'63 Lincoln - Where to start

[amiller653]

Hey gang - I'm new to the board. My wife has inherited a 63 Lincoln that her grandfather purchased new. It's been sitting in a barn on the farm for 20 plus years. We pulled it out in 2014 to clean it up and get it running. Unfortunately, we had to put it back in the barn shortly after. I'm going to get it towed to a shop and get it put up on a lift so I can see what I'm dealing with on the underside.

I'm new to this game and I have no idea where to start. I know there is great debate about purist and those that go mod. I like the idea of mod, but not sure my budget allows me to do what I want to do.

Any help or suggestions on where to start would be great.

[Lee]

Welcome. If it were mine, I’d gingerly work toward getting it roadworthy, then decide what route you want to take restoration-wise.

Was it running when it was parked? If so, there are methods to ease it back into life without causing undue damage in the process. Keep us updated.

[amiller653]

yes it was running when we parked it. I've torn the interior out of it as the mice got into it. I was thinking of getting it up on a lift to see how it looks underneath before I go to crazy. If it looks decent I would like to make it a driver for a bit. So then the debate of swap vs. rebuild the 430 or 460 whatever it is. That shows you how much I know about this stuff LOL

[1Bad55Chevy]

What's the budget?

Thats the determining factor for this...

[amiller653]

What's the budget?

Thats the determining factor for this...

I can probably budget spending $50k-$60 over a 2 year period. Trying to figure out the best way to do it in phases and what makes sense.

[Lee]

You probably don’t need the lift. Just use a flashlight and look at the floor pans. If you don’t see any holes, it’s unlikely there’s significant rust damage elsewhere. It looks in pretty decent shape, you might have just clean it up, get it running, and have a blast.There will be plenty of time later to decide if you want to fish or cut bait. Won’t cost much to get it cleaned up and running, and probably doubles the price you could get if you decide to sell.

[kiwicon]

Agree with Lee (above) Give it a good clean then look for any rust bubbles or holes.

I wouldn't just chuck at battery at it and hope for the best. Try and get a socket onto the front of the crank and see if you can get a full 360 out of it first.

[1Bad55Chevy]

What's the budget?

Thats the determining factor for this...

I can probably budget spending $50k-$60 over a 2 year period. Trying to figure out the best way to do it in phases and what makes sense.

When you say things like "engine swap" and "modify" what exactly are you referring to? Are you really mechanically inclined?

If you are trying to build a car that's bagged, big brake conversion, high end wheels, ls/4l60e swapped, custom interior, and custom paint $60k will not do it. If that's what you desire I would suggest cleaning up your current car, get it running, and selling it for around $30k. You could take your $60k plus the profits off the old car and buy something for around $100k that would have cost $200k to build.

Remember shop rate for a custom car shop is going to run around $150 an hour ($6k a week) to build it. But if your able to fabricate and wire everything yourself it would be doable.

[frasern]

Look for rust in the dog legs, that's where rust always starts, the floor looks good.
If you had mice, there are lots of little runways in the body unit that they love, so dig into all those little holes while you have the interior out. I used air, and some long, homemade tubes to reach into places only a mouse can find. Then try to spray some paint in there to seal the scent.
It looks like the Lincoln had a Ford 8N to keep it company!

[mge825y]

Lincoln 1.jpg
Hey gang - I'm new to the board. My wife has inherited a 63 Lincoln that her grandfather purchased new. It's been sitting in a barn on the farm for 20 plus years. We pulled it out in 2014 to clean it up and get it running. Unfortunately, we had to put it back in the barn shortly after. I'm going to get it towed to a shop and get it put up on a lift so I can see what I'm dealing with on the underside.

I'm new to this game and I have no idea where to start. I know there is great debate about purist and those that go mod. I like the idea of mod, but not sure my budget allows me to do what I want to do.

Any help or suggestions on where to start would be great.

Amiller653
I have a ‘63 and mine was similarly stored in a barn from 1997 to 2017. I sent you a PM with several of the things I found that you may want to check.

[TonyC]

Not even counting the cost of a common crate engine, there will then be the headache of chopping up the car to try and make that engine fit...which will then chain-react to the rest of the drivetrain which is not compatible with anything that isn't a MEL Y-block. You'll burn through that 50-to-60 kilos of whatever merchandise just trying to do that...and that is not the sort of thing I'd suggest even for pros in chopping bodies. Chopping up a unibody is a very risky venture; the only ones who did it successfully were Lehmann-Peterson.

Rebuilding what you have will be much cheaper. The parts are out there if you know where to look. I do think the engine will need to be taken apart, at least to hot-tank out all the deposits and goo that have to be clogging up the oil and coolant passages inside the block. Those MELs are about as durable as anything else, but they do fall victim to the second law of thermodynamics, just like everything else in this plane of existence.

That said, there are some design flaws in the car's systems that need to be addressed. Good news about that is, all those flaws can be engineered out today with relative ease.

That is a nice inheritance! My grand used to have one of the same year when I was a baby. It was all-white with nearly every option offered that year.

---Tony

[1Bad55Chevy]

iii

Not even counting the cost of a common crate engine, there will then be the headache of chopping up the car to try and make that engine fit...which will then chain-react to the rest of the drivetrain which is not compatible with anything that isn't a MEL Y-block. You'll burn through that 50-to-60 kilos of whatever merchandise just trying to do that...and that is not the sort of thing I'd suggest even for pros in chopping bodies. Chopping up a unibody is a very risky venture; the only ones who did it successfully were Lehmann-Peterson.

---Tony

There are a LOT of shops out there that do insane custom work so I would assume more than just one of these cars were built right. I don't think you realize what it actually takes to LS swap one of these cars. Here is a complete build supercharged LS/4L80E/ Ford 9" (thats the same trans they put in the 3/4 and 1 ton gas trucks so yes it can handle the weight). You can see it only required a small modification to the front frame section to clear the long tubes and the AC compressor. The car even retains all the factory floors, trans tunnel, and steering. Remember these are a lot smaller engines then what was in the car from the factory.

https://metalworksclassics.com/portfoli ... 18404-81f8

You always saying people are compromising the structural integrity of these cars with any modifications and the more I look into it I am just not seeing it. The real issue with these modifications is that people don't understand what it takes financially to build something or under estimate the skill required to actually finish something. Hot Rod magazine really convinced people you could ls swap a car in your garage for under $3k and I have yet to see that happen.

[Mike]

The amount of modifying to the floor or firewall and engine mounts to fit a different engine shouldnt affect anything with the unibody as long as you're not removing framing or structural components.
There's a lot of pros to changing the engine- more power, better gas mileage, better parts availability just to name a few. But it's probably not worth getting into if you're only putting minimal mileage on the car and paying someone to do all the work and don't expect to make the money back. It usually ends up reducing the value and makes it harder to sell unless you find someone who wants everything you've done to it.

As for what to check from sitting just the obvious things. What works what doesn't, the brake system, the fuel system, steering and suspension, rust, leaks, hoses.

[LithiumCobalt]

To chime in on the structural modifications, 68-69s equipped with the 460 had the “frame” inside the engine compartment notched for clearance. Wasn’t in the plans to do this when the chassis was originally designed but something had to happen for the engine to fit. Ford modified the original design and I have yet to see any negative consequences of it.

[TonyC]

Ford modified the original design and I have yet to see any negative consequences of it.

I read about issues from books printed back in the day; the last year-and-a-half of the unibodies apparently wound up with highway-speed vibrations that did not exist before. Though none of these books implied that those symptoms were directly attributed to the mods, it was a conclusion I inferred. And I am still not entirely convinced that many here fully comprehend the repercussions of cutting up a unibody. But I'm leaving it at that; I am not looking for a war.

If anyone has evidence to prove me wrong, you're free to share it. I still just do not think that the five figures required for a common crate swap is worth it, as these MELs already have enough strength to break their speedometers. None of the excuses tossed about really justify such a swap, save for "just because."

You always saying people are compromising the structural integrity of these cars with any modifications and the more I look into it I am just not seeing it. The real issue with these modifications is that people don't understand what it takes financially to build something or under estimate the skill required to actually finish something. Hot Rod magazine really convinced people you could ls swap a car in your garage for under $3k and I have yet to see that happen.

Yes, I will agree that mags really like to puff up the glory of swaps, to the point of misleading starry-eyed newbies into donating to the manufacturers–usually far more merchandise than the 3-kilos they claim. But I say what I say because of conclusions that come to me from experience and from researching facts, not blind purism. I sifted through some of that link's picture portfolio; though I only saw some, I saw enough to prove my point. They cut deep into the side and cross beams for that engine to go in. That will compromise structural integrity. Perhaps it isn't being seen because these cars never have seen, nor will ever see, NASCAR-type tracks or speeds; few will even see interstate tracks and speeds. They'll only be parade cars or show-fodder, never used as actual motorized conveyance. I just do not abide fancy, expensive mods for pure show, be they LS swaps by rich independents or factory-installed revving sound bytes to mimic the sound of a high-performance gasoline engine (as some full EVs and hybrid EVs have been doing over the past couple years). Show-off is nice at times, but I just prefer any mods to also be daily-practical.

---Tony