Barry Wolk

I have a '33 Continental Flyer 4-door. The Australian cars were rolling chassis that were bodied in Oz by Richard's.

Today I got a lesson in rebuilding seat spring assemblies. The springs in the seat are individually wrapped in burlap and then linked together with hog rings. They are "C"-shaped clamping devices meant to pierce cloth and hold two springs or the springs and frame together. A tool crimps them into a circle. I'm sure you've all sat on a spring in a car or on an old couch or restaurant booth. The reason you feel them is that the spring has escaped from its individual pouch. The springs in this car were in excellent shape with only a little surface rust. That an indicator that the interior never got wet. The springs are tied together and to the seat base. A top frame also attaches to maintain the shape of the seat and additional bars get installed that spread a person's weight out over a larger area. Good thing. The seat rebuilding starts with cleaning and painting the seat frame. Then pouches are sewn into folded strips of burlap. The length of strip is determined by the size of the springs and the length of the row. The springs are slid into the pocket compressed so that the opening can be sewn shut, trapping the spring. The springs are all trapped, but are turned the wrong way inside the pouch. Once they are turned they are allowed to expand, but have limited travel due to the bag. That way the springs are always in tension. The springs are lined up and either 2, 3 or 4 hog rings tie the springs together. This is done on both sides making the springs act on each other, helping them support the weight. The completed mattress-like assembly is then attached to the seat frame, ready for modern foam instead of the original cotton. Now, this is where it gets tricky as there are different length springs used in different parts of the seat. This is the spring set for just one of the folding seat backs. They have to be removed from the frame, position kept track of, bagged and reinstalled in the proper position or the seat will not have the proper shape. Thankfully the car has never been reupholstered so the seats will be perfectly duplicated. the original seat stuffing is cotton batting that was built up in layers. It didn't hold its shape over time so it will be replaced with modern foam shaped to fit the contour of the original cushions. These are the replacement springs for the driver's side seat bottom. I'm a tad larger than the average bear so additional support was necessary. Dan used the "mass of the ass" as part of the quotient for the new spring size. It will just be a little firmer for the average-size person but tailor-made for my butt.

Suitable being the operative word. The prices I got locally were just slightly higher, when I could get one at all. Upholsterers are a odd breed from what I've found. Very few will estimate a job and only work T & M. I'm in a contracting business and find that people are really uncomfortable with T & M. It can sometimes be impossible to quote repair work as troubleshooting is part of the process, but people that have been doing interiors their whole lives know how much time things take to do, and they pretty much know their material costs, too. Dan was able to come up with a price I was comfortable with. Long before I was even thinking about the interior Dan contacted me and offered to guide me through the process, cautioning me that if I planned on showing it this year I'd better get moving. How right he was as time flew by. Dan was kind enough to send me pages and pages of material samples he deemed appropriate for the time and cost of the car. I was incredulous that he would do this for me, and told him so. I really had no intention of sending the car to Oklahoma, but thanked him, repeatedly. That almost sounds absurd that I would send a car 950 miles away, but Scotty's sending me his Steyrs from California. I started following Dan's Facebook posts and was continually astounded at the number of iconic legends he's had a hand in. Visiting his web site, http://www.dankirkpatrickinteriors.com, and looking at his interior progress shots I found myself looking at art, not upholstery. In further research of his site I found that many of his interiors have been on the 18th green of Pebble Beach, which is some pretty rarified air. Dan made it very easy to pull the trigger once I knew that a slot had opened up. Dan was holding a spot open for Scotty's Ruxton to have the interior redone, but there wasn't time. I jumped at the chance to have Dan do the interior. It's been nothing short of an absolute pleasure dealing with him. He communicates well and takes lots of pictures allowing me to continue the thread. His level of craftsmanship is exactly what he represents on his site. My best suit (of 3) doesn't have stitching as nice. Now that our streets are clear of salt I can't wait to get it back to drive it. Dan's driven it 100 times further than I have.

Another Dan detail dump.

In the meantime, the Zephyr sat for a week while Dan recovered from a bug and then took to getting a bunch done on the V-16 Cadillac he's making a top and side curtains for. While waiting for parts to finish the Caddy he's jumping back into my car. He fit me in, I'm willing to wait. In the meantime I took the opportunity to clean up and organize my workspace. I own a 5000 square foot building that started off as a '40s car repair facility. It had a single post lift that was removed ages ago.The original building is about 1500 square feet with about 3500 square feet in two additions. There was a waiting room with a window where people could watch their car being worked on. In later years it became a carpet store that just happened to be next door to the building I ran my business out of. The partition cut my work space to 22 feet. The limo wouldn't fit. I decided to remove the shelving and cut into the 18-foot showroom space with a 10-foot wide arch. While that made for a nice extension of the space the wall section on the left really restricted the space. The only way to get rid of it was to take out the ceiling and the whole wall. I discovered that the original waiting room had only been bumped out 6 feet. When I got back to the original rafters I found they were 3" x 5" clear tongue and groove cedar roof boards 16" apart. They are incredibly strong and straight as an arrow. I've decided to leave them and attach some lighting to them. The demolition material filled an E-350 cargo van, floor to ceiling. To the right is a green Masonite wall. That will be removed and a new wall built out even with the end of the ceiling. That will be a handicap-access bathroom. I'll deck the top of the rafters with plywood and use it for storage or a John Malcovich visit. That space looks like a perfect spot to work on the Steyr.

It looks like about 8", but I'm not sure.

I posted on the LZOC FB page that I was looking for tools and a jack and a gentleman in Washington had "resto-modded" his '41 LZ Club Coupe and no longer needed the jack. It wasn't cheap, but it was probably less that bringing all those parts together. Luckily it's the flat iron type, specific to 3 year's production.

That's very nice. I'll ask the gentleman to measure the one he has. It also looks like the pliers aren't there, either. Just glad I found the jack.

I found the exact jack and tool set I've been looking for. It appears I'll just need one Ford wrench and screwdriver.

The '56 had a full under hood blanket and 2 mercury tilt lights and the '57 had one light with a partial blanket. A retractable light would have been nice.

Astounding work. '42 Lincoln Zephyr Club Coupe next?

I'm looking to build an appropriate tool kit for my '42 Lincoln-Zephyr. I also would like a correct Jack. Where do I begin looking for the jack? 10376933_10205101913641561_7681637450983607088_n.jpg

Dan uses a pretty heavy-gauge plastic sheeting on the doors. Every drop of water that hits the side door glass ends up inside the door as the only thing to stop it are the anti-rattle "whiskers". Once dirt plugs the drain holes the doors rust out from the inside. The back seat area is different. The arm rest intrudes into the space so the barrier went behind it to protect the cloth panel. This window swings open and has a rubber gasket all the way around it so there should be no rain water in here. The two wires are for the cigarette lighters. One is an auxiliary ground. I always provide a firm pathway on high draw accessories. The rear cabin is now complete. The switch for the dome light is behind the strap. It also turns on the trunk light. The door switches illuminate lights under the dash. Note that the "wire-on" has been installed next to the windlace to complete the finished edge. He even clocks the screws. Dan searched high and low for material that had the diamond-shaped weave I saw in the original fabric. He sent a sample off to SMS where they offered to make some, but it would be big bucks for the set-up and run. I couldn't see spending the money on something so fine a detail as to actually be lost, in the scheme of things. Dan sent me a sample of a new material for the door panels that was so close to the headliner material that I agreed, abandoning that minute item. I was surprised, as was Dan, that the new fabric looked just like the headliner until it was stretched over the panels. I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but the material he bought looks identical to the original.

Thanks, Keith. It's all in the details.

Thank you all for your kind words. The pictures I took in the house made the materials appear washed out. This is very close to their actual colors. The striped material will be used for the seating surfaces, only. The upper material is the new headliner that came with the car. We could not exactly match it, but the headliner came with the remains of a bolt big enough to trim the visors and the rear package shelf. The lower material is as close as we're going to get. There is no place where they are in contact with each other. It covers the front seat backs, door panels and sides of the foot rests. The center piece is the "windlace", used on the door openings to seal out the wind. In this picture it's attached to the "wire-on" trim that has the same outer jacket as the windlace. It gets nailed to the hidden fastener strip, next to the windlace. The decoative part of the fabric folds over the fasteners creating a finished edge. The maroon leather will be used on the door bottoms, arm rests and trim throughout the car. These are the original interior colors. The square-weave carpet is an acceptable replacement for the woven plastic covering. The whole trunk is bound in red leather.

The picture doesn't show up. If it was the blue 3-window, someone sent a picture. This car was produce as war rationing was increasing. If you look at this picture you'll see a stainless steel strip at the bottom of the door and the bottom of the rear seat side panel. The area above is fabric and below is carpet or leather. On this car the leather and trim had been eliminated and it looked real funny without it so I salvaged a stainless strip from the '47 and had Dan add a section of leather to match the front door. Note the small gap between the window trim, stainless strip and windlace. That gap will be finished off with a product that matches the windlace. It's called "wire-on". It has a flange that secures to the now-hidden nailer strip (hence the need for the markings) and folds over concealing the fasteners. You can see the double row in the drawing above.

That's very kind, Phil.

Thank you. I used to follow the rules and post my projects in the projects section, but no one ever responded. Once I started posting them in General Discussion they developed a following and people gave me advice and feedback, the real reason I post. I'm fairly new to this. I sure as hell don't know everything so I thought this site a perfect place to post what I'm doing. I do want people to know that I have taken their constructive criticism to heart and have made changes along the way. Well, I think that's obvious when that happens. I also find that working by myself gives me few opportunities to interact with knowledgeable people. I find it helpful to write out what I've done and look at my own pictures to help to plan my next moves and it offers people with special knowledge a reason to post. I always hung around the old guys for their knowledge. Now that I am one I'm still looking for advice from the same group. West tells me the projects section is a happening place. I don't see that, but maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe the move here will illicit a response that will make the section more popular.

Since build threads are no longer worthy of being your entertainment in the General Discussion section it makes no sense to continue posting in an area no one goes. You can follow the rest of this thread at http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=46318

I've been told that this car came out of a museum collection in 2011, I believe. I'm not sure of the full story, but Dutch Darrin had a hand in this particular car, but I don't know what. Personally, I see a lot of cues from the Phantom Corsair, just scrunched up into a shorter package. Gotta love clam-shell doors. The huge metal roof slides back like the new Lincoln glass roof. Papers with Dutch Darrin's signature. ???? Great back seat access as nearly the whole side of the car opens. Pretty basic seating. Note the two door check straps. Understandable. No trunk, just a storage space behind the rear seat. The raised platform in the storage area houses the spare tire that slides in from the rear.

Here's what it looked like being loaded after the auction a few years ago. This is what it looks like today. The owner will supply me with restoration pictures leading up to these. Let the fun begin.

My friend, who some call Scotty Ruxton, asked me to help him with a project. The 1939 Steyr is an Austrian-made low-cost people's car reminiscent of the VW beetle, with a different drivetrain arrangement. The car was in the process of assembly after a beautiful paint job, but the restorer was unable to finish. Scotty has gathered all the parts that were at the restoration facility and is preparing to send them to me to put it back together. Before the car arrives I wanted to familiarize myself with it so I had the owner copy everything he has on the subject. I expected the technology to be quite foreign, but only found the language of the manual to be only partially itelligble, but I do better with pictures than with words. I'm sure I'll need some help with translating, but it's just nuts and bolts. My first glance through the service manual delighted me to find that I'm familiar with all of the technology. The flat-4 is remenicient of our Porsche, but at the opposite end. The far opposite end. It uses a conventional transmission that couples to the differential with a conventional drive shaft. The independent rear suspension is very Corvette-like with it's transverse spring. The front suspension is nealy identical, in concept, to the rear-suspension on our '33 Continental Flyer. It uses quarter-elyptical leaf springs to both spring the axle and locate it without trailing arms. The set-up offered much-reduced sprung weight. The front suspension on this car does the same thing. The steering is most fascinating. It uses rack and pinion to move a lever that moves the front wheels. It's like a tiller drive with a steering wheel. Lots of joints to get loose. The brakes are cable-operated. I'm familiar with this braking system as our '33 Continental has a similar set-up. This one, however, looks a lot easier to adjust as it uses an equalizer cable for the front and rear brakes. The cable is much like a standard parking brake cable. So, as I learn about the Steyr, you will, too. Very basic transportation, but very clever packaging. I don't think this would be a great winter car though, as all the weight is way out front and virtually none on the drive axle. Horizontally opposed 4-cylinder water-cool engine. Note the steering column turning a rack and pinion that moves a tiller attached to a pivot. When the tiller moved the business end moves the tie rod right and left. Note that the front kingpins are located by the ends of the leaf springs. There's virtually no sprung weight as the springs are the suspension arms. I can see why cable or mechanical linkage brakes can be problematic driven in a salty environment, but for use on a classic car they are really just as safe as the emergency brake on your car. On a modern car they are just parking brakes, but on an old car they were true "Emergency" brakes. Now they just act on a small set of drum brakes to keep your car from moving. In the early days the emergency brakes acted on the set of two full-sized drums. The forces are identical between mechanical and hydraulic brakes, the difference being how the force is delivered. On hydraulic brakes the force is amplified by the mechanical advantage of hydraulics, but leverage is just as effective a force for the application of brakes. The Zephyr offered vacuum-assisted power cable brakes in the mid '30s. If you look closely you'll see twin V-shaped cables. At the "V" is a pulley that allows the cable to slide, equalizing the force on each brake shoe. These cables pulleys are pulled towards the center of the car by another tiller mechanism. All of the wheels have simple, but effective, turnbuckles for fine adjustment. If kept in adjustment, with all pivot points lubricated, there is no reason a cable system can't work as well as a hydraulic system. Interesting independent rear suspension. I could use some translation help on some of these. Here, too.

An all-steel body posed problematic for upholsterers. When car bodies were steel sheeting over a wood frame fabric installation was easy. With the advent of all-steel bodies tack strips needed to be built into the steel structure. Some cars use wood and some use other materials. This car used a compressed paper that probably worked pretty well when new, but has since deteriorated and offers insufficient grip for new work. Steel tabs hold the nailer in place. The material is only about a quarter inch thick. Since tacks and staples are thin they curl up when they strike the steel behind the backer, enhancing the grip. The old paper nailer was pried out and disposed of. For future reference. If I ever do another car with this type of nailer it will be removed before the car is painted. There appears to be some original primer behind the old strip. A new hard plastic strip was trapped in place by bending over the metal tabs. This material offers better consistencey than compressed paper. This is the edge at the rear of the RH door. The hard plastic strip runs up one side, across the top and down the other side of the door opening. The first thing that gets attached to the rubber tack strip is the windlace. It acts as a secondary seal to quiet the cabin when the door closes against it. The windlace is like fender welt in that it is fabric that is wrapped around a flexible core. The fabric flaps are sewn closed creating a flange that holds the beading in place. Installing the windlace in the door opening causes a problem in that it now covers the location of the metal nailer retainer tabs. The tab you still see exposed is to secure the kick panel using no fasteners. That tab clips into a retainer holding the panel in place. The only way to know where the retainer tabs are is to mark their location on the part of the door opening that won't be covered. The windlace makes the door opening a finished edge and is a secondary wind barrier for whatever may get past the weatherstripping. You can see the headliner hanging down. It will be trimmed to fit into a hidden fastener strip that will create a finished edge where it meets the wind lace.

How to make sun visors in one easy lesson. This is the 1/2 skin in red leather that will be used on the door bottoms, arm rests and trim on the carpeting and the rest of the interior. Cows are bigger than I thought as this is nearly the size of a piece of plywood. Dan started by making a template from the old visor, folding it over to see if it's uniform. The board has a double crease in the center to house the metal visor support. The second is made using the first as a template. The visor's inner structure had been encapsulated for 70 years and looked new. The metal assembly is what grips the steel bar that supports the visor. Dan shipped the visor supports back to me for restoration. It looks like the trim matches the paint perfectly. They're beautiful. I have the new stainless-steel tips for the visors. They just need to be pushed into place. While he was at it Dan created a new package shelf. The panel is split and fabric used as a hinge.

Nice car!