Well I figured I better show off the ol' girl before I put the boat in dry dock for the winter. I bought this 1981 Lincoln Continental MK VI (YES it IS a Continental MK VI and YES it's a 4dr, they were based on the Panther chasis (think Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car) and they were only built and available as a 4dr from '80-'83 and came standard with a TBI 302 and 1980 was the only year you could get one with a carbourated 351) in 2004 for $500.00. I drove it for 3 weeks and the oil pump went. I put her in mothballs for 3 years and paid a guy close to $2500.00 to do an engine job last year. I finaly got her back 4 months ago (yes you rear it right, he had my damn car for a year) only to find out only half the vaccuum lines were hooked up, I spent 1 month of my weekends (no choice on that, it was parked at my parents house 126km away and on average I spent 6-8hrs a shot while I was there) finding the proper locations for the lines to try and make the car run right. Well, while my step-dad and I were working on it we noticed it was leaking antifreeze, so we grabbed one from a wrecker and installed it, but we noticed a strange thing about the car too. When the car was hot you couldn't start 'er with dynomite. We new the battery was good so we started poking around and found it to be the starter. Now, that in itself isn't unusual, but considering that it looked like new other than the fact there was a 1 inch chunk broke out of it because the jerk that did the engine job didn't bolt it up to the block (but, hey, there was only a 1/2 inch gap at the top of the starter where it should've been tight to the block), so back to the wrecker for 2hrs of fun with an '88 Marquis with no tires, a high lift bumper jack, a 2 1/2 ton trolly jack and alot of scrap wood and 4x4 blocks to get a starter. So now everythings great right? Wrong.......the motor that jackass sold me is starting to burn oil now.
All I've gotta say is I love this car. I poured alot of hours into it, and alot of blood sweat and tears. I WILL get the old girl back to here former glory and there is ALOT of work ahead of me. I plan on getting a paint/body job done next summer, replacing the vinyl top and installing a new crate motor myself (like I should've done in the first place). Now, if your wondering why I'm still keeping the old girl after all this? It's simple. I am a true car guy, and this is my baby. The Volvo I had didn't click with me, so I let 'er go. I've only owned a few cars that I really loved (for various, different reasons), the first is my first truck, an '83 Ranger, my '00 Ford Focus, this Continental and my new aquisition a '90 Festiva.
Thanks alot for taking the time to look at my car, have a great day!
Here's a pic of the size difference between my Festiva and the Lincoln
August 17, 2009
Guess what? My fuel pump went on the dang thing last night while driving my fiance home! There goes another $90 for a tow call and another $30 for a fuel pump.........yippy.........
August 21, 2009
Well it's 12am and the new pump is in............ and of course, the battery is dead. Will attempt start with the aid of a boost tomorrow or Saturday.
August 23, 2009
Attempted to get a boost from a cab.........$25 dollars later no go. It ran for a minute, and once the cables were removed it stalled. I flooded it while trying a second time, damn it. Try again later
August 26, 2009
Tried boosting it again, it started and ran. I parked it in front of the building, ran in to get my keys to get into the uderground parking and when I came out it had stalled. I couldn't get it started again(battery died before it started), so I pushed it back into a visitors parking spot. 2 hrs later I got a boost from another one of my tenants, and she ran! And ran good! Once again the ol' girl is back to life and safely in her parking spot!
