So....this cars been sitting for a while...and..umm need som

Hey guys, long time no see

*posted from another forum, I get tired of typing it over and over*


A friend of mine approached me today at school and brought something up, that, frankly, I had forgotten about. His grandmother has, sitting in her shed, a 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car. (See where this is going) !!
It has not been inspected since 2004, IIRC. Once her husband died, she didn't drive it. I haven't been to her house to see it, but about 2 years ago, he took a plethora of pictures so I could make a decision. Now, I fell in love with it. (D'uh)

Ok, so. The interior is FLAWLESS. It looks brand new. Not even a crease in the seats. the carpet is clean, the dash isn't even cracked, IIRC. The interior is Jade. (It has leather Twin Comfort Lounge Chairs.)

The exterior, looks like a typical 32 year old car. the paint (light Jade w/ a matching roof) is oxidized, and faded (however, from the photos, a good buffing, polish, and wax would bring it back quite a bit) the chrome is faded, but he put a little polish on the bumper and it shined back up, no trim is missing, both fenderskirts are there, as well as all 4 hubcaps. There is very minimal rusting. None of it would require any more than a sanding, priming, and repaint. He said all 4 tires still hold air, so thats another plus. Are they good enough to drive on.....they've sat for 6 years, plus however old they actually are, so..doubt it. Now, two years ago when we were discussing this, I asked him to see if it ran and so on. He got it to run, and I *think* he said he drove it around their yard, but that was two years ago, can't exactly remember. The car is complete, and the top isn't cracked, from what I remember in the pics.



Ok guys. So here's the thing. I don't know the last time it ran. He said they got it running in 2006, but I don't know if it's been driven since then. So, what would be a *safe* approach to trying to see if it will run?

I'm going to go by Friday and see whats what, I'll only have an hour or two to work with, so I can't just "come back" in a week or so. I mean, I can, but its a 50 minute drive. I know I should squirt a little oil into the cylinders, and then crank it, but...anything else?

Here's the same car, diff. color. Just so you have an idea:

i would say give it a oil change and pull the valve covers just so you can lube the top end up pretty good.. you could pull the distibutor and crank the oil pump but im sure you dont have a spare distibutor around that you can pull apart to make a makeshift primer tool.. i would just pull the coil wire off and then crank the motor till you see oil in the valve covers.. dont use the gas in the tank.. just use some starter fluid or carb cleaner to start it.. the gas is probley bad if its been sitting that long..

To add to what Joe said, the battery is probably long since dead so it will need to be replaced. The brake fluid will need to be changed and if the brakes still work the rotors in the front and drums in the back will need to be sanded down. Most of the rubber in the car is probably dried out, so expect to replace that. I would pull the plugs out to check them and spray some fogging oil in each cylinder before replacing them.

Good luck William, let us know how it goes.

Yeah, the battery is flat dead. From what I remember, if a battery is run completely dead, it's done for, correct?
I know all about changing the fluids (esp. the oil) and all those V-belts

From what I learned years ago, it's best to put a little oil in each cylinder, and crank it with the plugs out, correct? then re-install the plugs.


The forecast for Friday appears to be rain, and low 50's. Yuck. It's going to be raining for three days straight here thanks to that darn hurricane. Already got 2.5" today, and it's still pouring.

If it runs, great! If not, I mean...she wants $500.00. If it cranks, it's got a chance.

it would be an interesting project.. for 500 bucks that aint to bad.. i would do some crazy stuff with it.. make it look like a devil car with some red paint dripping out of the trunk, old outside skonce lights for tail lights and things like that..

Uhh....

I'm thinking at most, giving the engine some more HP, and improving the gas mileage, and that's probably it.



You don't rat rod a pimp car





If I get it, the fun part will be getting it on a trailer :S

1993GMCSierra wrote:

Yeah, the battery is flat dead. From what I remember, if a battery is run completely dead, it's done for, correct?
I know all about changing the fluids (esp. the oil) and all those V-belts
From what I learned years ago, it's best to put a little oil in each cylinder, and crank it with the plugs out, correct? then re-install the plugs.
The forecast for Friday appears to be rain, and low 50's. Yuck. It's going to be raining for three days straight here thanks to that darn hurricane. Already got 2.5" today, and it's still pouring.
If it runs, great! If not, I mean...she wants $500.00. If it cranks, it's got a chance.

Most likely the battery is no good. I have seen a rare few come back from the dead.... but not many. You can crank it with the plugs out, but I wouldnt bother, the exhaust valves could probably use the lube.

Correct, if it cranks its got a good chance. Means no bearing are stuck.

Just a heads up, it's been postponed until sometime this coming week. The last three days have been nothing but high winds and pouring rain ( we got 8") so, it wouldn't have been an ideal time to mess around with a vehicle. Plus, she needs to find the keys

*posted from another forum*



Ok, so here are the pics.



It's quite solid, none of the rust compromises the metal. Even the rust by the cornering light. The vinyl top is PERFECT. Very dusty, but no wrinkling, or cracks. I was shocked. All the tires still hold air, and are not dryrotted. I was blown away. the brakes are not seized, which astounded me. It didn't have a battery in it, and I didn't have a spare, so I hooked up jumper cables from my truck to the battery cables on the car, making sure the positive was away from any metal. I opened the door. Lights came on (sweet) turned the key on, made sure the windows, seats, radio, etc worked, and hit it. All I got was the solenoid clicking. Possibly a bad connection, possibly because my truck battery (~600 CCA's) wasn't enough, and so on. She told me it was running when she parked it, and (get this) if I bought it, and the engine was seized, she would give me my money back. (Then she talked about not wanting to do anyone any malice, etc, etc not relevant enough to post here)

Everything seems solid, she wants $500, I offered 350, but she wants 500. It was her late husbands car, and she said for any less, it can keep sitting.

So, I told her I'd call her back within a few weeks with my final decision. If I can organize some type of transport system, I'm going to be bringing it home. It is quite nice, aside from the faded paint, and little rust spots here and there. 95% of it is all up front, really. Nearly all of it is in the first photograph. The frame is not very rusty at all, it actually has less on it than my old GMC does.


EDIT: the engine is complete, I just took some stuff off for basic checks and moved things. All fluid stains are from me.

cool man.. get er done..

Looks good William. Thanks for the update.

Not a problem I'll post more as time comes.

Thats a sharp lookin car, get here goin again!