Thirty-seven years ago Larry Compton bought a 27-year old junker. He was driving along and saw a heap of a 1947 Mercury 8. “I always liked that body style,” he said. “I saw it sitting in a guy’s yard and stopped. He offered to sell it to me.” Larry took him up on the offer.
The car was indeed a complete junker when Larry bought it. It required a complete frame-off restoration. "I did it from the ground up,” he said. “Everything was taken apart. Every nut, every bolt, the whole car was stripped and totally re-done.”
While he tried to stay as authentic as possible, he did admit to having to actually make some parts because there were no replacements or aftermarket parts being manufactured. But not everything that was near impossible had to be replicated.
“The hardest to find was the original turn signal. I looked for 20 years before I found one. And then I had to buy the while steering column because it was all one part,” he explained.
While he drives it mostly to car shows, the 238 cubic inch V-8 that powers the car is not only authentic but it also runs economically, getting 20 miles per gallon through the hills around his Northern Kentucky home.
“These are the original tire type,” he said. “They don’t run too well,” he added with a laugh.
For Larry, the most challenging part of the whole process was finding the paint. “The original color was a little darker called Parrot Green,” he said. “It was the ugliest green I ever saw.” Now, the light green metallic is much easier on the eyes.
The car has actually been restored twice, the original time after he first bought it and again 10 years ago. While the first time was the most difficult the second was more just to looking and running smoothly. That’s just something you do to make sure your partner of 37 years is in top form.
No comments:
Post a Comment