1968 Lincoln Limo

[Barry Wolk]

I'm kinda proud of this solution.

The original wiring harness on the limo was a mess. Nothing worked. It had been hacked into so many times that it was just a jumble of wires. The only section that was undamaged was the section that ran from the firewall to the first "B" pillar. It ran through a channel that was protected by the sill plates. That was exactly the only section I needed to make extension harnesses instead of extending the the existing harness with double the butt splices.

This worked out kind of like the center filler panel made from a full front door and the front section of a rear door. That was so that I would have factory door gaps. This was kind of like that. I used the first foot of the old firewall wiring harness that the side harnesses plugged into. That's what now plugs into the unaltered harness I salvaged from the donor car. I then salvage about 3 1/2 feet of the original limo side harnesses that had been protected all those years. I matched everything up, color for color and butt-spliced both ends together.

[Barry Wolk]

This is why old power windows and seats fail. The moisture of the grease seems to evaporate over time turning it to the viscosity of very thick paste, almost a wax consistency. What was meant to be a lubricant turns into a drag on the system. It's probably happening to your newer cars, too.

The motor used on power widows and seats are pretty universal in operation. Direction is changed by a polarity change to the motor. Typically, speed reduction is used in increasing power and changing direction of the energy produced. The gears get stuck to the housing causing a drag on the motor. Drag is further compounded in all the joints of the window lift mechanism, guides, rollers and tracks. Motor failure happened when it overheats trying to move too big a load.

Thorough cleaning of the old grease was accomplished with soaking in mineral spirits and repeated air blasts to carry away loosened grease. After cleaning and lubrication with grease commonly used in hand-held power tools the motors and gear reducers operated like brand new. None of the windows worked at all when I got the car. In fact, two of the side windows were duct taped closed.

I even took the 12-volt motors apart and removed all traces of old grease. Be careful as the spring loaded brushes pop out of place and can be a bear to get back in. Using paper clips and needle nose pliers I was able to retract the brushes and reinstall the armature. They ran smooth and quiet afterward.

The next step is to remove the old dashboard and strip it down to its shell, which I'll sand blast and paint black, like the original. I'll transfer parts from the donor dashboard and install the main wiring harness. Once I put the dash back in I'll be able to start it and check all systems before pulling the engine and trans for a complete engine compartment refurbishing.

With windows it it doesn't look quite so skeletal.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Looking good, Barry. And some useful info. I have a 77 Caddy that will use that info on.

Ben

[Guest my3buicks]

[Found this little contraption in a box of parts I inherited with the donor car. It's a period-correct automatic headlight dimming system sensor that was factory installed on some cars. It's housing would be painted body color or was available in a brushed chrome, which is perfect for this car. It will not work without the other parts, but sure will look cool mounted next to the antenna on the front fender.

Barry, that appears to be a 60's GM Unit (Guide)"Guide-matic" I have one on by 67 Buick, and have another NOS one - that I was going to put on my 69 Electra, they used that unit into the early 70's - they are indeed neat items and work very well.

Edited January 31, 2010 by my3buicks (see edit history)

[Barry Wolk]

Maybe they all got it from the same source. This is the Lincoln part number for it, but it has no Ford logo on it.

[Guest my3buicks]

That would be entirely possible they would use the same source for a part like this that didn't see it's way onto many cars. I will have to look at mine to see if they say GUIDE on them. My NOS one is still bare, I had the NOS one that I put on the 67 painted to match.

[Barry Wolk]

Mine is not painted. They call it brushed chrome, but it looks like stainless.

[Barry Wolk]

Back to the beginning. December 14, 2004.

I took delivery of a pile of junk. Nothing worked, but it ran and it stopped. Thankful for that. I was so disappointed in my purchase that I stashed it for several years before starting on it. What got me going on it again was my friend Shawn, a true Ford guy. He and his son were looking for something to do and volunteered to be my helpers, for which I am grateful. I always saved something for them to do on Tuesday nights for a misnamed "Boys Night Out", since we always spend it in the same place, my shop.

What made the project go forward was the acquisition of a parts car that was someone's project gone bad. I was able to transplant all the working systems from the parts car to the limo. As of today, everything electrical works. The last step was the window switch restoration. That's a huge step as these cars are fairly complicated.

I gave it a shot of starting fluid, turned the key and it started right up.

This is what I started with.

[Barry Wolk]

Once I got the engine running smooth as glass I made sure that all vacuum and hydraulic systems worked properly. The hydraulic wipers gave me fits until I realized that there was so little ATF that the system was acting crazy. It's kind of an interesting mix of electrical, hydraulic and vacuum systems. When you push the washer button it makes electrical contact, operating the spritzer motor. That same push slides open a vacuum switch that sends vacuum to the pump, turning on the hydraulic motor through a vacuum operated switch. That vacuum signal passes through a vacuum timer, something I'd never seen before. It's basically a cotton pad with a screw in the center of it. The tighter the screw, the longer vacuum stays in the line that turns the unit on. As the vacuum bleeds down through the compressed cotton the the motor shuts off. Now, twisting the knob, instead of pushing it, operates a hydraulic metering valve within the motor giving infinitely variable speed control. Unnecessarily complicated, but extremely reliable.

When I was satisfied that I wouldn't have to do any further trouble-shooting after final assembly I started disassembling the engine compartment in preparation of pulling the engine for a complete refurbishing of the engine compartment and a gasket set for the engine.

I don't think I'll have a space problem getting the engine out after removing all the ancillary stuff on the front of the engine.

Being a long-time member of the Lincoln Forum I had heard horror stories of wrecked engines that died from pieces of a timing gear nylon tooth coating coming off and either plugging or stopping the oil pump. I removed the vibration damper and crankshaft drive hydraulic pump. That pump supplies pressure to the wipers and power steering and uses ATF instead of PS fluid. Another Lincoln oddity. I then removed the water pump and timing belt cover and found that my gears had been replaced with all steel gears. The timing belt is a little worn out, so I'll plan on replacing it as a precaution.

Havent discovered if this is the original engine or not. It might be the powerful 365 horsepower gruntmaster, but it runs like it's been rebuilt. I just don't know how many times.

I'm off to spend three sunny days in Florida at the Amelia Island Concours. We meet our Porsche Continental there around noon tomorrow. We're suppose to have great weather. We always do.

[Scotts_DG8]

Barry,

Electric, vacuum, hydraulic wipers? Is this one of the few original Rube Goldberg automotive designs? Do they run faster as the transmission shifts from first to second and faster yet when you’re in drive? Of course I’m only making some assumptions here as I’ve never heard of a design quite like this so I just had to ask???:D:D Scott

Oh, and have a wonderful trip...

[Barry Wolk]

I thought the design pretty strange, myself. The vacuum wipers on my Mark II are petty strange, too as they are powered off of a vacuum booster that's hooked to the top of the fuel pump.

[West Peterson]

Strange, maybe, but common... at least for older cars.

[Roger Zimmermann]

It's housing would be painted body color or was available in a brushed chrome, which is perfect for this car. It will not work without the other parts, but sure will look cool mounted next to the antenna on the front fender.

I believe that this unit is to be installed on top of the instrument panel, not outside! I have 2 Cadillacs equiped with that system, the "bad eye" is installed on the left of the instrument panel. From 1959, the Autronic Eye was installed in the middle of the IP on Cadillacs.

[Barry Wolk]

On your Caddys and Mark IIs they are, but not on later Lincolns.

[Guest my3buicks]

ditto on the Buicks, outside on the later ones

[Barry Wolk]

Here's a picture of the "eye" on a '70 Mark III.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Thank you Barry to contribute to my education!

[Barry Wolk]

Had a great time in Florida. Took a trophy from the Hagerty Youth Judging Program. Took a third against those two beauties. Kids seem to be unaffected by rarity and value. They just picked what they liked.

Got back and Shawn showed up for BNO ready to pull the engine out. He was covered from head to toe, but the beast was released.

Engine bay is huge.

Used the lift to pull the intake manifold. Learned my lesson last time I did a 460. Manifold is incredibly heavy.

Pushrod valley is incredibly clean. Virtually no build-up, anywhere.

Don't know yet if the valves need any attention, but there's not much build-up here, either.

The bores are smooth. There's no sign of the original cross-hatching but the ridge at the top of the bore is almost imperceptible.

There's no movement in the rod bearings and none on the journals, as far as I can tell. It ran so smooth that it must have been a low-mileage rebuild as it did not have the original nylon covered gear nor was there any sign of any debris in the pan. It was remarkably clean.

I think I lucked out. I've ordered a complete gasket set and 3 piece timing set. That and a carb kit should be all I need. I'm going to put it back together and use it as-is, much cleaner, of course.

I do have a question. I thought it odd that some of the lifters sat near the middle of the cam lobes, but a bunch sat offset quite aways. Is this normal?

[Tom M]

Wow that sure is clean inside for a Ford. I remember the days I worked for my stepfather some of them Ford engines caked up so easily with gunk.

[keiser31]

Barry...I have seen offset lifters before. I thought it odd, too, but there they were. I cannot remember which engine I was rebuilding when I saw that offset.

[m.kozlowski]

Ford (and not only Ford) uses this configuration in order to manage lifter wear. Maybe You all know that, but in that case lifter is rotated every time the camshaft opens the valve. This minimalizes wear on lifter bottom.

Edited March 25, 2010 by m.kozlowski (see edit history)

[Barry Wolk]

I didn't, but I do now. Thanks.

[Barry Wolk]

Took the oil pan off and found, nothing. No sludge, no metal, just bits of the hardened and cracked valve guide seals.

At this point I cleaned up the block, removed the residue from the top of the pistons and started putting it back together.

Found three exhaust valves that hadn't been seating properly, possibly from the rocker arms being adjusted too tight. Seated all the valves with compound. Everything cleaned up nicely. Installed new valve guide seals and put everything back together.

Chasing the threads made reassembly a breeze. A little oil on the threads of the head bolts will give me a true torque reading.

Oops, made a huge mistake. Put the intake manifold on before installing the lifters. D'oh! Luckily the sealant hadn't set up and all is well.

Next step, paint.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Barry, did you sandblast the heads? Are you not afraid that some sand is still there and will end in the lubrication circuit?

[Barry Wolk]

Roger, they were sand cast originally. I took great pains to inspect and dislodge any sand that may have remained. Also, the oil passages in the heads lead directly to the filter before oil gets to the oil pump, minimizing any risk from a few grains of sand, if any, remaining.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Heads and block were sand casted, that's for sure. I assume they were rinsed and then manufactured.

However, I hope that you get rid of the sand; I'm crossing the fingers!

[Barry Wolk]

I also rinsed mine and blew out all passages at 150 psi. BTW, there are no pressurized oil passages in the heads, only drains to return the oil pumped up through the pushrods, which falls through the drains to the filter.

[Barry Wolk]

Motor is just about done.

[BamaWildcat]

Barry, is the engine still on the stand a year later?

[Barry Wolk]

I've had a little distraction.