Episode 5: Exposing the Rust Demons - Lincoln Continental Mark III RestoMod

I originally scoped my 1969 Mark III looking for a new hood for my ‘71. My early 20’s year-old self believed hood scoops were cool. So I cut out a hole and riveted a fiberglass scoop that was supposed to mimic a 60’s era Cobra Jet style if someone hit the 3x enlarge button. Even though clearances were tight with a carb spacer and taller air cleaner, it was a little absurd and I wanted something less obvious and much less obnoxious.

Someone was getting rid of an inherited 1969 Mark III that by that point didn’t have an engine or transmission. It looked straight, but I didn’t really care because I was just going to rob it for its hood and deck lid (trunk). My wife talked him down to $1200, and I couldn’t turn it down. I’d easily get $1200 worth of parts out of it. That was before I had determined this model was too nice to chop up. It was nicer than my ‘71!

That isn’t to say it didn’t have problems. Under the hood had a lot of dirt and surface rust. Some parts were worse than just the surface. My plan was go clean up the engine bay and provide an adequate home for a fresh engine. Replace a few parts. Call it a day.

Boy did it snowball.

1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III Under hood initial impressions. Not terrible…right?

Here’s a different angle of the space in front of the radiator. Fortunately most of this rust is on the surface. Note that I have already removed the passenger side wheel well. This proves much easier when there isn’t an engine, and I didn’t have to be too delicate because of all the holes rusted through on the original version. I will end up swapping out a non-rusty version of the wheel well from my ‘71. This one was beyond repair.

I would soon discover that a battery had exploded causing all sorts of aggressive corrosion. The rust was the worst here, eating holes through the wheel wells… Just ignore the rats nest of

Firewall and Heater Core

This big hulk of fiberglass houses the heater core and the A/C evaporator. This massive engine bay is quickly consumed with components like this. What’s better, when your heater core fails, you have to remove the whole housing to replace it. This usually involves pulling the engine because there’s no way to access all the firewall bolts with the engine in place. Most people get creative and cut a hole in the housing (circled in green) for an access hatch. That’s the easiest thing to do if you don’t mind cutting. Whoever had this car before opted for something…stranger by cutting out the front near the hose inlet and exits, and then slathered some sort of sealant to close it all up again. This isn’t my first rodeo with the Mark III, so I have completely different plans for this monstrosity.

Let’s find more rust. Don’t worry, it was waiting in the trunk. This is a pretty common problem for Mark III’s because of a flow-through air system. When it works, it is a neat idea because it opens a ventilation door behind the rear passenger seats. Air flows through the cabin, under the rear window, and out these vents before the deck lid. Unfortunately, it also creates a basin for water/snow/pine needles to collect. And if the drainage tubes break/crack/corrode (and they will because they are flimsy rubber) all that water will dump straight into your trunk, or run down the other side into the passenger compartment and rot out your floor pans, as was the case in my car.

This was a sad day when I pulled back the carpet to find the floor rotted through. On the plus side, I can almost turn it into a Fred Flintstone car until my engine gets back!

Dealing with Rust

What do I do now? Well I’ve watched enough Bitchin’ Rides to know that the first step to any project is stripping everything down as far as it will go, then sending it off for a dip where magnificent chemicals will strip away all the paint, rust, seam sealers, adhesives, and general gunk so I can work with a fresh canvas. Unfortunately my name is not Dave Kindig, nor do I have the money to send my ride off to his shop so his metalworking magicians can work their artistry. My hat is truly off to them and the many fabulous resto shops. I am envious of the level of talent many of these welders/fabricators/painters possess. Unfortunately, I like most people reading this, must make do with a cramped garage space and a lot of tools that are by no means the best solution.

Into the trunk

I’ve already decided I am going to tackle the trunk first, since it the least visible area, and at some point in its life it will probably get covered with carpet or upholstery. Remember, I am not going for show-quality straight out of the gate. I am trying to cut out and stop any more cancer before it spreads. For this I am going to need a handful of tools. It’s not necessarily the fastest way, some people prefer to use chemical strippers, but they can be super toxic and a pain to dispose of. Not to mention, you are also adding a liquid into what’s already a messy job.

Tools of the Trade

One of the most important tools you can own as a hobby gearhead is a good angle grinder. This 4.5 inch DeWalt angle grinder was my first power tool I bought some time through my Lincoln Mark V build 20 years ago. It has logged more hours than any other tool in my cabinet. If you are new to the car world, I strongly encourage investing in a decent angle grinder. Something similar can be had for around $110.

There are plenty of other reputable tool makers, but this DeWalt has worked for me. It is currently loaded with a cut-off wheel, which isn’t necessary for our trunk, but even the pros use cut off wheels for carving up sheet metal. Spend enough time practicing, and you can become surprisingly accurate with these things.

To eliminate the rust, a good wire wheel is a must-have. It will remove rust and paint, but won’t chew through the metal. Instead it leaves it shiny and bright–which can be either good or bad depending. This one can be picked up at Lowes or Amazon for around $11.

Flap Discs and Scotch-Brite

Below the wire wheel is a flap disc for sanding. Just like sandpaper, they come in different grits depending on how aggressive you want to remove material. I would generally avoid this for surface rust, because it will cut through not only the rust, but also the metal. My car is made out of 18 gauge sheet metal, and an aggressive flap disc can cut through that quickly.

I feel like the wire brush is self explanatory…you can find these at Lowes or Home Depot, or of course Amazon. They are good for clearing out big chunks of gross things, but not all the finer details of surface rust.

Perhaps the most useful attachment that I didn’t learn about until far too late into my project, is the Scotch-Brite Clean and Strip XT Pro Disc – Rust and Paint Stripping Disc. 3M hasn’t sponsored me yet, so I can state without any financial benefit that these babies are amazing! Make sure it is a 3M version because I’ve used others that look the same, and they didn’t last nearly as long. Be warned, this is a consumable item and depending on your task, you might need more than one. But I love how aggressively they remove paint and rust, without damaging the metal. They are also great for prepping surface areas for welding. At between $15-20 a piece, they can become costly quickly, but trust me, they are great.

On to the project…

Priming and Painting

After a lot of time spent with a wire wheel and various scraping tools, I was able to take the trunk down to bare metal. I vacuumed all the dust, and washed all the surfaces with dish soap and water to make sure I got all the crud (I’m sure professional painters are cringing at the idea of introducing water to a bare metal surface, but I’m thinking I acted fast enough drying it before any damage was done, and it seemed like the lesser of two evils versus all the other junk from stripping away the rust. I wasn’t aiming for a flawless paint job in the trunk). After everything was appropriately dry, I hit the areas with Rust-oleum’s self-etching primer which is great for bare metal.

I waited the allotted dry time before going over it with a Rust Oleum High Performance Enamel. Again, the goal was to get rid of any existing rust, and make sure no new rust began.