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!

Lincoln Leather

Probably one of the coolest finds in this car has to be the condition of the interior. These are the original, white leather seats. Aside from layers of dust and grime and surviving a flood or being submerged (more on that later) they cleaned up like new. I checked the vin tags and these are the original factory seats per the code on the vin plate. Its amazing what Mr. Clean Magic Erasers can do for clean up.

Here they are all cleaned up and ready to go back in!

Delivery

Annie was delivered to me on New Years Eve 2011. These photos are of Annie when I got her. Future posts will show before and after photos as I work on her.

Coming out of Hiding-She was down in Atlanta in a storage unit...for who knows how long?

Annie's Piggy Back Ride-This is how she was hauled up to me from Atlanta! Thanks Tom!

Here she is in my garage. The layers of dust from storage still on her.

A peek under the hood. Damn I've got my work cut out for me eh?

 Even in its age, the Dash is pretty cool.