W_Higgins

32 is on the list! Does it have anything else unique on it, like a coachlight on the roof, landau irons, etc? Some owners requested unique treatments. It sounds like the partition has been out of it for a long time. If you were diligent about it, you could fabricate a new one. The tough part is the glass. The glass is curved. That may be what did it. If a previous owner broke the glass, they might have just decided to chuck the whole assembly. Every once in awhile a Limo will surface that's really only a parts car. It's like looking for a needle in a stack of needles, but if one comes up I'll be sure and let you know.

Congratulations! You have found one that was unknown to me! Check the list: H&E Registry of Known '59 and '60 Lincolns That's very interesting because it fits my theory that they pulled these off the line in sequential clumps, particularly at the start of a new model year. Cars no. 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, and now 28 exist. That was indeed a limo. What a shame. It's missing the entire partition. It is a separate removable unit. You don't even have the heater registers. What you see are the ducts built into the door panel that is standard to all '58 - '60 Lincolns. Air conditioned cars had the movable register with the joystick and non-a/c cars had the plain register you see there. On the limo they used those because they put the joystick register in the partition. It looks like maybe the front seat was done over in vinyl and the carpet was replaced. I'm guessing the current owner doesn't know the whereabouts of the partition? Are the air registers still in the headliner in front of the back window?

That's probably your first best move. I doubt they'll be able to supply you with the correct pistons. Probably best you can hope for is a refund for the value of the flat tops and then take the money to put toward buying proper replacements. The price of the correct pistons doesn't surprise me. That's a lot of trouble to make something for which there is very limited demand. In the grand scheme of restoring one of these Lincolns, it's a relative drop in the bucket.

So you can make a better visual i.d., this is the partition of a Limousine: This is the interior of a Formal Sedan: As you can see, the back of the Formal Sedan front seat is identical to a standard production car. The partition in the limo, with the air ducts, window tracks, etc, is a separate assembly. You don't just remove it and have a standard seat in front of it. The front seat of the Limo is a whole different frame and everything.

The data plate will tell you what it was destined to be. The Formal Sedan is body code 23B and the Limousine is 23A. If the partition is missing, it will be quite obvious unless someone has done a substantial amount of trim work to conceal it. It is possible it's a special order Formal Sedan where someone wanted a leather / cloth combination. Despite them having been advertised as "all wool gray broadcloth", there are many examples or cars factory ordered with variations. When you paid $10K for a car back then, you could get whatever you wanted. There is no VIN list for any of the H&E cars, only what has been recorded from those that currently exist. I'm sorry to hear of Art Sears passing away. I spoke with him about ten years ago and he was not a young man then. For what it's worth, at that time he could only remember general details. He worked there a long time and on a lot of different stuff. He did verify for me that H&E did not keep any production records on those cars, however, he could not remember specifics on any one '59 - '60 H&E Lincoln.

The original piston isn't domed. It's that it has the combustion chamber cut into the top of the piston(what Lincoln called an "angle wedge combustion chamber) and the bottom of the heads are flat. The idea was the step design of the piston creates turbulence for better combustion. It is my understanding that somebody was special making them. If you inquire at the MEL Engine Forum they should be able to give you the details. As for function, I've never built an engine with the flat topped pistons, but I have had worn engines that test at 110 psi cranking speed that ran very well. They have a lot of "blow-by" but still ran well at-speed and idling. The high compression was to achieve the desired horsepower and nothing to do with leaded gasoline.

Well, safety is the biggest. You don't want any surprises when you have a body shell upside down pulling it outside and hit a bump! However, make sure that dimensionally it will swing the radius you need to swing for whatever you intend to mount on it. Sense of scale is what you can't get just shopping off the web. It's like engine cranes. They all look the same until you see them in person. Mine has an index lock on the head, which I think is very handy. Also, I paid extra for pneumatic tires. Don't be cheap. The upgrade isn't that much and sooner or later you're going to want to pull it across the soft yard and take it to a sandblaster, and little casters just aren't going to do it. One thing I didn't really like on mine was how the stabilizer feet were positioned, but it looks like on the new models of the same make they have improved them. I don't care for the arm with wheel that keeps the upright from falling over when you remove the tie bar to separate the unit. It's not removable unless you jack it way up to extract and when it's fully retracted, it still doesn't give you full ground clearance. I'm thinking this is something they have reworked but I can't see it in the photos on their site. Those are detail things. Otherwise, it is fully functional. It's a fixture, and as mentioned above, you may have to make little adapters or whatnot to fit whatever body you intend to mount. I put a '51 Ford station wagon body on it with only having to drill some different holes in the universal mounting arms, but if you mount an older wood framed / steel skinned body, you really need to make rails on which to mount it, or mount the body and frame complete. I'll try to dig out some photos showing contrasting setups later if you wish. -WMH

I have an Accessible Systems rotisserie and am very happy with it. Bought it about six years ago and have had about as many bodies of varying design on it. It was a difficult thing to shop because you can rarely go anywhere where you can see one brand next to another, and reading on websites it is difficult to see through all the fluff. Ask the manufacturer about tubing size, wall thickness, and safety factor. Safety factor is the big one. Some of them more or less have as their failure point the actual rating. The one I bought (which is a 3,000 lb unit) is supposed to be rated to fail at 6,000 lbs. Mine has a couple of little features that I wish had been made differently, but now looking at their site I see they have been refined a little, probably as a result of customer feedback. Still, nothing like this is ever going to be perfect for every application and all-in-all mine has given me very good service. Now that I've had mine for awhile, when I see others, I've never seen another as beefy or well thought out. I'd suggest calling and talking to the guy. If I recall, he's actually an engineer rather than just a fabrication shop looking to produce a sideline, and has good answers for why his products are made the way they are. Good luck shopping!

I've done this job on a '57 Cadillac Flower Car upon which the owners previous shop was ready to cut off the drums. They just didn't understand they were mounted on a tapered axle hub. Not all hub pullers are created equal. Have you tried this model Blue Point hub puller?: Hub Puller Blue Point Snap on Hub Puller Wheel Puller | eBay They don't come any more stout than that. I've never had a hub mine couldn't remove, and I've done lots of them. By the way -- sorry, no photos of the Cadillac job. It was before I discovered digital cameras.

This is link to a web page with a printable flyer / registration form that you can download as a .pdf. The BRAACA Region is again hosting their swap meet after a successful run last year. Please show your support as a buyer, scrounger, or vendor. There will be on-site parking with the entire meet taking place on an asphalt lot. Concessions and restrooms will be available, in addition to tours of the restoration shop. Access is easy, right off the Toughkenamon exit of the U.S. 1 bypass in Kennett Square, Pa. (New Garden Township). Photos from 2012 -- Turn-out was better than expected and there was a lot of variety in the goods brought by the vendors. In the end 50 marked spaces were sold as well as overflow spaces on the grass with the side parking lot full most of the day, in spite of what appeared to be less than favorable weather early in the day. Please help make this year another success! :

Shameless bump in the event new eyeballs are back since the holidays.

Shameless bump in the event new eyeballs are back since the holidays.

This Blue Point model is the most stout puller on the market. You might find one for less if you hunt around (this listing was handy). Until recent years Blue Point still made this model, so they are fairly common. You get a much better pull with one of these than the more common lighter duty types. When you reassemble, do not put lubricant or antiseize on the axle as it will make the problem worse the next time you go to disassemble. This application is designed to be assembled dry. If you really have to crank it down, stand clear and let it sit. Under a lot of stress it can send the hub flying clear of the axle. Put something soft on the floor, too, and best to leave the axle nut on (backed off a turn) if there's room. Don't whack on the screw. The only purpose that serves is to ruin the puller. If you need to shock it while under stress, burp the hub with an air hammer. Years ago I worked on a '57 Cadillac Flower Car with your problem. The previous shop spent hours working on it and was to the point of cutting the drums to remove them. Five minutes with my puller got them off.

As stated above, looking for a Delco starter, model 728K. Known applications listed below. There may be others. This is a gear reduction starter and the drive gear is approx. 1.570 in. diameter (large by comparison of more common starters). Snout diameter where it plugs into bell housing is 3.500 in. There may be other models configured slightly different that would still fit. If you have a similar gear reduction Delco, please reach-out. Known applications: 1930-31 Chrysler Model CD Straight 8 1932 Chrysler Model CP Straight 8 1931 Dodge Bros Model DG Straight 8 1932 Dodge Bros Model DK Straight 8 1931 Gardner with Lycoming engine Also, 6 cyl. Lycoming commercial engines, ASA series Thanks!

As stated above, looking for a Delco starter, model 728K. Known applications listed below. There may be others. This is a gear reduction starter and the drive gear is approx. 1.570 in. diameter (large by comparison of more common starters). Snout diameter where it plugs into bell housing is 3.500 in. There may be other models configured slightly different that would still fit. If you have a similar gear reduction Delco, please reach-out. Known applications: 1930-31 Chrysler Model CD Straight 8 1932 Chrysler Model CP Straight 8 1931 Dodge Bros Model DG Straight 8 1932 Dodge Bros Model DK Straight 8 1931 Gardner with Lycoming engine Also, 6 cyl. Lycoming commercial engines, ASA series Thanks!

I currently have this listed on Ebay: 1929-1930 Chevrolet radiator, NORS honeycomb -- Click for Ebay link Pickup available in the Orange Field. Local pickup also available from 19348, or will ship. Listing has all the details, including lots of photos and leak test results (core is solid). Interesting piece -- happy bidding!

When you're asking something from a group of people whose sense of fair play is as great as your sense of entitlement, of course you're going to run-up against a brick wall. Is there an Occupy movement on the forum now, too?

1951 Bentley Mark VI recently listed on Ebay for a customer. (Click anywhere on this link to see the auction -- through description contained within.) Car is located in Kennett Square, PA, 19348 -- about 2 hrs. south of NYC, 2hrs. north of WDC, 1-1/2 hours east of Hershey. Convenient to fly into PHL for inspection. For inquires, please call 610-268-2244 M-F, 08:30 - 17:30, or on weekends leave a message and I'll get back to you. If you'd like more photos, supply your email address and I can send requested detail shots.

Be careful.... that site can help facilitate an expensive habit!

There were a lot of variations of Shell aviation signage over the years. Below is a link to a sign forum that's one of the best places to ask, including a thread similar to your situation: Shell aviation center shark tooth sign - Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk

Typically for cars of this vintage the jobbers standard off-the-shelf black is what you want. In PPG Concept that would be DCC9300. Another very recognized product for years was duPont Centari 99A.

The pattern with most of these shows now seems to be to glorify deviant behavior. The fact that they get the ratings to sustain themselves is a sad commentary on where we're going as a nation.

Thanks Stuart. I got a hold of someone today who mentioned the same thing. The way it is oozing out I thought it was a special flanged molded piece, but if I remove it, it's going to disintegrate, so I wanted to make sure of what I was up against before digging into it.

I caught this show by accident this weekend and left with the impression that if you took any regular thread from the H.A.M.B and made it into a television show, this is what it would look like. It reinforced why we don't subscribe to cable.

I just put that out there for a laugh with all the debate going on. It was already in my building when I moved in. Though as with any lift it has its pros and cons, there's no way it's justifiable for regular car work. Capacity is 50,000 lbs. (to put that into perspective, you could stack 10 of those Buick limos and lift them all at once) and the movable column only closes to about 120 in. No compressed air, though. Anymore they all run off a big hydraulic pump. In a perfect world, we'd all have one of each -- 2-post above ground for driveline work, drive-on for exhaust work and alignments, 2-post side-by-side inground for buffing out the sides of the car. By-and-large, a 2-post above ground is the most practical for all-around everyday work. Aside from the minor limitation on doors opening, there isn't much you can't do with one.