1968 Lincoln Limo

Not a stretch. It's a splice of two cars. Note the VIN tags on both front doors.





9-1-2007 It begins.

I was on-line one day and my wife passed my computer and saw the first two pictures. She said, "Buy it". I don't question things like that, so I did. I asked her later, "Why?" She said that she figures that by the time I'm done restoring it I'll be old enough that I won't see so good at night and it only makes sense for us to be driven safely to our destination. Whatever, it works for me.

I had a huge decision to make. While the car drove great I was really concerned with the splice. The splice in the floorboards is almost imperceptible. I really had to look for it. I found no surprises. A little bit of surface rust on the floorboards but I haven't found any rust anywhere yet. There was no visible cracking or warping of the floorboards along any of the welds.

I have deemed it restorable. The first thing I did was remove the vinyl to to inspect the roof splice. I found a ton of surface rust under the area above the windshield as the vinyl had split years ago. There was a thick (1/4") layer of bondo across the whole splice.



Removing the seats on either side of the partition revealed the window mechanism.



A little lubrication and removal of two layers of carpet, it was moving freely.



Peeling back the carpet revealed a little surface rust but no structural damage.





My next step may seem silly to some but I needed to get everything working before I tore everything apart. None of the windows worked when I started. All of the windows now work independently but I can only control the driver's side rear from the driver's door controls.

Getting it running was the next step. I put a new battery in and tried to start it. I notice that it bogged down and started smoking in the area of the solenoid. The connections were corroded and loose. Cleaned everything up, tried it again and it started right up and purred loudly. I noticed the battery cable leading to the starter was badly charred and had no insulation on it. It passed very near the exhaust pipe.



I'll finish gutting the interior and move it into the shop for further evaluation. I'll leave all the interior parts in the storage building so I'm not tripping over them.

Barry,

You have entertained me for the last few years with your trailer.

Now your doing it all over again.

Thanks you so much

My pleasure, kind sir.

9-9-2007 Rust hunting

I pulled the smelly, nasty carpet out of the trunk revealing that while the trunk had been wet at some time, there was very little rust. Just some surface flaking.



When I pulled back the last bit of carpet I found green paint. I also found it on the roof. The thing that's strange is that both VIN tags reveal that the cars were both maroon. I wonder if this is some type of primer.





In my search for rust I looked in a likely spot, the lowest part of the inside of the door. I found a bit of dirt and a tiny amount of surface rust. I'm amazed.



I knew I would hit pay dirt here.

Barry, please don't take this wrong....

But, If I had about 10% of your energy, money, skill, and etc..... I think I would be a happy man.

I couldn't agree more! The Spartinette was joy to watch! This will be equally good....

How on Earth could anyone take that the wrong way? You all are very kind. Your encouragement and input make these project much more fun for me.

This report has some minor duplication. I've gone back to posting a diary on my Cardomain
site.

To ease access The doors had to go. I gutted the doors while on the car and boxed all the components in marked boxes. Got smart this time.



Moved the limo, under it's own power, into the shop. It looks so small after having the trailer in there for so long.



Backed the trailer into the building next door in preparation of pushing the 36' trailer sideways into a 38' space. The only way to do that is to use heavy duty wheel skates.



Neatly tucked away for the winter.



One of the first things I did was remove the trunk lid. I got tired of bumping my head on the edge. The rear bumper came off with three wires and 8 bolts. It looks as thought its never had any rear damage.



The vinyl top created lots of water traps and caused a bit of damage at the lead edge of the roof and at the bottom of the rear window. It's ugly, but it's repairable.



The side trim was fasten through through these holes that were subjected to constant moisture. The metal in this area will be replaced. The car will not have a vinyl top so this trim will not be necessary.



Using a cutting wheel on an electric die grinder I cut away the rotted metal and ground all spot weld remnants smooth.





I had my fab shop bend an exact 3-foot duplicate of the rotted edge. The metal thickness matches the original.

Using my avation metal working tools I fashioned a backer plate for the splice.



[img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/752000-752999/752157_69_full.jpg[/img]

I used an old trick a shop teacher showed me years ago. When brazing sheet metal layers together the top hole should be about twice the size as the inner hole. In this case the hole in the backer is 1/8", the proper size for the Cleco temporary fasteners. The outer hole is 1/4". When brazing the tip of the flame goes through the small hole and heats up both layers of metal. A dab of brazing rod and the joint and holes are sealed. This even works on metal that you can't clean the back-side of. The braze fuses to the walls of the holes you drill in the sheet metal and provides a strong bond.

[img]http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/752000-752999/752157_70_full.jpg[/img]

A lot of work, but it be a cheery when you done, I love the double back door arrangement with the suicide door.

I always wanted a double door set on olderpackard stretch limo. Not orginal but a fun car.

That's all this one is for is fun.

I started stripping the paint off of the car to investigate other problem areas. This isn't as bad as it looks.



The rear quarter sheet metal is near perfect.





This is the extent of the rear quarter rust.





This car has had three paint jobs. The paint seem to get progressively thicker as the coats were added. I started stripping on the rear quarter and found some pretty attractive sheet metal underneath. The rear quarter had no physical damage and only a little bit of rust in the common areas. Once the original details were revealed I got a real impression of what the finished product would look like. The quality of the stampings and the sheer number of spot welds is amazing.

Barry,

Thanks for sharing your restoration. I am impressed, as it is a huge job. Congratulations and the best of luck in your efforts. The '67-'68 Lincolns were favorites of mine. I always thought that the Lincolns were more comfortable in both ride (Ford suspensions!) and interior. The Cadillac limousines were so austere in gray, and of course I know now that the interiors of our cars were also OLD so they had hardened up a bit! Do you have a blue interior?

Keep the photos coming!!

I am throwing away the old interior. It stunk. I'm looking for a parts car to donated a new interior, or, I may go totally custom with an old-style ('30s) cloth interior.

I'm strongly considering painting it the same color as the Mark II.

11-17-2007 Started stripping the doors. I've decided to reassemble the car as I strip it. As I work my way around the car I'll reassemble the sheet metal assemblies so that it ends up like the completed body came down the paint line. A light medial blast and it'll be ready for etching primer. That will protect the rest of the car while I'm making rust repairs.

I used a paint stripper on the rear quarter and it worked well. There was very little body filler so it was smooth and clean.

The rear passenger door had a layer of maroon paint. I sprayed a paint remover over its surface.



10 minutes later the surface bubbled up and was easily removed by a putty knife.



The second layer was a thick red primer That was pretty tough. It took two applications.



Another application of remover and the primer came off, revealing the white paint job. That paint was tough to cut, too.



Underneath almost the whole door was a thick layer of body filler. Paint remover doesn't work but heat does. I used a commercial heat gun and softened the filler and scraped it off. Some of it was 1/4" thick.



One last application of paint remover and the original green paint came right off.



Whoever made these repairs never massaged the metal, just slathered filler over relatively minor damage. About an hour with my body hammer should return the shape close enough to original that it will need very little filler.

Barry, You stated that the top would not be vinyl when you are finished. I once read that the reason that the builders use vinyl was, that eventually the tops buckle with age and the flexing of the body. Probably worth looking into?

Barry,
Great that you're taking on this project and that you've got the time. Not bad for someone who "changes light bulbs"!

I don't like the color. This blue is too bright for a limo. Dark Blue, dark maroon, or dark green. Of course, black goes with everything.

Chris

That might be true with a stretch, where there are two seams. This is a splice with only one seam. Also, this is an extremely rigid unit bodied car, not a BOF like most limos. BOF allows much more flex to the body.

Barry,
The Lincoln Limo is a very worthy project. This will make a nice addition to your other rare and beautiful cars (and Trailer). As usual you are approaching this project in a logical way. I am inspired by your work ethic and am going to try to approach my '40 Roadmaster project with increased enthusiasm!

Now, if I could only inspire you to come and help me I have something.

Friartuck,

If you have seen my Mark II in person you wouldn't think the blue is too light for the application. This picture best represents the actual color.

Barry, OK, you're starting to win me over with this blue. Definately a consertaive color and tone/hue. Charge ahead!!
Chris

Barry
Have you tried using Aircraft Finish Remover? I believe it's the best. Don't get any on your skin, though, it burns like crazy.

I've used that stuff before. It damn near killed me with it's fumes. It even gets kind of nasty in there with the standard stuff and the space it's in, even though it's 19,000 cubic feet. Besides, I'm in no hurry.

Oh yeah, it's nasty. It makes my eyes water just thinking about it. I use it outdoors and it still makes my eyes water. Though this time of year it wouldn't work outside very well. Not where you or I'm located.

Actually West, I kind of enjoy the slower pace of using a less potent stripper. It's like cutting the grass. It's totally mindless, yet totally satisfying.

11-21-2007 More stripping.

I spent about an hour with my body hammer and dolly and straighten out the dents in the rear door. Now they'll just require a thin layer of body filler over the damaged areas.

Unfortunately, the center door had a shabby home-made door skin that didn't allow for good body filler adhesion. It cracked and created this rust mess. I'm looking for two new doors or NOS door skins. I know, good luck.



Stripping the trunk lid was no small task. This pile of paint scrapings was just the top layer of paint. It had so much paint on it that the body lines were blurred.



I don't know if you can see the blur in this picture, but you sure can, in person. I'm still amazed at the quality of the original stampings. The pieces are almost sculptural.

The lower edge of the trunk lid is a very likely rust problem. There is no sign of rust on this trunk lid. Another super clean part.

Barry,

I enjoyed your grass mowing to paint-stripping metaphor.

I used Original Auto Interiors in Michigan Original Auto Interiors . They could make any interior material. I really liked the Lincoln velour/crushed velvet seats. They were comfortable.

Thanks, that may be just what I'm looking for.

11-24-2007 No need for door skins. I figured out why both center doors have been re-skinned.

If you look at the passenger side middle door you can see that it's top is flat. This door had to be altered to be this way because as a front door on the rear part of the splice it no longer rose to meet the windshield.







I have a friend that has offered to teach me lead work. This door might be the perfect teaching tool.

I found a sprayable paint stripper at Home Depot that works the best of any I've used.



The whole rear end of the car is stripped of paint. Aside from the door ding on the passenger rear door I've found no sheet metal damage and about the same amount of rust on both sides.



The vast majority of rust under the vinyl top was surface rust. I ground the rust spots to slightly below the original surface. The big holes will be brazed shut and all the rust spots will be covered in POR-15. The excess paint will be sanded away and the area covered with a thin layer of body filler.