1978 continental sedan project

[mz35z]

Hi mz35z - I'd never heard of newstalgiaparts.com. Thanks for the tip. I went to their site and noticed they have new replacement sun visors! Mine are ok..... but just. But for $169.95 a pop I may ask for a pair of new ones as a Fathers Day Gift. I realize that I'll need to transfer the pins (not an easy job) but I guess nothing good comes easy.

Good luck with your priming!

mz35z - One tip with the tack cloth that some may not agree with here, but just my opinion. After using the tack cloth, re-wipe the car down with a microfibre cloth that has been soaked with Isopropyl alcohol (also known as rubbing alcohol). I'm in the semi-conductor clean room business and we use tack cloths as an important part of the cleaning procedure but the tack cloth will leave a residue of it's own even as it picks up larger particles. The ISA will generally dissolve this residue and your cloth will pick it up.

Rick

I wanted to go with SMS as I hear all over they have great quality, but I didn't want to wait months for the top.

Thanks for the tip! That is good to know. I want to do everything I can to make this turn out perfect. I'll have to do that. I'll use my prepaint prep instead of isopropyl alcohol as I believe it has less water percentage. What I lack in painting experience i hope to make up in proper prep. As most of the pros were saying, most of painting is in prep work.

[mz35z]

Priming and featherfill went well. My moisture filter blew up on me, but I was able to hold it together with zip ties and hose clamps. Worked like a charm.

Next is guide coat, block sand, body filler if needed and two more coats of featherfill. That should give a nice smooth foundation for the paint. Now that the car is grey, it really shows all the imperfections an odd ripple in the roof right above the windshield. Hopefully I can install the full roof vinyl, but just in case, I'll be smoothing those ripples out.

[mz35z]

Well the vinyl top is in! Very fast service from Newstalgiaparts.com (looks like it got shipped from kee auto top.)

From a quick dry fit, it will work well. Plenty of extra vinyl, heat treated stitching.


Thankfully, it matches my paint color pretty well. Or more like compliments it. I wanted the vinyl to be slightly darker than the paint
(Note the paint will be a bit darker as this was just one test coat)

[mz35z]

Paint is all done! I'm surprised at how well it went down. Perfect paint for an amateur painter. I used restoration shop urethane BC/CC. My plan was 3 coats and a 4th drop coat, but I had to change this idea. The metal flakes were laying down so well, i knew i wouldn't need a drop coat. also the paint was flashing so fast that a drop coat wouldn't work. The clear coat went well. I had to turn up the pressure a bit. Seemed to combat the orange peel somewhat. I will need to do some wet sanding and buffing to remove the rest of the orange peel. I rolled it out in the sun to get a better look at the color in natural light.



I'm very pleased with the vinyl top color match. Besides gloss and texture, it's perfect.

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Lookin good!!!!

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[mz35z]

[quote="action"]Lookin good!!!!

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Thanks! I'm excited to get it on the road.. before winters projects begin on it

[mz35z]

The cutting and polishing is going well. A few more hours and I'll be done. It has been a lot of work. I've enjoyed it, but if I ever have to paint a car again, I'll just pay a professional. Save myself countless hours.

[mz35z]

Well I typed out a very long post, but it got deleted and logged me out. Oh well I'll make it short.

Update on the sedan, I didnt notice scratch marked caused by 1000 grit sand paper till I got done with all the polishing. I was at a loss as to what to do i figured i butchered it. I took it into a local shop to see if they could finish the polishing professionally. He gave me some good advice so I decided to test it out.

New plan that worked on a small section is:
2000 grit sand paper wet(was already finished with 1500)
Roughest pad with "green" chemical guys polish
Medium pad with "red" chemical guys polish
Soft pad with "orange" polish.

I also bought some pad lube and glaze and wax to finish it with. The tested spot looks great.

[mz35z]

Finally got the polishing done. Used glaze and wax. I'm very happy with the look turned out better than I expected from an amateur.

[mz35z]

Pics alert! It's not completely put together and clean but I had to take it out today for a spin. Had some issues with the carburetor flooding. It's been happening after i shut off the engine and after its warmed up. I've already rebuilt it once. Already looking into getting a holley. Would cost only a little more than getting this 4350 rebuilt. I've seen a lot of guys do successful bolt ons with Holleys. Either way here are the pics!









Eh.. photos got cut off. Oh well.

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It's gettin' there

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[mz35z]

Well a few years later, now have a 3 year old and a 6 month old, moved houses, started a business etc, I'm finally getting the time back to work on my boat. Cosmetically it's looking decent. Need to buff the paint out and give it a good scrub down. This year I'll be adding an intake and focusing on rounding up more trim parts and possibly sending them in to get plated.

My holly 750 does but up well with the stock intake. Takes forever to warm up and I'm wondering if this clunky adapter plate may be the issue.
Many more engine upgrades to come next winter. But this year I plan on enjoying it a lot more. A fresh intake and a new radiator will get me till the winter when I pull the engine for an overhaul.

Also (just talking to myself here) glad I made it in time to post before my account was deleted!!

Here is a most recent photo of it packed in my new garage:

[Lee]

My holly 750 does but up well with the stock intake. Takes forever to warm up and I'm wondering if this clunky adapter plate may be the issue.

Check and see if the choke is closing when it’s cold (assuming you are running the electric choke), and that the fast idle is set correctly. It also could be pulling off too quickly after it starts. But I’m betting on some issue around the choke.

[mz35z]

My holly 750 does but up well with the stock intake. Takes forever to warm up and I'm wondering if this clunky adapter plate may be the issue.

Check and see if the choke is closing when it’s cold (assuming you are running the electric choke), and that the fast idle is set correctly. It also could be pulling off too quickly after it starts. But I’m betting on some issue around the choke.

Thanks I'll have to check that out. I think you are right cause now that I'm thinking about it, I do have to manually hold the pedal down slightly to keep it running on warm up (even when the choke is on). I don't think I adjusted the fast idle properly.

[mz35z]

Well I found the fast idle screw, the holley manual states to look under the throttle assembly for it. But it's actually on the other side of the carb. Either way, quick update:
Got a new intake to use this year until I get this new (old) block built up and swapped in.
Found a nice 460 off a 1976 sedan at a junkyard near me. Engine was a decent price, but the best deal was the functional power antenna for $5 and trim for $5/peice. I took all I could before they scrapped it. Was sad to see another lincoln get crushed, but it was very rusted. Glad it could lend a hand keeping other lincolns alive.
Goal is to get this block built up to around 500hp before I swap it in.