The Car Which Shall Not Be Named III (1935 Lincoln K)

[Walt G]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

"can the car drive 1000 miles?".

ABSOLUTELY, show cars are great, have returned a 100 + year old car back to the way is was when new and most likely much better.  We all get some great joy from the cars in many ways: working on them, looking for the parts and literature that is for a particular model or series, the award that is handed to us after judging.........but I know the best reward for me for the past nearly 60 years has been to go for a ride or drive down the road in an old car. Be it a short trip or one that takes many hours to reach a destination.  And it always works better if someone is along so we can share the experience. As a friend who visited me from England many years ago so he and his wife could attend Hershey with me said" old cars are best viewed when in motion" . This was stated as we walked back from the blue field in the flea market ( now roller coasterville) and paused to see a black 1937 LaSalle sedan drive by. I also take great pleasure in seeing people who are walking along next to the road , when they see the old car I am driving, then smile and usually wave hello and I wave back. Makes my day that I shared a moment of happiness with them. Kids especially just light up with a sparkle to their face.

That is the one thing in life I know I can count on to make me feel good. that shared moment. Life is so short, make yourself and someone happy while you can.

Walt

PS I know that was pretty sloppy sentimentalism but that is the way I am most of the time

Edited March 24, 2022 by Walt G (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

This thread reminds me of how hard (in an extreme example) it is to sort a car.   A friend and I were talking the other day that the market doesn't know understand or value the 5% of the cars that are really sorted correctly.   This is related to what Steve said a few posts ago,  but the sorting is different than a high level club award which is really fit/finish/details.   Not "can the car drive 1000 miles?".

I have a Model A friend (now upper 80s and has slowed down a bit) who did a few restorations (late 90s to about 5 years ago) upon retirement, and a ton of sorting work for local club members.  So maybe not really retirement... 

 

The A market may be a bit unique, but regardless of body style, sedan, coupe, whatever, he always pulled 30% or better over generally accepted numbers for a given car.  While nice as the multitudes of other cosmetically nice As, his were essentially brand new mechanically. Reputation and sorting only needed to find a small percentage of the A market.  I would argue those cars were as well bought as well sold.  Less hassle down the road for sure!

 

I regret not buying one now that I could do it easily, as I would be ahead of the game...  over investing now like everyone else I suppose!! 😁

[Matt Harwood]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm past the whole "trying to make the finances work" part of this project and have resigned myself to putting it back together and driving the hell out of it. Despite everything I've been through, I'm still excited about the car and eager to enjoy it. I have a lot of plans beyond the engine and am hopeful that it will be as great a tour car as my '41 Buick is. With a fresh engine, there should be no reason why it won't be bulletproof. I think I mentioned that I have a Gear Vendors overdrive on the shelf and I'm leaning towards putting it in this car instead of the '41 Buick, which is already a 65 MPH cruiser. And everything else will be new (wiring, tires, seals, etc.). It'll be a runner.

Yes, I agree, once it's right it should have some worth beyond its intrinsic value. A well-sorted driver can command a premium and while my experience says most people don't particularly care, should I ever wish to sell it there will [hopefully] be a guy who will pay a little extra for a car that's turn-key reliable with all the hard work done.

 

But none of that is the point. I'm not doing the math and I'm not counting the receipts. I'm just hoping to have a car running by August. That's the finish line.

 

In that spirit, I've been busily doing some homework and reaching out to every Lincoln V12 guy I can find. I've spoken to a few companies that do babbitt work and found one who can re-babbitt the main bearing shells for about $300 each. Egge doesn't make pistons for this application anymore, but custom pistons from Ross or Arias are about $300 each--not cheap, but they'll be lighter and stronger than factory and we may even be able to add a little compression. I also talked to a few experts who inform me that Federal-Mogul bearings for a 7.3 liter Ford diesel truck (part no. 3810) can be used in Lincoln V12 rods with some machine work to make them a little narrower. Is that a solution? I don't know. I'll pursue all this with Frank and see what he thinks and what the next steps might be. 

Gotta keep moving forward. Time's a-wastin' and that's the one thing of which I can't get any more.

[edinmass]

Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Matt and Mel’s shop and showroom for a few hours. I must admit......the place was HUGE! And very, very well done. I think it’s fair to say it exceeded my expectations by 300 percent..........I have been at the old car game a long time........very few showrooms can compare........very few. Had a nice lunch and walk around the cars in the display area. I can recommend them if your interested in buying or selling a car...........it’s a rare experience to see old cars done so well. So, I give them my very rare three thumbs up salute! 👍👍👍👍

[Matt Harwood]

Score! One spare Lincoln K V12 engine, complete less one cylinder head:

 

 

  

One spare V12 engine, loaded and ready to go home.

 

Drove up to Whitby, Ontario just outside of Toronto to see Art Carney and Peter Fawcett, who run a rather unassuming yet impressive restoration shop. A quick tour of their place showed me a restored Ford Model F speedster, a Thomas Flyer undergoing a full frame-off, a massive Stevens-Dureya touring getting freshened up, and a half-dozen other cool projects. It's the kind of shop that looks like chaos but it's all organized and I bet Art can lay his hands on anything he needs. The shop had a comfortable, lived-in look that I found very appealing.

 

Anyway, we went to their storage facility up the road and he had a rather significant cache of Lincoln parts--looks like at least three engines' worth of internals and crankcases, two rear ends and torque tubes, a front axle, a set of artillery wheels from a later K, plus the complete engine I was there to buy. It was A LOT of stuff. Art wanted me to buy it all as a lot, but it was far more than I could use and certainly more than I could carry. I don't need another huge pile of parts sitting in my storage room. And who knows what they'll say at the border when I try to drag this stuff across (I'm still in Canada--having dinner with Melanie's family tomorrow night)? Technically it should be no problem, but then again maybe it won't be...

 

To his credit, Art allowed me to cherry-pick the parts I needed from his cache, starting with the complete engine. I also grabbed another full set of manifolds (in addition to those on the engine), a set of roller lifters, a spare crankshaft, a complete air filter assembly, and a few torque ball parts, just in case. Oh, and a spare torque tube and drive shaft for a short-wheelbase car like mine--perfect for, say, installing a Gear Vendors overdrive. His buddy Hughie came by with his forklift and helped us get it loaded up--thanks, Hughie!

 

Some useful spare parts.

 

And a spare driveshaft/torque tube.

 

I told Art I'd try to find a home for the rest of the stuff that I didn't buy. Here are some photos and details:

 

Multiple engines' worth of pistons and rods, a camshaft,

another crankshaft, a set of intake manifolds, two 

oil filler tubes, a few clutches, a water pump housing,

and a whole bunch of little stuff that holds it all together.

 

Three aluminum crankcases, one with the crank

and oil pan still in place. I'd assume there's still

a timing set and chain inside the front cover.

 

  

Complete transmission and rear end, presumably from the

torque tube I took. A quick count of the teeth puts it at roughly

a 4.25 ratio, so not a high-speed ring and pinion.

 

Torque tube and rear end from a long

wheelbase car (145 inches).

 

Five decent artillery wheels, standard from 1936-1939.

 

Art was very generous with me and I think the rest of this could be purchased reasonably if anyone is looking. I'm going to shop it around for him to try to find it a home where it'll do some good. It's not for me, but perhaps there's a guy like Ed and John stashing away Lincoln parts...

 

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

Meanwhile at the machine shop, we're looking for suppliers who can get things done for us. I'm trying to figure out the insert bearings for the rods (Ford diesel truck bearings apparently work but they're obsolete and no longer available other than NOS), while we'll probably have the mains re-babbitted and line bored. The .030" oversize pistons already in the engine weren't made by anybody we can find and therefore new piston rings don't exist for them, so we're going to have new pistons made (@ $360 each!). Frank is concerned that the cylinders are worn egg-shaped and that the sleeves someone installed at some point won't accommodate any additional overbore, so hopefully the blocks on this replacement engine have a little more meat on their cylinder walls.

 

Sadly, all that means time and it looks like the soonest we'll have pistons is mid-July. There's no way we're assembling an engine, testing it, installing it, and getting a car ready to drive in time for the Lincoln 100th Anniversary event in August. That is really disappointing but I guess working without a deadline will ultimately give us better results. There's always next year, right? I'm from Cleveland--"it'll be better next year" is a way of life around here.

[Terry Harper]

Matt,

 

Might be worth a shot to check out Otto Gas Engine Works. They are focused on the the antique engine folks but will make custom rings and pistons to your specs.

 

https://www.enginads.com/otto/

 

Also for rings try Niagara Piston Rings - they have been around since 1919.

http://www.niagarapistonring.com/product-info.html

[AB-Buff]

I have this old business card, I’m not sure they are even in business. 

[edinmass]

 

Obviously an internet scam.............since Matt is a newbie to the hobby, he obviously got taken for a bunch of money. That is NOT a Lincoln Model K engine.......it's a aftermarket boat anchor made for the Titanic 26 years after it sank...........😏

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[edinmass]

 

Sorry Matt.......just getting even for the fat guy on the miniature clown car that you posted in my white thread.......implying it was me. Sometimes I can't help myself. If it makes you feel better, as I am typing this, I have the T Shirt on from your shop you gave me last month...........😜

 

 

Ron up in Canada is a nice guy, and we have done a bunch of business over the years.......he is actually a Pierce Arrow guy.........

Edited April 16, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

On 4/16/2022 at 8:56 AM, edinmass said:

Ron up in Canada is a nice guy, and we have done a bunch of business over the years.......he is actually a Pierce Arrow guy.........

There was a big black 1933 Pierce sedan in their shop as well. Same family ownership from new. Pretty scruffy but apparently they're putting it back together after someone flubbed the engine rebuild and scattered the parts to the four corners of the compass. Over-pinstriped and with a "bordello" interior, it was going to be a driver.

 

Today Riley and I pulled the engine out of the truck bed with the cherry-picker and put it on the ground for disassembly. I'm going to deliver a short block to Frank at the machine shop but he doesn't need manifolds, accessories, or heads, so we removed all that. I don't believe this engine has ever been apart because, as you'll see, it didn't fight us at all. There was no evidence of previous hack work, all the parts were factory-issue, and nothing was hacked together. As my friend BillP used to say, it is "unf*cked with."

 

First up was removing the one cylinder head still on the engine to see if it was any good. The first few nuts came off so easily that I gave that job to Riley and he set to removing 29 acorn nuts.

 

Riley gets busy removing the left cylinder head.

 

While he was on that, I removed the intake and exhaust manifolds. Remarkably, they came off without a fight--not one seized bolt, not one stripped nut, not a single over-torqued fastener. They just unscrewed with moderate effort. Then I pulled the distributor--same easy task. I have a friend who needs a distributor, so I'll sell this one to him; it appears to be in good condition, turns easily, and even the points still open and close precisely. It's grungy but it should be OK to use with some clean-up.

 

Once Riley had all the acorn nuts off, we removed the cylinder head. Obviously it was pretty well stuck on there, but I cautiously used my stud remover to pull some of the studs to make it easier. And remarkably enough, they all came out without a fight. Again, it was so easy, I showed Riley how to use the stud remover and let him do it. A handful of studs fought him so we didn't go after them, but he removed enough of them that we could gently pry the head off the block. 

 

Cylinder head came off pretty easily. There was some

of the usual corrosion but nothing major. Most of all,

there were NO BROKEN HEAD STUDS.

 

    

Then I had Riley remove the old head gasket.

 

While Riley was working on the head gasket, I removed the fan assembly, the starter, and the fuel lines. Riley removed the water manifolds, the oil filler tube, and the distributor stand. Again, every single nut and bolt came off so easily that Riley was able to handle it himself without any supervision. We tried to remove the front pulley but couldn't quite put enough torque on it, so we'll save it for another day. But we got most of it stripped with only the clutch/flywheel and timing set yet to remove (I have another friend looking for a timing chain, so hopefully the one in this engine is usable). Did I mention how flabbergasted I am that nothing fought us and there were no broken fasteners? Why couldn't my original engine have been this easy? I'm not sure how to feel about all the time and effort I spent on it now that I've reached this point.

 

  

We got it pretty well stripped down in about two hours.

 

And did I mention the total lack of broken head studs?

I don't know how to feel about that.

 

I took a quick look inside the blocks and the water jackets are slimy and rusty but not clogged or full of debris. I think it is likely that we'll use these blocks on my crankcase (to keep the numbers-matching engine). These have never been over-bored or sleeved and they don't appear cracked, so they're better candidates than my original blocks which are not only stitched and repaired, but also bored .030" over and several of the cylinders have been sleeved, making another overbore impossible. I'll let Frank decide, but this seems like the smarter choice, especially since all the stud holes are original and none have been drilled or fitted with Time-Serts like my blocks. We also have a full set of good valves to work with and presumably good valve guides. Remarkably enough, this engine turns over easily and smoothly, so perhaps the crank/rods will be in better shape, too.

 

I don't know if there's a master list of K-series Lincoln serial numbers, but I'd like to know what year this engine is. It's considerably later than mine (mine is K4223) but I don't know how much later. It's possible that there are hydraulic lifters in there that we might be able to use if it's a '37 or newer. Does anyone know?

 

Does anyone know what year engine this is?

 

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Bleach]

Maybe Google is our friend. I found a site http://www.classiclincolns.com/model/modelk/index.htm and on that page it says it would be a 1936.

 

[JV Puleo]

A great example of why I would always take an unmolested original car over a "restored" example even if it's shabby or even pretty rough. There is probably one competent mechanic for every fifty self-proclaimed professionals and we may have progressed to the point where the amateurs, with a vested interest in the outcome and a genuine appreciation for the cars, are more likely to do a good job.

[John Bloom]

I like the idea of this “new” engine being the chapter where you turn the corner on this big beautiful Lincoln... it all comes together to provide decades of great touring memories, it is a car that stays in the family, and Riley is a 60 year old guy still touring with it and telling the story from his youth about getting greasy with you and tearing down this engine. 
 

 

[dalef62]

So happy to see that you got what looks to be a good engine.  And it is nice to hear that is is cooperating with you!   Did you say that no bolts or nuts fought you???  I think somewhere you said that.

Good luck with your new engine!

[maok]

Does this mean the EV conversion is off the table.....

[edinmass]

10 hours ago, maok said:

Does this mean the EV conversion is off the table.....

 

 

Don't laugh, a great car is getting cut into a modern POS as we speak...........and I'm sure they will parade it around as the future of antique cars. 

[Matt Harwood]

Performed a bit of an autopsy on the spare engine, taking it down as far as I could before I take it to the machine shop later this week. It was immediately obvious that it has never been apart or messed with--I believe even the clutch is original. Again, no bolts that fought me and they all came apart without abnormal measures. All the hardware is original spec, which is great because I now have a pretty extensive supply of spare nuts and bolts that are 100% correct for the engine. Nice! 

 

Clutch came off without a fight. I believe this

to be the original clutch.

 

Flywheel safety wired by the factory. 

 

And once the safety wire and bolts were removed,

I could verify how the felt oil seal was installed under

the reinforcement plate. Also note the original 

pilot bearing with a grease cover facing the clutch

(you might recall I didn't know which way to install

mine when I was assembling the flywheel).

 

I couldn't get the flywheel to come off the crank, which I recall was a problem with my engine as well. I don't remember how I ultimately got it off the hub, probably a combination of prying and hammering, but I've decided to let Frank at the machine shop take care of it instead. I don't really care if this flywheel gets damaged since I have mine already machined and ready to go, but having a good spare never hurts. 

 

Done with the flywheel, I pulled the front cover to examine the timing chain. Unfortunately, it appears that the timing chain is stretched and probably isn't usable anymore. The one in my engine is almost new, so no worries there, but I have another friend looking for a timing chain and I had hoped that perhaps this one would work for him. Sadly, you can see in the photos that not only is the automatic tensioner at full extension, but the timing marks are off by about one tooth. Interesting...

 

I'm still in awe of the beautiful timing mechanism

in these engines. Note that the chain has some

slack in the top--it's stretched to its limits.

 

  
Timing chain is stretched to the limits of the tensioner and timing marks are

off by about a tooth. This engine was probably not running great.

 

Last step was pulling the valve covers to have a look at the valves. My valves were pretty well caked with dirt and oil, as well as what appeared to be coolant. I cleaned them up as best as I could, but they weren't clean. These, however, are pretty darned nice in comparison. And with these valves and guides in good condition, fixing the valves I bent should be a snap. Again, having a bunch of spares can't hurt.

 

  

Valvetrain looks to be in good condition. Valves can probably

be re-used.

 

  

This engine has four little oil lines feeding the lifters that my engine

does not have (my engine is on the right). That makes me wonder 

if perhaps this engine has hydraulic lifters that could be

retrofitted to my engine.

 

I'm going to encourage Frank to look at these blocks and perhaps use them on the rebuild. No sleeves, no cracks, no stitched cast iron, and they're not awful inside. Frank can probably hot tank them and I can run some Evapo-Rust through them later. 

 

    

A bit of rust and slurry inside the blocks, but not awful.

 

The last thing I did was try to remove some more head studs, but Riley was right: they're pretty stuck. Instead of cranking on them with a longer breaker bar, I left them alone. Frank can remove them at the machine shop--that's his job. I'm not going to risk breaking even one of those bastards.

 

So I'll throw the short block in the back of the ute and take it to the machine shop later this week. I'd like to keep the project moving forward.

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

   

[TexRiv_63]

Matt, tell us the story of the Audi pickup!

[Matt Harwood]

  

1 hour ago, TexRiv_63 said:

Matt, tell us the story of the Audi pickup!

 

   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Is that truck an innie or an outie? 😏

[95Cardinal]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Is that truck an innie or an outie? 😏

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk 😉

[M1842]

What a smart pickup.  Beautiful fabrication and paint!

[TexRiv_63]

Impressive, who did the work?

[K8096]

1937 was the first year for hydraulic valve lifters in Lincoln Ks.  It was the last big mechanical improvement they made on those cars.  It appears the engine you bought is a 1936, so it won't have them.   

Edited April 23, 2022 by K8096 (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

3 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:

Impressive, who did the work?

 

The Ute was built from a kit: https://www.smythkitcars.com/audi-a4-s4-ute

 

It was the first of its kind and it appears that there are still fewer than 10 in existence. More will surely be built but the cost of the Audi donor vehicle will ensure that they're always scarce. One of the guys who built another one paid me a visit a few months ago to see how mine was built.

 

 

I will say that this little Audi is the best car I've ever owned, bar none. Tall statement? It just charms me. It looks awesome and generates more attention wherever it goes than any of my old cars. It's practical (obviously) yet still handles like an Audi sports sedan. It's comfortable and full of options--cold A/C, power windows, locks, seats, mirrors, heated leather seats, cruise control, killer stereo, etc. It all works properly. It has a 6-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive, plus a turbo, so it's a blast to drive. It's also very fast because it's about 400 pounds lighter than the sedan it used to be.

 

But the real reason I love it? It meets my expectations. It doesn't hassle me. It always starts and runs properly. It acts like a real car and the few defects I can chalk up to it being 18 years old and a one-off custom hand-built machine. It is exactly what it appears to be and delivers the goods in every way, literally and figuratively. It drives like I expect it to drive and never makes me feel like it could be better or that it needs more work to be up to my standards. It asks for nothing from me but a tank of premium fuel now and then (hell, the little bugger gets 30+ MPG no matter how hard I drive it).

 

It is everything one would ever want in a hobby car with no crosses to bear. That's unbelievably rare, which is why I'll never sell it. It will always have a place in my driveway.

 

 

 

[edinmass]

 

^{Matt…….nothing like having a special car that truly floats one’s boat. Hell, it will be an antique soon! I like unusual and one off type cars…….I’m sure if I owned it, I would be as big a fan of it as you are.} 

[maok]

The 'ute'? You must have Aussie ancestors.

An awesome conversion.

A big thumbs up.

[Matt Harwood]

Today's discussion topic: Do "matching numbers" matter on a Lincoln K?

 

I spoke again with Frank Seme at the machine shop and the spare engine came apart without issue and it is spotless inside. His first question is whether we should just rebuild that one instead--it's a much better starting point and has notable upgrades since it's a 1936 engine. That led me to have a few thoughts about it: First and foremost, I'd probably prefer to have a "matching numbers" car, even though I am not the kind of guy to whom matching numbers matters. But if this car is going to have a "peak value" at some point, a matching-numbers engine would ostensibly be part of the equation. Fortunately, the aluminum crankcase is the only place the numbers are stamped and we could probably just transfer all the spare engine's parts over to that crankcase and still technically have a matching numbers engine. Yes, yes, I know about George Washington's axe and all that, but the numbers I need would be stamped on that crankcase and therefore it would still be matching numbers.

 

The rub? These little guys:

 

 

At some point after my engine was built, Lincoln engineers decided that they needed more oiling on the lifters and added these oil lines that apparently just dump oil on top of the lifters. There's a lip on the back of the lifter block that holds the oil in place and just kind of lets them soak in it. My original engine did not have these.

 

Now, Frank believes he can probably drill holes in my original crankcase to feed these oil lines, which appear to connect to the camshaft bearing galleys. Probably. Alternatively, we don't bother and just assemble the 1936 blocks on my 1935 crankcase with no oilers and it will be oiled exactly the way it was in 1935. Was there a problem with oiling the valvetrain on early K engines? My original parts don't show much wear so Frank doesn't think it was critical. With modern oils, it's probably even less critical.

 

Or maybe I shouldn't care. I personally think "matching numbers" is stupid and I've said as much multiple times. What I really want is a great-running car that I can drive until the doors fall off.

 

So I ask you, o great wisdom of the interwebs: does "numbers matching" matter on a car like mine, and if so, should we try to make these oilers operational on my original crankcase?

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Todays modern oils the extra lines probably won't make any difference. Numbers matching on any sedan valued below 300k won't make a bit of difference. On top of that, you send the block with the car when you sell it. I would probably use the 35 lower end, overhaul it, and add the top of the 36. Be sure to reassemble the mix and match spare parts when finished. Keep everything you can...hardware, ect........

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Just do the '36!

 

  Ben

 

[Laughing Coyote]

2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

What I really want is a great-running car that I can drive until the doors fall off.

I think you answered your question. The other engine was a nightmare of issues. 

[F&J]

2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

the spare engine came apart without issue and it is spotless inside. His first question is whether we should just rebuild that one instead--it's a much better starting point

Just me, but if I was buying the car under contract after you got it ready for me, I would only want the virgin engine in it's entirety, meaning I would not want to use the 35 crankcase.  I say that would be my preference only after reading along for 2 years of true torment you endured with the old engine and most of it's parts. 

 

I'd want an unmolested engine, because I've been a mechanic my whole life, and would not take that car with patched up engine parts. >>  I thought you had possible weak threads in the crankcase for oil pump bolts?  Not sure on that, but just reminding you that most parts were ''messed with" or "messed up"on the 35 engine.

 

another thing on guessing future car value, or if numbers really mean value loss/gain;   For the last 5 years, my gut keeps saying that non-exotic prewar cars have seen their best decades, and that hobby era is simply aging out...noticeably.  If the car turns out as a good keeper, what will the prewar resale market be when you bail out of it in 10-25 years from now, will a matching crankcase number really mean anything in major added value by then?

[Smartin]

Build the 36.  Keep the old engine and associated parts that aren't used for inclusion in a later sale.   The guys with big dollar muscle cars will keep the old engine/block with the numbers mothballed, but build something else they can beat on without fear of ventilating the original block.

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

You said that numbers matching isn’t an issue to you. Then use the 36. I think it’s going to be a better engine in the long run. You can either keep the 35 and sell with the car or sell it to someone that can use it. That’s your choice. 
I have a buddy that changed out a vette engine and when he sold it, the buyer didn’t want the original engine. Mike

[38Buick 80C]

'36

[Matt Harwood]

Thanks for showing me the light, guys. I'll call Frank tomorrow and tell him we're building the '36 motor. @F&J nailed it, especially by reminding me about those fishy threads for the oil pump. Thank you!

[edinmass]

How is the car titled? Is the engine number on the paperwork? 

[Matt Harwood]

5 minutes ago, edinmass said:

How is the car titled? Is the engine number on the paperwork? 

 

Engine number and serial number are the same.