abelincoln

Did she tell you what the dyno results were? 200 HP? Interesting parts collection. Abe

I've done this for a couple of OD equipped vehicles (Fords). You just wire a switch in parallel with the governor. Beware of trap. With the switch on, car will stay in overdrive, and you won't be able to shift into reverse. I also made a momentary switch to kickdown OD, but you need two sets of contacts for all the wires. I used a double pole relay for one, that worked but took a lot of wiring. Abe

I've had entire new leaf springs made for other vehicles, look for a "spring company" locally. Abe

I took mine off years ago, and haven't looked back. Roads nowdays are better than in 30's and 40's. Much better view of engine without them Abe

Wanta sell? My Lincoln mounts came off in two pieces. Thanks, Abe 503-709-9123

We pray for your prompt recovery and retention of ability to drive Lincolns. Good luck with the overdrive. Abe

Don't know if will work, but some early pick-ups and Volkswagens use hinge mount mirrors that poke up taller. I can't see my 48 LC right mirror no matter which way I bend. Maybe two cameras, one on the rear, and one on the RH mirror could work. Mounting a screen would also be a challenge. Maybe you could hinge the radio grill to flip up and reveal a screen. I'd like to see someone fab a goose neck to mount on the hinge and bend up to where you might actually see the mirror. Would look more like original. Abe

Can't see why it would make a difference in alignment, but your ride to the line-up-shop will be a lot nicer, Abe

The majority of problems are with electrical, go find a good schematic. Gear noise is more worrisome. Have you checked gear oil level in both transmission and in the overdrive? Does the noise happen when you manually lockout with the lever under the dash? If you short out the governor at the fire wall, you should hear a clunk when the solenoid engages. Is your fuse blown? Abe

Use a 2 Lb residual valve to the line to the front brakes if your car has disk brakes, to keep pads close to rotor, especially since the master cylinder is low under the floor. If you have original drum brakes, don't worry about it. Abe

I've used Tony Neisz, "Flathead Doctor", Flatheads Forever, N Russell St. in Portland, OR. Really knows Lincoln distributors, and even makes electronic ignition conversions. www.philbingroup.com. Abe

Most auto parts stores will have a kit to check for exhaust gas in water. I got mine from NAPA. Do you see bubbles? Is there any water in the oil? Good Luck. Abe

Did you check vacuum? fluctuating could indicate bad valve. I've "fixed" similar noise in flathead 6 with a can of STP. Ran for quite a while after. Abe

If your test meter is like mine, you'll find a couple ohms resistance in the leads. Never gets to zero. Abe

You can pull the fill plug on the passenger's side of the tranny. If oil doesn't run out, put you finger in the hole to feel if wet. If not, add 80-90 gear oil. Better check the seperate OD fill plug on the tailshaft while you are at it. Abe

There was a 32 ford with Lincoln engine in Hot Rod a few years ago, had fuel injection in throttle bodies and a crank trigger, no distributer needed. Depending on which computer you use, you could put an engine position sensor where the distributer used to be. Should get a much hotter spark with no cross fire on terminal plates. Abe

Yes, for positie ground, connect + side of DC volt meter to ground, - side to one of the low voltage terminals where wires from OD relay and capacitor are connected, start engine, read voltage. Since the points go between open circuit, 6 volts, and ground when closed the average will be a bit under 3 volts if everything is working. Repeat for other side. Abe

Solenoid won't care about polarity, positive or negative ground will work OK. The later 56 on 12 solenoids won't fit, they have a shorter shaft, I tried. The 42-48 solenoids seem to be a special unit, and hard to find, so be careful with yours. The later 12 volt OD relays don't have the extra kickdown relays that you need to light the lamp in the speedometer when the OD is in. I suppose you could use an external relay to switch the light. Abe

Check the running voltage at the coil input. (Be carefule of fingers in the fan). Should be a bit less than three volts. If one side is 6 volts, or 0 volts, you have a problem on that side. Check all the above. I had a broken spring on one set of points did the same thing. Abe

The Ford push button looks about the same if you need a new one. Also check the wire between the solonoid and the pb. Abe

I took the solonoid apart and seperated the holding coil from the larger pick-up coil. My logic was that the pick-up coil is heavy enough and is only operated for a short period of time and should handle 12 volts just fine. I'm using a resistor with the holding coil to limit current. I also put a resistor on the relay on the fire wall, but I'm not sure if this is necessary. Governor and kick down switches should handle 12 volts just fine. Haven't got it running yet, but I think this should work. Abe

OK, I think I figured it out. If you plot the firing angles as vectors, you will see that there is a 75 degree spread between 1 and 2, 3 and 4, etc. Wonder how long it took the Lincoln engine folks to come up with this. pretty ingenious I think. Lincoln firing angles0001.pdf

After more than a year of re-assembly, I'm now looking at how the 48 V-12 fires. The engine is 75 degrees between banks, and the crankshaft throws connect rods common from both sides. In the owner's manual, firing order is 1-4-9-8-5-2-11-10-3-6-7-12. The dual point distributor has points that look to be 90 degrees apart. So the right, even numbered bank would be delayed by 45 crankshaft degrees. The distributor has a cam that connects two coils each with three cylinders, a timing break due to unequal spacing for the next three. Thus each side of the distributor fires three plugs on one side, then three on the other side. I've been told firing angles are 0-45-120-165-240-285-360-405-480-525-600-645 degrees. So cylinder one fires at 0, no. 4 at 45 deg, no. 9 at 75 deg later, etc. So it seems to me that cylinder no 2 should fire at some multiple of 75 degrees, but seems to be 15 degrees early. What am I missing? Those Leyland engineers who came when Ford purchased Lincoln were pretty cleaver in 1935. Thanks Abe

If you should happen to have a block that is dry inside, (mine was quite oily and gritty), I'd give consideration to using a cutting torch on springs and valves. You can find a couple YouTube videos on how to do it for flathead Fords. Abe

I couldn't find one either. Used a looong pry-bar, and finally a small lawnmower engine clamp type spring compressor, worked on most valves. Ended up breaking most all the old valves, and had to patch the block when I scratched a couple bores where the valve guides go. Be careful. Abe