Ron K.

Thank you for the response and I owe John an apology, I misunderstood his earlier answer. Okay let me step back, as you can tell I am new to the Lincoln Continental and obviously have some misconceptions. Can you guys straighten me out on the interior? I thought that the gold trim was an option and if you did not order it, your Continental came with the maroon interior paint and chrome trim on all of the dash instruments and etc. Jim that is why, when looking at a copy of the build sheet I assumed that it was "standard" because it did not have any mention of the gold trim. The pressure is on to get this resolved because Mike would like to paint the interior later next week. Thanks, I really appreciate your help in getting this resolved. Jim, you have the same Capri Blue that would be correct for my '40 Cabriolet, could you or John confirm the correct paint code one more time so that I am sure to have the correct one. I just ordered the LZOC Authenticity Guide, should have done it two years ago.

My car is undergoing body and paint work to restore it to the original Capri Blue color that she departed the factory with so many years ago. It was delivered with the standard interior, not gold trim, and the dash appears to be the original plum/maroon color (Bernie, the gentleman that helped repaint the car black in 1953, says that he does not believe that they painted the interior at the time). John Murphy tried to ferret out the color code but so far has been unsuccessful, do any of you experts happen to know what the code is? A friend that worked for Harrah's years ago thought that Henry used a maroon colored trim on the interior of his other Ford products during this time period and that it might be the same. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have only been a member for ony a few years but am amazed that with so few members that they can even produce the TWOZ. My hat is off to the editor and staff for their dedication in doing the best under difficult circumstances. We are in a shrinking world my Lincoln Zephyr friends.

I feel your pain, I wimped out early and took mine over to Mr. Connelly. He did a fantastic job for me and my '40 Cabriolet runs great, you gotta love that Columbia even in town. By the way, mine came from the factory with the Columbia and it also has a higher oil fill hole on the right hand side.

Listed on the Production Card, that is interesting I would have thought that they would be a dealer add on. By the way Jim, my Cabriolet is off to the body shop for a the new Capri Blue factory fresh look, just like yours. Ron

Please do a little research first, I was warned not to use anything with graphite because it will "travel" into the speedometer and inhibit the internal gears. It was recommended by the fellow that rebuilt my speedo to use a thin layer of grease (I used synthetic) on the cable as you slide it into the shield.

Just to stir the pot, Dick Flynn, who wrote technical articles for the Early Ford V8 magazine for years, wrote a couple of very informative articles on the use of synthetic lubricants in vintage Fords. He very strongly recommended Amsoil and others because of their superior lubrication qualities, I took his suggestion and am running in my '40 Cabriolet nothing but Amsoil, 20-50 in the engine, gear lube in both the rebuilt transmission and newly rebuilt Columbia and grease for those hundreds of fittings.

Thank you, what a neat project. The reason I asked about the color was the car sitting in the background of the engine. Ron

Jim could you please post some pictures of your Brunn or direct me to where they are posted? Is it Capri Blue? You have aluminium heads because it is a '40, correct? Thanks for showing the engine, I am trying to put together a hot air heater and that is a good shot.

I think that it is a post war Columbia but John Connelly at Columbia Two Speed can tell you for sure.

Familiar story, when my '40 Cabriolet was purchased in 1952 and it already had a Merc flathead V-8 engine installed and the gentleman that I bought it from yanked it out and put in a, brand new from the factory, 1953 Lincoln 317 cubic inch Y Block (he also added dual exhaust). It currently has about 3000 miles on it but will be replaced with a correct V-12 with aluminum heads. In a way I hate to replace it because it runs so well...stopping is the only problem.

Do any of you have, or know of anybody that has, the vertical trim piece that goes between the front grills (#06H8168)? John Murphy told me that it is unique to the '40 and very difficult to find. I have already called Merv Adtkins. Any leads would be appreciated. Thanks. Ron

I believe that John is correct, my '40 Cabriolet came from the factory with a Columbia Two Speed and the speedo cable attaches to the forward torque tube.

I removed the rear axle assembly last July from my '40 Continental and spread the rear spring with a Porta-Power to disconnect the shackles and she came out fine with the spring still spread. I suspect that if you take the tension off of the spring you will not be able to get it out or put in back in. It was very close on installation. I was told that it cannot be done on a Lincoln with the spring still attached to the axle. Good luck and for goodness sake, be careful. Ron

Thank you Keith, keep up the good work. Ron

Well Keith I am lucky because I own a 1940 Cabriolet and have always had to manually crank up the windows. Is there a way that those of us that have lost your catalog on a PDF file could access it again? I also need to order your new 1940 Steering Wheel, keep up the good work you are a real artisan. Ron

On John Murphy's recommendation I shipped my inop '40 radio to Jake and he did a fantastic job. Good guy to work with. Ron

Having a speedometer drive on the rear axle is a new one to me, my '40 Continental does not have one so I have to have the shift mechanism. Was that a late forties change by Columbia Two Speed?

Thank you John, I should have just called you instead of bothering everybody. Ron

Can one of you resident experts tell me what fuse in line to the clock for my 1940 Continental? Mine is completely missing and I have searched all of my resources and cannot find the fuse mentioned anywhere (yes, it is depicted in the schematic but not the specific type). Also, where can I find bulb and fuse specifications? Thanks. Ron

There was good clearance to bring it up through the floor opening and did not need a hoist to lift it out. I had to use a porta-power to move the engine/transmission away from the brake/clutch shaft (I did not want to deal with removing the bracket) and then used a floor jack under the clutch housing to lift the transmission enough to give clearance of the cross member to slide the transmission aft so that the spline would slide out of the fly wheel/clutch. In hind sight, I probably could have pulled the brake/clutch support shaft out after unbolting the transmission but was concerned about bending stuff when I lifted the engine/transmission.

No overdrive but it looks heavy. It appears to have fore, aft and side clearance to come up through the floor, the only question is, as you mentioned, moving it level aft far enough to free the spline from the clutch.

If we could plow this field one more time. The rear axle assembly has been completely removed and I would now like to remove the transmission for repair and replace the clutch assembly while I have the car in pieces. From what I have read, I can remove the transmission up through the floor by using an engine hoist. Any further tips on removing the rear tranny support/mount, hoisting the trans up or additional information on clutch removal and replacement would be deeply appreciated. Thanks to all of you that contributed to all of the earlier threads that I have read. I am still looking for a shop to work on the transmission, wish I was in Oklahoma from reading about Jim. Ron

When in second gear and I back off of the throttle, the transmission will pop out of gear every time. I am located in Tucson, can anybody recommend a reputable repair shop that would be an expert in repairing this vintage transmission in Arizona or Southern California?

Success thanks to your advice. Pulling the floor pan is necessary, I detached the spring from the rear axle with the porta-power spreading it and adjusting the floor jack and auto lift, backed the axle out in one piece. It is now being "bullet proofed" by expert John Connelly, what a great guy with a fantastic machine shop, he is the "go to" guy for Columbias. He assured me that he has the correct original '40 controls for my Columbia to replace the post war controls including the electrical switch that Reese installed in '53. Lesson learned, don't drive Tucson - Temecula, CA - Tucson in one day again.