Looking great...there's not many cars running early ohv engines at Pendine...should make it a competitive car I reckon! Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Well I finished it enough to run it at Pendine Sands this last weekend. I’d not driven it before and it does everything well. Drives very very well, and really hauls. Well, except that Lincoln Teapot carb thing where they catch on fire ……it’s true, they are a ‘Towering Inferno’! Now looking for suggestions for a better carb and distributor pairing as I know they aren’t a simple match.
What year is your 317" Lincoln?(the distriduter/oil pump shaft change from blade & slot to hexagon shaft in '54) Suggest '57 or newer Y-block Ford distributer/ hex shaft/ oil pump(you will need to transfer the Lincoln distributer gear to the Ford distributer) If you can find a '57-'64 Ford F-8 truck intake manifold(same motor as the Lincoln) you will be able to use a "modern" Holley carburetor. Solves the problem of carb/distributer match & gets away from the fire problem of the old "t-pot" carb. PM me if you have questions.
They're good motors! Good luck with yours!! I see that you have the commercial exhaust manifolds(good choice!) What transmission & driveline are you using?
Pretty cool ride. Some Merc y blocks used a (IIRC) WCFB, same small base as the teapot. Might be a better choice than sourcing the later manifold, or dealing with an adapter. I think jimmysix on here runs those on a 2x4 manifold, he would probably know the details
The '52 Lincoln & the'53 Merc both used the 2bbl version of the "T-Pot" holley. '53-'57 Lincolns used the small(square)base 4bbl with the 4bbl "T-Pot" Holley, although they changed to a Carter in '57(on the same base). It might be easier to find a '53-'57 Lincoln intake so as to have a 4bbl available & use an adapter to a different carb. You will need to change to the later distributer/oil pump as the original distributer doesn't work well with any other than the original carb. If you already have the 4bbl "T-Pot" Holley, either you actually have a '53-'54 motor, or someone already has changed the intake manifold!
Intake is already later 4bbl and I sourced the exhaust manifolds in the US (took a year to get them back to the UK!), but they’re great and look cool. I have a T5 gearbox (as I want to use it regularly; it’s the only ‘modern’ thing). I found a 368 bell housing in the US which bolted right up, the back was simply drilled for the T5 with some alloy blocks welded to strengthen the area for the new bolt position after some careful measuring. A 427 flywheel was re-drilled for the Lincoln crank and a Ford/Lincoln ring gear added. I used a high torque starter from a T-Bird, which again was a bolt on job. The flywheel was drilled for a Range Rover 10.5” clutch cover ( readily available in the UK) and a McCleod Mustang T5 clutch plate bolted straight in with ARP fixings. I used an AP Racing concentric slave which actually kept things fairly simple. The T5 gets to the 39 back axle through an open drive drive shaft and off the shelf open drive conversion. This all works REALLY well. Clutch is nice and gearbox is brilliant.
You've gone in the direction I would have reccommended with that collection of parts you've used!! (The 368 stick bellhousing is extremely rare, even over here, unless it was an after-market unit, but even then a bit rare & expensive!!) If you ever need to use a "scatter-shield", the steel "Lakewood" style from an FE Ford(like your flywheel) can be redrilled & massaged to work. Rich Fox(RIP) shared the details about that shortly before his passing. No, we're Not the only ones in the world crazy enough to "like" these motors!! LOL!!
Hello sir . I am In Sacramento also and have 52 Lincoln, that will be getting a 53 motor. I am in search of a 4 barrel manifold and the exhaust manifolds that will allow me to run a true dual exhaust. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you for your time
bigcaddypoppa : please PM me & we can discuss this privately : I can give you info about where to start your search.
An update after a further year of owning/driving. I use the car as much as possible with some runs of several hundred miles at a time covered. It’s a great road car and this year also managed a respectable 89.87mph on the wet sand at Pendine. I wasn’t sure what the rear axle ratio was in the 38/39 rear end and it turns out it is a 4.44. It’s quick to 70/80mph. Just ordered a 3.54 from Speedway which I’ll install very soon and should give it some legs. I’m thinking of shaving .040 from the heads as read on here previously to gain some compression but I’m not sure if I need to go to solid lifters and adjustable push rods. Cam shaft will be reprofiled to 260/270 with 450 lift. Any advice on the lifters and pushrods is welcomed.
Don't worry about the pushrods as you already have adjustable rocker arms. I would suggest going with a hydraulic lifter regrind on the camshaft, if only for ease of maintenance Just be sure to de-burr & lightly chamfer any sharp edges(especially in the combustion chambers) after you shave the heads. Which 5th gear ratio do you have in your T5(either .81 or .67)? With your current 4.44 rear gear you have a final drive of either 3.60 or 2.97 : a change to 3.54 brings you to 2.87 or 2.37, & means that you would almost never use 5th gear, especially if you add too much camshaft & kill your midrange/bottom end!
Good advice thank you. My T5 is ex-truck and has 0.86 5th gear. For Pendine Sands I need it to do everything in 4th. There's little time in the run up to the timed section to find another gear, so 100mph in 4th at 3968 sounds fair. Motorway speeds 70/80mph in 5th at around 2500rpm sound relaxed, it's a light car with a big torquey motor. Fingers crossed.
It's been so long that I almost forgot : In these heads the intake side isn't so bad, but the exhaust ports are too small, so open them up to match your exhaust manifolds & cleanup the manifold ports to be as even as possible. Don't go "crazy", but even & balanced will really help!!
The Jalopy Journal
