Need HELP!! On my '47

Greetings everyone,

I am hopeing some one can lead me in the right direction. This is my '47 Zepher. Now I don't know to much, but a little. My great aunt left it to me after she died when I was 12, well 18 years later, I'm starting to have the means to get her back into shape.

I know it's the wrong color, my aunt had it painted and a flathead v-8 put in, but I still have the v-12. It needs a rebuild and a oil pump. The interior needs a good cleaning, and the passenger door needs a couple parts for the push button inside.

I have heard these are kinda hard to find parts. Also I read somewhere that 46's had push button doors and then swiched to handels in 47? Well enjoy the pics and thanks in advance for all help.

Hi Mike,

My first recommendation would be that you join the Lincoln

Zephyr Owners Club. There is an on-line application form at www.lzoc.org. The Zephyr club has a great wealth of valuable information available, not the least of which is the names of several very reputable, long term parts vendors.

The Zephyr club holds two annual Zephyr specific winter swap meets. One in California in November and another in Pennsylvania in February or March (Help me out on this, you eastern folks).

What you have looks like a pretty solid car, very well worth restoring! It is my belief that only '41 Zephyrs had a choice of pushbuttons or door handles. I may be wrong, but I think that all later Zephyrs had pushbutton doors. Of course, they weren't called "Zephyrs" after the war even there were no significant styling changes.

Good luck with it and keep us posted. Most of us are delighted to see pictures of other people's cars and to share progress reports.

Looks like you have a nice complete car, one of my favorite models. Parts are not that hard to find and you should take advantage of the "resources" listing. Not too many of these club coupes left as the Continentals really took over with the collectors so one of these cars restored should be close to the same value. Need to take a good "inventory" of the situation and come up with a plan. You might try to get it running with the V8 still in it so you can check out the chassis stuff and see how much,if any, rust you will have to deal with. Big thing is to have fun. And actually Lincoln did have a light gray color in '47 and '48. Dee

Mike, the way you tell if your 41-'48 Lincoln or Lincoln Zephyr, they were only Zephyrs through 1942, then became just Lincolns or Lincoln Continentals, had outside push buttons or pull out handles, is if it has the pusher springs at the bottom front of the doors, the push button cars had them, the pull handle cars didn't, but the openers will interchange. The inside openers were all plastic push button openers, your 1947 had maroon buttons, the same color as the steering wheel, there was a chrome and maroon plastic bezel around it, I have some of those parts if they are missing. I hope your aunt has the fender skirts in the trunk or laying around somewhere, they are getting a trifle hard to find, and it looks like what the guys say about OR cars, even in a fairly solid shed, is true, they will rust, yours is not too bad yet, but that goes with living in OR I guess, as far as the V-12, I would listen cosely to Peecher, he will guide you straight and true, and he knows his stuff, and if your flathead V-8 runs well, and is of a desirable year, 59A, 8CM it has value as well, good luck-

Give it a good washdown and fluid change and oil pump and battery and you'll be off! Out of curiosity, did you drive it when you got it? and what kind of flathead is in it?

Wow, thanks guys for the replies. Instant help! I have driven the car, well about 10 11 years ago. Ran good, drove great. I'm not sure what size v-8 it is though.

Its got a little rust, I only get to see it every so often since its stored in eastern oregon, cause its drier there. It came from NM were my aunt lived. And sadly no fender skirts

What brand of V-8 is in there, mine has a Mercury V-8. You can drive those Lincolns Everyday, they perform well!

1946 and early '47s had push buttons. There was an article in TWOTZ about people who liked the push buttons better and for about $1.50 each replaced the pull handle with the buttons on the late 47s and 48s. If your car has the springs in the jambs that push the door open , then the buttons are corrct. If no springs then someone changed them. I happen to like the buttons.

I did a 48 conv, coupe a few years ago and love the car except for the vapor locking at the pump. I did hot rod my engine more than some but left it looking stock on the outside. If you want some nice door handles for the outside I will trade you a set for the push buttons. I might have some inside push buttons packed away somewhere if you need them. You have a nice car and if you need any help feel free to ask. I working on hot rodding my 36 Packard 3 window coupe with all old Packard hot rod parts, there are some out there for the Lincoln V12 too but be prepared to pay big bucks.

I'm pretty sure that its a ford flathead in there right now. I want to get the v-12 back in, at least just to hear it purr! the buttons are going to stay, I want to keep it as stock looking as possible. But maybe a add-on hidden here or there. And did these come with a two speed rear end?

I am probably going to have to run for the hills after I say this, but, I have heard that many V-12's have problems and overheat, and I do know that they are highly expenssive to completly rebuild, I say, unless you want to make it a 100 pt. show car keep the existing engine in there and drive it until it dies, which will never happen unless you don't take care of it. Use your money on the other stuff first and get it running good with the existing engine and looking good for your drives. My '48 has a Merc. flathead V-8 from '48 and it runs good and it has good performance, as good or better than the v-12. And no one, except Lincoln guys ever notice the difference!

Oh, please don't chop it, hotrod it or sell it, because, you have a great looking car there that was also a family car, that you can pass down through the generations of your family, just like grandpa's pocket watch or whatever, the same principle applies to cars.

I forgot to mention, that all it looks like it needs is a good wash and wax! That is what I did to my '48 when I found it, and it was outside with a very old if not orig. paint job!

Mike, almost all '47's had the borg warner OD transmission, check the left side of the steering wheel under the dash, there should be a maroon knob with a big O on it, those are a better OD than the Columbia 2 speed axle that was last used in 1941, you will love it. Check the numbers and letters on the heads of your engine, it may just have an A on them, pre war Ford, or 59A, postwar ford and merc, or 8BA, '49 -'53 Ford, or 8CM, '49-'53 Merc, there are some others that it may be, but let us know what the heads say-

The last year that the Columbia was available for the Lincoln was in 1941. It was also the first year for the Borg Warner OD and some cars were known to have both! The engine must have bogged down at 50 MPH when both ODs were in use. It appears that a majority of the Lincolns came with the Borg Warner from 42 to 48.

Mike, Don't be too quick about reinstalling the V12 engine that came with the car. It was probably removed and replaced for a reason. You might want to disassemble it and check it out thoughly. I can tell you from experience there is nothing more frustrating that a tired, wore out V12. Reconditioned/rebuilt properly they do purr.

So I talked to my mom where the car is stored and had her go check the heads. I tired to explain the best I could but I dont know. The numbers she got were upside down, EBA and a backwords D, then B2.12? Ideas? Thanks.

So I talked to my mom where the car is stored and had her go check the heads. I tired to explain the best I could but I dont know. The numbers she got were upside down, EBA and a backwords D, then B2.12? Ideas? Thanks.

Are you sure it's not 8BA? that would be a 49 and up Ford 239, a solid flattie. Not as hot as the Mercury version, but still a very good late V8.

Are you sure it's not 8BA? that would be a 49 and up Ford 239, a solid flattie. Not as hot as the Mercury version, but still a very good late V8.

Ya I wouldnt be surprised if it isn't 8BA.