1977 Towncar Resto mod!

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sauceman
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1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

Let the games begin!

Image

My plans for the near future is to completely gut the interior and start on the suicide rear door hinges 8)

Once the hinges are complete I will separate the body from the frame and totally restore all the metal. Lucky for me the car is pretty sound with minimal rust considering it's an Ontario car.

Interesting find under the rear seat floor sound deadening.

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By the looks of it and seeing it was glued to the sound deadening it has been there since the assembly line. Any ideas?



Some assembly line code;

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Very sad roof vinyl;

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more pics can be found here;

http://s140.photobucket.com/user/Saucem ... ion?page=1





cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
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Dan Szwarc
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by Dan Szwarc »

Suicide the rear doors? Awesome! I want to see it!

I have a 74 coupe. I should suicide those!
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LithiumCobalt
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by LithiumCobalt »

I like the cordovan. Looks nice! What in the world does this car need? Looks fairly straight. Paint and a top?
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Current: 1971 Mark III, 2012 MKZ AWD, 2016 F-150 Platinum
WANTED: 1969 Continental sedan, 77 Continental Town Car w/opera window delete, 76 Fleetwood Brougham
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Suicide65
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by Suicide65 »

Dan Szwarc wrote:Suicide the rear doors? Awesome! I want to see it!

I have a 74 coupe. I should suicide those!
YES you should, that would be badass. Swap the driver and passenger handles and relocated them toward the front of the doors :twisted:
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

LithiumCobalt wrote:I like the cordovan. Looks nice! What in the world does this car need? Looks fairly straight. Paint and a top?

Needs complete paint, some minor rust issues.

Install suicide rear door hinges.

Freshen up and de-smog the motor. (aluminium heads, Performer intake, new carb, cam, and ignition) maybe headers.

Complete front end.

Repair tranny leak.

Rebuild rear end (shudders under decal, probably excessive backlash)

Replace the Cordovan interior with this one;

Image



I tend to get pretty anal and take things too far. So I expect to lift the body from the frame and totally go thru it.



cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

Dan Szwarc wrote:Suicide the rear doors? Awesome! I want to see it!

I have a 74 coupe. I should suicide those!

Yes you should!

Here is the worst of the body work, a prior repair to the right rear quarter.

Image



cheers
Last edited by sauceman on Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

Started pulling off the vinyl roof today and yes I was very nervous of what I would find.

So far it's actually not too bad for rust in the rear window channel or the opera window hole.

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There are three hidden speed nuts for each piece holding the trim at the bottom of the vinyl around the rear window.

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There was also a strip of black tape around the rear window trim, half on the paint and half on the trim. And also notice that the corner piece is not shiny metal but plastic.

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Overall I'm happy with the state of rust around the rear window :D




cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
navguy12
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by navguy12 »

Let the games begin!
OK!! :grin:
I tend to get pretty anal and take things too far. So I expect to lift the body from the frame and totally go thru it.
Only way to do a job is take it too far ;-)
Overall I'm happy with the state of rust around the rear window :D
You bet, yours is way cleaner than my '77 was when I started to prep for a new roof.....
I have a 74 coupe. I should suicide those!
No, you shouldn't :lol:
Mike Stortini
1985 Cartier Town Car Sold 10 Nov 2013
1977 Lincoln Continental Sold 27 April 2012
Batawa Ontario
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

Got a quote for $800.00 - $1200.00 to sandblast and powdercoat the frame.

Too much?




cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
coldplays
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by coldplays »

love the picture of the cat

now that you have dismantled the 1977 interior, do you notice a big difference in quality between the 1976/1977? i.e carpet thickness, glass thickness etc?- I know people complain about 78+, the general consensus I find is the 1975-1976 are plushiest, but it would be cool to hear some details from someone who owns both cars at the same time.

thanks and best of luck,

Colin

p.s having any problems with the black tar stuff ford stuffed everywhere around the front/rear glass? messy stuff
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wasagachris
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by wasagachris »

sauceman wrote:Got a quote for $800.00 - $1200.00 to sandblast and powdercoat the frame.

Too much?




cheers
I don't know about powdercoating prices but I paid less than that to sandblast the entire 61 and many of it's components. They came to me and blasted the entire undercarriage, engine bay, interior, trunk interior etc.
1961 Lincoln Continental 4 Dr Sedan,
1973 Lincoln Continental Town Car 4 Dr,
1987 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series Stars & Stripes Edition
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

coldplays wrote:love the picture of the cat
Ya she's real helpful :roll:
coldplays wrote:now that you have dismantled the 1977 interior, do you notice a big difference in quality between the 1976/1977? i.e carpet thickness, glass thickness etc?- I know people complain about 78+, the general consensus I find is the 1975-1976 are plushiest, but it would be cool to hear some details from someone who owns both cars at the same time.
The main differences between the tan '75 interior and the red '77 are the thicker carpets, 120 mph speed on the'75, wider head rests and hand pulls on the back of the front seats. The glass is the same all around.

coldplays wrote:p.s having any problems with the black tar stuff ford stuffed everywhere around the front/rear glass? messy stuff
Yes that butyl can be messy LOL, but it cleans up nicely with lacquer thinner.


So anybody have any idea were this goes?

Image



cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
navguy12
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by navguy12 »

So anybody have any idea were this goes?
Just spit-balling here, but could it be a cover inside one of the four doors (i.e. some plate that would be removed to access the power window motor, or power lock motor?)
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sauceman
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by sauceman »

It could be, I'll find out when I pull the door panels off. I was also thinking HVAC system on the firewall?

Regardless, if I don't find a place for it I'll use it to patch the holes in the floor :)!



cheers
Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement.

Yugoslavia '94' , Israel/Syria '99 , Bosnia '02 , Afghanistan '08-'09

My 1977 Town Car build
navguy12
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Re: 1977 Towncar Resto mod!

Post by navguy12 »

I'll use it to patch the holes in the floor :)!
That would work ;-)
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