1973 Town Coupe Rescued

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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued - Big Setback

Post by Perry Bush »

Well, Damn, damn...... damn it! Last weekend I started working toward getting this car in the best shape I could quickly, toward selling it and concentrating on other unfinished and barely started projects. I guess I was just too pleased about how sweetly this car ran and drove. Motor died on the way to work earlier this weekend, cruising down the highway, then suddenly like someone turned off the switch....nothing. Popped into neutral, coasted to an exit ramp then the shoulder. No smoke, no smells, no noise, no other signs of trouble...it cranks and cranks but will not fire. My wife is close-by so I have her bring a gas can; a couple shots down the carb and zero effect...no spark. Jump to the end of the story - the distributor is not turning, teeth are broken, off the cam. Oil pump is also stuck solid. The motor itself is loose, not locked up or anything. But the next step is now going to have to be a real rebuild of the motor. Thought about dropping the pan, swapping the cam, all in place...for about a second. Wasted some time and cash doing a top end only and clean up job....thought it was worth a swing, and then that I made a good call while driving this baby every day for months, but no. Ah well.

I was enjoying having the trailer in the barn, occupying the last spot available, but without a car on it. It's been a very handy giant work bench, storage area, etc...now will hold The Nuke (this one's name) while I decide what to do. I think it's a long shot to find the person who's willing to purchase and take it on now, for anywhere near what I have invested. It's been almost 20 years since I did a rebuild, and never on a 460... I've always wondered about doing a stroked 460; there are a lot of steps in displacement and power, etc, to choose from, and rebuild kits really aren't that much more expensive than stock kits. Hmmm.
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
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cudak888
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by cudak888 »

Are the teeth broken off the camshaft or the dizzy? If the latter, I don't see why raising the 460 a bit (just enough to clear pan removal for a sump swap) and a new distributor can't get you back up and running without the need to do a full rebuild - or pull the engine out entirely.

There is always the possibility that the cracked gear might be what's jamming the oil pump (granted, I've never seen a 460 sump up close - only that of a Dodge 3.9L - so I don't know the possibilities of whether said gear could cause it to jam). At any rate, you may be lucky - the cracked gear may be the only foreign particulate that you'll have to worry about. 460's are tough old birds, after all.

-Kurt
Last edited by cudak888 on Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dan Szwarc
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Dan Szwarc »

Perry, post a pic of that 73's parking brake for this thread:
http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/v ... 15#p339211
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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Perry Bush »

Hey thanks Kurt - I know what you mean but actually several teeth are gone from the distributor drive gear, and one from the cam also. It has to come apart. If for no other reason, the thought of short cutting it a second time (with any level of logical justification), and losing that bet a second time after bolting everything back up.... Nah, if I keep it, it gets pulled. I'm putting some information together to take another swing at selling it along with all the parts I've collected. If that doesn't work, will just push her in the corner and have her wait her turn.
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
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Creamy7Nine
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Creamy7Nine »

Thank you for saving this car. I was looking for a 70-74 coupe when I ended up getting a Mark V. Happy enough, but still. They are so hard to find. I located a total of 8 70-74 coupes on all the Craigslists in the US when I did my search, most either very rusty or very expensive. The best appeared to be a triple white '74 TC being sold as a '73, in Susanville, CA. I wonder if a member here bought it. It was listed for several months a couple years ago.
1979 Mark V - Gold/Cream Luxury Group - California car
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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Perry Bush »

Hey Creamy - thanks for the note and welcome to the forum! I dig pretty much all the Lincolns, but the '70s are my favorites. Good luck with the Mark V, you'll get lots of input here.
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
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Creamy7Nine
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Creamy7Nine »

How's this one coming along? Got any pictures? I still love the 73-74 coupes the best.
1979 Mark V - Gold/Cream Luxury Group - California car
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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Perry Bush »

Thanks for the question, but not much progress at all. I did pick up a nice '70 Continental Coupe donor car though, no drivetrain and mostly trashed interior, but solid otherwise. Not sure yet actually how it's going to come together, which parts moving to which car...but eventually this car and the '70 will become one, or I'll get rid of the pair as a project collection - that would be ideal, don't know when I'll get to it

I've been spending all my time on Vanessa the '77 Mark V also documented here; still a few details to button up and trying to get it sold to fund the other projects (there are too many); Clara the Mark III convertible and my driver '70 Coupe are both also still waiting.
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
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Creamy7Nine
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Creamy7Nine »

Cool, I still want to see pictures! Sounds like my dream project.
1979 Mark V - Gold/Cream Luxury Group - California car
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TonyC
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by TonyC »

Everyone should save a 70 to 74 coupe.
100% dittos there--I love the profiles of those coupes. I don't love the outside hood latch, but that's something I think could be addressed easily. The streamline look is just awesome.

There is at least one, maybe more than one, coupe of that time at John's Auto Salvage in Seguin, Texas, that I remember. But I'm in no position to snatch up a bunch of corpses and try to bring them back to life. One at a time is hard enough for me, and the next one has to be a 'vert--a '67 'vert.

---Tony
"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet, just because there is a picture with a quote next to it." (Abraham Lincoln, 1866)
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1966 Continental Sedan, affectionately known as "Frankenstein" until body restoration is done (to be renamed "General Sherman" on that event)
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Castrosua
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Castrosua »

yes, the sedans need loving and saving too :D
1972 Lincoln Continental 4dr, 1973 Lincoln Continental TownCar
1974 Ford Ranchero GT 500, 1993 DAC 112 UDM
1994 Rocar 112, 2004 Ford Crown Vic Sport
2014 Chevy Camaro 2LS, 2022 Dodge Charger 392 Hemi Scat Pack Wide Body
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Heavymetal
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Heavymetal »

Castrosua wrote:yes, the sedans need loving and saving too :D
You tell 'em bro! 8)
1974 Lincoln Continental TC
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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Perry Bush »

Had this car on the For Sale list, but it's pretty tough to sell a project with a story about how great it used to run, shouldn't be too bad to fix... So with a couple hours spent after work each night last week, the motor is out and after tear down and inspection, some level of rebuild will be done. Guess that's where I should have started....took a swing at the easy button! Will do a "driver" tidy up in the engine bay while it's out.
Attachments
Nuke Engine Feb 2016.jpg
Nuke Engine Bay  Feb 2016.jpg
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
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Perry Bush
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by Perry Bush »

Engine is completely disassembled and no smoking gun is apparent. Was expecting to maybe find something that caused the oil pump to lock up but no - it's perfectly clean, clear of any debris, and absolutely solidly locked in place? Inside the motor and bottom of oil pan is actually amazingly clean - none of the sludge I've seen accumulate most often. Bores are darn near perfect with no ridges. Haven't measured anything yet but the cam looks minty too - well, except for that chunk of metal missing from the front drive gear. So oil pump locked causing teeth to be broken off the cam gear as well as the mating gear on the distributor. Looks like I'll be able to replace those and just do a stock rebuild with bearings, rings..
Attachments
IMG_0083[1].JPG
IMG_0046.JPG
IMG_0048.JPG
IMG_0079.JPG
IMG_0082.JPG
Drivers '70 Continental Coupe; '77 Continental Convertible; '79 CS Town Car; '78 Mark V; '77 Mark V
Projects '69 Mark III Convertible
For Sale '78 Town Car Convertible Project; '70/73 Town Coupe Project(s)
trouble
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Re: 1973 Town Coupe Rescued

Post by trouble »

Good on you Mr Bush, if i lived in the states (it would have to be in a warm climate) i'd have me a few more Lincoln"s,it's people like you that help make it possible for people like me to get these work's of art, the 70's town coupe's just do it for me, keep up the good work man.....lincoln up
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