WHSEWARD

That you, Mike? Headed to Australia. No reasonable offers here, unfortunately.

The car has sold.

I have reduced the asking price to $72,500 but will still consider reasonable offers.

My understanding of the term "Berline" is that it refers to a coach (I believe all of these terms come from French coachbuilder terminology, like limousine, Berline, cabriolet, landaulet, even sedan and coupe, etc.) with a four-door passenger compartment, divided by a glass window, with in addition a cloth (not leather) front seat to permit the owner as well as a chauffeur to drive the car. In addition, the top, instead of being metal with a leather panel insert, is completely covered in leather (or in my case, vinyl); this latter feature, together with the split front window, distinguishes its exterior from the two-window Town Sedan. The two-window Berline has two windows along the side and a closed rear quarter, while the 3-window Berline has a window panel in the rear quarter. Judkins therefore made only one Berline body and either covered the window panel with leather for the two-window Berline or put in the glass and surrounds for the 3-window option, as the customer ordered. The CCCA Archives have drawings and/or photos of all the Judkins bodies for 1931 free to view at http:// http://cccamuseum.org/Explore/Archives/ArchiveViewer/tabid/116/Default.aspx Hey, alsancle...I wonder where that 2W in your old photo is now? That would make #5 that I have found to date. So far as I know it has not shown up at auction or for sale in the past 15 years or thereabouts. Can't believe they would have parted it out, so it's gotta be somewhere.

Price Change: asking $80,000 obo.

That is weird - the photos showed up fine when I uploaded them - now they don't. For additional photos see https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/lincoln/k/1919976.html. Not a plug, just a hotfix. Any additional info, just ask.

Here is a historic and award-winning 1931 Lincoln Model K. It is equipped with a 120 hp flathead V8, and has a 145" wheelbase. Its body, Number 5-12271, custom built by the J.B. Judkins Company of Merrimac, MA, is one of 124 two-window Berlines produced by Judkins for Lincoln for the 1931 model year; only four of these cars are believed to still exist. The car was delivered new to Richmond, California on October 30, 1931 and passed through a succession of California owners before I purchased it in 2013. Provenance is available on request. The engine, carburetor and water pump were rebuilt in the late 80's. The original mechanical fuel pump has been replaced with an electric pump; the original pump will go with the car. A high-speed (3.77:1) rear end was installed in 2006/7 to replace the stock 4.58:1 gear. In 2013 the exterior was completely stripped to bare metal, resurfaced and repainted in factory-correct Forest Green (IM-584) over black fenders, using single-stage urethane. The split and deteriorated leather roof was replaced with a new vinyl formal roof. The front seat was re-upholstered using wool broadcloth selected to match the remainder of the original interior. However, apart from this and the lower wood trim in the front compartment, the rest of the interior is essentially original, as shown in the photographs. Dash panel instruments are functional except for the clock and the fuel indicator. The car starts up every time in all temperatures, runs, shifts and drives smoothly. The manual floor shifter is mated to a semi-synchronized three-speed transmission also equipped for free-wheeling. The original configuration was modified by a previous owner so that in effect there are five forward speeds, although I only use three while driving. It is quite easy to drive after a bit of practice. The huge mechanical brakes stop the car from speed surprisingly quickly. The high-speed rear end permits highway cruising in the 50-60 mph range, and I have taken the car on several trips of 80-100 miles (each way) without any overheating or vapor locking at all, using only regular gasoline. This car is also at home on the show field. Since being acquired in 2013 this car, which is recognized as a "Full Classic" by the Classic Car Club of America. has appeared in four Concours d'Elegance events, securing awards at three of them (Keels & Wheels Concours d'Elegance, Silver Award, 2014 and 2015; Concours d'Elegance of Texas, 2015, Class Winner). The car is regularly maintained and driven on the highway once a week; it was driven to and from all of the Concours events in which it participated, and in several AACA Tours (2015 AACA Texas Tour) and Meets (2016 Central Fall Meet, Galveston) as well. Two new 700-19 tires and tubes were recently purchased and installed on the front wheels. The engine valves have been adjusted and a recent cylinder compression test performed; all cylinders tested 75 psi or higher with a hot engine. In addition the front wheel bearings were removed and repacked in 2016, the front wheels re-aligned, and the front steering checked and adjusted. This beautiful and elegant Full Classic automobile is ready to continue its life as a combination tour and show car, or to move up in class to the most prestigious Concours events. The car is located in Katy, Texas and is offered on an as-is, where-is basis. Odometer mileage is believed reasonable but not guaranteed due to age. Many additional photos are available upon request. Third-party inspections by appointment are welcomed, and reasonable offers will be considered. Price: $85,000 negotiable

I'm looking for sources for intake and exhaust valves for my 31. I know about Egge but I wonder if you all can provide me with other possible sources. Thanks.

I want to apologize for and correct an error that appeared in my most recent post and that may mislead some readers. I incorrectly stated that the Judkins body code for a 1931 Two-window Berline was 1131 as compared to the Lincoln style number of 213A. The correct body code is 1191 for the Two-window Berline, 1191B for the Three-window Berline, and 1191C for the (semi)-collapsible Berline. Photos of the body styles showing the Judkins style numbers can be found at: http://cccamuseum.org/Explore/Archives/ArchiveViewer/tabid/116/Default.aspx I regret the error and hope that no one has been unduly inconvenienced.

Since you have taken the car on trips in the past and have not had the problem, it may be the water pump. On my 31 Lincoln, a brass shear pin holding the impeller on the shaft sheared without my knowing, the same as Matt mentioned earlier. It caused a serious overheating problem which had not occurred on a road test prior to my purchase. If you take the pump apart it's easy to see and was easy to fix on my pump at least.

Some time ago I found a product called P21S - it's a German product available from places like Autogeek.net. I have found it to be good at cleaning up slightly yellowed tires - better IMHO than Blech White. I use it straight from the bottle with the rough (green) side of a household sponge. I have used it on the Lesters on my 39 Buick and the Bedford Famous Cords on my 31 Lincoln, some of which are pretty old. The product is supposed to be an all-purpose cleaner but I found other products that work better for washing etc. But it does work on tires. Maybe it's worth a try.

I have looked through many sources on the Internet and have gotten conflicting views, on where best to place the battery cutoff switch in an antique car. First, some history. On my 39 Buick I had a dead short to ground and only saved the car from a fiery death because I was able to reach and turn the cutoff switch, which was on the POSITIVE side (negative ground car). On my 31 Lincoln I had a cutoff switch installed, but it was on the NEGATIVE side (negative ground car). That switch has now failed and I need to install a new one. The preponderance of opinion seems to be that the cutoff switch should be installed on the ground side, but I do not see how this prevents a fire in the case of a dead short in the wiring, such as I had on my Buick. In my particular case essentially all of the circuits in the car are grounded to the chassis at individual points in the circuitry, so it seems to me that a short to ground would still feed all the power from the battery to the ground short even if the cutoff switch were installed on or near the negative terminal of the battery. I would appreciate some discussion and opinion on this. Thanks.

After some detective work on associating Lincoln and Judkins style designations with each other, I believe that I have been able to decipher the individual production cards in the Judkins Archives on the CCCA Museum website. For whatever it is worth, here are my findings: The Lincoln style associated with Judkins Berline bodies for 1931 was style 213 - however the Judkins code for that style was 1131. Judkins code 1131 corresponded to Lincoln style 213-A, a two-window Berline; the CCCA Archive has a factory photo documenting this. Judkins code 1131B was a 3-window Berline (per another factory photo), while 1131C was a collapsible Berline (the rear quarter actually folded down - there is a rendering in the CCCA Archives of this design). There were three separate orders from Ford (A-42545, A-48871, A-51836) for style 213 during 1931, consisting of 75, 50, and 50 bodies respectively, for a total of 175 Berline bodies. On the Judkins production cards, the designation of "1131", "B" or "C" is identified for each individual body. Counting individual bodies delivered from Judkins, I found that code 1131 bodies totalled 124, with one 1131C, two other non-standard bodies, with the balance of 48 bodies being 1131B bodies, or 3-window Berlines. I conclude that the number of Judkins two-window Berlines delivered for the 1931 model year was 124. I would be happy to hear input from anyone who could refine the numbers I have come up with, but I believe I will go with these for now. I would be glad to share my assumptions and methodology with anyone who is interested. I believe this could be applied to any other Judkins body style.

Walt G - thanks for the reply. All information is helpful and fleshes out the provenance a bit.

I have been trying to nail down the number of two-window Berline bodies (Style 213A) produced by the Judkins Company for Lincoln for the 1931 Model year. I believe I may possibly have the last one, as it was completed and shipped to Lincoln on 23 July 1931. I have confirmed this from the CCCA archives of Judkins records. Notes from a previous owner state that 117 Berlines were made in 1931 (2-window only? 2 and 3-window? calendar year or model year?). The Standard Catalog (Kimes) states that 171 213B (3-window Berline) bodies were produced in 1931 but lists no figure at all for 213A bodies. The auction listing for a 213A Lincoln sold at Amelia Island in 2008 states 72 2-window bodies were estimated to be produced. You can see why I am uncertain. My research on the Internet indicates that a Lincoln Owners Club Member named Frank Rose published production data for Lincoln Model L cars and indicated that additional data on Lincoln K's were available, but I have not been able to locate a source for such data. Perusal of the CCCA Archives has not yielded this information. Any additional help in establishing a firm production data would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.