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Interior brightwork


Guest jims41LC

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Guest jims41LC

So I understand that in 1940, the Continental's interiors all had gold colored bezels, door handles, etc. But were all the 1941's that way? I got dinged on authenticity because all my interior bright work is chromed not gold. Even the "ball" on the hood ornament is chromed not gold. I can't figure out why , if it was all gold, that anyone would go to the trouble of removing the gold color then go to the expense of chrome plating all of those parts. Has anyone else seen one with chrome trim not gold ? All the images I have seen online are gold. I have an authenticity manual coming , but even that may not have an answer, so I thought that with all the collective experience on this forum, someone might explain this.

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Jim, your forthcoming authenticity manual should give you a complete guide as to what should be on your car as it came from the factory. On page 77 under interior hard trim that the 40 and 41 LC's had pale gold macoid finish door hardware. What is the finish on the dash instrument bezels? Should be gold macoid. LCOC and LZOC clubs accept gold plating as gold macoid finish is no longer available, If your car was produced by the factory and stated on the car's build sheet that chrome hardware was substituted by the owner in place of the gold macoid finish on the car's brightwork then you need to have gold finish on those instruments. Factory build sheets state what was on the car at build day and what was ordered or substituted, such as blackwall tires, specified paint, interiors, etc.

On page 47 under C ornament 40 and 41 ball and spear: ball is gold lacquer; spear- chrome. Maybe the previous owner didn't want to pay to plate the ball as the 40-41 ball and spear were one piece...the extra expense to gold plate the ball itself.

Take time to really read the authenticity manual. You will be amazed what is and is not authentic on your car. You will really be surprised what previous owners did to the car. Get a copy of the build sheet from THE BENSON FORD ARCHIVES for your car. Keep the authenticity manual and the build sheet with you at car shows (if your car was built by the factory different than norm). to correct the judging if necessary.

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Guest jims41LC

I have the build sheet from the archives, no note on finish. I do have a book written by Ocee Smith from 1963, called The Lincoln Continental . In reading it there is a paragraph in noting interior details on the 1941 that the handles and dash bezels could be either gold or chromium finish. So far so good , I guess, but given that all the ones I have seen are gold, this one might be a rare one.

I do know of a 1941 Zephyr built for Spencer Tracy that had several factory changes with one being a chrome finish on the trim but was indeed written on the build sheet along with about 10 other changes for that car.

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Jim, Zefers for 1940 and 1941 could be ordered with the standard chrome trim, or with custom gold macoid finish. LC's had gold macoid as the standard interior finish. Or could be specially ordered with gold delete and standard Zeffer chrome trim.

Are the dash instruments chrome or gold finish in your car. That might answer your question.

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Guest Jim Zephyr

Doubt any Continentals were ever ordered with chrome, best not to rewrite history.

John makes a good point, the dash instruments have gold in them, gage cluster and speedo. Chrome would clash with these. What does yours have?

Edited by Jim Zephyr (see edit history)
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Dash brightwork is gold macoid, a bronze tinted thick plastic coated buffed gold color....The seat arms and top mech, top latches are chrome..My 40 is also came with custom trim, as did the 56-57 cars and the Brunns, which were based on an incomplete 76 chassis

which again, came stock production with these trims..

Edited by Mssr. Bwatoe (see edit history)
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Mr Bwatoe, The LZ Brunns were NOT based on an incomplete 76 chassis. They were built by removing the body from a 73 sedan and substituting a aluminum based body bullt by the Brunn Body Company from Buffalo, New Your.. They were not built on a LZ convertible chassis. Jim Zephyr set your friend straight. He needs to be educated.

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Guest jims41LC

All my instrument bezels, ash tray, radio grille, glove box lock, rearview mirror, door handles, window cranks, door pull buckles... it is all chromed, not a speck of gold anywhere.

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The 41 had gold and dark radio face and mahogany wood grain..LZ had chrome and light birch wood grain and chrome..

lots can be changed over 70 years...When the macoid came off, it left a dull unfinished potmetal look...Most "specials"

were marked as such on the build ledger cards...Its your car, do as you like....

The authenticity manual was so hotly debated by some that

story is that it contributed to the death of one of the guys working on it..Prins.

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Now might be a good time for the owner members of 41 Lincoln Continentals to email the FORUM whether their cars came with gold macoid or chrome finishes. Also, if they have the Lincoln build sheets that state chrome finishes for their cars in place of the original gold finishes. There are almost 150 LZOC listed with 41LC's. How about a reply?

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Guest jims41LC

Thanks John, that is a good idea. I did find another with same chrome interior as mine for sale on Old Ride website, but would be nice to get a " roll call" to see how many others there are. For now I am comfortable with mine as it is. Thanks to all here at the LZOC forum.

Now I need to swap out my post-war steering wheel for a correct one. Any ideas, anybody? Knob Soup maybe?

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Guest Jim Zephyr

Murph, I looked underneath Brunn town cars today and and both have special convertible strengthened X frames, I wonder what exactly they did ship to Buffalo NY via railcar back in 1940? Does yours have X frame as well?

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest jims41LC

Hopefully this post clears up my question. Upon reading closely the original build sheet from "The Henry Ford Museum", chrome finish was ordered for this car rather than the gold-tone finish.

Thanks to all for your support and guidance.

Jim

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