TexRiv_63 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I spent some time last weekend working on the heat riser, which was stuck in the closed position and, I think, causing some hot weather driveability problems. I had soaked the riser with penetrating oil over the last few weekends but needed to remove the heater blower and plenum assembly in order to get at it. The previous owner had brush painted those items in place with heavy gloss black paint so it took awhile to loosen everything up. You have to rotate the blower motor unit to unlatch three round holding tabs, it took awhile but it finally came off. The heat riser was not exactly loose but I kept tapping and spraying more penetrant and it slowly opened up.While I was working on the riser I noticed that the front exhaust manifold bolt was missing, this bolt also holds the back of the A/C compressor support bracket. I found what looked like the right size bolt from one of my "spare bolt buckets" and tried it, perfect fit and it tightened down well!I started it up and I can now feel the exhaust coming out of the passenger side tailpipe though not as strong as the other side. An unexpected bonus, a loud clicking noise I thought was from loose valve adjustment is now gone, must have been an exhaust leak from that missing manifold bolt! The engine now sounds very nice. I need to get the front brake shoes next as the car still pulls to the right, I want to get this thing out on the road... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 Another nice weather weekend in the DFW metroplex and I used it to replace my front brake linings. As mentioned before I had a hard time finding rebuilt shoes for this car but I wound up getting them from the Lincoln Mercury Old Parts Store which had been recommended by others on this forum and on Lincoln Forum.net.I replaced the shoes, cleaned and repacked the wheel bearings and added new seals, then took it for a fairly long drive. No more pulling, the brakes work great! With this done plus the front shocks I feel much safer driving it around. Now I have to pack up the old shoes and send them back, there is a $65.00 core charge on those puppies!I also finally had the opportunity to take some photos of both my cars together, I'll share a few here and more on my Starfire thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 Lets try that again with the photos attached... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn McMahon Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Looking good Don. I wish I had your weather!Cheers,Glenn:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jim_Edwards Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Looking good Don. I wish I had your weather!Cheers,Glenn:DWell come on down Glenn.........We've more than enough space in Texas for one more.Oh, and I just checked by weather station and here in South Central Texas it is a nice Sunshiny 68 degrees with a robust breeze of 10-13 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 I need some help from anyone with a Hollander manual from the late 50s. I need to know interchangeability for the rear axle and power steering gearbox that are on my Lincoln. What other years and models shared these components? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 With respect to the Monroe shock website, their e-Catalog is quite nice. Once the vehicle application is entered in the menus, it'll pull up every shock they have cataloged for the particular vehicle. Then, clicking on the part number will bring up a spec page for that shock WITH a picture. MONROE SHOCKS & STRUTS :: e-Catalog With a "dealer locator", too.Also, MONROE BRAKES® // e-CatalogWalker On-Line Catalog I've found the RockAuto Auto Parts website quite good for researching what parts are out there and in what brands. I'm glad the Lincoln is coming back to life nicely!NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J3Studio Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 I solved my front shock absorber problem. I removed one of the shocks and measured it then went on Monroe's website and opened up their mounting length sheet at http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloads/english/08_MountingLengthSheet.pdfYou pick the type of upper and lower mounts that fit your car then match them to the length dimensions for all shocks that they make, when you find a match it gives you the part number. You can then search the part number and it will tell you what vehicles it fits. Turns out the one I needed fits a 1994 Dodge B350 truck, it is the Gas Magnum type which is very heavy duty. I installed them yesterday and they fit perfectly. I just took it for a ride, what a difference! No more floating or bottoming and even though it is rated as HD the ride is very smooth.It's cool when things actually work out with a part from a completely unrelated vehicle ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 I need some help from anyone with a Hollander manual from the late 50s. I need to know interchangeability for the rear axle and power steering gearbox that are on my Lincoln. What other years and models shared these components?Let me add a power steering pump to this list, I want to get the power steering gearbox rebuilt and should probably do the pump at the same time, need interchange info to get the right cores - help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Did a little tune-up work on this car the last couple of days. I have had hot idle issues with this car since I got it which had recently gotten worse and I had to raise the curb idle adjustment to keep it from dying. I went to a local AACA swap meet two weeks ago and bought new points, rotor, and condenser so I wanted to check everything out. First I pulled the plugs and they appeared to be fairly new. They were a bit sooty but the insulators were a uniform medium brown with no oil residue. They were gapped correctly so I cleaned them up and put them back. I hope I never have to change the plug wires on this car, they are routed behind the engine and under the exhaust manifolds, going through two or three rubber block insulators on each side.Next I pulled the distributor cap and removed the rotor, points and condenser. The old parts looked pretty good but I went ahead and replaced them anyway. The ground wire between the points and the distributor housing was broken so I repaired that. I cleaned the inside of the cap and terminals but it looked pretty good to begin with. With everything back together I started it up, it ran a little better but still was unsteady at idle. I played with the idle mixture with no improvement, then I remembered a problem I just had on my Olds Starfire - a leaking vacuum diaphragm on the distributor. I disconnected the vacuum line while it was running and noticed no difference, then put my thumb over the line and it smoothed out! I capped the line and was able to bring the idle speed down to a reasonable level. I took it for a short ride and it feels much better, now I will need to find a new diaphragm - anyone know a good source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted May 28, 2012 Author Share Posted May 28, 2012 Latest update - the last few weeks I started cleaning up this car. I began with the interior but I'll save that until I take pictures, this installment is about the trunk and rear end. I knew from the beginning I would need to get some touchup paint, the paint is pretty nice but has plenty of nicks and some areas that were not repainted need help. I called my usual auto paint supplier (English Color) about getting some matching acrylic enamel only to find that the DAR Delstar I have used in the past is no longer carried by all their stores. On top of that the photo match process thay used to use no longer applies to that type of paint so they have to do a trial and error match to an actual paint sample. They needed a painted part from the car that they could keep for 24 hours or more. Unfortunately there are no small removeable parts on this car so I had to remove the trunk lid and take that in. That is one big and heavy trunk lid, my wife and I got it off and into my truck but it was no fun! It was worth the effort though as they were able to do a very good match.With the trunk off the car, I cleaned up and repainted the flanges around the trunk area, and polished all the rear panel trim and rear bumper. The rear panel trim is diecast chrome on each side with two stainless panels across the back on either side of the fuel filler. These are decorated with 1/4" raised chrome strips with black painted infill between, I masked and repainted all of that - it took an hour and a half to mask and 2 minutes to paint! It came out pretty nice but there is a bit of surface rust on the bottom of the bumper that I couldn't do much with. I'm going to leave the trunk off until I get the inside of it cleaned up then will get my son to help put it back on, not looking forward to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARY F Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 if you need touvh up try tower paint. i used them & very good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landman Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Redoing that black certainly brings it out doesn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 I'm continuing in my on and off mission of cleaning and detailing this car and am currently doing the worst and dirtiest part, the underhood and under car areas. Don't give me too much credit, I'm not really fixing anything but just some scrubbing, degreasing, and "spray can restoration". I wanted to finish up the underhood area since the previous owner had done a nice job painting the engine but had left everything else as was. I taped a drop cloth to the floor and started scraping, brushing, and scrubbing. Here are a few "before" pictures"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 I finished the underhood detailing today, glad that is done. Now I can actually open the hood at a show without major apologies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Looks really great Tex. Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 I cleaned up the interior a while back but finally took some new photos today. It's in pretty good shape, I just cleaned and polished. The carpet was the worst, I don't think the previous owner owned a vacuum cleaner! Today I buffed out all the paint and did a bunch of touchup, my arms are killing me tonight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unimogjohn Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 What a transformation! Great job. She looks like a show car for sure. What a looker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 Thanks John, but it's FAR from a showcar unless everyone at the show stands back 10 feet and squints... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 I have decided to put this car up for sale, see my listing on the Buy / Sell forum for details. It cleaned up really nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 I have reduced my asking price on this car to $12,900, see my posts in Buy / Sell forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 I just added a little more value to this car today, it had a patched up muffler on the passenger side which gave up the ghost so I had the whole passenger side exhaust system replaced. As a bonus, when the muffler shop pulled the old exhaust pipe they found the heat riser valve was rusted shut, my efforts to free it up before did not work. They eliminated the valve and now the car runs great, quiet, smooth, and the idle is better. I took it for a long ride back from the shop and that was money well spent. My price is still $12,900. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 This car sold locally today so I am down to just one car. Thanks to all who followed and commented on this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 So what next ?? I enjoy your treads on the cars you buy, I thought the Lincoln would have been a keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Bill, I thought so too but it needed more work than I wanted to put into it so I cut my losses. Never sure what is next, for now I'm trying to be good and finish up my Starfire, I neglected it for the Lincoln but it still needs new weatherstripping installed, interior cleanup and underhood detailing. Hopefully I can resist temptation for awhile... although I saw a 57 Cadillac the other day that looked really nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Richgee Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Hi Don, I'm interested in knowing a little about the origin of your, now gone, Premier. I read you got her from Washington state, do you know any prior history? This car may have belonged to my aunt Candy in Kent, WA. If so, my grandfather purchased the car sometime in the 60's or 70's. I now have, and just began work on, another '57 Premier he purchased as a parts car for the yellow one. I've started a little website (https://sites.google.com/site/theconnieproject/) to chronicle the restoration process on ours. I would sure like to keep track of the other family '57. Any info is appreciated. Thanks for the great pix and detailed story of your experience with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 Richgee, I sent you a private message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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