2008 was a busy year. The goal was to get the engine restored.
8/2/2008 Masked and ready for painting.
All finished with nice, shiny Duplicolor Engine enamel
Timing cover installed - note new seal covered with lubriplate. The timing cover was from The Lincoln/Mercury Old Parts Store, in Clearwater FL. The next pic shows the block diverters are installed. These are machined from brass and came from Lincoln Land, Inc., also in Clearwater FL. Tbird guys with 430s - there is a wealth of knowledge out there as the Lincolns use the MEL block for many years. Also check the 430 MEL Engine forum on the Squarebirds site.
Be sure to line up the coolant passage in the diverters with the passages in the heads. Once these babies are pressed in, they’re not coming out again!
Engine casting number 40E10L. Thanks to GTE427 for the Lincoln Service Bulletin, this translates to:
4 = Lima Engine Plant
0 = 1960
E = May
10 = 10th
L = Engine Inspector
The oil pan was dented - someone must have jacked the car up with it. It is made of very thick metal and I pounded it out on a sandbag. Afterwords, I filled it with water just to insure there were no leaks. Ford parts book shows part number C0SE-6675-A. I bought a Lincoln pan on EBay but it does not interchange. The Tbird part must be unique.
ntake Manifold ready to reinstall - Casting number is B9ME-9425-A. The Ford Parts books (1949-1959) shows service part number C1JE-9424-B. The later books (1960-1964) don’t show a part for the 430 at all (go figure!)
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8/10/2008 Starting to look like a thing of beauty. The harmonic balancer and timing pointer have been installed - Lubriplate on the crankshaft sleeve.
The valley cover is in place. Let’s hope the “Right Stuff” makes a good seal.
This pic shows the new fuel pump pushrod. There is also a new eccentric on the camshaft, so hopefully this one won’t wear down! Generous application of cam break-in lube on both sides.
8/12/2008 Intake, rockers, oil filler, oil filter adapter are all in place.
There has been some discussion on Squarebirds on the proper grommet for the distributor hold-down bolt. I cut a piece of fuel line and used more of the “Right Stuff”.
Carb Spacer
Remember the cracked phenolic carb spacer? No one lists the part for the 430, but I determined that the only difference between it and the FE part was the bores, which were too small. I made a rig for the drill press to enlarge the bores. The carb spacer is held down to a 1/2” aluminum block with rubber donuts, so as not to crack it. The aluminum block has pilot holes so the hole saw will stay lined up. After this operation, the bores are the correct size.
Exhaust Manifolds
8/23/2008 One of the exhaust manifolds has a minor crack at the flange. And one of the stud locations was drilled out imperfectly and fixed with JB Weld. These should be OK. I’ll be using conformable graphite exhaust manifold gaskets to prevent stressing these parts. Note, I bought some Lincoln manifolds on EBay, but it appears that the Thunderbird manifolds are not the same as the Lincoln parts.
8/23/2008 One of the exhaust manifolds has a minor crack at the flange. And one of the stud locations was drilled out imperfectly and fixed with JB Weld. These should be OK. I’ll be using conformable graphite exhaust manifold gaskets to prevent stressing these parts. Note, I bought some Lincoln manifolds on EBay, but it appears that the Thunderbird manifolds are not the same as the Lincoln parts.
Generator
The generator field stud got broken while removing the engine. Replaced it with one from a donor. Also replaced the brushes.
Here it is painted (flat) and ready to reinstall.
The generator bracket for the 430. Note there is an approximately .062” thick washer between the bracket and the timing cover. Without this, the bracket does not lie flat and puts stress on the aluminum cover casting.
Air Cleaner, Snorkel & Fan
Parts primed with Rust Encapsulator and ready for paint.
Note I purchased the snorkel and several Lincoln air cleaners and on EBay. I’m not sure what year the Lincoln air cleaners were from, but they were not the same as the Bird’s part. The location of the “cutouts” on the underside is different. So I put more work into cleaning up the original air cleaner and used it. It had a hole on the side where a “California-required” PCV setup had been installed. This had to be patched and filled. Needless to say, I put the original road draft tube back in place as well.
I tried several brands of off-white paint until I was happy with one. This is from The Bird’s Nest, in West Lynn, OR., mixed special for 60 Bird 430 engine.
Engine Reassembled!
7/26/2010 Just for today, I assembled most of the parts and accessories on the engine. This is more or less a test fitting to see that everything goes where it is supposed to. I’ll be taking most of these parts off when putting the engine back in the car. Does make a pretty picture, though!
The oil filler cap and fuel pump will need to be replaced with more correct vintage parts
4-bladed fan - for non A/C 430 cars
Hard to tell from this photo, but I put the coil with the terminals are in the rear. That is the way it was on the car, but it was a non-orginal coil.. I’ve seen cars with them both ways - terminals in front and in rear. The VTCI OFS book doesn’t have a clear picture. Any 430 experts care to clear this up?
