Well Bleu was my Mothers car and has been in the family for 23 years, I let her sit parked for about 5 years and other than going out starting her up and maybe circle the block a couple times a year, there she sat. Well the year before last, the squirrels did a number under the hood... They chewed the wiring harness, hoses and a couple of sparkplug wires so she wasn't started for about a year. Well I last year about this time I decided she had been sitting long enough and I needed to put her back in rotation so I drug her out of the carport with Scooby and got to work... I had replaced the air suspension with coil over struts a few years back so I didn't have to worry about that issue(the air ride was a major pain over the years), so I replaced all the hoses, plugs, wires, water pump, thermostat, sway bar links etc... Got her up and running and drove her up to Brooksville for some tires (Big Blonde mistake...). I had a feeling I should have had her towed up there because the rear tires were the original 1991 tires that came on the car and one had been flat for a while... My boyfriend convinced me that the tires would be just fine... In his defense he was right about the tires however, I still should have listened to my little voice. As I was driving I could smell the brakes, so I pulled over and checked the rear wheels and they were a little warm but not bad. My thought was the parking brake cable was stuck a bit from sitting so long... Wrong. Turns out it was the front calipers not disengaging and on that 45 mile trip I fried my Transmission. Made it within 2 miles of the tire shop though... So needless to say my transmission needed to be rebuilt. I wasn't thinking about the front brakes being bad because just before I parked her I had replaced the calipers and pads and they maybe had 800 miles on them... Oh, well lesson learned!! Now I have another 2 years and unlimited mileage warranty on the transmission. While at the transmission shop they were kind enough to (I supplied the parts) install the new motor mounts and the 2 front swaybar links at no extra charge. Not long after getting her back on the road a friend of mine flew in from California and we drove to Virginia and back averaging about 26-28mpg with no issues. After about a week of being home I noticed my coolant was a little low in the reservoir so I poked around and found a little seepage behind the timing cover so I put some Bars Leak in and that took care of the problem till about a month ago...  I noticed a small wet spot under the car and sure enough it was leaking again from the same spot. Time to take the cover off and put on a new gasket.... OMG that turned into the project from hell!!!!
No matter how we tried that &^$%^& cover would not come off!! 2 of the studs were rusted solid to the aluminum housing and one of the other bolts had the same problem. Tried begging, pleading, cursing and heating them up with a torch all to no avail...       So when all of that didn't work out came the sawzall and the sledge hammer    Took a week to find another cover( well found one before the old cover was smashed off the car however when I called the next day to see if it had been taken off the car at the parts yard he told me the guy cracked it when he was removing it) groovy... Get the part here and installed it, put the distributor back in got it started before putting all the pulleys and belt back on ( I accidently moved it out of TDC when torqueing the harmonic balancer  ) anyway it started so I buttoned everything back up ready to set the timing.... Yeah, about that... Now it doesn't want to start and I have no spark... WTF  Soooooo, I get a new distributor and that fixes that issue. However the other day the alternator decides to go south. So I buy a new one and install it takes less than 10min, but the new Alternator is not working so I drive it over to advance for them to test it in the car and then I remove it so they can bench test it as well... The guy bench tested it 8x in a row and it tests good ( they don't have another one in the store either) Anyway we are trying to figure out WTH is going on. The one guy refuses to think it is the new alternator and insists that it is the computer or fusible link in the car... I even had the help of the mechanic shop across the parking lot (AWESOME bunch of guys) they printed out the wiring schematic and we tested all fusible links and all are good the only possible thing it could be other than the alternator is the resistor in the instrument cluster. We tested the theory by jumping that wire with a test light. That did make the alternator start working. However before tearing the dash apart (scary thing to do on a 23 yr old car because everything is old and can be brittle) I call the guy at Advance and he is having another alternator brought from another store for me to try...   Well THANK GOD that worked!!!     I did not want to go fishing in and around the dash and instrument cluster as this car is an electrical nightmare with all the sensors, sensors for sensors and many computers. So hopefully that will make her happy for a while and I don't have to do anything other than routine maintenance...

Turn her into a real Hot Rod Lincoln!!!

Sad the head gasket had to blow out on you. I agree with the guys do you homework and research and find out if there was any weakness or issues with parts and correct them now before buying more stock OE part that might cause issues later again. But I would upgrade everything I could.

 

Hmmm... Heads are off you should take the time and slip a beefy cam in it.

And are you paying for said "Beefy" Cam Mike and added fuel that it will take to run her??    Stock will be just fine...

A lot of times you can put a "beefier" cam in and get better mileage! That is PROVIDED you keep your foot out of it...... I had a 1976 F150 with a 360 in it. I was getting 9 mpg. I put a cam in it and dual exhaust then the mileage went to 14 mpg.

Wonder if you didnt have a plugged exhaust on that old ford. I had a 1976 F250 with a bone stock 390. I averaged about 12-14 all that time in that truck. Still had good power too. Man I miss that old thing sometimes though.

Wonder if you didnt have a plugged exhaust on that old ford. I had a 1976 F250 with a bone stock 390. I averaged about 12-14 all that time in that truck. Still had good power too. Man I miss that old thing sometimes though.

I kind of doubt it since the truck had 27K miles on it when I got it but you never know. The guy I bought it from lived a mile from his work. He drove it a mile up a hill in the morning and a mile down the hill in the evening. I also put new rings in it too.

And are you paying for said "Beefy" Cam Mike and added fuel that it will take to run her??    Stock will be just fine...

 

No different than my truck beefer injectors and Edge Comp and went from 16-17 MPG stock to 22-23 MPG AVG and high mark of 27 MPG. Do your homework I bet you can find all kinds of smog related designed parts in that engine possibly gain some MPG from it too.

 

Heck even the 1996 Dodge 1500 I manage to improve the MPG's on it with a Mopar Performance PCM and a intake gasket (huge vacuum leak). Still can reach about 15-17 MPG AVG with it.

 

It's all about learning what the manufacture did to said vehicle to meet EPA requirements. Kind of like 3rd gens with it shorten exhaust cam lobe to make for a in-cylinder EGR event.

I'm just saying if I beefed her up I would probably find that my lead foot would return along with some tickets I'm sure

I'm just saying if I beefed her up I would probably find that my lead foot would return along with some tickets I'm sure

 

Now that there is a personal problem not a engine / performance problem. I can't help you with that YabbaDoo...

The 3.8 we had in the wife's Lincoln would fly. It seem to have alot more power than it should have. 

Let's just say one of my Mom's nick names was Little old Lady of Pasco County... I remember if we ever happened to pull up next to each other at a light we would always take off the line burning tires  !!!! Mom in her Lincoln (she was in her 70's  ) and me in either my little truck or my 74 Buick Apollo

Well I sort of got the gasket kit for the Lincoln today... Well the gasket kit arrived today as expected however, even though the part # on the outside of the box was correct, the interior contents of the box were a mishmash of gaskets some of which had been used   My heads have been ready since Tuesday and only waiting on the gasket set to arrive to give the machine shop the valve seals... Oh, and by the way.... this odd set of gaskets had 0 valve seals in the box   Did I mention the part # on the box was Correct/// however, Not 1 gasket in the box was a gasket for my car  Oh and it was factory sealed...   Advance did step to the plate though... They are sending me a 45.00 gift card and my parts will be at the store 3 miles from me in the am

 

That's just wrong your first picture of a used head gasket in the box and the second with a torn gasket. I'm glad someone step up to the plate and deals with stuff like that yet. I've gotten computer parts in the mail that have been used man talk about being pissed off. Even for personal stuff it sure sucks when your time line is riding on the parts.

 

 

I couldn't agree more...

That is is pretty darn screwy there. Glad they stepped up and fixed the issue.

Geez, that would be enough to piss off the Good Humor Man........ Glad it is getting straightened out. I would be opening the package before I left the parts counter.

The first set was mailed to me because it is not a Stocked item... I called the manager at the store just down the street from me and he had a set waiting for me this morning and yes, I opened the package at the counter   They even switched out the lower intake gaskets with rubber ones from an intake only set as the ones that came in the head set were cork... Even the picture shows rubber for those... Anyway I was able to drop off the valve seals to the machine shop and they will be ready  Monday   They sure look Pretty

Dang, they look like new heads!

I know       

When you get them back make sure to follow the torque pattern and instructions on torquing the heads back on. Typically like a 3 stage process (or might be?).