77 Town Car Barn find

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muddywater
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77 Town Car Barn find

Post by muddywater »

Let me say first that I am a new member first. About 3 weeks ago I was told about a 1977 Lincoln Town Car with a 460 big block rust free body that was for sale. after about 30 seconds of deliberation I decided to buy the car and pick it up. When I arrived the car was sitting in a dirt floor barn covered in dust and 4 flat tires. I looked it over for about 15 minutes while the gentleman got the paperwork and I paid the man $800.00 for said car. He handed me the original 1977 Michigan title issued 1-6-77. The car was left to family after the original owner passed away. Car was last registered in 1990 and hasn't ran since. Loaded the car and took it home. few days go by and I decided to start cleaning out the racoon poop and mouse poop. They left the front left corner glass down and well the rest is history. interior is destroyed. As I am digging out mouse nests and chewed up seat material I find a speeding ticket from 1986 for 65 in a 55. old man driving must have loved the whole 203 hp. pulling the seats i found the two copies of the undamaged pick tickets from the assembly line and also found a brand new seat switch under the carpet. I have the interior 75% gutted and ready to go to interior shop to recover the seats. dash pad is damaged but not totally destroyed. rear speaker cover is chewed up but It appears to be in 1 piece so maybe it can be recovered and look new again. Car is dark blue, navy vinyl top with navy interior, wood grain accents, and a functional sunroof. Put a battery in it and most everything appears to be working. bad news was i didn't get a set of keys. Well I drilled the ignition out carefully and got the engine to crank with a screw driver until my NOS switch shows up, also bought a set of 10k white gold plated keys. replaced the fuel pump and put 5 gallons of fresh fuel in it and it started up like it was parked yesterday. carb is gummed up but nothing a bit of cleaner and some gaskets cant fix. still has a lot of oem parts on the engine. just have to change the oil and do some cleaning and I hope this car can be something fun for the family and I to enjoy. pictures soon.
papawayne
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by papawayne »

Congratulations and welcome to the forum! Aren't mice just a lovely thing to have as friends? Wayne
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Dan Szwarc
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by Dan Szwarc »

I’ve passed on poop cars that were buried in debris. I hope yours goes well.
Mike
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by Mike »

We need pics.
Dan Szwarc wrote:I’ve passed on poop cars that were buried in debris. I hope yours goes well.
the last one I passed on was also covered in mold inside. But it was sitting since 3 years old so would have been a great parts car but the seller was out of touch with reality.. Hmmm. I should start driving by to see if it's still there.
1963 Continental
2007 Crown Victoria LX
and a couple Chryslers and Cadillacs
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rick
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by rick »

Welcome to the forum, Muddy.

My car also was an indoor and forgotten storage queen - from 1988 until January 2020. Thankfully as I recall, mice nest mansions in both left and right heater plenums were the only signs of mice. The car was closed up in a non-climate controlled metal building and the temperature changes caused condensation damage to the interior. But all better now - as I'm sure your's will be too.
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JimA
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by JimA »

It can be done as a labor of love. Saving a classic from the bone yard or the fate of an organ donor is fun and satisfying. I did a '72 Maverick Sprint that had been sitting outside for 19 years. Mouse nests everywhere, every cavity such as air cleaner, AC ducts. Even in the head liner. Snake skins. Complete interior revival. (Can't say restoration, since the bench seat was replaced with Camaro buckets.) 302/347 stroker, resealed trans. Rust everywhere. Some replacement panels not available such as cowl floor and inner fenders. Two-tone paint. Big time learning experience since I'd never done a lot of this stuff before. Took me two years and I loved it. Really loved the result.
Jim's Sprint.jpg
I hope you'll have great fun and finish your dream. Whether you make it bone stock or make it your own, it can be the project of a lifetime. Good luck and have fun.

One caution: Drop the trans pan and change the fluid. The fluid had turned to jello in the bottom of the pan.
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521 Stroker -- SOLD :-(
muddywater
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by muddywater »

little update. i took the carb off and bought a rebuild kit. accelerator pump was not working. carb wasn't as bad as i was expecting.

side note. having a heck of a time figuring out how to get my pictures on the forum. ive emailed them from my phone to my laptop and i need to relearn how to get them posted. im very bad with tech. sorry for the delay i know this thread is useless without pictures
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frasern
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Re: 77 Town Car Barn find

Post by frasern »

I'm next to useless with tech, so very few of my posts have pictures. I have done it, but it takes me forever. All I can say is the pictures need to be really small (3Mb?).

I have a lot of poop trucks, and a few poop cars in my yard, my '62 Mercury 1/2 ton had so many mice in the roof liner, it caved in! A truck is fairly easy to resurrect, A Lincoln has a lot more soft material. Anything which holds their "scent", will draw them back, and they are attracted to the insulation used in those years.
I would remove it all, weather infested or not, paint the rusty spots where the nests were to seal up the smell, and replace it with Killmat, or something similar.
You have found a great car at a great price, it will be well worth the effort when it's finished.
Fraser Noble, Western Canada
'62 and '67 LCC.
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