Self deprecating forum user buys huge car, shares with GRM, hilarity ensues? 1965 Mercury Monterey

To recap - car dies near work coming home. Wife picks me up, takes me to the parts store and I drop her back off at home. I take her car loaded with tools and parts back to the parking lot and get started wrenching on the Mercury. Daylight is fleeting and it isn't exactly warm out. Fingers crossed this goes well. 

So, armed with tools I try jumping the starter solenoid and that didn't do anything. Solenoid clicks loudly so it seems to be working. I also put jumper cables on and tried jump starting it thinking perhaps the battery was low. Not the case, and the multimeter confirmed 12.X volts on the two battery terminals. So at this point all signs point to the starter, which I have so up the car goes. 

As it turns out there are a total of 5 bolts that need to be removed to extract the starter, and every one of them is 1/2". So, probably 40 minutes later this greasy hunk is out. 

And then install is the opposite of removal, of course starters on these old hogs are heavy so it's a bit of a wrestling match to get it around the steering linkage (hence why the wheels are cranked). No swear words were uttered however, so I'd say this was easy. 

Hard to see but here's the new starter in it's home. One twist of the key and it spun to life so off the jack stand it comes. 

So now you might be asking, how are you going to relay race 2 cars home with one driver? A block at a time, alternate and run between each car? Sounds efficient. 

Luckily all of this was also happening about 5 miles from my dad's house. Him and his girlfriend were kind enough to come and pick up my wife's car, I drove the Mercury home, and we all caravanned to my house together in 3 cars. 

Definitely a bit of a circus act, but by the time all was said and done I was home a mere 3 hours later than I would have normally been. Not too shabby. Sure, I have AAA and could have had it towed home, but where's the fun in that?

The big win in my book is that this lovely old machine was kind enough to break on a sunny day very close to home... not anytime this weekend driving to and from Sioux Falls. 

Success!  

Way to go with the repair.  Made my morning reading the last few posts. 

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Thanks! I appreciate the compliment. There was something soothing about the repair in the parking lot. I'm not sure it translated in my writing but work has been pretty stressful lately so being able to talk to myself while turning wrenches was good for the soul. 

In reply to Gunchsta :

Indeed.  Plus you have a freaking Breezeway Mercury for a daily driver.  I call that a win in and of itself. 

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

That I do! We'll see how long for, I suspect I'll find something to take over daily duty soon enough. But for now I'm breezing my way to work! 

This morning my choke decided to work for whatever reason, so that was pleasant. Certainly made the car behave better in the cold. 

I have developed an exhaust leak that will probably get addressed sooner than later as I'm driving the car more - that is definitely a sound I don't enjoy. It seems to be coming from the head/manifold connection on the passenger side, which has me afraid the manifold is cracked. I don't know specifically that the 390's have an issue with exhaust manifolds cracking, but it seems like all of the cast iron exhaust manifolds become pretty brittle as time marches on. Further investigation is needed. 

Do they make headers for it? Is that something you'd be interested in doing, or is this a more period-correct kind of project? 

In reply to JeremyJ :

I'm sure they make a variety of headers for it, or something like it, but I'd rather not go down that rabbit hole if I don't have to. The exhaust is pretty good overall and I have no real performance gains I'm looking for so replacing gaskets sounds better than redoing the exhaust to accommodate headers. 

And frankly at the moment it's not bad enough to bother me too much, you can just kinda hear it. 

Gunchsta said:

I have developed an exhaust leak that will probably get addressed sooner than later as I'm driving the car more - that is definitely a sound I don't enjoy. It seems to be coming from the head/manifold connection on the passenger side, which has me afraid the manifold is cracked. I don't know specifically that the 390's have an issue with exhaust manifolds cracking, but it seems like all of the cast iron exhaust manifolds become pretty brittle as time marches on. Further investigation is needed. 

I used to have a 1965 F-250 pickup with a 352 engine (an FE of course, basically the same as a 390) that had a bad exhaust leak. It turned out the mating surface of one exhaust manifold where it bolted to the head had some corrosion, plus it wasn't very flat. I took it off and flattened the face with my belt sander, which actually worked pretty well - along with a fresh gasket, that sealed up the leak completely.  The hard part waws removing the thing so I could work on it - the bolts were all rusted in place, and some of their heads had corroded so much that my wrenches and sockets were too loose.  If I remember correctly I had to hammer on a slightly smaller metric socket in order to get them loose.

Ok so for those of you wondering pushing a 1965 Mercury Monterey 4 door is no small task. 
 

Had an emotional weekend with the car, some highlights are a guy in a 911 gt2 rs appreciating the car on the highway as I was drooling over his car, and the new starter being a total pile of E36 M3. 
 

Luckily now the car is at home in my garage (thanks to my lovely wife who took time out from finals week for her masters degree to help me push it in the garage) versus in a parking lot so the next starter should be easier. 
 

On Saturday I did pads/rotors and an oil change in the wife's car and an oil change in the Merc. The starter acted up a bit today when I took my mom for an Easter drive and then really acted up when I got dinner. The car also died around a corner on the way home, which I attribute to a possibly sticking needle and seat and an accelerator pump that was loose and squirting fuel externally. I tightened that and started the car a couple times and it seemed happy, then the starter finally gave up the ghost. It spins but it doesn't have enough sauce to kick the gear into the flywheel. 
 

The trials and tribulations of daily driving a 1965 Mercury I guess. 

On the plus side I'm slowly piecing together the arm rests. I made one from scratch and was able to use the one I found in the Sioux Falls junkyard, so now every door has an arm rest, though they're in varying states of "correct". Passenger side has blue pads, driver has tan. It's a hodge podge but at least every arm has a spot to rest. 

This is passenger rear and home made with the eBay blue pad 

this is passenger front- eBay blue pad and junkyard base that is "correct"

This is drivers front- I think it's actually supposed to be passenger rear but when the rest of them broke it got moved to drivers side. 

And finally drivers side rear. I think this one is in its correct spot and is legit. Actually after this picture was taken I used one of the ashtrays from the eBay arm rests and completed it. So, at this point 2 of 4 are complete and correct. I just need to find the front 2 really. 

I feel stupid I just got rid of my manifolds for my 390. Should have kept them for a rainy day.

In reply to Gunchsta :

"and the new starter being a total pile of E36 M3'

Unfortunately, this is something that seems to be happening with greater regularity.  Most of these parts are produced in some place without terribly good quality processes, and the rejection rates are shocking.  Basically, I figure any parts-store grade starter or alternator is good enough to get the junk running to sell it, making it someone else's problem. 

For junk you're planning on keeping, find an alternator/starter shop.  Most larger cities still have one.  They can overhaul your existing unit.  It may take a week or two, so in the interim that offshored crap may suffice to keep you rolling.  Every starter, alternator, or generator I've had done by an overhaul shop has been perfect.  And if you can't find one locally, you may be able to send your unit off to a place and have it done. 

In reply to Gunchsta :

"It spins but it doesn't have enough sauce to kick the gear into the flywheel"

This may also be a problem with the Bendix.  If these aren't lubricated well the gear will stick and not pop out to engage the flywheel.  Might get lucky, take the starter off, lubricate it, and have it work.  Meantime, if you still have the old starter, I still recommend having it rebuilt.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

You know it's funny I actually contemplated keeping my old starter but ended up putting it in the bin (which gets emptied today unfortunately). I have very limited space and didn't think I had any use for a clapped out old starter.  

My local parts store treats me pretty well and they have another one for me to pick up tonight and I believe they'll warranty the bad one. 

If this next reman unit fails I'll have to try something different. Fingers crossed I get a 'good' one this time and it lasts at least a couple years. 

Gunchsta said:

In reply to JeremyJ :

I'm sure they make a variety of headers for it, or something like it, but I'd rather not go down that rabbit hole if I don't have to. The exhaust is pretty good overall and I have no real performance gains I'm looking for so replacing gaskets sounds better than redoing the exhaust to accommodate headers. 

 

And frankly at the moment it's not bad enough to bother me too much, you can just kinda hear it. 

I've had great luck with Remflex exhaust gaskets. I used them on my X1/9 and my landcruiser. No leaks.

http://catalog.remflex.com/category_s/97.htm

Looks like they have a variety of FE exhaust gaskets available depending on your head type. I'm assuming those are low riser heads.

The second reman starter is in and seems to be working just fine so far. Going to take the car to a funeral this afternoon so hopefully no issues. 
 

also now that the accelerator pump isn't squirting gas externally it seems to be running nicer. So, win win overall I'd say. 
 

I will admit to not giving the starter job the proper attention the second time around- I felt cocky and tried to cut some corners and ended up causing myself some additional headaches. Mostly I just didn't jack the car up high enough so I really didn't have much leverage to muscle the starter in. All in all it was still pretty easy. I just should have been less cocky and given it the attention it deserved. 

Not to disappoint, but I did buy a daily driver. This is now relegated to 'fun' use and not 'necessary' use - which to me is a much better life for the car. 

That being said, I did use it Sunday morning to haul my bicycle to a skatepark and it worked well. Starter started, etc. The hubcaps don't quite stick as well as I'd like and sometimes move and drag the valve stem with them. I've taken them off once and bent the tabs out but they still don't seem to love to stay in place. I'm not sure what my next move is with that. 

Not much of an update, but my wife and I took the car for a nice date night yesterday. Went out to Excelsior and had a burger and a beer at a friends restaurant then cruised some backroads around lake Minnetonka. Car ran well, weather was beautiful. 
 

Here's a crappy picture of it parked downtown. Seeing it next to regular cars makes it look pretty ridiculous. 

Gunchsta said:

Seeing it next to regular cars makes it look pretty ridiculous. 

I respectfully beg to differ with you!

I love it!

I have some light brown leather if you want to redo the arm rests.  Yours for shipping costs.

Dan