{"id":2789,"date":"2019-12-25T11:13:40","date_gmt":"2019-12-25T19:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/?p=2789"},"modified":"2020-02-07T10:28:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T18:28:07","slug":"for-sale-1949-mercury-woodie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/?p=2789","title":{"rendered":"FOR SALE: 1949 Mercury Woodie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SOLD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here it is, the woodie that started it all. Don Iglesias bought the car in 1990, got it road-worthy, and was having so much fun running with the small crew of other Santa Cruz woodie owners that he decided to start a club. In 1993 Santa Cruz Woodies<\/em> became the first chapter of the National Woodie Club<\/em> west of the Mississippi. The National wasn\u2019t quite sure what to do with this irreverent tribe of surfers and hot rodders, but their enthusiasm was certainly evident. Over the years Santa Cruz grew to be the largest NWC chapter in the country. It also hosts one of the best car events anywhere: Woodies on the Wharf<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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This Merc\u2019s history as a surf wagon goes back even further. Originally from Los Gatos, it had served as a parts chaser for the local Ferrari dealer. It moved \u201cover the hill\u201d to Santa Cruz in the 1970\u2019s and passed through the hands of a number of locals, including surfing standout Dave \u201cSpider\u201d Preovolos and surf historian Mac Reed. When Mac sold the Merc to Don, it was ready for some TLC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Don began an extensive restoration, including a number of mechanical updates designed to make the car more fun to run in today\u2019s traffic. The body was stripped and repainted, the chrome trim was replated, and the interior \u2013 including all three rows of seat \u2013 was treated to new upholstery, headliner and carpet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mercury fans know that the \u201849 has an especially lovely two-toned, dark-and-light, wood-grained dashboard. Don took his, along with the car\u2019s window garnish, to legendary Bay Area woodgrain specialist Craig Clemmons for restoration. Craig has since passed away but his work is treasured, gracing cars from Pebble Beach classics to vintage hot rods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the exterior, Mercurys have a unique fade-away design element that carries from the top of the fender line back into the doors. Don discovered that while this contoured panel is beautiful to look at, it’s pure hell to restore. The solution was to have it done by someone with experience and Don chose the best: Ron Heiden Woodworking. Ron crafted all new wood inside and out from Eastern Hard Rock Maple and Sapele Mahogany, then fit it perfectly to Don’s sheet metal. The amazing finish on the wood can be seen in the photos. It\u2019s furniture-quality \u2013- high end<\/em> furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mechanically, the car is just as well-crafted. The original motor’s been fully rebuilt with Navarro heads, a SCAT 4 inch crank, Isky cam, and a pair of 97\u2019s on a Navarro intake. Now converted to 12V, the car also sports a Mallory electronic ignition and alternator and has been rewired by another one of the best: Jim Vickery. The attention to detail in the engine bay is notable. From the firewall to the ceramic-coated headers to the new Brassworks radiator, everything under the hood is either painted, plated or polished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The car features a couple of additional updates you might not spot, but you\u2019ll appreciate when you get behind the wheel: power steering and an automatic transmission. Ask anyone who drives an original shoebox what they’d like to update and they\u2019ll probably say the steering. Don upgraded his with a modern Saginaw power steering box. He also installed Ford C4 automatic overdrive transmission, another fairly common (and proven) update that makes these cars much friendlier on the freeway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cosmetically beautiful and mechanically modern, this car has something else you just can\u2019t buy: soul. From its colorful history to its rolling collection of vintage surf decals, if you\u2019re looking for a woodie, it doesn\u2019t get much better than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more info and contact information, click here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOLD!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1949 MERCURY WOODIE\nWAGON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owner CATHY & DON IGLESIAS , Santa Cruz CA  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BODY, PAINT & TRIM<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stock Mercury body, repainted single-stage Ford Maroon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bumpers and trim replated and polished<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vintage glass blue-dot taillights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vintage Mercury accessory exhaust tips<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WOOD                                                                                                            <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern Hard Rock Maple framing with Sapele Mahogany panels, crafted and fitted by Ron Heiden\nWoodworking, Vista, CA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTERIOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dashboard and window garnished restored and wood-grained by\nCraig Clemmons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New mahogany door and side panels by Ron Heiden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custom headliner slats and \u201csurfboard\u201d mirror by Ron Heiden<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full instrumentation including tach and dual water temp\ngauges<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original three rows of seats, reupholstered by Ray\u2019s\nUpholstery, Watsonville, CA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ididit tilt steering column with custom wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pioneer stereo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGINE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Mercury flathead, fully rebuilt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SCAT 4 inch crank<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navarro heads, polished<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navarro intake, polished<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dual Stromberg 97 carbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isky cam<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mallory electronic ignition<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red\u2019s headers, ceramic coated<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRANSMISSION<\/strong>                                                                                                <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ford C4 automatic w\/overdrive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITIONAL…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saginaw power steering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Custom Brassworks radiator with electric fan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12V conversion, wiring by Jim Vickery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coker Classic whitewall radial tires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOLD Here it is, the woodie that started it all. Don Iglesias bought the car in 1990, got it road-worthy, and was having so much fun running with the small crew of other Santa Cruz woodie owners that he decided to start a club. In 1993 Santa Cruz Woodies became the first chapter of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-sale"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1I3Pf-IZ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.seabrighthotrods.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}