Projects 1962 lincoln continental build "the green mile"

just been slowly making all the mounts for the hydraulic pumps and welding in the front pumps, ordered a new spline key for the pump and some cylinder rebuilds for the front I got to go pick up some fittings that I need to use and order hopefully the manifold to controle everything next week

making the mount for pump

the pump is bolted in through the door jamb it will be easily accessable, these are the bolts that will hold it I still have to weld sleeves around them yet

clearing hole cut for power to the pump motor I will run the wire inside of course there will be a rubber grommet around it



the pump head


plenty of pump and manifold space

 

just did some minor stuff this week ill finish up all the underfender stuff next week

pump spacers made and pump mounted anf the fender mounted to show the clearence that is avail




then since I wasnt happy with the battery indention made on the driver side I made a heavy duty box to mount the battery and got that tacked in






battery looks right at home in there




ill get the pump and battery all welded up next week and all the gussets put in

also nabbed me some 14 inch steels to put on still have to get older spindles for the front yet.

 

any way slow week all I did was finish mounting the pump brakets up and welding them in and welding the battery box in solid still need to make a lower reinforcement but I broke my cutter as I was making it so Ill get a new blade next week.




then went to the big ass swap meet out here to look for some wheels, I had 4 sets that I had picked out around the meet and was going to bite on a set when my homie called me up and said a buddy of ours was ready to sell a set so I went with them and picked them up tonight



got me some NOS spinners from the swap meet for cheap



I love it when a plan comes together



need to get me some pinner whites this week and mount these wheels and then stop bullshittin and get this thing going

 

ordered some more metal 2x2 1x1 and some plate so I can construct the front end now, it will be in a week or so

set in the factory 99 suport as I was going to originaly use it and tie in the 62 front to it, but it sits way to low to even work correctly



oh well its a good thing it would look ugly worked in to the 62 any way :0

so instead I just cut off the lower portion so the rad/condensor could sit in its factory spots and stuck it where it would work correctly and Ill just build a new tubular upper tie bar to attatch it to





oh here is my ghetto moke up how the front end will attach to the 99 frame, nothing it measured as of yet I just wanted to see how well it will work out, once I finalize my idea and get my metal I will measure it all correctly and weld everything in but for the most part looks like it will work out well, plus I can shim and adjust for descrepencies after the fact since its now a body on frame car and not unibody
you can also see the lower rad suport of the 99 and where it will be mounted when done, ill get everything mounted and tacked together then remove the whole front end to weld it up solid before being welded back to the car completely.

 

well the holidays slowed me down plus waiting on my metal etc etc etc......

any way got my 1x1 and 2x2 16 gauge chromoly tubing, two sticks totaling more then 40ft dosnt add that much to the over all weight added to the car

my tubing awaiting its fate :twisted:


now that I had my metal to build the front end I mocked up the front end complete measure out square up and down and side to side




then I added a quick jig holding the front end together square so I can make the body mounts and tie everything together finaly


now I deciced against my sheet metal body mount idea previsouly mocked up in cardboard it just looked well....ghetto :roll: so I had some large tubing cut so I can make some nice heavy duty body mounts


now here is where I added the main structure tubing from the fire wall to the front structure the 2x2 went right into where the factory main upper beam was previsouly



the inside tubing where thein side of the hood lip is was added there is a slight bend to the body where there isnt any to the tubing this will be taken car of when the finish work to the body will be done


now with the upper tubes in place (everything is not finish welded at the moment BTW)
I added the body suports to the frame mounts to tie in the front end
I decided to use 1 3/4 round tubing to make it easy



now with the front end mounted I took out the jig temporaly holding the front together
and started to work on adding the radiator brakets and upper support
the lower 62 suport was cut for clearence and the only part of the 99 used on the front was the lower tie bar where the radiator mounted was cleaned trimmed and spot welded onto the 62 lower suport



now with the lower in I could add the top suport

with it added and measured in I set the radiator back in and tacked the upper radiator brakets just temporaly to hold the radiator in and also to get a visual how everything will look and fit





then I added some diagnal suport bars to the upper radiator suport these also may be used to mount a trans cooler I plan on running as well

and here is the upper suport with some tape on it to better visualize it better for those who can see it well in other photos


thats it for now like I said everything isnt finished welded right now im going to build nearly the whole front end complete then remove it again to weld up everything on the rear of the fenders so everything is tied in correctly and welded in strong plus to add some strengthing gussets and such 8)

 

brought in the hood today to start its mockup with custom hinges. I didnt want to use the old hinges plus all my new radiator suport structer would be in the way of the stock hinges. So Ive horded a few sets of hinges over the past year or two that I thought may work in this application, I also looked at universal billet hinges but decided against them since they were WAY to much in my book for a pair of hinges :0 .

hood sitting back on the car it been nearly 3 years since its been on this car again :0



and here are the hinges I plan on using the cool thing is that they bolt right into the factory hood hinge spot! that made less fab time for this.



and here is how low they lay when closed up


now you may say that these arnt strong enough for the weight of the hood but they suported a trunk of a car that weighed just as much if not more then this hood just fine, also they carry the suport strut inbord of the hinge so everything will be intergrated so its super clean, all I have to do now is add my bottom plate to bolt these hinges in.
Also if you thinking the hood will not clear with these hinges it will they first lift then fold up so the hood will actually sit straight up 4 inches above the car when installed all the way.
also got my custom cut plates to complete my regular car battery today.

 

here is where I had to add the extension to the upper suport so the lower portion of the hood hinge could mount its open on the end temporaly untill I add additional metal connecting to the side structure.




then I set the hood on the car and luckaly since everything is open just reached in and tacked the hood hinge to the new suport structure. If I couldnt have done this I would have just spent 30 or so mins using the measuring tape untill I decided it would work, no biggie.





now I didnt take into account the sweep of the hood (durrr) and I had to trim the front header so it wouldnt hit anything, Ill go back and smooth all this out nice and clean when the body work time is near



I also have to trim a bit from the sides so that the hood will go straight vertical



closed it still needs quite a bit of adjustment but ill have a total of an inch front to back adjustment in the hinge and about 3/4 inch side to side adjustment when complete. plus hood bumpers etc etc...



and with the hood open I think its slick as hell, now I got to order some new struts for it and hoping without a secondary latch when the hood release is pulled the hood should rise all the way to open by itself



also the hinge movent is very fluid with no side binding and im very happy with these hinges

 

got the main battery box mounted in, started on the wiring and reinstalling the dash so hopefully I can get this beast running again by the end of next week


all mocked up and tacked in



and with the battery in


its both mounted to the main body mount and to the upper support...it isnt going anywhere :biggrin:



still got to get the threaded sleeve so I can make the battery hold downs both for this battery and the secondary hydro batt then they will be fully secure

 

got the dash in today, only held in by a few screws (in the original locations ) all I need to do now is minor trimming to some inner dash structure on the left side and heat and push the dash in a bit on both sides to meet the body contour


through the looking glass



fromt the inside, I wish though I had slid the seats back a bit I couldnt quite sit in it comfortably to feel how everything was now





and you can see here how the dash over extends the side just a touch, nothing I cant fix



so hopefully next week I can connect all the wiring up and finaly start this thing! Im glad the dash went in as easily as it did I had figured on as much but you never know what can arise when doing something like this, you never now what unexpected twist may pop up, hopefully I wont have any of those and ill be cruisin this summer

 

been putting in some time this week
welding up some reinforcement brakets were the hood hinges bolt to




that made the upper front pretty firm feeling

added the rear hood crossbar so I can mount the hood latch hopeully next week be able to get that all sqared away


then I decided to hang the doors on here to make sure everything still lines up and the dash clears to the inside of the door was pretty happy that everything went back together so easily and everything fit without any problems :cheesy:



nothing cooler then FACTORY suicide doors even incomplete!



hard to see in this photo but its the clearence between the dash and the door, just at 3/8 enough to make a flat portion door panel for that area and still have everything fit correct :0

 

made a hood latch and striker worked out well got plenty of adjustment now I dont have to worry about the hood flying open while driving in reverse! :0

the hood striker partly pirated from a chevy trailblazer



and reusing my stock 99 lincoln hood latch just got to add a lower brace to steady it more, also the phillips screws are temp I plan on putting in nutserts into the crossbar and it will be firmly held in



also went back over the quarters since they were bare metal cleaned them up and epoxy'd them next week I plan on getting the roof done and putting in the door latches so they stay shut





bit by bit its comming along

 

thats basicaly where im at right now, ive been doing other work to it since (about 3 weeks) hopefully by middle june it will be mainly together (enough to drive) and then I will be doing the drive daily plus work on it routine untill im done.

 

That's some pretty ambitious fab work. I have to admit you had me pretty worried when I saw the pic of the empty shell.

 

I thought you were a complete moron at first...and while I don't care for the modern drivetrain, dash, seats or the hydraulics, I still think it's turning out alright so far...I'd have still left it stock and been done by now...hell, my '63 Dodge gets 17mpg and does 110+mph easily, how much of an improvement is that Crown Vic chassis over that?...plus I've still got a killer looking stock dash and a big, comfy bench seat ...

 

cool .. great job looks like it will be a great cruiser..

 

I think you are doing a great job on this project....When I first saw it I thought OH DAMN! LoL but I see now you know how to Fab things up and make it work. I like the Old and New concept your going for too I love old cars for there looks not for the way they drive..If I wanted to just ride down the road in a dump truck I'd just buy an old dump truck Ha Ha. This way you get the old skool Look but the new age ride ! Cool Build dude.

 

Lot of great work there! I am impressed. The only thing that kills it for me is the interior. I don't mind all the modern drive train and hydros, even my bird is lifted with pescos, but the interior on an old car is what makes it for me.....That being said, keep posting pictures and keep up the great work...

 

thought for sure i was going to read about a continental preoject, just needs finished in the classifieds when i saw the body on the lift. nice work. glad to see you have been able to see it to near completion. will be watching til the end.

 

dont worry the interior is what was in the 99 and it will do untill I get to that point, but I do plan on changing it a bit when I get to that bridge, kinda help tie it in to being in a older car but still keep its creature comforts

 

Cool project. If you could, you should try modifying the stock 62 dash to fit in there. I'm sure there's still enough room behind the old dash to cover the 99's wiring and A/C stuff.


You can probably even sell the doors, trunk lid, etc. from the 99 to a limo or taxi company and make some money back!


Nick

 

i think the modern chassis swap is great for a car like this, but pls reconsider the interior!

 

You are a badass fabricator! I love the wheels and hydraulics. More cars on the HAMB need hydraulics. I am not a big fan of the interior, but thats just me.

 

great fab work i got worried when i saw the shell cut up but u made it work out well keep the pictures coming your doing good work

 

I would have kept the stock drive train. I have an 01 Crown Vic PI with the 4.6L. It seems a bit gutless and doesn't feel like like it has enough torque. I'm sure the 4.6 will feel even more gutless with the vintage Conti on the back of that Panther chassis.
Very ambitious. Good luck.

 

you got skills ,and cool ideas.i wanna see it done

 

Love the build, not trying to hijack the thread but I'm glad to see someone kinda along the same lines. I ended up with a free 98 cavalier with 36,000 miles and just thought hey I'll skin it. Here is a little of mine:

 

Thanks for the motor-vation!!!!!!!!

 

^

98 Cavalier? You'd have been better off with the Rambler running gear...


With all due respect to the OP, I don't see what this has to do with traditional hot rods or customs. Don't get me wrong, I CAN appreciate the amount of work that has gone into this project, and definitely the amount of skill it takes to pull this off, but I have a really hard time seeing where it fits in on the HAMB, a site for traditional hot rod and custom cars.

 

Shooter54 I appreciate your comment and Yes I agree mine is ot, hoping when I'm done their is no way to tell from the exterior caps dummy spots rear skirts shaved handles. Mustang II, airbags, updated chasis, all creep in all throughout the hamb. Just shared because I liked the work on the green mile.

 

Bitchin build, but as said, please loose the new style interior and dash. The wiring harness etc. could easily be hidden befhind a vintage dash. Not even necesarily the stock Lincoln dash. Custom dashes are cool, just not that 99 Lincoln one...lol. Still, awesome build and I can't wait to see the finished product.