My MM Combination the jigsaw puzzle

[Loren Baldwin]

The purpose of this thread is to document the "life cycle" of my coach. It will serve as both a journal of my restoration and an education for anyone who's interested in late 50s/early 60s MMs. So, without further delay, let's get started.

My car was originally used by Potts Funeral Home in Independence, Kansas until approximately 1981. At that point it was sold to a painter in Nebraska. In order for him to fit his ladder in the car, he broke the rear curved glass. After about 10 years he sold it to a man in Kokomo, Indiana. His son drove it for about 4 years until "a valve dropped" (which after close inspection turned out to be just a lifter issue). So in 1996, the car was placed in the garage and the restoration began. The son moved away, the man became ill and put the car up for sale in April of 2009. I found the ad within hours of him posting and had it in my garage a couple weeks later.

Earliest known pictures of my coach circa 1992:

These were the pictures that were listed in the Hemmings ad:

 

[Loren Baldwin]

Here's a few snapshots from the day I brought it home:

As you can see, the car has already been completely stripped out. Thankfully the previous owner had all of the parts. After I got it home, I began the arduous task of paint stripping and cleaning up...

 

[Loren Baldwin]

Before I really got into any work, I moved the car to a large space

Then I rolled up my sleeves

They put the body number on EVERYTHING, including the door top pieces

And the interior vinyl

 

[Josh Gentry]

What a great idea. I think more of us should do this dearing the restoration of our cars.

Josh

 

[Loren Baldwin]

So, during the rest of my disassembly I have learned that

The headliner has a chicken wire like wire inside it

Attached to a fibrous material that I accidentally tore parts of

And there is inside wiring for a light system

Complete with two holes filled in the roof (but no evidence of ever having had emergency lights) They're the white marks

I guess putting an extra A/C unit in the partition was an option?

So I have all of these parts, with not much of an idea of where they go

But I will give a big THANK YOU to Mike Stevens and his '61 combination to give me a general idea of where things go.

In the meantime I've got these to worry about

Only 20 more to remove before I use

To strip the rest of the paint off the roof and I take the body off the chassis and strip/recoat. So, now you can see why I call this car a jigsaw. The previous owner put only a few things in a box labeled, and then piled everything else in a big area without any sort of documentation of where it came from. I just hope that I have all the parts. More to come as I work on it!

 

[Paul Steinberg]

This project reminds me of the cars that I used to work on in the 1960's. We would rebuild wrecks using parts from other wrecks. It was always a chore to decide which parts belonged to the car we were fixing and which parts came from the donor car, and which ones to use. Even though they were identical year and model cars, sometimes the manufacturer would make a running change of a part, that made the compatibility less than easy. It is easy to take a car apart, but it isn't easy to put it back together. It is even more difficult, when you are not the person that started the project, but are the person charged with finishing the project. Everyone... remember that a car in parts takes up a lot more space than the assembled car.

 

[Darren Bedford]

Loren

Keep taking progress photos ! That's cool to see.

Looking forward to the day you are driving it !

I have the same car but 3 news newer.

Take your time and do it up nicely.

Thanks for sharing,
Darren

 

[John ED Renstrom]

the wiring harness is the dome light harness. the buttons are for holding on the weather striping. who can say why the holes were put in the roof.

 

[Mike Stevens]

jigsaw puzzle

Loren,
You are more than welcome to come up and get more pictures of my coach. I am glad seeing my 61 was of some help to you.
Like the others have said, keep us posted on your progress.
Mike

 

[Richard Vyse]

Just how cool is that. Thanks and "Keep up the great work on that 59 beauty".

 

[Loren Baldwin]

the wiring harness is the dome light harness. the buttons are for holding on the weather striping. who can say why the holes were put in the roof.

I was referring to the exposed orange wire, where you can see it's cut off and doesn't lead to anything. There are also two holes in the rear of the roof and more exposed cut off wiring there but I can't find anywhere a switch would've been to turn on any lights, thanks for your input though. I also found a couple more pictures from back in the day

 

[Russ Austin]

My 63 Duplex has all the wires run for heat & AC to the rear compartment. I only have heat back there. Also have wires pre run for power windows. I have hand crank windows.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

the orange and white set of wires are the dome light wires. you car must not have had the dome lights in it as they haven't use the harness. any factory wiring for the warning lights would be a 14 gage wire most likly white with numbers on it.

 

[Loren Baldwin]

There is no dome light in the front since it has a zipper headliner. I do have the two dome lights in the rear though, and one in the storage compartment at the top of the partition. I can't find any wires that hooks up my rear A/C. While sorting through some of the old paperwork I did find out that the A/C was installed after delivery, about 5,455 miles after delivery. That makes me wonder if they cut the door in the partition to put it there???