Time to throw the first stone...

First, I want to say that I think the Meads do a wonderful job keeping this site going, so my comments are not aimed at them.

But here's my [censored]: we have this *wonderful* technology for socializing, sharing information, selling cars and parts, and generally expanding the Zephyr family, and only a few people are using it. Some of the blame must be put at the feet of LZOC leadership and the senior members of the hobby. So I'm going to challenge you:

1. LZOC leadership and senior members need to make some effort to visit and participate on this forum. As far as I can tell (and I apologize if I'm wrong), no one in a senior leadership position comes here. If they do, they're lurking in the background. There are a couple experienced folks here who do share their knowledge, but there are probably more "newbies" trying to figure things out, and no one wants *my* advice! Is this anyway to run a club?

2.Swap meets are fun and all, but they are a LOUSY way to put potential buyers and sellers together. I'd like to challenge some of the more active vendors and service providers to take advantage of the classifieds section, even if it just involves posting an html version of the catalog. Hey -- it's just a waste of time and money for you to mail a catalog that can be made instantly available everywhere.

3. Other marques have very active and interesting tech forums, where knowledgeable members can post pictures and describe various mechanical and restoration issues. Is there a way LZOC leadership can push for this?

I can only guess why this problem has occurred. Maybe it's because the membership is very clique-ish and doesn't feel the need to reach out. Or maybe it's because LZOC membership is older and less computer-literate. But my 71 year-old dad surfs with the best of them, so I'm not buying that. Besides, if you can understand a Zephyr distributor <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />, you can understand the Web.

Right now, it takes a very dedicated, brave soul to enter Zephyrdom for the first time. And the lack of Web participation by our club members doesn't help any. If potential new members say the heck with it and drop a Chevy 350 in, who can blame them?

Dear Cecil,YOU said it better than i ever could.Where do the LEADERS of this club think it is headed when they WELCOME new members as i have described to you privately.YES CHAD ,i am directing this comment to you.Jerry Emery,Dave Cole,The Meads,Merv Adkins,Bob Boos and a few other members who i have contacted and asked for help and information have been GREAT.LZOC member and owner of a 39 Zephyr 3-window coupe and yes Chad i know i have your condolences.Dale Grahner 716-885-3507 phaeton37@aol.com

I like what I read. There needs to be more particapation from some of the more knowladgable and senior members. and more of the vendors with thier online catalogs would make life allot eaiser. not to mention an email address as it is sometimes very hard to get in touch with some of these vendors by phone. I am new to the Lincoln club about 5 years now and havent particapated in any of the events as of yet due to the lenght of the restoration on my car. I feel if there were more online catalogs from the vendors of lincoln parts it would have sped up my restoration. Also a new authenticity manual that covers more car body styles in depth would be nice.

Thanks CBOZ for the post hope it does some good.

Amen to all of the above!

Folks -

Maybe we should prioritize some things for the LZOC membership to consider. If I could pick *one* task that would be the greatest benefit to those of us trying to restore these cars, it would to develop a comprehensive picture gallery.

Specifically, we could ask folks familiar with details of each of the different models to take a thorough set of electronic pictures of these cars, looking at everything a judge would -- engine bay, interior, finishes, undercarriage, etc. Maybe 35-40 pics of each at 100k a shot (total of about 4 MB). The ideal candidates would be known show-winners.

These pics could then be organized and posted through the LZOC website, with explanatory captions. New / better pics, as well as new models, could be added as they became available.

Imagine what this would do for the hobby! Not only would the level of restoration accuracy go up, but newcomers would have something to aspire to, and could get a real feel for what these cars were like before taking a blind plunge like so many of us newbies had to. I'd be glad to help in any capacity I can. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

What do you all think? Is there a better place to start?

Or one other idea:

How about starting an online list of parts that were substitutable between the regular Fords and the Lincolns? I'm not saying this because I want to undercut the parts vendors (who have a wealth of knowledge and deserve to be compensated for it), but it just seems kind of foolish to go around looking for a rubber bumper with a Lincoln part number on it when the Ford part is exactly the same and readily available in reproduction.

Dear Cecil,As you can see by the number of comments from the clubs higher ups this is going to be a long row to hoe.I commend you for getting the ball rolling.Pictures a good idea,sure,but i do not think a Restoration Guide like the Early Ford V-8 Club publishes for specific years can be beat.Those Ford club books contain an UNBELIEVABLE amount of detail.In regard to Re-writing the resto guide i see the following problems.WHO has access to these cars?Who knows what is correct?We can't even get any club officers to respond to anything posted here.diz <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Hey Dale -

We'll cut them some slack since this is the week of the 4th, but after that ... <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Books would be the best, I agree. But I was thinking of something quick and dirty that would get stuff on the Web.

I have owned my 48 LC for 31 years and have had every last piece apart

including the distributor. I even understand how it works, but I have

only had this computer for 6 months and am still trying to make some

sense of it. I understand your frustation, please try to understand

mine. I am sure that there are many others like me who read requests

for information, know that information but , can't get thru the machine to

answer. Don't give up on us oldtimers, we're pedaling as fast as we can to

keep up on the information highway. This is my first post and will be back

if I don't get lost. Bill

Dear V-12 Bill,Welcome aboard,you get lost we will send you a map.diz <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Glad to have you on board, Bill. Believe me, as I piece my car together, I *will* be asking you for advice!

Let's hope this thread stimulates a few more of us lurkers to post once in a while.

I pullled up the Lincoln Zephyr Owners Club home page and there is a header to click on to get into this forum . In other words anyone clicking on the LZOC can click Forum and get involved in the forum. Could be there is not much interest in this forum as it seems that I only see six or seven names doing all of the chatting. At least once a week I pull it up to see whats going on and not much is going on.

I asked questions several times on tech problems and I did get a couple of replys and I thank those who took time to help out on problems.

This should be a great way to find out answers and list parts to sell and also ask for help on finding a needed part.

Hey Pete -

Well, I'm going to start using it more often, and hope it snowballs. When I can, I'll also start posting pics regarding the resto of my coupe. Hopefully, we'll get critical mass as more people realize just how powerful a tool this is. Maybe we might even get Jerry Emery to plug this site in TWOTZ.