Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[gadget73]

The holes are definitely threaded but most of them are so packed up with crap that you'll never get anything in there. Honestly unless you have the heads off or the engine pulled to get a tap in there to clean the crap out of the threads you're better off just chopping up the injector manifold and flipping those plates over for a block-off. I seriously doubt you'd ever get it cleaned out enough with the engine in the car.


Wonder if your rattle is a water pump or power steering pump. I've heard both make that sort of noise. Pulling belts and giving things the shake test might tell you something, or at least it will or won't make the noise stop for isolation reasons.

Possibly the AC belt will work better if you run the slack side over the tensioner instead of the tight side. Mine is that way but I also have an underdrive pulley on the crank and it makes things a little weird.

if the ac compressor clutch won't pull, try giving it a whack on the front to see if it grabs. if it does, fair bet the air gap is too wide and you need to re-shim it. Not very difficult, just pull the front plate off and remove one of the shim washers from the end of the compressor shaft. Often they stick inside the hub on the front plate.

[DerekTheGreat]

I had read that the holes are threaded, but I'll never know for sure with all the carbon in there...

...Yes, there are threads in the backs of the heads, on my 120k mile heads it took about a minute per hole honing with a metal bottle brush to be able to thread a bolt in.

That's what I've read too. Never had a reason to mess with any of it until this truck, so now I'm kicking around the idea of deleting all that stuff from my Lincoln too. Hopefully there is enough room to mess around back there with the engine in the truck. Truck's 351 has unknown mileage as it's not original to said truck. Lincoln has about 125k. Are these the plugs I'd need for either engine?:
Trick Flow Specialties TFS-51400265 Trick Flow® Small Block Ford Thermactor Inserts | Summit Racing

...based on the way the engine sounds and the fact that it's approaching 200,000 miles, I'm wondering whether I should be buying an Explorer engine in anticipation of a swap. Car-part shows a couple at a yard up in Gettysburg for $450, supposedly running, so that might not be so far fetched an idea.

All the 3G, intake, vacuum reservoir, etc stuff happened while I was still in California, probably over two years ago now. It's all added up to make the driver's side much cleaner. Removing the smog pump finally has done the same for the passenger side fender, or at least started the process.

Would be a great idea. If you're serious about it, start collecting parts now. Years ago I was pretty close, bought a donor Mark VII and then decided against the swap. How hard was the wiring change? That later style electrical box looks nice. Might just have to do that to my car.

[Arquemann]

Are these the plugs I'd need for either engine?:

Yes, or you could just get two 5/8" bolts from a hardware store for a fraction of the price. Or you could remove and flip the ends of the factory tube for free. You're not gonna see them anyways, so I'd leave any fancier options for an engine out / heads off situation.

[DerekTheGreat]

I'll probably just flip the factory things. What to seal 'em up with? Heard RTV won't cut it as there's too much heat.

[WagonMan]

Permatex "RED" works for exhaust flanges. It is a high heat RTV. WagonMan

[Arquemann]

I'll probably just flip the factory things. What to seal 'em up with? Heard RTV won't cut it as there's too much heat.

I didn't use anything and they sealed up fine. And I know this for sure as initially I had one clocked a bit off so it leaked. Felt back there by hand alot.

[gadget73]

There is a gasket back there in stock form. if it doesn't tear, you're good. If it does tear just buy new ones. usually they are so plugged with crap that a leak isn't really a concern.

[sly]

I used permatex copper RTV when I did it. Stuff is "high heat" rated (700F) and that spot never gets that hot. Not like being on actual exhaust since that's an air injection path. The only time exhaust comes out those ports is when the diverter check valves are blown/worn out or the crossover pipe has holes rusted in it.

[DerekTheGreat]

Thank you for the tips, fellas!

I haven't touched the truck since we brought it home some 3 or 4 weeks ago now. It's been a pretty red driveway ornament, yet someone has already flagged me down wanting to buy it. Which is to say I have no idea what's going on back there. The exhaust sounds like it has a leak, so I'm assuming the crossover pipe has holes in it. Surprised that whomever swapped the 351 in there didn't delete all this stuff before they stabbed it in.

[Arquemann]

Lutrova Did you find the reason for the rattle?

[Lutrova]

Lutrova Did you find the reason for the rattle?

Not yet. All I can confidently say is that it's not the AC compressor. I've only driven the car once in the last month and I pulled the AC belt before I left. Still have the rattle. Regarding the belt routing, I can't get the tensioner to work with the belt any other way. It is an aftermarket pulley, so I don't know if that meaningfully screws up the geometry.

Next step is to pull the other accessory belt. The water pump is a little over a year old, and the power steering pump might be going on two, although I'm sure it was rebuilt.

Sounds like the worst case would be the timing chain. Far as I know it's original.

Apart from the noise, though, the car is otherwise behaving normally. Fuel economy is holding steady in the mid 15s through mixed driving. Everything feels fine. But obviously I don't want to jump timing or have something else break if I can figure it out before that happens. Only problem is I don't seem to have a lot of time to devote to the car these days.

[Lutrova]

In the past month and a half I managed to do nothing to further my understanding of the issues facing the Lincoln, but I did manage to screw things up more. Somewhere along the way I had loosened the AC belt to where I thought it would no longer turn anything. Turns out not turning the AC pulley is not the same thing as not turning the belt and with the added slack it slapped around enough to shear off most of the electrical connector for the AC compressor.

Having turned a small AC problem into a big one, I brought the car to a mechanic. I left him a list of things to look into, but the two biggest items were to get working AC and to identify the source of the rattle. On the first issue it seems I'm getting a new compressor, which should arrive on Monday, followed by a hunt for leaks in the system. I know there was one at the low-side service port, but perhaps there are more.

On the rattle, the mechanic believes the noise is coming from the rotating assembly, but definitely somewhere in the engine and not one of the accessories. He said the rattle rises evenly with the engine as it's revved. I'm not terribly surprised to hear this, since the engine is approaching 200,000 miles, and the heavy corrosion of the water passages and presence of metal flakes in the oil when I first bought the car would suggest a lot of deferred maintenance over the years.

So with the engine entering the final phase of its life, I need to start thinking about what happens next. It doesn't make sense in my mind to rebuild this motor, not when I could theoretically find a used Explorer engine. I already have Lincoln logs and a Lightning EGR spacer. The biggest gap - replacement engine excluded - is an appropriate ECU. I have a Mk VII speed density computer, but it sounds like that won't cut it with the Explorer stuff.

The other consideration is how much life the current motor has left. The mechanic felt it's far from dead, or at least he's seen plenty of cars still running with far worse rattles. I don't put too many miles on the car these days as it is, but I was thinking of taking it to Michigan and back in a couple weeks. Not sure whether this news should cause me to change plans.

[Arquemann]

Presumed lack of reliability and trustworthiness from an engine making odd sounds is immense. I'm in that situation myself, except with a freshly rebuilt engine...
In a sense you're kinda better off, since you can only lose so much if the engine conks out. I'm absolutely dreading of engine failure, because it's all my money and confidence attached to it. You've already been planning a replacement.

[DerekTheGreat]

Hey, if you're coming up to Michigan we should get a picture of our fly rides together.

I'd run the engine until it actually blows- let the problem fully identify itself before trying to solve it.

I'd put an HO engine in it out of a Mark VII, preferably. These days though, beggars can't be choosy so finding a good HO might be all you can hope for. Might even mean buying a donor car so you can hear it run before going through the trouble of swapping or having it swapped. I did that years ago, but couldn't find the conviction to tear my car apart and the donor itself was too nice. The OG stuff runs too damn good at the moment, despite having a thirst for oil.

[Lutrova]

Presumed lack of reliability and trustworthiness from an engine making odd sounds is immense. I'm in that situation myself, except with a freshly rebuilt engine...
In a sense you're kinda better off, since you can only lose so much if the engine conks out. I'm absolutely dreading of engine failure, because it's all my money and confidence attached to it. You've already been planning a replacement.

I definitely feel for you with your rebuild, that's not a fun situation to be in. The only consolation is that what you lack in funds you can make up for in free time. That's where I was at three years and two kids ago. But even with unlimited time and a good understanding of what you're doing - something I lack - things can still go wrong. When I got the transmission rebuilt the shop rebuilt it at least twice and put hours into troubleshooting it before deciding there must've been a defect with the case that was invisible to the eye. And they were professionals doing nothing but transmissions. If I had tried the job myself it probably never would've been done right.

Hey, if you're coming up to Michigan we should get a picture of our fly rides together.

The plan is to visit my wife's grandfather way up in Lewiston, MI, sometime in the second or third week of July. Last year's road trip to Virginia Beach required every cubic inch of our Honda Fit, and this year we've got a second child, so as long as the Lincoln is up for the drive it's definitely the preferred vehicle. Then again, it's had its share of trouble on long trips before. At any rate, I'll keep you posted as exact dates are figured out.

I'd run the engine until it actually blows- let the problem fully identify itself before trying to solve it.

I'd put an HO engine in it out of a Mark VII, preferably. These days though, beggars can't be choosy so finding a good HO might be all you can hope for. Might even mean buying a donor car so you can hear it run before going through the trouble of swapping or having it swapped. I did that years ago, but couldn't find the conviction to tear my car apart and the donor itself was too nice. The OG stuff runs too damn good at the moment, despite having a thirst for oil.

An HO engine could be a good way to go. Cost is still a concern, and with mass air EEC-IV computers commanding a premium, the Explorer route could run more than I'm interested in paying. A Mark VII donor would be the simplest solution, but I do have an HO upper intake, Lightning EGR spacer, Explorer throttle body, and Mk VII SD ECU, so I could also settle for a roller block, E7 heads, and throw it all together. Plenty still to consider on this whole project.