Hi guys, I have recently brought a 1964 lincoln continental and discovered that the block is cracked and leaking coolant into the oil passages. I live in australia so parts for these cars are super hard to come by, I have however found a bloke with a 430 block he says is out of a 61 lincoln. After some googling I am not sure if the 61 block is interchangable with my 64 block due to bellhousing bolt patterns and the starter motor location? Is this true or is there a way to make the swap work? My only other option seems to be a new short block from barnett high performance in the US but the shipping and exchange rate to Aus is pretty steep.

Hello,
Everything is a bolt in. The difference is 63-65 came with a small combustion chamber in the heads and the pistons had more step. Match the pistons and heads together and you'll be fine. If I am not mistaken the 61-68 MEL camshafts used the same bearings. I believe the blocks themselves are the same cam bore 58-68 but the difference is in the cam journals.

Thats good news thanks Chris430. The same guy i got the block off is selling a set of heads that have been ported polished and rebuilt with a cast iron intake to match the bigger ports. He thinks the intake with the bigger ports is off a 58ish model merc and i didnt take any notice of the casting numbers on the heads but did notice they had the small combustion chamber so must be around the 63 year model, would matching the pistons to suit the heads rather than the 61 block be the right way to go about it when i order all new parts? I have seen Egge dont have a great reputation on here but i dont know any other companys that i can deal with in Aus, Egge is who my engine builder usually uses for American parts (he has never rebuilt a MEL before). Any info on where to order parts to rebuild would be greatly appreciated.

From the builders I know custom Wiseco and Diamond recommended. I priced Wiesco pistons for my 59 430 at about $135 each. The only EGGE 410 MEL piston set I have seen had no pin offset. That caused to heavy side of the piston to knock around in the cylinder. That was several years ago, may or may not have been corrected by now. Three years ago they were still selling the 1.825" pin height 352 pistons.