Builds 66 Lincoln Continental build thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Gumby
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- #62
Got the axle out, stripped, wire wheeled, and painted with POR-15. Bearings and gaskets ordered. 9-3/8 ring gear. Weird thing ford did to upgrade the 9" in the 60s behind the 462. A 9 inch fits in the same housing and axles. I might downgrade to get better gear choices. With the 4l80, I can get a bigger gear to make up for losing 100 cubic inches.
Leaf springs stripped and brushed. Bottom one on one side was in 3 pieces. Ordered bushings.
The leaf spring hangers are bolted into captured nuts through the body channels. The ones on the fixed bushing end are blind. PBed them for 2 weeks then got them orange with the torch. All 16 bolts came out. Even got the bushing bolts to come out of the sleeves.
Spent an hour or so wire wheeling the bottom of the car. Many more hours left. Found a couple more soft spots. I thought there were big nests in the frame channels, but ford packed them with some cotton insulation which held moisture. Easy patches. I'm not sure if I should re-insulate and with what.
Before , after, hole in support channel and axle housing
Leaf springs stripped and brushed. Bottom one on one side was in 3 pieces. Ordered bushings.
The leaf spring hangers are bolted into captured nuts through the body channels. The ones on the fixed bushing end are blind. PBed them for 2 weeks then got them orange with the torch. All 16 bolts came out. Even got the bushing bolts to come out of the sleeves.
Spent an hour or so wire wheeling the bottom of the car. Many more hours left. Found a couple more soft spots. I thought there were big nests in the frame channels, but ford packed them with some cotton insulation which held moisture. Easy patches. I'm not sure if I should re-insulate and with what.
Before , after, hole in support channel and axle housing
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- Thread starter
- #63
Pressed out the fixed bushings and sandblasted some of the parts today. A serious Suicide Slab custom shop in CA offered free parts on the faceballs slab group that he was cutting out of a 66. He was kind enough to cut the spring pack to send me the broken leaf I needed AND went back out to the scrap pile when I found my fixed side perch had a rust hole. Needless to say I'm buying lunch when I send him shipping moneys. Cutting up old ass springs is hard work.
Jeff Davy at Devious Customs is the man. Huge supporter of the slab habit.
Really glad I chose yesterday to tear down the rear suspension
Jeff Davy at Devious Customs is the man. Huge supporter of the slab habit.
Really glad I chose yesterday to tear down the rear suspension
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- Thread starter
- #64
Leafs are all disassembled, wire wheeled, POR15ed. New spring pad sliders. Waiting on new spring clamps and bushings. Center bolts are weird. 3/8 bolt with 5/8 bushings on either end that go in rubber isolators. I'm just gonna make new ones. The isolators are soaking in vinegar get the rust off. About half the hanger parts to be blasted are done and powdercoated, but the sandblaster sand is damp and finicky.
Axles are cleaned and painted with new bearings, but wrecked my back loading the new 20t press from HF. It was a 25% off deal and I had an immediate need so more tools. Couldn't run a grinder above my head so working on the undercarriage is out for a while.
Glued 1/8 quarter sawn red oak to the door panel brackets after I blasted and powdercoated the brackets. It's probably something wrong in my melon that I would powdercoat the brackets behind the wood trim on the door panel inserts. Stained it and am on coat #3 of poly. Stock was screen printed fake wood. Nice book matched with brass inlay, but fake, stained and pitted. Hopefully, the real wood will look ok.
Axles are cleaned and painted with new bearings, but wrecked my back loading the new 20t press from HF. It was a 25% off deal and I had an immediate need so more tools. Couldn't run a grinder above my head so working on the undercarriage is out for a while.
Glued 1/8 quarter sawn red oak to the door panel brackets after I blasted and powdercoated the brackets. It's probably something wrong in my melon that I would powdercoat the brackets behind the wood trim on the door panel inserts. Stained it and am on coat #3 of poly. Stock was screen printed fake wood. Nice book matched with brass inlay, but fake, stained and pitted. Hopefully, the real wood will look ok.
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- Thread starter
- #66
I think one more sand and recoat after I get back from vacation. The frames are just set in place. I've ordered a 3mm piece of fiberoptic cable and a light driver to see if I can't make them light up when the doors open.
Hopefully, my back recovers enough to finish scraping undercoat and repairing the undercarriage.
I built a stand to mount the shrinker stretcher and make it foot actuated too. Needs refinement, but works.
Hopefully, my back recovers enough to finish scraping undercoat and repairing the undercarriage.
I built a stand to mount the shrinker stretcher and make it foot actuated too. Needs refinement, but works.
- Thread starter
- #67
Been hard at it. Scraped all the undercoat off with a propane torch. The holes in the boxed in "frame" section went 4 layers deep. Each side took about a day to dig out all the rot. This area was filled with some cotton like insulation. I thought it might be mice, but it was all clean. I think it was sound insulation. Of course it just stayed wet once water got in. I cleaned out the flaky stuff, treated everything with corroseal, welded in the new sections, and sealed it all up with short strand over the exposed welds, then primered and painted with Upol Raptor bed liner.
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- Thread starter
- #68
got the rear end out. Cleaned up and POR-15. New wheel bearings. Turns out big bearing 9" does not exchange with 66-68 9.375". Got new u-bolts, but the radius is too big. I also ordered them for a couple of inches of drop block. Got a new gasket and pinion seal for the third member. I doubt I'll use it. The 9-3/8 was beefier than the 9", but they only made them for a minute and most came in Lincolns and full size mercurys with big block MEL motors. 462 CID of low revving torque so they had really low numerical gears. No aftermarket at all. The 9" 32 spline goes right in and there is a ton of parts available for them.
- Thread starter
- #69
Got the trunk drops all built and welded in, cleaned up and undercoated. I had to build the mud flap looking things between the wheel wells and the muffler channels. The wheel well on the right side was lace, so it needed a patch.
Front wheel wells needed some rebuilding. The inner wheel well just rotted where they were spot welded to the fenders.
Front wheel wells needed some rebuilding. The inner wheel well just rotted where they were spot welded to the fenders.
- Thread starter
- #70
Welding on the body is all done. Just the deck lid left. Underside is all scraped, wire brushed, rust treated and Raptor lined. I wanted to get that done so I could drop the drive train in. I'll put it back in the body shop for the rest of the summer to do the quarters and fenders. Once it gets good and cold I'll move to doing wiring and plumbing where I don't have to worry about filler and paint products setting up properly.
Shocks are new and installed. No point cleaning old hardware. Grade 8 upgrades are easy and cheap on imperial vehicles. I ended up setting up a whole new HF 4 drawer box with imperial/SAE/fractional tools.
I bought the u bolts 3.5 inches longer than stock so I could try out drop blocks. Currently have 3" of fine canadian fir blocks for mock up. Once I determine the amount of drop, I'll go to aluminum blocks and drive it for a bit. then see if I want drop springs, or 4 link with coilovers. Still missing 1000 lbs of chrome, glass, and leather, but its lower for sure
Shocks are new and installed. No point cleaning old hardware. Grade 8 upgrades are easy and cheap on imperial vehicles. I ended up setting up a whole new HF 4 drawer box with imperial/SAE/fractional tools.
I bought the u bolts 3.5 inches longer than stock so I could try out drop blocks. Currently have 3" of fine canadian fir blocks for mock up. Once I determine the amount of drop, I'll go to aluminum blocks and drive it for a bit. then see if I want drop springs, or 4 link with coilovers. Still missing 1000 lbs of chrome, glass, and leather, but its lower for sure
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- Thread starter
- #71
Both DS doors are done. Driver door was probably the best of the 4. Left rear was definitely the worst. About a day of metal working the rear door. Another day doing the body work on both doors. Got them smooth and flat to 400 grit and put on two coats of Upol 3 way primer. It's a direct to metal primer, a sealer and a high build. I'll leave them in that until final blocking.
Did the same with the hood. Theres a bit of a tricky transition from a peak in the center to flat where the hood is against the vent cowl. It was mostly straight, except for some pitting. Stripped, treated, sealed, filled and blocked to 400grit. Used chemical paint stripper on the inside of the hood, like with most of the car, but I powerwashed the loose paint off instead of scraping. It worked really well. Hung the hood with a fan on it overnight before two good coats of sealer. The hood insulation pieces that go in the openings are in pretty good shape.
Did the same with the hood. Theres a bit of a tricky transition from a peak in the center to flat where the hood is against the vent cowl. It was mostly straight, except for some pitting. Stripped, treated, sealed, filled and blocked to 400grit. Used chemical paint stripper on the inside of the hood, like with most of the car, but I powerwashed the loose paint off instead of scraping. It worked really well. Hung the hood with a fan on it overnight before two good coats of sealer. The hood insulation pieces that go in the openings are in pretty good shape.
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- Thread starter
- #72
Dakota Digital dash showed up yesterday about a year after ordering. Took the instrument pod apart. Analog strip speedo is super cool. It'll sit on a shelf until someone needs it. All the exposed parts are stained from smoke. Ive been cleaning it with metal polish and stainless polish.The aluminum lower panel for the climate control and radio is pitted. I'm actually not using either accessory. The restomod air has wireless control and the radio will be a modern remote unit too. I dont know what I'm going to do with that panel. The aluminum part separates so I could do wood, engine turned or brushed. I could fill in the radio and climate holes, or leave them as dummies. Any replacement or covering that panel will lose the knob labeling. Might be OK to just live with the pitting. Or try no panel and just chrome
Everything is metal. The pod must weight 25 pounds. You would know it when your face hits it.
Everything is metal. The pod must weight 25 pounds. You would know it when your face hits it.
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- Thread starter
- #73
Progress has been slow. I've been doing major house projects and we have a very time consuming new addition to the household
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- #74
Engine and trans are in for the 1st time. It's about an inch or two forward of as far back as it will go. Fan is good distance from the rad core. Trans crossmember is close enough that it will be an easy fab when the new 4l80 mount shows up this week. Motor mounts are also ordered.
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- #75
And because I bolted the dash frame down to mount the column so I could steer
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Good work.. I just started on a 52 Studebaker. Fun working on something different.
Jason
Jason
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- #77
Stuck puppysitting so just piddling around. Cleaned the armrests and test fit the new wood panels.
I got some brushed steel vinyl to try on the pitted dash panel. Looks better than the pic except the striations go up and down. Might try again with a darker brushed steel or engine turned. It's less than $10 for enough to do it several times.
I got some brushed steel vinyl to try on the pitted dash panel. Looks better than the pic except the striations go up and down. Might try again with a darker brushed steel or engine turned. It's less than $10 for enough to do it several times.
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- #78
Haven't really messed with the lincoln in a while. Got the engine and trans where they need to go, but not much more than that. Had to finish other things before school starts tomorrow.
Managed to almost get way off track today. The deck lid probably saved me. I can't find one anywhere and I don't need another project like that so I think I'm gonna leave it right where it's been sitting for 39 years.
Managed to almost get way off track today. The deck lid probably saved me. I can't find one anywhere and I don't need another project like that so I think I'm gonna leave it right where it's been sitting for 39 years.
Gus
SILVER Star
63 or 64? Sweet old Caddy
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- #80
64 deVille
