Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1953 mercury 4-door sedan, hemmings motor news, dave brownell

Question
hi.  i know this is way below your level of expertise but i'm interested in purchasing a "53 merc 4-door sedan.  (for nostalgia)  but i don't have a clue as to how to accompish that!  how should i even start and where and how should i direct my inquiries?  i would appreciate any guidance you can provide.  thanks.

Answer
I have always found that buying an old car is part passion and part shear terror. The passion part can best be explained by what I was told by the seller of an old car that I was trying to buy. He would sell me the car but minus the rear seat cushion. According to him that is where he fell in love with his late wife. memories is what it is. The terror part is the nagging fear that it will be a money pit of the first order and turn into Christine, the movie car. Once you have found the car, unless you are very much mechanically inclined, get some one to look at it and evaluate it. As part of what I do to make a living, I offer that service. But there are plenty of ads in Hemmings Motor News. the old car hobby's bible, of local people that offer "pre buy service". The several hundred dollars that you will spend for that service will pretty much insure that you are not buying a hopeless case. And I have looked at many cars that while shiny on the outside were hopeless cases covered by Bondo and cheap paint. The biggest thing to stay away from unless you are very well heeled financially is "rust". The cancer of old cars. Then once have a friend who is not in love with the car offer his opinion as well, as he will probably see it objectively. At an rate, good luck and happy hunting. Oh, by the way, do not be dissuaded by the pure financial person that will advise only buy an old car with a positive upward investment spiral. Dave Brownell, who has been around the old car hobby since the cave man began collecting round rock wheels, once told me that the best old car to buy was the one that brought a smile to your face each morning as you walk by it to get into your go to work car. Rely on a good pre purchase inspection.