DIY Engine Drop, A War of Inches

It has been so long since my last post, but the activity on my Lincoln has never stopped. The engine, some 4 months later, is finally back in Annie and ready to rock as soon as I can tie up a few lose ends. Now for the good part. I finally picked up my freshly rebuilt Motor from M&D Automotive of Purceville, VA. It has been a pleasure working with this shop and the team there are pros when it comes to building new or restoring old engines like Annie's 368 Lincoln Y-Block. I will hold my final recommendations on them for the day I fire this engine up and hopefully rattle a few windows of my neighbors just to validate any suspicions they have about how crazy I really am.

My last post talked about the 30 or so steps to remove an engine. I did it myself which is something to be proud of. But the moment of truth is dropping it back in. One man, one borrowed truck, one engine crane, and a lot of out of the box thinking.

The out of the box, or rather, garage thinking came when I could not get the 700 lb engine on the crane past the opening of my garage. I tried a few tricks to no avail and decided to take Annie to the engine and rolled her out into the glowing lights of my late night driveway project. Then came the war of inches. I lowered it in and began inching it forward. All the time trying not to scratch it or tear a part off on the narrow engine mounts. At some point I had to stop and remove the oil filter and probably should have done the same with the oil pressure sensor because I tore that off later against said engine mounts. Oh well, collateral damage I could live with. Finally she was nearly in position with more ups, downs, jiggling, pushing, hoping, and wishing. At some point I was even underneath, jacking up the tranny, aligning the shaft or yoke with the converter hoping like heck I got it right. About to give up with a mere half inch to go, I realized she was aligned perfectly with the bolt holes on the transmission and decided to test a theory. As it turns out, mind over matter really does work and the bolts reached the engine just enough so that when I started the thread and began turning the ratchet, the engine pulled in to her final resting place. Perfectly I might add! So there you have it. A DIY engine drop. It took me about 4 hours to do it myself without anyone to hang around, drink my beer and offer advice. Which is a good thing because I needed those extra beers to celebrate. How could you not. I mean look at the thing!

And in case you forgot, here is what she looked like just a few months ago.

The Point of No Return

Well, the Lincoln Shop Manual guided me through a successful 30 plus steps to pull my engine. When I rented the engine crane and went to pull it, I found this to be an easy Friday afternoon thriller. This is my first official engine pull. Went pretty smooth but leaves me wondering how easy or challenging it will be to reverse these steps when I get the rebuilt Y-Block back from M & D Automotive of Purceville. M & D is another post or many post altogether and more to come on that. All I can say about this is to be wise enough to know what you simply cant do yourself...before its too late.

Now my excitement is off the charts with so much to do! I have fuel lines to flush, carb to rebuild, starter, generator, fuel pump, etc to rebuild or replace. Where do I begin? This is my happy place. And how can I forget the engine bay? Im already picturing this pristine, like new engine bay with a clean rebuilt Y - Block in there. But what I have to do to make this happen is the real journey. One that I will enjoy every turn of the ratchet, stroke of the wire brush, wire to replace, and spray of new paint. Lets not forget skinned knuckles, oily messes, and inconvenient trips up to the hardware store for that one open end 11/16th wrench that is just the right size to get that one last bolt loose either. A man hasnt lived until he has gone this far...the point of no return.

750 Lbs of Detroit Iron

Gasp! Yikes! Holy expletive!

Yes, those @#! exhaust manifolds are still hanging on to the rusted remains of the exhaust pipes that were just too stubborn to get at with the engine still in. But NOW, I have access and they shall surrender.

Hey! Pull My Engine!

I followed the original shop manual for pulling my beloved, rusted, and drowned 368 Lincoln Y Block. There are roughly 30 steps but honestly, it wasn't too bad. I read somewhere your typical shade tree mechanic can be ready to pull an engine in 2 hours. Im a pretty experienced shade tree mechanic but I have a freaking garage and it still took me about 8 hours off an on!

Most of the process went well. There is one bolt between the firewall and engine connecting the block to the bell housing that took me about an hour to work free with an 11/16th open end wrench, some work on my cursing, and some good old perseverance. Im not even sure how my hand fit in there but there was just enough room for my hand to hold the wrench like tweezers and some how, magically, get it off. I think I only dropped the wrench about 20 times in the process which involves a process of climbing out of the engine bay, crawling under the car, and retrieving the wrench. I am amazed that it landed in different places each time. Anyway, here she is ready to pull. It looks pathetic, rusted and sad because it is. This a great before shot. Next up is to rent and engine crane, truck and cart this 750 lb block of mechanical genius of to a professional shop for a rebuild...and maybe a few extras to boost the HP and give Annie a little Bad A$$ rumble too.

Water water every where...and my engine took a drink!

Finally ready to contemplate what to do about the engine. I decided to dive right in. I am not sure why this amused me but it did. If there was any ever doubt this car had been submerged at one point it was removed upon draining the oil. I pulled the dip stick and knew there would be trouble. It was dripping with grey sludge that used to be oil and clear drops of water. I rolled up under Annie to find the drain plug. Amazing, it wasn't rust frozen on to the pan and turned easily. Then came the surprise. As I unthreaded it, water came gushing out. About 3 gallons of clear water with a little oil residue.

Alarmed and telling myself I told you so as I was recalling the power seat motor I replaced and got working again was rusted from what had to be prolonged exposure to significant water, I called it a day and went to the Lincoln Forum and asked some veterans what I was about to get myself into. The kind folks there gave me confidence and I went back and pulled the oil pan and looked up into what happens to an engine when it gets submerged and holds water for multiple years. Not a pretty sight. Brace yourself!

So I am looking at rebuilding my Lincoln 368 Y-Block. What else can I do? Its the only way. Do it right and get her back on the road again. I am already researching and I may have found a local machine shop/engine rebuilder who can help me bring Annie back to life. Its just a little rust baby! Not the end of the world. We can do this!

Trunk Troubles

Okay, how exactly does cancerous rust get up into the hinge plates of a trunk? I suspect it was submerged at least up to the trunk lid and the original trunk lining held the moisture like a sponge long enough to do its damage. As a result, the trunk lid was a mess. It was out of alignment, bowed, and would not even close. It took a lot of work to correct this. I almost gave up and started searching for a replacement trunk lid. The prices I found motivated me to go back and try, try again! And while I was at it, I did some more rust busting on the trunk floor which came out pretty well.

Looks much better with the rust removed and a coat of black primer:

Found a new replacement for one of the hinge springs at TSC Tractor Supply. Got lucky on that one. Even luckier with a screw driver when putting it on. Only took one try!

Where the Hinge Plate was mounting Before. Gee no freakin wonder that trunk wouldnt close.

And here it is back on. Fully closes, latches and opens as it should. Another problem solved.

Interior Looking Better

Its not 100% complete, there are still many things to bring it to that polished, show worthy level. But I want to leave myself projects to tinker with in the future. This is good enough for now...too bad I realized I forgot to add seat belts to the rear seat which will require me to pull that back out but once you've done it one time, it goes faster the second time around. No worries, easy, future job.

Found some great black auto carpet at Lowes to replace the musty, dry rotted, dust ridden and rust scaled original carpet. I used the original pieces to trace and cut the new pieces. Worked out pretty well!

This will be all I do for now. I cant work on the door jams/thresholds until I replace the rocker panels (rusted). Which means I get to do a little welding...cant wait for that!

Rust Busting...And So It Begins

My first priority and concern with Annie was rust. I knew right away, that there was something suspect about the musty smell of the interior, dusty carpets and the water stains on the arm rests. This old girl has been swimming. Not sure when or how, but she got wet. Under the carpets I found plenty of rust. Thankfully it had only rotted through in a few small places that could be patched with sheet metal rather than replace the entire floor boards. I would also like to thank the original owner for undercoating this car. Had it not been for that, it could have been worse!

Before:

Rust Removed (This took some scraping, wire brushing, and Purple Power Rust Disolver):

Notice the water stains on the Arm Rests:

And finally, a little flat black primer to protect the hard work before carpet covers it up:

PS I took the opportunity to check wiring with the interior out. Surprisingly, everything checks out, even after being in water who knows how deep or who knows how long!