What I Did on My Lunch Hour

[Vic Piano]

Jeff, thanks for the photos and for searching for the '38 LZ Hubcaps. The '40 Merc CS is a rare one for sure. It looks good as a mild custom, was it running a Flathead?

[VeryTangled]

Hi Vic, Did it have a flathead? Sadly, no. This was at the NSRA show in York Pa last weekend. The key words at this show are Street Rod.

Literally thousands of Ford bodied vehicles. It was like searching for hen's teeth trying to find one that didn't have a tilt steering wheel and automatic transmission. We did find a few that made us smile.

I saw it was a Mercury, so that slowed down my walk. Later I drug JM over to see it, and he says "I have to take a picture for Vic." So I took a couple too.

[Vic Piano]

Jeff, in it's stock configuration, the '40 Mercury Convertible Sedan is a beautiful car, and the only year Mercury made that body style. Too bad another rare one got 'cut up'. I appreciate the photos, tell JM thanks as well.

[Vic Piano]

Well, the best made plans don't always work out, especially when you are working on Flathead's. Yesterday we had planned to finish up the work on Joe's '48 Merc rag top but, we ran into a problem with the 6 volt battery not wanting to cooperate so, we put it on the charger and went for PIZZA... Always a good fall back position... We had a guest stop by to play, and I want to thank Michael Dunn for talking time out to visit with us. Pictured below are, from left..., Cliff, Michael, me and Joe. After PIZZA we went back to the garage to check the on condition of the battery that had been charging... It was dead... We attempted a jump from my '39 CS but, the battery in the Merc didn't want to play nice... So, this week we'll pick up a new 6 volt battery and hope that things go better with full voltage... Thanks again to all the guys for your help and to Cliff who bought lunch.

[Vic Piano]

Mike took the 6 volt battery, from Joe's Merc, to be tested. It is ok so, the problem with the slow cranking lies elsewhere ... The Merc had one of those 'quick disconnect battery cables on it (I'm not a fan of those) so, today we will install new 'correct' battery cables and see if that makes a difference. If it is still slow to crank, we'll pull the starter (that had been recently rebuilt) and replace it with one that we know works, to see if that makes a difference. Hopefully we will get her fired up and cruise around the block to bring her up to temp and check for leaks (c'mon, its a Flathead ) If everything checks out ok, we'll let her cool down, re-torque the heads and drive her down to Sarasota tomorrow.

[Steves46]

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Hi Vic. If the correct size battery cables and ensuring the grounds are clean does not improve the situation, it may be quicker/easier to pull your battery from the 39 CS and see if things get better with the motor cranking over. If so, the other battery may be tired and not have enough cranking amps left. If no improvement, then try swapping the starters. Hope it turns out well and you can take the cruise down to Sarasota.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

I have always made up my own battery cables using #2 welding cable and I mount my batteries in the trunk or at least outside of the engine compartment. Then there is no question as to any voltage drop through the cable ....

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by Vic Piano

Mike took the 6 volt battery, from Joe's Merc, to be tested. It is ok so, the problem with the slow cranking lies elsewhere ... The Merc had one of those 'quick disconnect battery cables on it (I'm not a fan of those) so, today we will install new 'correct' battery cables and see if that makes a difference. If it is still slow to crank, we'll pull the starter (that had been recently rebuilt) and replace it with one that we know works, to see if that makes a difference. Hopefully we will get her fired up and cruise around the block to bring her up to temp and check for leaks (c'mon, its a Flathead ) If everything checks out ok, we'll let her cool down, re-torque the heads and drive her down to Sarasota tomorrow.

Sounds like you've systematically crossed all the easy things off of the list of possible maladies. Hoping I'm wrong, but has anyone addressed the possibility of tight bearings, pistons, rings......et al? I didn't see it posted as to the extent of the "surgery" that was performed, but were the crank and pistons removed? If so, was their ability to turn freely checked at every step of the re-assembly process? Just how deep into this engine did the disassembly go? Was the engine pulled to do the work, or done in place? DD

[Vic Piano]

We did not pull the engine, we did pull all the pistons and rods, checked all clearances, etc. honed the cylinder walls, installed new pistons, rings, bearings and checked for free movement and correct tolerances and, everything spins freely. I believe that the problem lies within the starter motor... We went at it again this afternoon, had the battery checked, it is good, not too thrilled about the extra heavy cables or the connections but, we hooked everything up and still got the slow cranking. We pulled the plugs and the motor spun a bit faster but, when you put your finger over a sparkplug hole, the cranking slows... that tells me that the starter has a problem... We pulled the starter and took it to be tested, the shop was really busy so, we won't have any actual test results until Monday...

[BILL WZOREK]

Vic:
You can use my name Monday to see if you can get it sooner >>

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by BILL WZOREK

Vic:
You can use my name Monday to see if you can get it sooner >>

Thanks Bill, we already did that and they said... WHO???

[Henry Floored]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

Sounds like you've systematically crossed all the easy things off of the list of possible maladies. Hoping I'm wrong, but has anyone addressed the possibility of tight bearings, pistons, rings......et al? I didn't see it posted as to the extent of the "surgery" that was performed, but were the crank and pistons removed? If so, was their ability to turn freely checked at every step of the re-assembly process? Just how deep into this engine did the disassembly go? Was the engine pulled to do the work, or done in place? DD

Don't think we're too tight anywhere. Sure hope not. Replaced pistons, rings and rod bearings. Honed cyl walls, checked piston ring and bearing fit the whole way. Can turn engine over by hand. When plugs are removed engine turns quickly and smoothly. Place your finger over one plug hole and you can slow the starter down to snails pace believe it or not.

It's most likely an electrical gremlin. We'll get it figured out and most likely say to ourselves "why didn't we think of that sooner?".

[Henry Floored]

Originally Posted by Steves46

Hi Vic. If the correct size battery cables and ensuring the grounds are clean does not improve the situation, it may be quicker/easier to pull your battery from the 39 CS and see if things get better with the motor cranking over. If so, the other battery may be tired and not have enough cranking amps left. If no improvement, then try swapping the starters. Hope it turns out well and you can take the cruise down to Sarasota.

Steve this is exactly what we plan on doing. I'm really suspicious of the starter and/or the marginal battery cable connections. Thnx buddy!

[B-O-B]

I think you can take or could have taken it to A Z or almost any parts house & they could have checked it for you, at least they do in this neck of the woods.

[Vic Piano]

We do love it when a plan comes together... Mike came over earlier this afternoon, with new battery cables and the starter motor. We installed everything and the Flathead fired right up! We took the Merc for a ride, to make sure everything was working correctly and nothing was leaking... she ran strong, pulled through the gears nicely and produced a beautiful mellow sound out of the dual exhaust... We do need to adjust the brakes a bit before we drive the Merc down to Sarasota this Saturday. Thanks to Joe, for lettin' us mess with his Merc, and thanks to Mike for another outstanding job on the Flathead. Here are a few photos of todays fun.

[KiWinUS]

Geeez Mike , the look on Vic's face ..... you musta put a KiWi-L100 cam in the Merc !!!
Great job guys !!!

[Vic Piano]

Thanks Tony, that is one hot Merc... I can't wait to open her up on the highway down to Sarasota this Saturday... Can ya tell that Mike and I are having fun...

[41ford1]

You wouldn't be scheming on how to keep that one would you?

[Vic Piano]

Chuck, that thought has crossed my mind several times I'm glad we were able to make the necessary repairs and corrections on some previous modifications that had been done on the car. We are looking forward to cruising down to Sarasota on Saturday with the Merc however, before we go, we will be adjusting the brakes and (I think) removing the thermostats for better cooling... We will give the Merc another run, after we do the adjustments, to make sure everything is cool.

[BILL WZOREK]

As Yoda would say / FUN YES YOU ARE HAVING - NO !!