The Car Which Shall Not Be Named III (1935 Lincoln K)

[prewarnut]

Congrats! This has been a valuable lession for all.

[M1842]

This was a great way to start my day.  Congrats to you and your reborn Lincoln!!!

[edinmass]

140 was the standard on almost all pre war cars………..with todays modern oil, the low temperature won’t cause excessive wear like it did back in the old days.With such a large engine to cool, you don’t want to run anything higher or the operational envelope of the cooling system could be stressed to a point where there is no extra capacity in hot weather under severe loads……….

[95Cardinal]

Congratulations @Matt Harwood!

It looks and sounds great!

 

[EmTee]

What a Beautiful Noise!  Congratulations! 

[Matt Harwood]

Well, my home laptop decided to kill itself yesterday and with Melanie, my personal IT department, on vacation, I couldn't get it up and running again. Fortunately, we store everything in the cloud so no vital photos or videos were lost. It was just inconvenient.

 

Anyway, Sunday I got back in the shop and worked on a few little items--there's just not much left to do. I'm going to drive the car this week and put some miles on it before reinstalling the front sheetmetal just because everything is so easy to access right now. I wanted to fire it up again, but before I did that, I put a wrench on every nut and bolt I could find, including re-torquing the head studs, which surprisingly took about a quarter-turn. I'll do it a few more times after it's had some drive time on it and a few heat cycles. All the exhaust manifold bolts were pretty light, too, so I torqued those to 25 ft-lbs even though Remflex says they never need to be re-torqued. Can't hurt, I guess.

 

Once I had everything snugged up, I fired it up and let it run for another half-hour or so, varying the speed using the hand throttle. No issues, no surprises, just a nice running motor that stays cool. Once it was up to temperature, I played with the carburetor settings a little bit but it really needs to warmed up from driving, not just idling. The tune isn't bad but I think it can be better. We'll work on that when I'm able to drive it.

 

Well, speaking of driving, I did technically drive it yesterday--about 30 feet to put it on the lift. Clutch feels good, no sounds, no issues. Nice!

 

I drove it across the shop to get it on the big lift.

 

I need to tackle that burned floorboard, so that's where I spent most of the day. I pulled the rear seat cushion and there's a bit more damage that I originally thought, but nothing critical. I think it can all be fixed with some light carpentry and upholstery work. I pulled the burned floorboard and the one adjacent to it just to give me some working room. There were two wood screws on the ends of each board, and the burned one is also screwed to the bottom of the rear seat platform with another five screws. That was no big deal except for the one screw that's directly above the torque tube--very hard to get a screwdriver in there to remove it. Once all the screws were out, I discovered that the burned board still didn't want to come out. With some coaxing with a pry bar and a dead-blow hammer, eventually it wiggled its way out and I instantly saw why it was so difficult to remove.

 

 

A better look at the damage.

 

Removed the two rear-most floorboards.

 

Even with all the screws removed, this

board was very hard to remove.

 

I quickly discovered why: the board is cut

to fit on top of the frame and is wedged in

place by the body. I haven't yet figured out

how I'm going to duplicate this detail.

 

I have a pretty well equipped wood shop at home, so I think I'm going to take the car home once I start driving it and do the wood work there. I think that will ultimately be easier than trying to transport a whole bunch of woodworking tools to the shop. It's only a three mile drive and there's no reason why, if I'm doing test drives, one of them shouldn't be home on a weekend. So I left that project for now and will revisit it once I'm driving the car and have a little free time--this weekend is the Auto-Rama indoor car show that the 1950 Chevy tow truck was invited to attend, so that'll probably kill most of my weekend.

 

Anyway, I decided to do a little functionality testing while I had the car awake and running. First, the horns work perfectly with the engine running, so I think the voltage was simply a little low. I ordered a new relay and we'll see if that has any effect, but Riley should be pleased with the result. I know I am. It sounds a little modern, but it's plenty loud and effective.

 

Second, I tested the taillights and brake lights, which appear to be offline. Uh oh. You might recall that I installed a new front wiring harness but had to get creative with the lighting because my Clum switch is gone. I was 98% certain that I had everything wired correctly but maybe not. With the car up on the lift, it was easy to get under the rear apron and examine the wiring and, well, I quickly discovered why nothing was working:

 

Taillight wiring is shot. No surprise nothing

is working back there. The same hack who

worked on the rest of the car has had his

hands on the wiring, too.

 

I ordered a Brakelighter third brake light for this car (I also have one in the Buick limo), so I figured this was as good a time as any to install it. I cut back the old wiring until I got to good insulation, then started soldering and reconnecting wires. I ran the Brakelighter wires down into the trunk, behind the trunk upholstery, and drilled a small hole in the wooden floor near the brake light wires. I spliced them into the joint for the brake light circuit, then ran fresh 14-gauge cloth-covered wires in the original colors over to the driver's side where power comes in and connects to the driver's side light housing. I stopped there because I ran out of time--I was having dinner with my 85-year-old father so I had to get cleaned up. I'll finish the light wiring tonight and all should be good to go when I start driving it later this week (if the rain ever stops).

 

Brakelighter ground pigtail. New wires are

inside the sheath running to the driver's

side of the car. It should look OEM when
I'm done.

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[alsancle]

Matt,  forgive me if you posted this already but do you have a round ball on the total cost for doing that engine?

[Matt Harwood]

26 minutes ago, alsancle said:

Matt,  forgive me if you posted this already but do you have a round ball on the total cost for doing that engine?

 

I stopped counting once it cost more than the car itself, but Melanie--who actually saw and paid all the bills--says it's considerably north of the $35,000 number that Frank first threw at me a few years ago. Figure a bit over $40K once it was all done, and that's not counting any of the ancillary stuff (clutch, radiator, water pump, generator, starter, carburetor, belts, hoses, hardware, wiring, spare engine, etc.).

 

And, of course, my time is free.

[EmTee]

9 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

...and that's not counting any of the ancillary stuff (clutch, radiator, water pump, generator, starter, carburetor, belts, hoses, hardware, wiring, spare engine, etc.).

But -- you'll be able to get in and drive without knots in your gut wondering whether you'll make it to your destination.  That has to be worth something... 

[edinmass]

That number on the engine is exceptionally low…………and no one should use it as a measuring stick. Even with all your labor, a rule of thumb on a big V-12 is 70-90k now………..it’s sick, but reality.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Do you have an idea of parts to labor percent on those figures?

 

  Sure glad it is running well.

 

  Ben

[TexRiv_63]

Sounds and looks great! Maybe now I can finally uncross my fingers...

[Matt Harwood]

When did sealed beam headlights become available? Because my 1935 Lincoln has sealed beam headlights. I thought it was around 1940 that sealed beams showed up, but the headlights in my car sure look OEM. Check it out:

 

  

There are sealed beam bulbs in 

my original headlight buckets. Hmmm...

 

This explains a lot of things about the wiring I had to deal with, most notably why the parking light position was disconnected--there are no parking lights. I'm assuming that the three wires going to a sealed beam headlight are high beam, low beam, and ground, correct? In the original configuration, there was a standard low/hi bulb and a second, smaller bulb for parking lights. Mine does not have that small bulb for parking lights, therefore, I have no front parking lights. I need to figure out an alternative--some small, hidden bulbs? Use the fog lights as parking lights? Don't bother? Leave the parking light position active, but have it only turn on the taillights? I have some thinking to do.

 

In other lighting news, I finished the taillight wiring and all the lights are working correctly. I didn't like the electrical tape wrap, so I re-did that with some proper cotton wrap. I drilled a small hole in the crossmember and used a screw to secure the Brakelighter ground there. Everything else was pretty straightforward.

 

 

Wiring finished and secured with original clamps.

 

 

Everything works properly.

 

 

I'm also planning on installing LED bulbs in the taillights, so I pulled one of the lenses to double-check the type of bulb. It's a standard 1158 two-filament bulb, so that'll be easy to replace. What's not so easy is getting that little screw back in to secure the taillight lens. WTF, Lincoln engineers? Impossible to see, impossible to get a screwdriver onto it, and impossible to align properly with the housing. I spent 20 minutes trying to get that screw back in there and I'm not 100% sure I didn't cross-thread it. Meh, I'll take it apart again when I change the bulbs and see about making something a little easier to work with.

 

What were you guys thinking here,

Lincoln engineers? Impossible to

reach, impossible to see, impossible

to align. Makes changing a bulb into

a 40-minute job. I guess labor was 

cheap in 1935.

 

Not much left to do, so if the weather is nice tomorrow, I guess I'll go for a test drive...

[charlespetty]

No Lincoln Model K came with sealed beam headlights as original equipment.  

[Bloo]

Sealed beams landed in late 1939 for the 1940 model year.

 

[ply33]

On my 1930s low end other make of car the three wires going into the headlight buckets are: High beam, low beam, and parking. Ground is through the bucket, stand, and fender/fender brace to the frame.

 

 I was under the impression that this was pretty typical for the era.

[MCHinson]

Shortly after 1940 a number of sealed beam conversion kits were made for various earlier cars. They were designed as an upgrade to the earlier headlights. Your Lincoln is certainly not alone in being converted to sealed beam bulbs. The conversion kit may be made by Lincoln or it may be an aftermarket kit. I still have a similar sealed beam conversion kit that I removed from one of my 1937 Buicks. It is your choice as to if you want to stick with the sealed beams or find original headlight lenses and the other assorted hardware to change it back to the original configuration. I also suspect that the headlights were originally grounded through the headlight buckets and not a wire. 

[8E45E]

11 minutes ago, MCHinson said:

Shortly after 1940 a number of sealed beam conversion kits were made for various earlier cars. They were designed as an upgrade to the earlier headlights. Your Lincoln is certainly not alone in being converted to sealed beam bulbs.

Here is a 1934 Pierce Arrow with a sealed beam conversion:  Orphan of the Day, 09-02, 1934 Pierce-Arrow Sedan - Studebaker Drivers Club Forum

 

Craig

[8E45E]

8 hours ago, Bloo said:

Sealed beams landed in late 1939 for the 1940 model year.

And I don't believe any one particular make 'jumped the gun' by a year or two, either. 

 

Unlike dual headlights in 1957. and the U.S. introduction of composite headlights in 1984, no one marque can claim to be the "first" with them.

 

Craig

[alsancle]

Unless you really want it point judged I would leave the lights alone.  Sometimes they look stupid but those look fine to me.

[Matt Harwood]

4 hours ago, alsancle said:

Unless you really want it point judged I would leave the lights alone.  Sometimes they look stupid but those look fine to me.

 

That's the plan. I never even realized they were sealed beams until yesterday. Usually you have ugly rings around the bulb but these fit like they were made that way.

 

 

The only problem is figuring out parking lights...

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

So I drove it. And it runs like crap.

 

Feels like only running on 7 cylinders. Very rough under load. I hoped you could hear it but my camera failed, so no video as I had hoped. Sorry.

 

Did some quick diagnostic work. All cylinders light up a test light, but some notably stronger than others. Odd. Only 3 or 4 have a really strong, bright signal on the test light, the rest are pretty faint.

 

Did the cylinder balance test by grounding out each spark plug in turn, but with 12 cylinders it's very hard to hear if one dropped out.

 

I'm going to put the old coils back on and double-check my wiring, be sure the plugs are in the right holes on the distributor, and check my spark plug gaps.

 

What else should I be doing?

[AB-Buff]

Check the firing order

[AURktman]

Dizzy cap fully seated? 

[Matt Harwood]

OK, spent some time after work going through the ignition system (again). I thought I was so meticulous and careful when putting it all together, but it turns out that I had cylinder #2 and cylinder #10 swapped at the distributor. I don't know how that happened, I checked them when I pulled the wires through the conduit and checked it again before I fired it, but there it is.

 

Once I found that issue (and cleaned all the terminals in the distributor cap), I fired it up. Started easily and idled somewhat more smoothly, although it's hard to tell. The exhaust note was still a little snuffly, but it's a big improvement. I let it warm up a bit, then took a little drive. Check it out:

 

 

Drives pretty well. Good power, nice flexibility, and no more stutter or rough power curve. A BIG improvement. You can hear a little "shik-shik-shik" as I drive, and I'm not sure what that might be. Maybe speedometer cable but it sounds like something in the transmission. I will investigate. Everything else seems pretty good. Also bear in mind that I'm driving without any carpets or rear floorboards, so it's a bit louder than it should be. But for a maiden voyage, I'm pretty darned happy. A big relief that it wasn't something major.

 

So we'll start doing some tuning once I'm able to get it warm enough--we're close so it's just a matter of details now.

 

WooT!

[AURktman]

What a relief!  It sounds so good, I bet it will take some time for that smile to go away.  

[edinmass]

It is now time to invoke my shop motto…..”Drive it like you stole it!”

[38Buick 80C]

4 minutes ago, edinmass said:

It is now time to invoke my shop motto…..”Drive it like you stole it!”

agreed!

[Dan Cluley]

Looks good. 🙂

 

I'm curious what that handle below the speedometer is.  You adjusted it about the 4 minute point in the video.

[Matt Harwood]

16 minutes ago, Dan Cluley said:

Looks good. 🙂

 

I'm curious what that handle below the speedometer is.  You adjusted it about the 4 minute point in the video.

 

That's the free-wheeling lever. Pushing it to the left deactivates free-wheeling, which is how I prefer to drive the car. Free-wheeling was an extremely bad idea but most automakers were in love with it in the early '30s. On my first test drive (which I failed to record) I had the free-wheeling activated and it felt really odd. As you noticed in the video, I was just making sure that A, free-wheeling was deactivated, and B, that the lever/cable assembly wasn't the source of that chattering noise that you can hear throughout the video.

[m-mman]

I have to comment on how strange it is to hear you comment on how cold it is running.

 As I remember, it was overheating issues that originally sent you down the big expensive frustrating rabbit hole. 
Too cold?  Sounds like something to cheer loudly.  

Congratulations.  🎉🍾 🥳

[Saari]

Is it legal if you connect park wires to hi beam via resistor, so it illuminates, but dim like park light should?

[prewarnut]

Looks great! On the floorboard you could use a router table with a number of passes to make that large channel (and rabbit the end). I'd tack-glue a wedge of correct angle to the underside in order to mill it. Otherwise it's hand chiseling but going across grain that wide and long it won't be easy or good looking and ripe for tear out.

[Frank Tate]

2 hours ago, prewarnut said:

Looks great! On the floorboard you could use a router table with a number of passes to make that large channel (and rabbit the end). I'd tack-glue a wedge of correct angle to the underside in order to mill it. Otherwise it's hand chiseling but going across grain that wide and long it won't be easy or good looking and ripe for tear out.

I second this type of approach, but would probably use a dado setup and either the table saw or a radial arm saw.

[Matt Harwood]

7 hours ago, m-mman said:

I have to comment on how strange it is to hear you comment on how cold it is running.

 As I remember, it was overheating issues that originally sent you down the big expensive frustrating rabbit hole. 
Too cold?  Sounds like something to cheer loudly.  

Congratulations.  🎉🍾 🥳

 

I'm not worried about it running too cool, although it's running at about 100 degrees in 40-degree weather. That's pretty remarkable and yes, I'm thrilled that it's not overheating like it did (and people all told me that Ks tend to run hot). It should have shutters on the front of the radiator, but mine don't work and I wasn't planning on reinstalling them. I'll reserve judgement until we have the front end sheetmetal back on and drive it in hot weather, but no, I'm not complaining. A car like this should be immune to overheating. It just makes it hard to tune the carburetor now, before it can run at the temperatures we'll get during the warmer months. I'm pleased that it stays so cool, it's just going to make tuning a little more complicated. And if it does indeed run too cool all the time, then I'll add thermostats in the upper radiator hoses, that's an easy solution.

[Roger Zimmermann]

It's my understanding that during that time, the temperature control was not done with a thermostat controlling the amount of water sent to the radiator but by opening and closing the shutter, controlling the quantity of air going to the radiator. The shutter is actuated by a thermostat; if your system is not functioning, probably the thermostat is gone. I'm showing here the Cadillac system; yours must be similar.

[ply33]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

I'm not worried about it running too cool, although it's running at about 100 degrees in 40-degree weather. That's pretty remarkable and yes, I'm thrilled that it's not overheating like it did (and people all told me that Ks tend to run hot). It should have shutters on the front of the radiator, but mine don't work and I wasn't planning on reinstalling them. I'll reserve judgement until we have the front end sheetmetal back on and drive it in hot weather, but no, I'm not complaining. A car like this should be immune to overheating. It just makes it hard to tune the carburetor now, before it can run at the temperatures we'll get during the warmer months. I'm pleased that it stays so cool, it's just going to make tuning a little more complicated. And if it does indeed run too cool all the time, then I'll add thermostats in the upper radiator hoses, that's an easy solution.

Partially covering the radiator with a piece of cardboard (simulate partially closed shutters) should allow the engine to get warm enough for you to tune the carburetor, etc.

[edinmass]

You can tune a piano, but you can’t Tuna Fish.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

17 minutes ago, edinmass said:

You can tune a piano, but you can’t Tuna Fish.

 

 Groan!!

 

  Ben

[Matt Harwood]

Today was one of those days when I wanted to get a lot done but just couldn't get any momentum going. I have a bunch of small projects still outstanding so I tackled a few of those. First up was dealing with that shik-shik-shik-shik sound that sure sounds like a speedometer cable but may not be. I wanted to lubricate the new speedometer cable that I installed a year and a half ago so I put the car up on the lift, removed the little gearbox from the transmission tailshaft, and pulled the cable out of the sheath. I have some dry graphite spray that @38Buick 80C recommended, so I sprayed that on the cable as I fed it back into the sheath. It's got some kind of liquid that holds it in suspension while you spray it which was a bit messy, and I hope it evaporates properly from an enclosed area like the speedometer cable sheath.

 

I also made a new gasket for the speedometer drive gearbox, which was leaking a bit.

 

Made a new gasket for the speedometer

drive transmission (left).

 

Then I reinstalled everything. You

can see some dried graphite spray

as a haze on the bronze gearbox.

 

While I was under there, I took a good look at the exhaust system, which is pretty hacked up and home-made. Eventually I'll have Tim Shaffer make me a beautiful new stainless exhaust system like the one under my '41 Buick, but for now I have to work with what I've got. First and foremost, I wanted to fix a pretty significant CLUNK that I hear every time I go over a bump. I found one mount that was broken, so I welded that back in place, but there's a second hanger in the back that's just plain misaligned and that's what's causing the clunking noise. I couldn't tweak it enough to get it away from the frame, so the clunk says for now. Ugh. I also took some measurements and found that it's 2.25-inch tubing after the primary header pipe, which is 2.75-inch. And there's that awful-sounding glasspack cherry-bomb muffler someone stuck in there, which you can hear in the driving video--it's loud and not particularly pleasant sounding. Fortunately, I'll be able to find a bigger, quieter muffler to replace it--I'll just cut it out and install a replacement either with clamps or just weld it in there. When I have it cut apart, that's when I can fix the alignment and eliminate the clunk. But ultimately a dead-end project for the day.

 

I also have an engine pan that I had powdercoated, so as long as the car was on the lift, I tried to install it. No go. There's simply no way that pan can be maneuvered past the exhaust, spring perch, and steering arm to fit into place. So I put it back on the shelf. Another dead end.

 

There's simply no way this engine pan

can be installed with the engine

and suspension in the car.

 

Then I thought I'd reinstall the power brake booster that I reconditioned when I first got the car. But unfortunately, I couldn't find it. I thought I knew where it was, but it turns out that the thing I was assuming was my brake booster is instead an old generator. So I didn't get to install a brake booster. Dead end #3.

 

I've been acting on the assumption

that this was my power brake 

booster. It's not. But in case you wanted

to know what a Lincoln power brake

booster looks like, well, it looks like a 

vintage generator.

 

After that, I took it off the lift and tried replacing the taillight bulbs with LEDs. I'm a big fan of LED bulbs, particularly in taillights, and have used them with great success in my Buick. Unfortunately, the company that supplied those bulbs no longer manufactures them, so I had to hunt for alternatives. And sadly, the alternatives that I found are not even as bright as the standard incandescent bulb. Fail. I put the incandescent bulb back in and will keep hunting for more powerful LEDs. At least it's a major PITA to get the taillight lens on and off. Another dead-end project.

 

Then I lubricated the seat tracks and got both front seats moving smoothly and easily. I also lubricated the door hinges and latches. All four doors droop a bit on their hinges, not much, but I can feel it when I pull them open. I don't know how to correct that. It's not bad enough for me to worry too much, but eventually it's going to wear out the striker plates.

 

Then I re-torqued the lug nuts and installed the hubcaps and last two trim rings to give it a bit more of a finished look. By this point, I really needed a win.

 

 

Hubcaps and trim rings installed.

 

Enough with the little jobs. The weather eventually cleared enough for some driving. I cut a chunk of sign and blocked about half the radiator, then set out on the road. I stayed close enough to walk back to the shop, but it wasn't necessary. I put a little over 12 miles on it and temperatures stabilized at about 160 degrees on the glovebox gauge--nice. It does drive nicely, although sadly, the shik-shik-shik sound remains at low speeds. It wasn't the speedometer cable. I think it's in the transmission as @32buick67 suggested in a PM.  Craps.

 

 

Blocking off about half the radiator

allowed it to warm up to 160 degrees.

It stabilized there whether idling or

driving.

 

During my drive, I noticed that the odometer is working but the trip odometer is not. That's odd. I had the speedometer rebuilt, so I may have to investigate. That's an important function on a car without a working fuel gauge. I don't know much about how these things work. My speedometer cable is really short and barely engages the speedometer head--could it not be going deep enough into the speedometer unit to engage the trip odometer function? Or maybe it's possible that I didn't push the reset knob in far enough? I don't know.

 

Back in the shop and with the engine at a reasonable operating temperature, I played with the carburetor adjustments a bit. None of them made much of a difference, but I have some other tuning tricks, including using a vacuum gauge, yet to try. On a whim, I also adjusted the distributor to about the middle of its range. I thought I had it at full advance (if the distributor rotor spins counter-clockwise, turning the distributor all the way clockwise should be full advance, correct?) but it got a bit smoother and throttle response was crisper with it at the mid-point. It also started more easily without the "hiccup" that's indicative of too much ignition advance. I can't imagine that there's such a thing as too much timing on an engine like this with today's fuels, but it certainly seems to like less timing, not more. I'll do some more evaluations once I have the carburetor dialed-in. It's easy enough to adjust.

 

Distributor is easy to adjust.

Two screws and you can turn

it within a certain range. I was

pretty sure I had it fully advanced,

but it seems to like about half-way

even better.

 

Hopefully tomorrow's weather is a bit nicer and I can drive it home to do some carpentry work on the rear floorboards. I bought an expensive new dado blade for my table saw as well as a chunk of 3/4-inch marine-grade plywood that I'll use to replace the rear two boards, preferably as a single piece. We'll see how things go...

 

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)