Dad's 1947 Lincoln coupe

[CleanSump]

Are the old wires cloth/string, string impregnated with rubber, or the "oil cloth" type or were they replaced since made with newer plastic insulated wire?
We had an old Chevy when I was a kid that had the string/cloth weave insulation with something like lacquer over it.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Are the old wires cloth/string, string impregnated with rubber, or the "oil cloth" type or were they replaced since made with newer plastic insulated wire?
We had an old Chevy when I was a kid that had the string/cloth weave insulation with something like lacquer over it.

The overdrive wiring is cloth covered, but it's fraying in places. Last year was finding out that some of the wiring for the lighting was rubber/plastic insulation, but it had become so brittle it just crumbled if you flexed the wires.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Lots of progress tonight. I did some tests with the spare battery and some clip leads, and the overdrive solenoid is working perfectly. Makes a solid KERCHUNK when it's energized, and the contacts that light up the dash indicator are working. Did some electrical tests on more of the overdrive parts, and found out the lockout switch was erratic. Getting the switch out, the terminals are corroded and covered with grease. Got the tabs unbent, and the insides of the switch are saturated with gear oil. Also, the contacts are corroded just like they were on the headlight switch. Got the switch cleaned up and back together, but found one of the terminals was a little loose, so I've got some dabs of glue to secure it. Took off the back of the governor switch, and found that it's in much better condition. No oil saturation, and the contacts appear to be clicking shut when I push on the spring.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Getting so close to having a working overdrive. Got the solenoid put back in, and took a look at the kickdown switch. Not a huge surprise, the contacts in the kickdown switch were corroded. Cleaned those up, and put the kickdown switch back in. Used a clip lead and a power supply, and got the overdrive indicator on the dash to light up. After reconnecting the battery and wiring, tripped the governor switch, and was pleased to hear the solenoid making a clunk. However, the dash light didn't light up this time. Tried a couple times, but while the control box relay and the solenoid seem to be working, somewhere there's still a glitch.

 

[Dave Sherman]

This is enough to drive you nuts! Got the solenoid back out, and some quick tests told me the contacts were being intermittent. Pulled the cover off, and ran some sandpaper between the points. Still intermittent. Cleaned some more, but still intermittent. Finally started probing around, and found that the pop rivets holding the contact spring and the terminal together wasn't making good contact. Well, shoot. Some quick work with the Dremel, and I got those rivets ground off. Clean the spring where the rivets were, confirm the contacts are clean, replace the rivets with some machine screws and nuts, and now it's making good contact. Who would have guessed the pop rivets, although they were still tight, were losing contact?

 

[dguzzi]

I was trying to follow along...

 

[Dave Sherman]

Ran into a couple snags, but it's coming along. Got a new harness made for the overdrive, and got it wired up (mostly). Got the overdrive solenoid reinstalled, and I thought I should check the overdrive governor. There are a couple of adjustments to set the speeds where the governor engages and disengages, and the favored method is to take the governor out, put it in a drill, and spin it up to see where it kicks in. A little homework and some calculation, and the 28 MPH speed where it should in should come out to be about 620 RPM at the governor. Not good, the lowest I could get it trip in was about 700 RPM. Comes out to about 33 MPH, which is pretty high, and that's roughly what it was doing when it was driveable. I couldn't turn it any lower, or it clicked on at rest. Took the switch apart, and determined the spring had lost some tension. Drilled out the rivet, bent the spring a little, and things are much happier now. Now I can set the adjustment and it clicks in at 620 RPM. Wires are mostly routed, but waiting on a seal for the solenoid. Discovered that when I pulled the solenoid out, there's a seal around the pushrod that holds oil in the overdrive. Since getting to the solenoid is not easy, and word on the street is that if you have to take the solenoid out for any reason, you should replace the seal, I figured I'd better do that. So, a few days yet for that seal to arrive. Meanwhile, I can start putting power to things and making sure all the components are working.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Didn't get any pictures this time, but the car is all back together and ready for a test drive. The overdrive checks out electrically, the oil seal for the solenoid is replaced, and all the contacts are working. Had a little glitch with the solenoid when I got it back in; the switch contacts that are supposed to close when it's energized weren't closing. Ended up pulling it back out, taking the cover off, and eyeballing what was happening. The solenoid doesn't fully extend to engage the overdrive gears until you let off the gas, and it turned out the contacts were just a hair's width apart when it was not fully engaged. Literally just had to touch the spring lightly with my finger and then the dash light would light up like it's supposed to. So, a slight adjustment with the needle nose pliers, and now it's working. Solenoid is back in, governor switch appears to be working, gear oil is refilled, transmission cover is bolted back in, new wires are secure, and the seats are bolted back in. Now about that original muffler with the gaping hole in the seam....

 

[fantastic]

Didn't get any pictures this time, but the car is all back together and ready for a test drive. The overdrive checks out electrically, the oil seal for the solenoid is replaced, and all the contacts are working. Had a little glitch with the solenoid when I got it back in; the switch contacts that are supposed to close when it's energized weren't closing. Ended up pulling it back out, taking the cover off, and eyeballing what was happening. The solenoid doesn't fully extend to engage the overdrive gears until you let off the gas, and it turned out the contacts were just a hair's width apart when it was not fully engaged. Literally just had to touch the spring lightly with my finger and then the dash light would light up like it's supposed to. So, a slight adjustment with the needle nose pliers, and now it's working. Solenoid is back in, governor switch appears to be working, gear oil is refilled, transmission cover is bolted back in, new wires are secure, and the seats are bolted back in. Now about that original muffler with the gaping hole in the seam....

Following along with all of your progress has been really neat.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Woohoo! The day finally came. Went for a drive, and everything worked, including the overdrive.

 

[CleanSump]

I just gave you your first thumbs up on Youtube!!
Hooray for you. Beautiful plus the connection to Dad.

 

[silversport]

I so enjoy reading these…love to see you honoring your Dad and getting this back on the road and the whole “road to get here from there”…Thanks for sharing the journey!

Bill

 

[fantastic]

I was hoping we'd get a video!
What a beautiful cruiser with an amazing story along with it.

 

[walterjay]

Congrats!!

 

[Dave Sherman]

Today's project, the muffler. Dad once boasted that it still had the original muffler. Well... Now it needs a new one, the seam split. I was dreading taking it out, but remarkably, the bolts on the clamps unscrewed without too much fuss. Found the split in the coupler on the exhaust pipe side, and with lots of PB Blaster, some whacking with a cold chisel and a hammer, it's off. Yeah, that muffler was done, it has a couple new holes just from whacking on the edge of it, and there's a big pile of rusty flakes that fell out of the split. Fortunately, my Lincoln expert recommended an off-the shelf Walker muffler that looks like the dimensions are spot on, so it should just bolt right in.

 

[grasscutter]

292 cubic inch (4.8l) V-12 engine

Say what? Never heard of that one. Ford made a V-12 ?

 

[Dave Sherman]

Say what? Never heard of that one. Ford made a V-12 ?

A few, actually. The Lincolns had V-12s in different sizes from 1932-1948.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Today was getting the speedometer out, because my trip odometer was having trouble, and the main odometer was stuck between two sets of digits. Found a couple shops willing to work on it, but thought I'd open it up and see what I could find. Turns out it's not so difficult to work on. Gears had lots of old, hardened grease, and the trip reset cable was frozen. A little oil freed up the cable, and cleaned up the old grease. Some Lubricam on the shafts and gears, and things are working smoothly again. Also got the odometer straightened out. Now I just need a light bulb, one of the speedometer lights was burned out. Good news is that the new muffler should be arriving tomorrow, so hopefully that will also be fixed soon.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Back to the muffler. Ran into a snag when the replacement muffler, despite having very similar dimensions, had an inlet pipe that was the same size as the pipe in the car. Took it to a shop to have it enlarged slightly, measured the dimension I needed, and well... The shop didn't measure it and enlarged it way too much. Grrr.... Managed to save the new muffler. Cut off the enlarged section, and found a coupler that was the right size. Maybe not the prettiest fix, but it works.