Realized Dream – Johnny Rundle’s Kustom 1949 Merc
All of us have our short list of dream cars. For some, it’s only one. Johnny Rundle’s dream was to own a cool chopped Mercury – an old-school custom. He realized that dream by buying a finished car, but then had to suffer through the nightmare of fixing worn-out and substandard work, followed by repairing the body after his dream car got hit.
Johnny tells us his friend Kruz originally found the Mercury, which had all the classic custom mods. It felt like a good deal, until they got it home to the San Diego area and up on a lift. Ultimately, nearly everything under the car had to be redone or freshened up.
Johnny trusted Gabe D’Agosta at Insane Kustoms to get things right. Gabe replaced bushings and freshened up the brakes on the Camaro subframe, built new fuel lines, C-notched the rear of the frame, built a custom driveshaft tunnel, and fabricated a two-link rear suspension. With air springs front and rear, the chassis now gets the BFG wide whitewalls and ’57 Cadillac wheel covers positioned just where they need to be.
The Camaro clip supports a 350c.i. small-block Chevy V8 with an Edelbrock intake and carb, finned aluminum valve covers and air cleaner, and HEI ignition. Sanderson headers direct the fumes to Flowmaster mufflers, and the TH350 automatic transmission is controlled by a Lokar shifter.
Of course, it’s the body that defines any custom, and this Merc has all the right mods. The top is chopped and has angled B-pillars, the trim and handles are shaved, the headlights are frenched, the hood corners rounded, there’s DeSoto teeth in the frenched grille opening, and ’49 Ford taillights frenched into the rear quarters. Bubble skirts cover the rear wheels. Johnny was heartbroken when the Merc got hit in the front while he was driving it a couple years ago, but thankfully the insurance company covered the repairs done by Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, which included freshening up the beautiful brandywine paint highlighted with gold pearl.
The inside reflects the same cool, classic custom approach. Original seats are upholstered in brown tuck ’n roll leather upholstery by Mistie, with door panels stitched to match. The dash is updated with AutoMeter gauges, a tilt column, and a Crestliner wheel from Limeworks, while power flows thanks to wiring from Painless Performance.
Johnny is truly grateful to be able to cruise in his dream Merc and is quick to give thanks and credit to his mother, to Gabe and the crew at Insane Kustoms, to Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, and to Rick Murguia at Legacy Auto Spa for the expert detailing. “I couldn’t do it without you guys,” he says.
Photos by Damon Lee
