Engine Bay Restoration: A Beginner's Journey

[scottandstephanie]

Yes, its true! Thank you Dan, John W, John D, Rich and Steph! What a surreal event! Lit by an overhead lamp strapped to a ladder, we hoisted it out at about 9:00 pm Eastern. At first it did not seem like it was breaking free of the mount slots but we realized the new coil springs had much travel. So, we hoisted again and it popped out. A little lever action on the bell housing versus block and it was free. We pushed the car out from under it and lowered for a moment so Rich could finish assembling the stand.

Looks like the Summit Racing big block stand works. Engine is still on the crane for back up.

Steering box needs to be rebuilt. Much work to do in the bay, but we are about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

This could not have happened without my friends and family helping. Thank you all for coming over tonight. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Whew!

[scottandstephanie]

Here are some pics from last night

[Barry Wolk]

Great progress!

[dug]

How many cupcakes did it take??????

[Dan Szwarc]

He had no cupcakes!

Just kidding. I was full from dinner.

[briven95]

Way to go Scott!! (and friends!) It never ceases to amaze me how big a hunk of iron that 462 (or 430) engine is, massively overbuilt.

[scottandstephanie]

For the record, there was a pot of premium coffee and fresh baked pumpkin spice cookies served. Its more like Betty Crocker-ville over here than a garage!

The crew that helps me shoehorn this beast back in this spring gets a steak dinner!

As to the massiveness of it all, don't forget the camera adds twenty pounds. To the owner, not the motor....

Tonights question; replace the steering box with new or get a rebuilt original? I'm looking for quality/reliability, not originality. From what I heard the rebuilds are double what I can get a new one for from Napa. If they are both going to be the same quality, I'll go cheaper

[scottandstephanie]

I have not worked on the Lincoln since pulling the motor. Here's why:





This is Steph's new baby, the 1972 Eldo. It had motor problems. Oil was getting sucked into the heads
and burned. We went through 3.5 quarts on the 7 hour drive back from Kentucky. So, the top of the engine
was taken apart. We sent the heads in for machining and valve train overhaul. While that was being done I
practiced my metal finishing skills by sandblasting and wire wheeling the parts. Some got painted, others got
powdercoated:





I used the Eastwood manifold paint (spray). You need a very well ventilated area to do this:



Anyway, I am back on track now. I had a trim guy over to the house yesterday. I'll need to get the
interior out of the car in addition to the engine bay prep, transmission and steering box removal, etc.
The trim guy comes back on Wednesday to take the top off.

I am very close to being behind schedule, so I'll need to hustle to get all this done by Thanksgiving.

I guess no one had a strong opinion on the steering box deal, so I'm going to get a Lares rebuild thru
PartsAmerica.

I hope to have pics of the gutted interior and tranny pull by next weekend.

[ReijerLincoln]

Seventies cool! I like the colour combo. Good luck with the Lincoln project. It's always nice to read an enthusiasts/enthusiastic photo-diary.

[scottandstephanie]

Well, its not just an "engine bay" project anymore. I've now learned how to take out an interior:


Back seat out, working on the front seat-



The car had the original carpet in it. It has turned to powder. Floor pans are good-



The front seat system will be rehabbed also



I took off the drivers side rear door panel first, then the front door panel. The first one took an hour to
figure out, the second one took half as long



Look! JC worked on my car! I hope He did a good job!



Oh, I guess it was the other holy man



I've got to get the rest of the interior out tonight. The trim guy is coming back tomorrow to take the convertible
top off. This all relates to the body/paint work. Once I get the interior out of here I'll resume work on the engine bay. Stay tuned......

[scottandstephanie]

Update: Almost every thing that is coming out of the bay is off, except for the steering box and hood bracket assembly. Also, I have a stubborn heater hose. I'm going to have to learn how to torch tonight.

Broke a bolt on the passenger side hood bracket mount plate. I can't figure out why I can't pull/pry the head out. I'm
going to have to get in there with a hack saw I guess.

Steering box and tranny will come out this weekend, along with the front seat drive assembly (see "66 interior....") then I can start cleaning and grinding. I might be back on schedule....

Stay tuned-more pics this weekend

[Dan Szwarc]

Scott, you took the seat out the hard way. I've always pulled the bolts from underneath the car to remove the seat then removed the track.

You can rebuild the track. Here's how: http://dannann.net/eriamjh/66seat/index.html.

Make sure you have Skip replace the foam in your seats. That's where the yellow powder is coming from.

[black63lincoln]

Dan is that your link on that power seat rebuild? if so nice job!

[Dan Szwarc]

Dan is that your link on that power seat rebuild? if so nice job!

Did that back in winter 2001.

[scottandstephanie]

Working on steering gear removal. Hard to do with crappy tools from Harbor Freight



I had this Pitman puller properly positioned and was working it with a breaker bar. When it snapped
I thought it was the shaft popping loose. The telltale sound of metal-on-garage-floor told the real story.