1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe

[Maverick]

WXO, his bro-in-law Bruno, and I went Lincoln shopping today. We had 4 prospects all 1.5-2 hours West of Raleigh. We hit the most likely candidate first and bought it. Its a 1978 Lincoln Continental Coupe with 41K miles, 460, near perfect body, nice re-paint, new looking vinyl top, excellent interior except for a hole punched in the rear of the headliner (maybe from a high heal?? ) and all the chrome in great condition.

A few things need tinkering maybe the biggest deal with be the AC. It has a new/rebuilt compressor -- supposed to be for R134A -- and hoses but its not cold. Must have a leak somewhere. Just hope its not the under-dash evaporator. That would be a nasty job I think. There's a 1/2" spot where paint is bubbled off by the chrome on one rocker panel. Should be able to get the chrome off, treat the surface rust, apply some touch up paint and be good to go.

WXO took some pics of it on I-40 coming home. He'll post one or more.

And here they are...

Edit: And here they aren't!! Photo hosting site crapped out.

[Basement Paul]

I'm a big coupe guy. That thing is AWESOME! IMO doors are supposed to be at least 5' long.

I can't wait to see the headers and 3" duals go on!

If you don't do anything to make it fast, it's still a sweet ride. Enjoy!

-BP

[wxo]

To get the ball rolling, here's some food for thought from 460ford.com...

There's a lot of talk about heads on the site. So I thought Id ask about the different head choices. I want to know what order/rank you guys would rate them, hp potential/flow. In my reading the #1Thor heads #2 Alum. CJ #3 Aheads? etc... I guessing here so someone with some knowledge let me know..

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Charlie Evans
The BBF Cylinder Head Pecking Order

Mike,
We've done this before and I think maybe somebody put it in the Engine Build Section, but if not I'll go over it again.

It helps if you divide all the heads into four major families. The four families are;

I. Hemi Heads;
top to bottom the order is;
1. B-441
2&3 (tie) A-441, and the billet Indy Cylinder Head Hemi
4. Original Boss 429 production heads.

II. Pro Stock Wedge Heads;
Fords FRPP C-460, D-460, & E-460 heads. Also Profiler's C-460 Replacement head. TFS's B-460 Bastard Pro Stock heads, and the Blue Thunder Thor head belong in this family. The pecking order is debatable, and certainly the size of the engine that you intend to use them on comes into play here. I'd suggest that the order from top to bottom may be;
1. Blue Thunder Thor for big inch wedges 650+ CID
2. E-460 FRPP for NHRA Pro Stock
3. D-460 FRPP
4&5 (tie) C-460 Replacement head or FRPP C-460 are on the same level.
6. TFS B-460 Bastard Pro Stock heads

III. A-460 Heads;
Original TFS and Ford Motorsport heads, also the new style TFS A-460 heads, the Eliminator 900 Series A-460, and the EX 514 heads. The EX 514 is available in cast iron also. The ranking on these heads is again debatable but I'd say at the top of the list we have a 3-way tie with the;
1,2,&3 New style TFS A-460, EX514 and the Eliminator 900 series.
4. The older TFS and Ford Motorsports A-460 castings.

IV. The standard Ford Production Heads;
In this family we have several heads including both cast iron OEM production and aftermarket alum. heads. I'd suggest that the pecking order would be;
1. FRPP Kaase designed SCJ and the soon to be released Kaase designed P-51 head.
2. The Blue Thunder "B" head which is the one with the raised exhaust port and the Chevy style flange pattern.
3&4 (tied) Blue Thunder with the raised exhaust port and Ford bolt pattern, and the TFS Street Heat head, again with a raised exhaust port and Ford bolt pattern.
5,6,7,8,9&10 Big log jam here, but we have the old Ford A-429 heads, the Blue Thunder CJ head with standard exhaust port location, the old style TFS CJ head, and the three different versions of the Edelbrock RPM/CJ heads.
11,12&? We have the cast iron production DOOE-R CJ head and the DOVE heads along with others such as the Police Interceptor head and etc. I am not saying these cast iron heads are any worse than the big batch of alum. heads I listed right above. They just heavier!

Probally more important than the pecking order of the heads is who you choose to do the valve job, the porting and flow testing of the heads. In other words, the quality of the work. I have a seen good quality Blue Thunder "B" heads outflow poor quality EX 514 heads for example and they are in two different families. What I'm saying is, a head that is lower in the pecking order, can surpass a head that is above it due to being properly prepped.

[Fred32v]

Great looking ride!

My thoughts on heads.
If money were no object, I'd want the new styled heads that make
the motor look like the "BOSS 429" motor when you open the hood.
I saw then on a 460 made to look like the BOSS on "Geaz" TV.

But I took my poor smog stock Olds heads and had them ported and
relieved (especially in the exhaust ports) added a 3 angle valve grind
and was rewarded with heads that out performed the Olds "C" heads.
It was a lot less expense then buying heads and outperformed almost
anything I could buy.

[Maverick]

Thanks, WXO, for the hi-quality I-40 pics. The 1/2" paint bubbling by the rocker panel shows up in the side shot. Gotta do something about that!

Thanks, BP. Reactions have been very positive from car people. The wife wants to know why I want something so BIG. She did like the idea of a big trunk.

We stopped for BBQ on the way back to Raleigh and when we tried to leave the starter wouldn't work. After repeated attempts it, luckily, did crank and we were off. Same thing happened in the driveway at home but with a jumper from the battery to the small "S" post on the starter solenoid it cranked OK. Most likely the ignition switch is failing. That's common in old Fords. I'll be looking for a new one and also some Ford shop manuals and an owner's manual.

[Maverick]

Did a little Internet shopping this morning. FOMOCO ignition switch (the new Chinese made reproductions have problems), owner's manual and factory shop manuals are on the way. Can't imagine there were too many Lincoln owners that ordered the Ford repair manuals so felt lucky to find a set. I expect they're still in good condition.

[Basement Paul]

When you gut the interior and put a racing seat in it, you should just put a toggle switch to start the car, a la NASCAR. That would save some weight too...

What plans do you think you have for the car?

-BP

[Maverick]

When you gut the interior and put a racing seat in it, you should just put a toggle switch to start the car, a la NASCAR. That would save some weight too...

What plans do you think you have for the car?

-BP

Before I drove it home I firmly intended to more than double the HP of the 460. The 210 HP 460 and 2.76 rear end gets it down the 1/4 mile in 18-19 seconds. But the Interstate ride was so peaceful and quiet that has some appeal too and the plans to boost the power didn't seem so important.

I don't know what I'll do with it eventually. First things are brakes and starter issue. The pedal goes down too far. It may be just the rear shoes need adjusting, maybe air in the lines. or maybe the rear brake system has failed for some reason. I expect the new ignition switch will fix the starter issue.

The chrome trim on at least the driver side rocker panel needs to come off to treat whatever is causing the paint bubble. The power antenna doesn't work right. Nor do the Power door locks. There's an aftermarket combo sound system/backup camera/navigation system which isn't completely functional. (I'd rather have the original sound system.) There's a little play in the steering that I suspect is a loose PS control valve adjustment. The cigar lighter doesn't work. Wheel balance isn't perfect. LOts of little things to tinker with.

If I get around to increased power I might buy a stroker long block or maybe pick up a rebuildable core and build a performance engine to swap in and, in either case, sell the current engine when the replacement is ready. Headers, dual exhaust and bigger carb would be required if power is boosted. The Duraspark ignition should be OK. The rear end should be changed to a 3.50 or so The torque converter that's in there now is quite loose on a fast idle. Not sure if its stock but if power is boosted a stall converter and trans cooler are probably called for. An OD transmission sure would be nice. I think maybe some of the later F-series trucks had 460s with OD but haven't looked into that. If one is available it would probably be computer controlled.

I should visit an automotive upholstery shop and see if they can patch the hole in the headliner.

With no major body, paint or interior work, the car won't have to be out of service for long periods like my other projects. I like that.

As you can see, the project plan is not at all firm at this point. I'll let the project take shape as it goes along. Stay tuned!!

[GMJohnny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZu5TwRbYiA

GM

[Maverick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZu5TwRbYiA

GM

I forgot about that song. Makes a good project theme song. Thanks, GM, for posting.

[Maverick]

The deal on the '81 Supercab was closed yesterday. The buyer should pick it up in a day or so. When WXO was here today we had six vehicles in the drive.

The rear drums on the Lincoln were removed and everything looks pretty new there. Also new-looking calipers on front. WXO came over this morning and we flushed and bled the brakes. Pretty nasty fluid in the reservoirs and LOTS of air in the rear lines. I doubt the rear brakes were working at all but the brakes work just fine now.

WXO identified the AC charging connectors as R134a type so we made a run to Advance and picked up some R134a and a can of dye. He hooked up the gauges and, with compressor running, hi and low sides both showed 40 lbs. Put the can in warm water and both sides read 100 lbs with compressor running. Any ideas?? I plan to take it to a pro tomorrow and see what he has to say.

The Lincoln requires some care in shopping center parking lots. I ran the front end a foot or two into the space in front and it still stuck out a couple of feet into the traffic lane. I think its longer than the Supercab. Not sure if the Town Cars are longer but the '77-'79 Lincoln was the biggest Lincoln ever. Not the heaviest but the biggest.

[Maverick]

The pro put dye in the AC system, charged it and its working great. We'll see how long it lasts and if any leaks show up.

A "Wanted" ad on the Lincoln forum got a response from a guy with everything I asked for: RH outside mirror and appropriate door trim, peg for the visor, guide for the DS shoulder belt, and power antenna.

FOMOCO ignition switch has been shipped. When that's installed the car should be ready for routine driving. The plugs and plug wires should be changed and the carb checked. There's a strong gas smell after its shut down. Hope its something simple.

[Maverick]

Well, I fell for it. The seller listed the repair manuals as "Lincoln" but they are for ALL 1978 Ford cars, incl Lincoln. The same manuals on ebay (incidentally the coverage listed in the ebay ad did NOT include Lincoln ) are offered for half what I paid. I thought Lincoln-only manuals would be REALLY scarce so thought I'd better pop for them while they are available. After all, how many buyers of new 1978 Lincolns would buy repair manuals.

To add to my frustration, I found the seller's web site with a Google search, not on ebay. I can't even blast the son of a ____ with a bad ebay rating. And the crook overcharged on shipping too. I'd try to return them but I'd have more money in return shipping and no faith the seller would ever issue a refund. CRAP!!! CRAP!!!! CRAP!!! I've been had.

[Basement Paul]

Major bummer. I hate crap like that.

Check this out on the local craigslist:

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/pts/4454596432.html

-BP

[Maverick]

That's a good deal. IIRC, I paid about $70 for the 1970 Truck set. The CR deal is better than ebay. Oh well, too late now.