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restoring 1947 lincoln continental


Guest mitch lojek

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Guest mitch lojek

does anybody know if there are any books or cd's on how to go about restoring these fine cars? being somewhat of a amateur there are a lot of questions I have on how to go about it.any information would be appreciated.

thanks

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Hello Mitch -

The books you need will depend on the kind of restoration work you are interested in.

If you are lookinng at authenticity issues (such as what was the "correct" generator or what was the interior pattern), I would suggest joining LZOC and getting a copy of the authenticity manual from someone like Earle Brown. Also, the Lincoln Continental Owner's Club has their own version of an authenticity manual. Finally, I have a long list of LZOC article titles on my website that you can use to find back issues that address your questions: http://www.mindspring.com/~bozarth/id13.html

For more mechanical issues, I would first try to find a set of the old technical bulletins that Ford & Lincoln provided to the dealerships. These are great sources of info, come in a leather-covered spiral notebook, and are regularly for sale on ebay. That's a starting point, and LZOC technical articles would help as well.

And last but not least, post here -- there are some folks with hard-earnted knowledge about the post war Lincolns who will quickly help you out.

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Cecil is very accurate in his recomendations regarding restoring your 1947 Lincoln Continental. I too, strongly recommend that you join the LZOC. (There's an on-line application at www.lzoc.org)

The LCOC might also provide some help, but they're now more focused on later model Lincolns and don't seem to have much interest in the cars that caused the formation of the club in the first place.

Speaking of the LCOC, I have a set of the initial 20 LCOC bulletins authored by the LCOC founder, Dr. Ellison Bell including the initial LCOC Dearborn meet in 1954 which was attended by over 150 Lincoln Continentals. Several members of this forum have purchased this set and all have expressed enjoyment in reading this fascinating historical information. I've been getting $20 for a CD containing these bulletins in PDF form as well as jpg images and Microsoft Publisher formats.

You might also be interested in viewing my Webshots photo album of my 1947 Lincoln Continental at: http://community.webshots.com/album/33590926dAmhsj

I got this car in 1965 and wasn't particularly interested in restoring it to original at that time. Instead, I installed a 1957 Lincoln driveline and my wife and I drove it from California to the LCOC meet at Mt. Snow, Vermont in 1970. I then used it as a daily driver for several years and around a hundred thousand miles. I ressurected it in 1997 for the 50th anniversary LCOC meet in Houston, Texas and it has been idle ever since.

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Guest mitch lojek

as I mentioned before that I'm new to restoring these cars.the information that I'm looking for is how to remove fenders and other items needing restoring.

when I rebuilt my tractor, john deere had a manual that guided me step by step on how to remove parts.I guess maybe there isn't a manual for the car and I will be filling this forum with many postings.I've ordered some books from narragansett but I don't know if it will help.

mitch

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Hey Mitch -

Your best bet for that kind of work is still the original technical bulletins, but they aren't going to give you all the details since they were aimed at professionals working on the cars when they were new (and already knew a lot about these cars).

I certainly understand your dilemma -- when I restored my Mustang, there were books that described every step you'd ever want to know. No such luck for these cars, but plenty of help available on-line!

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Removing fenders is easy. Just take the bolts out and the fender comes off! However, if the bolts don't want to come right out after some 60 years of service, a liberal application of KROIL should help. Don't be in a hurry, let the KROIL work for a while (maybe days of multiple applications). A broken fender bolt is something you don't want to deal with. The hole it goes into is a square captive nut which is not easy to replace.

There's an interesting fender fastening device however. You'll notice that the bolt holes in the fenders are elongated and the fender washers have a small flap on one side. The flap goes INTO the slot, not out. This is for the purpose of holding the fender welt in the proper place. If you car has had previous surgery and doesn't have the correct fender washers, they are available from some of the vendors listed in the LZOC website. Fender welt should be thin and should be painted body color, not left black as many "restoration" shops do on these cars. Paintable fender welt is also available from the LZOC parts vendors.

Since these cars were mostly hand made, the trunk lids may not be interchangeable. The body number will be stamped on the lip of the trunk lid to be sure that it would fit properly.

Aligning the hood can be a daunting task. The hood on our '47 Continental had wrapped itself over the windshield in some previous life. The only replacement hood I could find was from a '42 Continental and it has never fit just right!

Good Luck!

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Guest mitch lojek

thanks phil,

the fenders where just an example of what I wanted to know like how many bolts are there and where are they located in relation to the fender.seems like the front bright work are attached to them somehow.knowing all this information beforehand would make it easier when I get on my hands and knees.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm mamby bamby,but due to a medical condition I can't be on my knees for a long time so knowing all this infomation I would'nt waste time hunting and searching.

mitch

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Guest mitch lojek

well I finally signed up and joined the club today. will be posting some "problems" soon.

althou I have a electrical diagram,I will be trying to resolve some trouble with the head lights/tail lights.

mitch

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Congrats, Mitch. If you are close enough, you should *strongly* consider going to the Mid-winter swap meet in Pennsylvania. A great place to talk with folks, as well as see some of the various parts up close. Also, V12Bill (a 48 owner) has been known to lurk there...

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Guest mitch lojek

cecil,

living in michigan, I was considering going to lancaster but my wife didn't like the idea of going thru the mountains in the winter.

maybe there will be something in the spring.

mitch

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Guest mitch lojek

I have 2 electrical questions I would like to ask,

in trying to trace the dome light wire to the harness under the dash,the wire goes from the light to the switch on the pillar post then goes down and then I lose it. I've removed the sill plate thinking they tucked it under it but no luck.does anybody know what route it takes?

also when breaking, does all three lights glow or just the middle one.

thanks

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The feed (Hot wire) should go across the dash and then travel up and over the the right front door and then down to the switch location. They may have brought it down further and then back up to the switch. The switch also activates the light in the trunk compartment on my sedan. Only the center lamp operates when the brakes are applied. The fender lamps are for the tail and directional signals.

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I have used a turn signal switch from a 1956/7 Lincoln or Thunderbird (they're available from one of the T-Bird dealers-Larry's T-Bird I think) to turn all three taillights into brake lights on my 1947 Lincoln. The switch is an exact physical replacement for the the stock 1941/48 turn signal switch. The only difference is that it requires snaking 6 wires down the mast jacket instead of just three. This is easier than it sounds because the 1956/7 Ford cars were 12 volts and the wires are thinner. The short span of thiner wires doesn't seem to hurt anything on a 6 volt system and the increased safety of THREE brake lights instead of just one is well worth it. Besides, the brake lights or turn signals are never on long enough to heat up the wires. This modification doesn't require any extra light bulbs added inside the taillight housings and the turn signals work just like the newer cars.

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Guest mitch lojek

dee,

I have access to the area above the door thru a hole in the headliner.I can't see or feel wires.do you think they ran it thru a boxed in area?

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Guest mitch lojek

it's a good to know that I can convert the lights.will have to put it on hold till I get it road worthy.will print out diagram for future use.

upon looking at the sketch can you tell me what are the pilot lights?

thanks

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Mitch, The area above the door may be "boxed" or the wire may be threaded through a protective sleeve and occupy the bottom of the channel? It might be easier to run a new wire if you aren't getting any voltage at the end of the wire for the switch. By the way new switches are available from Sacramento Vintage Ford. The ones for the '42 ( Ford) have maroon knobs to match your old one.

The "pilot" lights for the directional signals are the indicator lights on either side of the speedometer face.

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Guest imported_V12Bill

You casn rest assured that the mountains of Western PA are not so wild and wooly as the Rockies. The PA Turnpike was built on the bed of a railroad and the grades are mild as dictated by the demands of a railroad. The only problem would be ice or snow which are dealt with on the Turnpike before and better than any of the secondary roads. If you are in the Detriot area it should be about a 9 hour drive.

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Guest imported_V12Bill

At the Lancaster Swap meet you will see more Lincoln parts than you will see at Hershey and Carlisle combined and you don't need to walk a fraction of the distance. I try to make the event each year and seem to come home with as much as I took to sell as I see too many must have items! At this rate I will never downsize my garage.

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Guest mitch lojek

hey guys,

you got me sold. if they were selling hummel figurines there also,I would have a better chance of talking her into it.

if it's snow season,it's NO!!!! season.

I would like to run a electrical question thru the forum.

since I was only 7 years old when my car was built. I don't remember them at all.when I open either side door,do the two courtesy lights and dome light come on at one time.

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Guest imported_V12Bill

I was thinking about your dome lite question and was trying to remember how my 46 LC coupe was wired. I have most of it back together, except the dome lite of course. As I remember the wire for the dome lite came across the floor under the rear seat from the "B" pillar switch to the rear lites harness that runs along the left frame rail. It did not run across the right door in the roof, although Zephyr coupes and sedans do. Check the rear lite harness for a runner that comes through the floor on the drivers side under the rear seat to the "B" pillar switch and let us know what you find.

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Guest mitch lojek

dee hit the nail on the head with his answer.the lites work seperately from each other.turns out I never had a problem, just thought that it looked weird.

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