Barry Wolk

I'm done, this is getting silly.

Not the same. Just look at the front door window. Totally different shape. Totally different height. Body stampings on the doors don't exist on the Ruxton. I think you're seeing something that's just not there, James. The Ruxton body is channeled 3" over the frame and the Dodge body sits on top. Close, but no cigar.

Can you post pictures of both bodies? I have detailed body shots of the Ruxton body. I'm not convinced they are the same. I've found that what is written is not always true. It's written that there were 500 Ruxtons, and that's been proven wrong.

I don't know that they were identical. Was the Dodge body channeled to fit over the frame or on top as most American cars were? I believe that they were stated there and shipped here in pieces.

Rare only means that few still exist. That does not equate to valuable or production numbers. I would agree that "rare" is way over-used. Color combinations, IMO, do not make a car rare. One of our rarest cars, the 1933 Continental Flyer, is the only know LHD driver in the western hemisphere that's roadworthy. There is a singular RHD in New Zealand.

The cars were assembled at Moon in addition to Kissel. The sedan body was a one piece side stamping. It was modified to channel over the Budd chassis. The body was sent to the US in 4 basic pieces. The 2 side panels, the rear panel and the cowl assembly. The rear panel was unaltered, but the cowl was split and 4" was added to the windshield header and dash support. A new cowl top was stamped. Because the engine was in backwards there needed to be access to the "front" of the engine, so the majority of the firewall could easily be removed for access to the timing chain. The splitting of the cowl changed the angle of the side panels to the rear panel leaving a slight valley at both seams. There is a lot of controversy about how many Ruxtons were built. They claimed a fictitious 500 in order to be considered a higher level of manufacturer when in-fact there were fewer than 100 made. There were only 135 Continental backwards-installed and backward-running engines made by Continental. The balance were used as replacements and were used to build about 10 cars during bankruptcy. The car I had a hand in restoring was one of the last built in 1932.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8070642-The-mother-lode-of-Continental-mark-II-historical-pictures&p=98428130&posted=1#post98428130

As always, Fabulous!

Due to limited picture insertion I've posted this project elsewhere. Here's the link and the latest installment. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7779321-Continental-Mark-II-convertible-interior-quot-refreshing-quot#post97481226 The Continental Mark II was one of the first cars with a padded dash. Typically they were painted steel. About 30 cars got some safety features. The previous owner tried and failed to emulate the padded dash and made it end up looking like the Michelin Man. The metal dash was not very smooth so Dan opted to use 3/16" closed-cell foam as an underlayment for the leather. I believe what he's replacing is vinyl. Cutaway for the instrument cluster to sit flat. In the way old days attaching trim and windlace was easy as you'd simply nail it to the body's wood frame. When cars became all-steel there needed to be material that trim could be stapled to. I've seen rope and other woven materials. I've seen plywood screwed to the body. On this car they use a high density paper roll that is twisted and clamped in place. It only seems to work well when the tack or staple bends over after it's passed through the material. The modern substitute is a flexible hard rubber strip that's secured to the steel, or clamped in place with metal tabs. This is wind-lace. Modern construction has eliminated this as todays rubber seals keep out water and wind. Windlace sealed the inner gap between the door and the front panel on the interior. It also serves as a decorative edge, like a big welting. I had Dan remove the poorly installed trunk AC unit. I've never used it and doubt it worked. I picked up about 18" of trunk depth. It normally goes deeper, but that's where the stowed top bay is. This car's been restored so many times that there were holes in the floor, everywhere. The mat material he puts down oozes into those holes and seals them. When I get it back I'll put it on a rack and seal them from the outside. BTW, the Continentental Mark II has the distinctive "hump" on the trunk as a full-size spare sits behind it. The later Lincoln Continental wannabes had fake humps. I don't know how he did it, but Dan was able to complete the mat material without removing the center console. It's a MAJOR PITA to remove as it has fine control cables that exit the firewall. You can see the access ports in the transmission and drive shaft tunnel that give you access to the transmission linkage and band adjustment. The hatch in the rear seat area is to get to the emergency brake cable adjustment. Ready for dash leather. A sea of blue. The shell shape in the front are critical for appearance as they are what the gauges sit into. Trimmed up like fine gloves. I wish my clothes were this nicely tailored. This is clearly not my project as those drops would be blood, in my case. Instrument pod installed. Now you can see why the scalloped areas were so important to do right. better than new. Carpet padding installation. Fit and finish are great. I thought I was thorough. When the seat belts get stashed for show they get shoved into the crack in the seat. Dan though there would be a potential for them to rattle so he made floor mats for under the rear seat.

Bump, did you find a pump?

It started off innocently enough. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?7364289-Continental-Mark-II-engine-compartment-freshening

I have a friend in Poland that does pretty much the same thing. He promotes his work on a huge automotive forum and is always getting bashed by other artists that calls this simple copying. As an art collector I disagree. Working off a photograph is no different that the optical tricks used by the great masters. It's the level of refinement and detail that lets it attain the level of "art". I think your work is very nice. My friend did this one for me.

Turns out it is very common. Steele Rubber asked around amongst their employees and lead me here. Problem solved. http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~partsort~1~cadefice

The Mark II I'm working on has two rubber-mounted fan motors. I can't find replacement mounts. Checked Steele and other suppliers. Any suggestions? I'm looking for a reproduction as an OEM would be just as rock-hard.

When they went to drop in a replacement engine in this Mark II the pins from the motor mounts wouldn't go through the holes in the frame, because they were crooked. So, they used a cutting torch on the frame to make room. Fillers to be welded in today.

The 5th preface page has a list of people that received this booklet. Do any of you know of any of these people that are still with us.?

Since I can't post that may pages in a thread here I've posted the first 50 pages at the Lincoln Forum. If there's an interest I'll post the rest. http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=48339

I've never seen this picture before. It's definitely my car. It's the only one with a metal boot over the retracted top. I have seen pictures of it from the '70s with narrow whites. The metal boot was added in '69 when the car was repainted dark green from its original black. It was painted its current color in 2004. I'm thinking that this might have been taken when Hogan, the shopping mall developer, owned it.

I stand corrected. There's a lot of us that are wrong, then, as that's what I've always heard.

Agreed, remove the bulk of the paint with stripper and then media blast. Soda won't remove rust so you'll need something aggressive and aluminum oxide, or a mix, works best. Just don't spend too much time in one area. It's like welding, you need the heat to dissipate or you'll warp sheet metal.

You should use tubes with liners. Would have saved you a ton of money and grief. There is no reason at all that you can't use a tube in a tubeless tire.

I believe that became Royal Toyota.

I was posting pretty regularly here until they move my build threads from General Discussion to the Dead Zone where people stopped responding. I post to get advice, so it doesn't seem worth posting if no one responds. Oh well.

Roger asked how we were doing after the crash in our '42 Lincoln Zephyr. The bruises took almost 8 weeks to heal, but they still leave a faint reminder. My wife's injuries have mostly healed except an elbow that constantly reminds her of that day. I completely tore away the double hamstring muscle on my left leg. After a number of consultations I've decided that a non-surgical approach was best as most doctors couldn't claim that I'd have any functional difference. The surgical risks and long, long, recovery were just not worth a little bit of gain. Thankfully, the remaining hamstring is getting stronger and I've returned to a near-normal gait. Unfortunately, I have to think about every stair and every step I take. My wife and I are still in physical therapy, but hope to make a near-full recovery. We've spoken to a number of first-responders and are very grateful to every one of them. The treatment of our injuries couldn't have been any better. Thank you for your concern. If you have seat belts, wear them. See you all out there. While we had to cancel plans for the rest of this summer, we'll be starting next year with the Porsche at Amelia Island in March. Can't wait to get back at what we like doing best. My wife was thrilled that her new hat box was thrown clear in the wreck and only bears a few smudges of dirt.