Dad's 1947 Lincoln coupe

[Dave Sherman]

Wow, factory 6v power windows from 1947? I would have never guessed that was a thing. I just googled power windows and found out the first vehicle to have them was a 1941 Packard. Bleeding edge of the technology for sure.

What is a "remote control" AM radio? Is the radio actually some huge thing filled with vacuum tubes that's located in the trunk or something?

Very cool car!!! I think most of them were destroyed by Tommy gun fire back in the day.

Edit... I just processed that you said hydraulic windows. How does that work? Is there a hydraulic pump driven by the engine that sends fluid through rubber hoses around the door hinges some how?

This car has so many things about it that I'm not even able to comprehend right now.

The radio is in the dash, it's considerably larger than your typical car radio since it's all vacuum tube. I also restore antique radios, so I'm familiar with them. It's not working as it has a mechanical vibrator to step up the 6 volts from the car to the voltages the tubes need, and those vibrators were notoriously temperamental. As for the remote control, there's a button on the floor on the driver's side to control the tuning for the radio. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details of just how it works, but I gather the tuner is motorized and pressing the floor button activates it.

The windows are hydraulic, and there's an electric pump under the hood that uses brake fluid. It pumps through flexible lines going through the doors. The hydraulic cylinders in the doors have a solenoid valve, and a hefty spring to pull the window down. My initial assessment is that I can hear the solenoid valves clicking, but the window pump solenoid won't click on. I just know the power windows were a neat feature given the time of the car, but you can't leave them up more than a few weeks or they will leak down.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Looks better than most offerings now in the automotive world.
How is it for rust, it looks pretty straight.

I wish we could go back to analog tv and vacuum tubes easy to fix and less time for the heater to warm up than a computer to start up.

 

[meep]

Is the driveshaft enclosed in a solid tube in this one? I’ve been helping occassionally with a 40s Chevy and it’s fully enclosed from tail shaft to diff, with some kind of enclosed (in a ball) u-joint at the transmission.

 

[Drifter]

Sweet. Brings to mind the Commander Cody song

 

[oldcodger]

You are special. Not many people, no matter how much of a car nut they are, gets the opportunity to restore such a jewel of US auto production. Good luck and post about some of the unique features it has.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Oh, a fixing we will go, a fixing we will go. Last time I tried to work on it, the starter was sounding quite anemic even though I had a 1000 CCA Optima battery. It's already not a very strong starter, Ford used the starter from the V8, and it's a 6 volt starter. Also found some dodgy wiring that had lost its insulation. So, I taped up the dodgy wiring, and made sure things weren't going to let the magic smoke out if I hook the battery back up. After hooking up the battery, I hit the plunger on the starter solenoid, and... Still pretty slow. Started feeling around some connections, and whoa! The terminals on the starter and the solenoid are HOT after 5 seconds of cranking! So, I took the battery cables and the solenoid out, cleaned up the terminals, cleaned up the ground strap on the engine block, and suddenly the starter is sounding much healthier. Now the terminals are staying cool, and the engine is cranking over at a decent rate. Seems to me when dad put a clamp on ammeter on many years ago, it registered around 450 amps.

It was good to see that the sediment bowl on the fuel pump filled up with gas as it was cranking, and even better to see it looks like gas. Taking a whiff at the filler it smells like gas too. Put a few drops of oil in the oil cups for the water pumps, the generator, and the distributor. Now on to see if the ignition is going to work!

 

[addyguy]

Wow, that is so cool I don’t have words.
I’d love to see a vid of it firing up; that would be neat to hear!
I think T5 10W-30 is a great idea; how much oil does it hold?

 

[Kurtatron]

Awesome. I wish I owned a classic car. The satisfaction of tinkering on a mechanical device without relying on computers is unlike anything today.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Wow, that is so cool I don’t have words.
I’d love to see a vid of it firing up; that would be neat to hear!
I think T5 10W-30 is a great idea; how much oil does it hold?

I plan on getting a video when I try to get it started. My dad is very interested to see his car running again. Good question on the oil capacity, I haven't found out yet. Fortunately, he left me lots of documentation, including an original owner's manual and the factory service manuals. Interesting quirk on this engine, it has no dipstick, it has a float gauge to show the oil level. The downside is it's a little harder to see the oil, but from the drips in the catch pan in dad's garage, I gather he changed the oil when he replaced the clutch, and it looks very fresh. Note to self: Get another catch pan like the one under the MG, this one leaks too.

 

[TheLastWord]

I plan on getting a video when I try to get it started. My dad is very interested to see his car running again. Good question on the oil capacity, I haven't found out yet. Fortunately, he left me lots of documentation, including an original owner's manual and the factory service manuals. Interesting quirk on this engine, it has no dipstick, it has a float gauge to show the oil level. The downside is it's a little harder to see the oil, but from the drips in the catch pan in dad's garage, I gather he changed the oil when he replaced the clutch, and it looks very fresh. Note to self: Get another catch pan like the one under the MG, this one leaks too.

I plan on getting a video when I try to get it started. My dad is very interested to see his car running again. Good question on the oil capacity, I haven't found out yet. Fortunately, he left me lots of documentation, including an original owner's manual and the factory service manuals. Interesting quirk on this engine, it has no dipstick, it has a float gauge to show the oil level. The downside is it's a little harder to see the oil, but from the drips in the catch pan in dad's garage, I gather he changed the oil when he replaced the clutch, and it looks very fresh. Note to self: Get another catch pan like the one under the MG, this one leaks too.

That would be the ultimate Father's Day gift.

 

[TheLastWord]

Oh, a fixing we will go, a fixing we will go. Last time I tried to work on it, the starter was sounding quite anemic even though I had a 1000 CCA Optima battery. It's already not a very strong starter, Ford used the starter from the V8, and it's a 6 volt starter. Also found some dodgy wiring that had lost its insulation. So, I taped up the dodgy wiring, and made sure things weren't going to let the magic smoke out if I hook the battery back up. After hooking up the battery, I hit the plunger on the starter solenoid, and... Still pretty slow. Started feeling around some connections, and whoa! The terminals on the starter and the solenoid are HOT after 5 seconds of cranking! So, I took the battery cables and the solenoid out, cleaned up the terminals, cleaned up the ground strap on the engine block, and suddenly the starter is sounding much healthier. Now the terminals are staying cool, and the engine is cranking over at a decent rate. Seems to me when dad put a clamp on ammeter on many years ago, it registered around 450 amps.

It was good to see that the sediment bowl on the fuel pump filled up with gas as it was cranking, and even better to see it looks like gas. Taking a whiff at the filler it smells like gas too. Put a few drops of oil in the oil cups for the water pumps, the generator, and the distributor. Now on to see if the ignition is going to work!

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Update on this fantastic project?

 

[LDB]

Very cool. By far the best part is it being your dad's car and the chance to go driving in it with your folks. Good luck with all the work.

 

[Kira]

It's a coupe (2-door) for heaven's sake.
Howzit geared?
Are the rear windows hydraulic too? ...do they move?
Just say no to LED lighting.
From the rocker panels back, this car's stance makes me think of a snail's foot.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Getting so close to running again, but ran into a snag.

Got the old, stale gas out of the tank (pee-yew, by the way), and with a new starter solenoid, the starter is cranking mightily. Put some MMO in each of the 12 cylinders and cranked it without the plugs in so the cylinders had some lube and got the oil pressure to come up. Checked out the igntion, and... No spark. This has a dual ignition system, so the ignition coil has two coils in it, there are two sets of points, and two rotors. Each coil has a brush that rides on the slip ring for a rotor, and there are two distributor caps.

After finding that neither primary connection had no connection to ground, I'm thinking both points need a good cleaning. I took off the igntion coil assembly, and found I have a big problem. Only one brush. So, this will need some figuring out, as well as cleaning up the points.

The other immediate problem is the gas tank is not in good shape. There were about 4 gallons of gas in the tank, and I can see there's rust and water in that stale gas. I can shine a flashlight down the filler neck, and I can see the bottom of the gas tank is looking pretty rusty. Not too surprising, I mean it is a 77 year old gas tank. Now, how awful is it to remove the tank if you don't have a vehicle lift?

 

[vwmaniaman]

Be sure to check Hemming Motor News for any parts for that beauty. My first car was a 1936 Ford 5 window coupe with a flathead V8. Got it all restored and had to sell it to pay a doctor bill. Hated loosing that car.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Phew, had a lucky break today. So, I confess I think I had an oops and I snapped off the brush, because I found the broken piece lodged in the fan. I must have bumped something when I was turning the coil over to disconnect the wires. Although I can buy replacement brushes for the distributor to replace the missing one, I knew that among the boxes of parts dad gave me, I had a spare distributor. Looked in the box with the distributor and found... A spare brush! Even better, there were two unused sets of points, still new in their boxes, so I can fix the points that I was intending to fix before I discovered the missing brush.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Didn't get much done on it this weekend, some home projects needed some attention. I got the distributor out, so now I can get the points replaced. I curse the folks who designed this thing, the points are pretty much inaccessible unless you take the thing out. Not too bad, pop the distributor caps off, 3 bolts and a vacuum line, and it came out without a fuss. I made sure to take a picture of the rotor position before it came out, word is that lining up the drive dog is a pain.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Feels like I'm getting very close to running again. I found a spare carbon brush to replace the one that broke off, cleaned up the ignition points, and used some gasket paper to make some new gaskets for the distributor and the coil. Checked the point gap, made sure the points were making good contact and got it back together. I put the spark tester on #1 and #2, and both banks are sparking again! The battery was a little weak, and it was hot in my garage, so perhaps tomorrow I'll know if it's going to purr for me again.

On another note, the great states of Ohio and Arizona have been making things interesting trying to get paperwork squared away. Latest hurdle was somebody from the Ohio BMV has to verify the VIN. Trouble is, car isn't roadworthy. Turns out they can send someone to do an on-site inspection, and today I finally got the VIN verified so I can actually get it registered.