AceCollins

Email me and I will give what I know as well. Ace

I glance, I read, I enjoy. Ace

Thanks. I was hoping for something a bit more retro and art-deco, but it is not a bad looking modern car. The main thing is that it brings the name back and matches it to Lincoln. Ace

When someone finds some pictures, please post them. Ace

Thomas, Jake is the guy, wonderful man and super with V12 distributors. I just wanted to say your English is fine. If I had to share my problems in German, I would be lost. Please continue to update us on your car and thanks for keeping the V12 alive in Europe! Ace Collins

Thanks guys. Rolf I am going to try your method first. Let you know how things turn out. Ace

Not only what red it is, but how do you paint the trunk handle, wheel cover script, etc.? I have examined where the red is needed on my 37, but would love to have a hint as to how to apply it and make it look super. Ace

Pete, The car is super. Interesting story and found the whole magazine a facinating read. I also really like your driving wear. Maybe I need to give some thought to looking a bit classier when I am behind the wheel of my LZ. Ace

We are waiting on some carriage bolts for the Columbia for my 37 LZ, just wanted to ask the experts what weight lube to use in the rear end.

Good news, Roy Thorson had two good, working ready to go one and drive front shocks. He is sending them to me. Lever Shocks can rebuild one of my back ones, so that leaves me with needing just one rear shock. Adam at Lever is going to try to rework my frozen and trashed rear one with extra parts he has sitting around and see if he can make it good again too. Now, at the worst, I am looking for one rear shock now. I will keep you all informed. Ace

On my lack of participation in the past few weeks, I write books for a living and am under the gun on a deadline. My world will be much easier with a great deal more free time come March. Thanks for missing my often ignorrant questions and sometimes stupid responses. Ace

Still waiting on the OD results. We spoke with the experts and they suggested a couple of things such as shorter bolts in one section that we had to wait for. Still have not run the lines, hooked up to the speedo, etc. In the process of doing this we pulled the shocks off, redid bushing, etc. So, now we are waiting on the shocks, actually trying to find shocks, to put the old girl back on the ground and see how the OD works. In the meantime, did some rewiring and have a ground wire problem with my headlights and tailights. We will get it all traced out in the next month or so. Anyone know if the LZ in 37 used Ford shocks or was this a part that was just for the LZ/ Ace

Diz, I checked on those months ago. They departed, along with everything else the guy had within a day or two of the ad appearing. So I still looking. Also waiting to see if the guy at Lever Shocks can find any for me too. ace

Anyone know of a good source for shocks? My 37 LZ has three that are so bad that Lever Shocks simply cannot rebuild them. I am going to need to find some solid ones somewhere. Don't want to test the overdrive until I get the shocks back on the car. Ace

Guys, would should know how to make this work or if this can work in a semi-easy way by early next week. I will keep you informed. Probably take some pictures as we go along too. Ace

Rolf, I think you are correct. We have not put my car on the lift yet, but in talking to Merv Atkins, your approach is one that might work best and be the easiest too. The guy who does the work for me is going to study and all the manuals and the two rear ends before breaking it apart. Then we are going to go with what literally makes the most sense. If anyone else has any super input, please keep it coming. I would like to get this right the first time. Ace

Cecil, We are going to get the car on a lift and measure this afternoon. I am not worried about width, but am concerned about the drive shaft and torque tube. I figure that I will have to find and use those off a 38 up, but we will see. I do have all the controls, cables, etc, so the stuff that is hard to get is there. If I have to use a later model drive shaft and tube, I figure Merv will have one. Ace

Rolf, I will make note of that. The unit was just delivered. I will go out and look at it in the morning. I want the Columbia, so if we have to cut and shorten to make it work, we will. The O86H is the number on the unit. Ace

The unit came out of 38 Zephyr. As it is not here yet, I can't tell you exactly what it looks like. It was rebuilt several years ago by Les Keeton and then never reinstalled. I got it for a good price, it looked good in all the photos I studied, it comes with cables, etc. Let's hope it is in great shape. I thought it was worth the chance. Thanks for the information on the jumping. I have jumped with 12 to 6 before, but was a bit shy in this case. Never done it to a positive ground and didn't what kind of damage I could do. Hope I never have to worry about jumping again, but I figure I will. Ace

I am sure all of you can identify with my morning, so thought I would share it with you. I bought a rebuilt Columbia Two-speed that is being delivered today. I had it shipped to the shop that does a lot of my mechanical work for me. They even rebuilt my V-12. At the same time they are going to put the overdrive in, they are also going to drop the gas tank and fix a small leak. Hence, even though my gas gauge was heading toward empty, I didn't fill up because I didn't want them to have a lot of gas to drain. I figured I had at least a gallon,. Anyway, got the old girl fired up, stopped and picked up a USA Today and headed down our bumpy city streets toward the post office. Ran out of gas as I cruised into the post office. As I got out, I noted that my front passenger's hubcap was missing. Called the shop on my cell and they brought a couple of gallons of gas, but after filling, the car flooded and the battery quickly drained. Couldn't jump her because we didn't have a six volt. So we removed the battery to charge it. Yet before we took it to the shop to charge, we went looking for the hubcap. Found it in the middle of a vacant lot about a half mile from where I had picked up my paper. Over the years I have found that thisto be an experience that goes with having vintage iron. In fact, instead of being mad, I am laughing about it all hitting at once. Ace

Diz, My original washer and nut were long gone, but what you suggested was exactly what I did when I fixed it today. Thanks for comfirming what seemed logical to me. Of course I have found that logic does not work that often in the old car game. ace

Got the hood to open today, using a long screwdriver and replaced the missing nut. Ace

I obviously meant nut and not bolt in the above post. ace

Here is a good one for you problem solvers. I went out to check the oil on my 37 LZ, twisted the hood ornament (hood release) and it simply came loose. It looks like a bolt holding it down came off. The threads are in great shape, in other words, it is not damaged, so putting it back the way it was will be no problem once I get the hood up. But how can I spring the release and open the hood without damaging anything? Ace

It is Pete Birtles's car. Great guy. Ace Collins