-R4 unit prepped by Bill Allen and is equipped with a 2,200-rpm stall B&M converter.
Though the dash was redesigned with a milled aluminum center plate (fab'd by Russ Speelman and Bob Wellbaum) the real custom work went into the center console, which was created by turning a '46 Chevy truck headlight bucket around backwards and filling it with the controls for the Southern Air heat and A/C system as well as the 16-inch Lokar shifter. VDO gauges, with stock Mercury faces, were also used as was a Lecarra steering wheel and a Flaming River aluminum steering column. Both a Centech wiring harness and a Kenwood stereo system (with Infinity and MDX amps) was installed by the owner, but Mark left the stitching of the interior to a pro.
Mark Gillum not only supplied his expertise in covering the car's innards with pleated and rolled black leather, but also reshaped the last two bows of the convertible top so it appears it might have been chopped. Gillum also added saddlebags to the backside of the split bench seat (with power lumbar and heat elements) from Wise Guys, covered the floor a black loop pile, and then used Haartz cloth for both the top and top cover. With the addition of a power cowl vent and windows (controlled by Rock Valley stock handle switches) and Phipps oval interior lights front and rear, Mark's convertible was finally ready for the road.
Jaynes was in high school back in the heyday of the muscle car era from '69 through '72, and had a friend whose father owned a Chrysler dealership, so his buddy could take any car he wanted off the lot (though Mark suspects his buddy's father didn't know about it). But even though those were fun times, Mark believes the current era is great, too, as he's had a great experience building a nice car that he enjoys driving even more.
The rear seat uses a stock...
The rear seat uses a stock frame, but the split front bench is a Wise Guys unit (with power lumbar and heated seating), covered in rolled and pleated black leather by Mark Gillum. On the backside of the front seats you'll find mail pouches that can hold loose papers and the proverbial what-nots. Up on the dash the radio holes were filled and a custom console was fab'd by the owner. Jaynes used '46-48 Chevy truck headlight bucket turned around backwards for the main console and filled it with the controls for the heat, air, and Air Ride as well as the Lokar 16-inch shifter. The VDO gauges were installed from the rear with '40 Mercury faces, and a milled aluminum center piece (by Russ Speelman and Bob Wellbaum) continues out to the air outlets at the dash's outer edge. The repro '40 Merc wheel from Lecarra bolts to a Flaming River aluminum column.
The stock frame utilizes a...
The stock frame utilizes a Fatman Fabrications Mustang II-type IFS with CoolRide air bags and Monroe shocks while the rear was dialed in with a triangulated four-link and another set of CoolRide bags and Monroe shocks. Owner Mark Jaynes block sanded his ride before friend Jim Zehring painted everything with the two-tone green layout, which included adding color to both sides of the fenders, hood, and trunk.