Hey guys I got myself a deal a couple years ago on a 62 continental. I kinda knew what I was getting into as far as the parts availability for these cars and engines.I know this motor is supposed to be a tough egg to crack,but the old girl is showing her age.It was running real good after I rebuilt the carb and solved the fueling and cooling issues,got new exhaust and fixed some leaks.One day a month or two ago it started ticking from the engine on startup and then it would go away after the oil made it to the top (20w50).I drove it around for a couple of weekends just toodlin.Then I drive it to work the other day (35 miles) one way.Halfway through the trip the damn thing starts clattering,sounds like a rod knock.It will be quiet at part throttle,and when it reaches the top of the gear on every shift it will clatter like a sumgun.Sounds like it only does it under load at the top of the gears,and just comming down off them.Then it shuts up.I thought it was a bad spark knock but I put 104 in it and premium.It is also starting to stumble and pop a bit at idle from the exhaust.No power loss no smoke.To me I think maybe a valvetrain related problem.I am going to do a compression test,and was planning on tearing the heads off anyway this weekend and bringing them into the shop.Just wondering if anyone has some insight into this motor and some of the stuff to look for. Thanks for listening to me blabber.
Those motors drain the top end oil thru small holes in each end of the heads. They commonly become plugged up w/ sludge and starve the bottom end. Pull your valve covers and check those holes.
Sounds like smokey is correct. The drain back holes may be sludged up and not letting the oil drain quick enough and starving the oil pump. The noise you are hearing sounds like the rod bearings are worn and when it doesn't have enough oil pressure they will really rattle untill you spin a bearing and it all comes to a stop.
hi i have 4 of these things, check for bent valves and pushrods these rods are solid with no holes in the middle and can bend quite readily . my 62 bent 3 rods in as many days befor i got the engine flushed and cleaned right. ray
Ok it's been awhile but I got er tore down.What did I find? Well let's say I will never let anyone take anything away from the durability of a MEL engine.This thing I believe should not have even started up,let lone run as well as it did.There was a water leak somewhere in the engine that I have yet to locate the reason for.That leak severely rusted most of the internal parts.It looked like a coral reef.First off I found all the rod bearings were completely shot...look like copper and aluminum camo.All the rods wiggled on the crankshaft.All the main bearings are the same.I found a broken spring on the rocker shaft ,so a rocker was wandering around on a valve.The second piston from the front on the passenger side was rocking around in the bore......badly.That cylinder has a dent at the bottom from where I believe some of the old timing components had dispersed.Someone rebuilt the heads and put one of em together with the rotators on the intake valves.All the cylinders are wavy I guess would be the best way to describe it.Pretty sure the noise was coming from Rocky Balboa in the passenger side bank slapping around tho.I'll get pics up soon.Really is a cool old motor and I believe is mostly re workable.I will be pressure testing it to find the water leak,and that will determine weather or not I will start to fix it or just dump a 400 chevy into it with a powerslide tranny.Speaking of wich......looks like a pretty straightforward make your own mounts swap.Anyone got any info on someone who has done this on a slab?
Keep the MEL!!!! Im not sure if you can go .080 on that block, check over on network54 and they should be able to tell ya. Those guys know a thing or two about fords.
I posted this same reply in your other thread asking about the overbore, I believe there is enough meat there, but I would suggest getting your block sonic checked just to verify. $100 for piece of mind is a small price to pay. The other thing you are going to have to check into is the shape of the piston head. The 430's had a plank style cylinder head, and the piston top formed the combustion chamber for a 10:1 CR. IIRC, the 462 had a relief cut into the heads and used a different shaped piston. The 462 piston with the 430 head may cause your CR to be too high for pump gas. Good Luck.
Wow quite a bit of work needed in that block. I have a '65 430 in the shop now, sat for 15 years, rebuilt the carb and it ran ok until we drove it around the block and started dropping cylinders. The rockers were sticky and bent a number of the pushrods. All oil passages gummed up in the heads. Its at the machine shop for a good cleaning now.
The 462 pistons offered look correct .The 430 pistons offered by EGGE look completely incorrect.That's why I was wondering.They seem to use a pop up style instead of the quench style like the 462.If the piston tops are too high I can cut em down.I am unclear as to weather the crown shape of the EGGE 430 pistons will be worse for the engine.As I understand they need the correct shape to avoid detonation.If I spend $600 to have some pistons and rings set up for an engine,I need the motor to make good power numbers.I would hate to do all that work to the motor and not have it perform the way it was intended.
That is the trouble with the MEL, since the piston forms the combustion chamber, rather then the head. Any time Ford Engineers wanted to change the power, CR, etc, of the motor, they had to change the piston, and that created many different designs. Good Luck
You'll be smart to get pistons from JE. They are lighter, and will take modern fuel. Also, make sure your machine shop has the deck plate. If they don't, they'll ruin the block.
look at my post on the mel -engine sight call wally at badjer pistons tell him i sent you he is now making nice mel pistons again just use the 58 style he did for me he can make any comp any bore 285 a set plus shipping you can bore up to 90 over in the safe zone 62 block core shift problems arent that bad you can change you crank and make it a 462 your rods will work if they arent bent go on that site under affordable pistons and you will see my post were you can rebuild real cheap and yes fuck wiesco high dollor crap i have spare parts if you need any there is a guy on ebay thats parting one of those 62 430s out it was a low mile engine he is cheap on his parts
Well........I pressure tested the engine today and found a small lateral crack at the bottom of the cylinder about .500 above the webbing.It looks as though when the timing set came loose on the previous owner,something violently lodged between the rod corner and the cylinder wall causing a dent with a small crack in the middle.I will try to pin the crack,one pin should do it,then I can actually see and measure the wall thickness.If that don't work I may sleeve it depending on how thick the walls are.
Has anyone used these pistons before?The dome is in the wrong place but I could compensate by machining the heads in the valve area.
Pete, No clue but Bakers does have a very good reputation. I'm not familiar with the later MELs but piston design is crucial, I've read that certain aftermarket pistons can drop the compression on a 10.5:1 engine down to the 8s! egge pistons were the culprit if I recall but I'm not totally certain so don't take it as gospel.
It looks like we got .300 on the wall thickness.If this thing pressure tests after the lock and stitch and rock-block,I would be totally fine going .100 over and using the .020 over 462 piston wich looks correct.And will give me a 450ci MEL
Well The bad news is that the block is toast.Somehow the bottom of the cylinders are paper thin.Someone may have tried to put standard pistons on a worn block.At any rate There are alot of good leftover parts =]
Dont do the swap the transmission tunnel is to small you will spend more on the swap then rebuilding the engine. You might try to just find another MEL to swap in with all of the issues yours has. pretty good site for slabs http://www.thelincolnforum.net
About $700 into it. 400 ci chevy .465 .480 lift cam ported RHS heads Edelbrock performer and a 2300 motorcraft 2bbl ,custom oil pan and pickup tube (BY ME) LT1 chevy exhaust manifolds(fit so well it was scary)Hooked up to a Powerglide....just need to get a driveshaft made now.$200 at Proven Force.This motor with a 750 Holly should put out about 500 ftlbs under 3000rpm.
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