okdave

i had the same problem this fall with a head leak and water in oil. i removed and replaced them three times but never could get it to quit leaking. i ended up having to replace drivers side head which was warped and had been surfaced too many times to level out. i was using felpro fiber gaskets i got from earle brown. jake fleming recommended using permatex aviation gasket sealer which i did. no leaks now. david.

i bought mine from alan whelihan. david

a beautiful car. i am jealous. i like to know more about it. david

here is a web site for brad penn oil. the grade 1 racing oil has zddp. i am now looking for local supplier. david http://www.bradpennracing.com/

I recently removed heads on my 41 lz and by necessity removed hot air heater fan and piping to firewall. after i put heads back on engine i started it up and poured some marvel mystery oil into the carburetor. much to my surpise the smoke came rolling out of the heat exchanger hole that was connected to heater through firewall. i guess i have been breathing carbon monoxide for some time. i have ordered a new heat exchanger from kepich exhaust and i intend to keep a closer eye on that component in the future. david

i have followed the discussions on ford barn and msn flathead site on what oil is good for flatheads. most people seems to recommend and use a diesel motor oil with a ci4 or ci4+ rating. i also have read that the diesel oil has a high detergent additive content and high viscosity ratings. the entire issue is very confusing. one article i read said that stp 4 cylinder oil treatment(red bottle) has the required zddp content. this doesnt make sense either because the modern 4 cylinders have catlytic converters. In old cars weekly in august issue there was an article that indicated using the latest motor oil (sm rating) will do irreversible damage to your car. i feel kinda like chicken little when it was announced the sky was falling. david

i would pull the head on the low compression side. i had the same problem with low compression and it was a warped aluminum head which caused head gasket to leak. a machine shop should be able to level out a warped head. depending on how long heads have been on they may be difficult to remove. i removed all head nuts and started engine--that compression broke head loose. earle browne has new style head gaskets.

go down to file manager and it should allow you to attach up to 5 files. maybe the pictures are too large and need to be resized using photshop or some other photo software

i had a broken plug wire as you describe with no continuity. i replaced the wire by connecting a new wire to the spark plug end of the old wire with strong fishing cord, spraying the wire with silicone and using the old wire to pull the new one through. if you need a new set of wires i would order them from earle brown. if you just need one wire i might be able to send you that if i knew what length you needed. also on the spark plugs i use chamption h12 which are available at napa. david

look at books listed under earle brown under sources on this web site: owners manual, service guide (shop Manual), repair of v12 manual; also the chassis manual has lots of great drawings of how things go together. i believe he also has an authenticity manual which is valuable for a restoration and matching up parts for vehicle. call earle and you will find him most helpful. dd

my car was in pretty much same condition except it had been unstarted in warehouse 15 years. i found that water pumps were frozen up. you might want to remove fan belt and check pumps for free turning. dd

macs auto parts sells floor selection button with cable and plug in for this radio. david

i believe the kr wilson type puller should work. it worked on my 41. if not someone else will let you know. here is a website on how to use it. i worked on removing my hubs for two weeks without success before i got this puller. with other pullers you run a risk of ruining threads on axle or breaking hubs. http://www.mindspring.com/~bozarth/id5.html

this car is listed for sale at kruse/leake auction in dallas on november 16-18. i just received brochure yesterday. this vehicle kinda reminds me of some of darryl starbirds custom rods. looks like lots of rust so new buyer will have lots of work.

personally i like the car for what it is. i think it definitely is worth a restoration. david

colorite refinishing listed under sources on this site has the correct paint in pint cans for steering column, shift lever, etc. my painter calls the color "old man tan" but colorite will know what you want if you tell them the year and model of your car. i used air brush sprayer with his paint and worked great. david

in july i found water in oil of lincoln v12. i pulled off aluminum heads and found a hole in head gasket. it was a copper gasket and it looked like it had corroded through. before i removed head i removed spark plug and turned engine over--water was coming out of spark plug hole next to hole in head gasket. i had heads resurfaced and got new head gaskets. i used permatex aviation gasket maker (a thin sealant on heads and torqued them to 40 lbs. when i started engine water in same cylinder when plug removed. i removed head and laid a framing square across it--its not perfect but no big voids. after all that background should i try to find cast iron heads and forget the aluminum or should i use a different gasket sealant that is thicker like permatex black or red silicone? i also have been told to spray the gaskets with aluminum paint? i couldnt see any cracks in block or head. i used fiber gaskets from felpro--the new style. should i torque down a little tighter around offending cylinder? any ideas appreciated. the hole in the head that doesnt belong as shown in attached photo was patched with jb weld and seems to be holding good. there isnt a water hole in new gasket where hole was. david

when i bought my lincoln i had the same problem and then after reading owners manual realized that the ignition switch is only turned on when pulled out. dd

i would like to see a picture of the prototype. dd

forgot to list jim perkins phone. it is 918-584-0580

gears found at jim perkins transmission in tulsa oklahoma. cluster was $250 and low gear was $80. call jim he is very knowledgable and friendly. dd

my transmission failure was caused by a broken shift lever. the lever had been previously broken and welded onto the shaft and the weld broke allowing the lever to spin on the shaft. the cluster gear and sliding low gear had teeth sheared off. i found a local ford tranny guy that had parts and put in new gears, seals and bearings. the tranny guy thinks it never shifted out of low and went into second. thanks for your help on diagnosis since removal of the side plate revealed the problem.

i recently removed transmission from my 41 zephyr. the rubber on the transmission mounts was oil soaked and disintegrating. since i didnt want to ever remove tranny again i sent the mount to warren rice in michigan for new rubber. i also am replacing pressure plate, clutch disc, throw out and pilot bearing and having flywheel resurfaced. all this will hopefully save me from pulling that tranny again. david

i took tranny to tulsa yesterday and jim of jims transmissions tore it down. here was damage--cluster gear and low reverse sliding gear were missing teeth. he confirmed that the broken weld repair to the shift lever/shaft allowed the tranny to go into second while still in low. jim has two barns full of new and used ford and lincoln tranny parts and i think thats all he works on. he is very knowledgable and comes with good recommendations. here is his contact info if anyone needs it. he promised my tranny back in three or four days. he also had a side plate in near new condition to replace my worn and broken plate. it has no play in levers or shafts. jim perkins jims transmissions 5108 w 21 street tulsa, ok 74107 1-918-5840580

i put in a spring spreader, undid spring ubolts and rolled axle back. then i removed tranny through floor. its quite a job for one person but if i can do it anybody can. here are pictures.