[imported_Barry Wolk]

1968 Lincoln Limo

Not a stretch. It's a splice of two cars. Note the VIN tags on both front doors.





9-1-2007 It begins.

I was on-line one day and my wife passed my computer and saw the first two pictures. She said, "Buy it". I don't question things like that, so I did. I asked her later, "Why?" She said that she figures that by the time I'm done restoring it I'll be old enough that I won't see so good at night and it only makes sense for us to be driven safely to our destination. Whatever, it works for me.

I had a huge decision to make. While the car drove great I was really concerned with the splice. The splice in the floorboards is almost imperceptible. I really had to look for it. I found no surprises. A little bit of surface rust on the floorboards but I haven't found any rust anywhere yet. There was no visible cracking or warping of the floorboards along any of the welds.

I have deemed it restorable. The first thing I did was remove the vinyl to to inspect the roof splice. I found a ton of surface rust under the area above the windshield as the vinyl had split years ago. There was a thick (1/4") layer of bondo across the whole splice.



Removing the seats on either side of the partition revealed the window mechanism.



A little lubrication and removal of two layers of carpet, it was moving freely.



Peeling back the carpet revealed a little surface rust but no structural damage.





My next step may seem silly to some but I needed to get everything working before I tore everything apart. None of the windows worked when I started. All of the windows now work independently but I can only control the driver's side rear from the driver's door controls.

Getting it running was the next step. I put a new battery in and tried to start it. I notice that it bogged down and started smoking in the area of the solenoid. The connections were corroded and loose. Cleaned everything up, tried it again and it started right up and purred loudly. I noticed the battery cable leading to the starter was badly charred and had no insulation on it. It passed very near the exhaust pipe.



I'll finish gutting the interior and move it into the shop for further evaluation. I'll leave all the interior parts in the storage building so I'm not tripping over them.

[BamaWildcat]

Barry,

You have entertained me for the last few years with your trailer.

Now your doing it all over again.

Thanks you so much [img]<>/smile.gif[/img]

[imported_Barry Wolk]

My pleasure, kind sir.

[imported_Barry Wolk]

9-9-2007 Rust hunting

I pulled the smelly, nasty carpet out of the trunk revealing that while the trunk had been wet at some time, there was very little rust. Just some surface flaking.



When I pulled back the last bit of carpet I found green paint. I also found it on the roof. The thing that's strange is that both VIN tags reveal that the cars were both maroon. I wonder if this is some type of primer.





In my search for rust I looked in a likely spot, the lowest part of the inside of the door. I found a bit of dirt and a tiny amount of surface rust. I'm amazed.



I knew I would hit pay dirt here.

[MCHinson]

Barry, please don't take this wrong....

But, If I had about 10% of your energy, money, skill, and etc..... I think I would be a happy man. [img]<>/whistle.gif[/img]

[Amphicar BUYER]

Originally Posted By: MCHinson

Barry, please don't take this wrong....

But, If I had about 10% of your energy, money, skill, and etc..... I think I would be a happy man. [img]<>/whistle.gif[/img]

I couldn't agree more! The Spartinette was joy to watch! This will be equally good....

[imported_Barry Wolk]

Originally Posted By: MCHinson

Barry, please don't take this wrong....

But, If I had about 10% of your energy, money, skill, and etc..... I think I would be a happy man. [img]<>/whistle.gif[/img]

How on Earth could anyone take that the wrong way? You all are very kind. Your encouragement and input make these project much more fun for me.

[imported_Barry Wolk]

This report has some minor duplication. I've gone back to posting a diary on my Cardomain
site.

To ease access The doors had to go. I gutted the doors while on the car and boxed all the components in marked boxes. Got smart this time.



Moved the limo, under it's own power, into the shop. It looks so small after having the trailer in there for so long.



Backed the trailer into the building next door in preparation of pushing the 36' trailer sideways into a 38' space. The only way to do that is to use heavy duty wheel skates.



Neatly tucked away for the winter.



One of the first things I did was remove the trunk lid. I got tired of bumping my head on the edge. The rear bumper came off with three wires and 8 bolts. It looks as thought its never had any rear damage.



The vinyl top created lots of water traps and caused a bit of damage at the lead edge of the roof and at the bottom of the rear window. It's ugly, but it's repairable.



The side trim was fasten through through these holes that were subjected to constant moisture. The metal in this area will be replaced. The car will not have a vinyl top so this trim will not be necessary.



Using a cutting wheel on an electric die grinder I cut away the rotted metal and ground all spot weld remnants smooth.





I had my fab shop bend an exact 3-foot duplicate of the rotted edge. The metal thickness matches the original.

Using my avation metal working tools I fashioned a backer plate for the splice.





I used an old trick a shop teacher showed me years ago. When brazing sheet metal layers together the top hole should be about twice the size as the inner hole. In this case the hole in the backer is 1/8", the proper size for the Cleco temporary fasteners. The outer hole is 1/4". When brazing the tip of the flame goes through the small hole and heats up both layers of metal. A dab of brazing rod and the joint and holes are sealed. This even works on metal that you can't clean the back-side of. The braze fuses to the walls of the holes you drill in the sheet metal and provides a strong bond.

[packards42]

A lot of work, but it be a cheery when you done, I love the double back door arrangement with the suicide door.

I always wanted a double door set on olderpackard stretch limo. Not orginal but a fun car.

[imported_Barry Wolk]

That's all this one is for is fun.

I started stripping the paint off of the car to investigate other problem areas. This isn't as bad as it looks.



The rear quarter sheet metal is near perfect.





This is the extent of the rear quarter rust.





This car has had three paint jobs. The paint seem to get progressively thicker as the coats were added. I started stripping on the rear quarter and found some pretty attractive sheet metal underneath. The rear quarter had no physical damage and only a little bit of rust in the common areas. Once the original details were revealed I got a real impression of what the finished product would look like. The quality of the stampings and the sheer number of spot welds is amazing.