Mike Cullen

Are you sure it's not 8BA? that would be a 49 and up Ford 239, a solid flattie. Not as hot as the Mercury version, but still a very good late V8.

Rich and Krupa were both greats, in an earlier era. Face it, they certainly paved the way for todays top skin pounders, like Aynsley Dunbar.

Rich and Krupa were both greats, in an earlier era. Face it, they certainly paved the way for todays top skin pounders, like Aynsley Dunbar.

A pretty nice 4 door 36 went for $40K at RM in West Palm or Ft. Lauderdale last year. Maybe we are starting to see the popularity and hence the price starting to rise on the pre-war cars. They have been real bargains for quite a while now.

Interesting color, looks good with the beige leather interior.

I'd really like to bring my 36 across the pond for a once in a lifetime vacation. I have relatives in Co. Wexford Ireland, and some patcholder friends in a bike club. (1%) I'd love to spend a couple of months touring the isles and the continent, but that will be at least 10 years off.

lincolnforum.net has tons of info on the slabsiders. They are great cars and fairly plentiful. They are becoming popular with the customizers. Grab an original if you can find a good one. (the gold one you posted looks pretty sweet) They have a scary number of options available, and when you get everything working, there is nothing on the road like them.

If you have an old locksmith in town he may be able to help you out. The books they need to use those codes likely were tossed out 40 years ago, according to the local locksmith I use. He was able to easily make keys for me by just taking the lock assemblies to him. He charged me $20 for the first one, $4 per copy on old nickel coated brass blanks he had on hand. I took him the glovebox lid and the ignition switch. Between the two, I was able to lock and unlock the door, trunklid and spare tire.

Compression release for hand starting from flywheel on a hit or miss engine?

I guess it's personal preference, but I have a friend with a Packard 115 coupe, it looks great, but can't get out of it's own way and the visibility out of it is horrible. My old 36 sedan runs circles around his Packard performance wise, rides as well or better, and will handle sustained 60MPH far better. (he says his Packard is much happier in the 45-50 range) His Packard is fancier than my plain jane Zephyr, and seems like a far heavier and substantial car. When I bought my Zephyr, I was originally on a quest for a Packard, I'm glad that they guy sold the two Packards he had before I was able to get an appraiser up there to check one out. Since he was there I had him inspect the Zephyr and I'm glad I did. If I were in the market again, between a junior Packard and a Connie, conditions being equal, Connie, hands down.

The early Ford V8 website has many contacts listed for the carbs with the bases you need. They show up as rebuildable cores on e-bay frequently too. You should be able to snag them in rebuildable condition for $20-$30 if you are persistent. Use your uppers and the 3 hole flanged base can be re-bushed for a tight throttle plate shaft. I wouldn't be surprised if you could buy Stromberg 97s off the shelf, ready to go from one of the Flathead Hotrod vendors. (Some of Rolf's old buddies)

It's far more respectable than some I've seen. I painted a bicycle that color purple..... in 1970. If all you have is a body shell, it's far better to sub-frame it and at least use the tin in a stock appearing rod. I think the thing that pisses most people off is taking a complete stock and running car and tossing 3/4 of it into the scrap bin in order to build a backyard billet barge, thinking they are the next custom king. They end up with a POS that appeals only to them. After a few years, it ends up as a piece of rebar in a chinese construction project.

Very nice! A few years ago I saw a two-holer, three stud manifold go for $300, I should have grabbed it.

That's exactly what it is. Condensor for radio static suppression. There is also supposed to be one on the fuel tank sending unit. That's one that sometimes gets missed.

Nice work Peter!

You get a lot of looks without posting because I'd suspect, that many of the old car guys are just surfing the boards concerning models they like but do not currently own, or they are in the position I'm in, that is, I have a complete car, in pretty good shape, but few spares and extra parts available. Zephyrs arent 65 Mustangs as far as parts availability goes. Post a thread that says you have XXX extra and want to part with it and it will go quickly. start a thread looking for something specific, but not commonly needed and it can take a while. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go to the usual suspects and pay the long price, if they have it.

Keep plugging away Phil, the stuff will turn up. Nobody who deals with these beautiful old beasts seems to be in much of a hurry. Be thankful that we have "Al Gore's wonderful invention". Could you imagine trying to chase down oddball parts by mail? BTW, the "we hate you" comment was totally in jest. Many Zephyrists think that the pre-war coupes are the most beautiful cars ever made. I can't think of anyone, even non-Zephyr car people who would not love to own an early coupe, and especially to find an unmolested example. You are one lucky man. Enjoy that beautiful car, even if it is a little at a time.

I don't know about those new-fangeld hydraulic brakes.... My cables are smooth and answer eagerly too!

That sort of frosts me too. I get the same line from people who stop to visit when I show my 36. All of these "experts" telling their buddies how the Lincoln 12s were junk, and that "everybody pulled the 12s out and replaced them with V8-85s because the Ford engine was so much more powerful and reliable." When I tell them I've seen dozens of Zephyrs in person, and not a one of them was sporting an V8, nor has anyone who owned one told me about having to pull the Ford engine and find a V12. (although I'm sure it happened) I always respond that more likely the reason was the low production numbers, a Ford V8 could be had from a wrecking yard for a song, and since the V12 was fairly uncommon it would be more expensive to overhaul or replace so they were occasionally replaced with V8s. They seem shocked that My old V12 with a non-pressurized cooling system doesn't puke coolant everywhere, even in Florida summers. I'm not afraid to drive anywhere, within the general limitations of a 72 year old car, that it gets 14-15 MPG and that it will run circles around my buddy's 37 Packard or Ford V8s from the 30s. I assume that the so called experts have never owned a V12, likely only "remember" them from stories they heard in the early 50s by which time even flathead technology had developed to the point that our old 12s were underpowered, due to the higher compression ratios and eventually the shorter stroke higher winding OHVs replaced them too.

I like those brick motormounts!

Your V12 doesn't run like that Dee?

I'm afraid to take the lenses out of my 36, I know that if one breaks, I'm in trouble. I hope I don't need to replace a bulb! (since I mentioned it, I'll likely have one or both burn out this weekend!)

I watched a 58 impala convertible with the 348 and air rot into the ground over about 25 years. When they finally got rid of it when the owner died, it broke into pieces trying to lift it after digging all around it. He was "saving it to give to his son for restoration someday" It ran when parked in the 60s. Absolutely nothing was salvageable by the late 80s.

Congratulations! another one roars to life! (and looks good too!)

Beech is also a decent substitute, it's very straight grained and easy to work, the big drawback is that it is very light colored, almost white. My uncle used a lot of it in his cabinet shop for repair pieces in furniture and for carriage work. (cut and cured his own, "free wood" so to speak)