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

[Lahti35]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

Looks great! Very sharp with those caps and rings...

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

if the distributor rotor spins counter-clockwise, turning the distributor all the way clockwise should be full advance, correct?)

Yes.

[maok]

2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

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...

 

 

Hey Matt, who reconditioned your brake booster and do you remember how much it cost?  I have one for my '34 Airflow that needs a lot of love.

 

I also had similar issues with my '36 Airstream splash pans, drove me nuts to get them off, never re-installed them due to my lack of patience.

 

You must be feeling hellava lot more excited this year than last...lol

[Matt Harwood]

Holy shiitake! It fit on the first try! I'm not sure how to process this because it has never, ever happened before, never mind on a somewhat complicated piece like the floorboards of this Lincoln. Check it:

 

Holy smokes! It fit!

 

Let me back up a bit and show you how I managed this miracle. Melanie dropped me off at the shop on her way to pick up our kids in Canada at grandma's house and I drove the Lincoln home to where my woodworking tools are. I stopped and pumped 10 gallons of fresh gas into it, just in case. Had two people comment on the car, one asking what it was and the other saying he likes hot rods with fenders. Meh, I didn't waste a lot of time explaining it to him, I just told him I was going to get the fenders once I was done paying for it. He didn't laugh.

 

Drove the Lincoln home this morning. 

No issues even though it was 35 degrees.

 

Anyway, yesterday I bought a 2x4 piece of marine-grade 3/4-inch plywood with which to make the new floors. I also bought an expensive new dado blade that I knew I'd need for the little angled cut-outs on the bottom. I cut the plywood roughly to the same length and width as the original floorboards, then screwed the old boards onto the plywood. Using the original boards as a template, I cut each end to fit exactly. I noted with some dismay that they're tapered to follow the shape of the car, which gets narrower towards the front. That was a bit of a complex cut but I made an angled spacer to cut them using the table saw. Not having that burned-out corner for the template turned out not to be an issue. I also drilled mounting holes to match those in the original boards.

 

  

Original boards used as a template.

 

Once I had the shape roughed in, I had to figure out how to make those angled clearance cuts on the bottom where the floors fits between the body and the frame. Once I figured out that the angle was 4 degrees, it got a lot easier. It also got easier when I realized that the cut-outs follow the angled edge of the floors and are not perpendicular, so they'd be easy to cut without compensating for the angle. I made some 4-degree wedges from some scrap wood and screwed them to the bottom of the board. I added a third set in the middle since my table saw table isn't quite wide enough for both ends to be supported at the same time--the middle set would allow it to sit firmly on the table as I moved it over the dado blade. Then I started cutting.

 

Once I figured out the angle of the

recessed area, it was easy.

 

 

I installed wedges on the back of the board to

support it as I moved it over the dado blade.

 

  

It worked!

 

While I was fitting the original boards to the plywood as a template, I noticed two small notches on the sides by the doors. Looking inside the car, there's a metal bracket there and the floor needs to fit around it. I cut the notches in the plywood without any problem, then counter-sunk the screw holes so the original wood screws would sit flush.

 

Cut notches to clear a metal

bracket inside the body.

 

Then I counter-sunk the screw holes.

 

Then it was the moment of truth. I honestly expected to have to do some trimming and sanding, maybe use a hammer and a block of wood to coax it under the back seat platform. And none of that happened. It slid right into place with moderate effort, but no hammers, just a little coaxing with the heel of my palm. I screwed it into place with a few wood screws and boom! It's done!

 

Holy cow, it fit on the first try!

 

It only took about 1.5 hours, not counting the 20 hours I spent thinking and planning. I have to go to the IX Center where that indoor car show is wrapping up and the tow truck is on display. It ends at 6 PM so I need to be there to move the truck and bring it home. Guess I'm glad I finished this job early. I stuck the Lincoln in the garage--I'll drive it to work in the morning. I'm still in shock by my easy success here. This was not a simple piece to make.

 

Lincoln in my home garage for the first

time in 5 years.

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[95Cardinal]

Congratulations, Matt.

Looks like it's going to be a PERFECT summer daily driver!

[Matt Harwood]

22 hours ago, maok said:

Hey Matt, who reconditioned your brake booster and do you remember how much it cost?  I have one for my '34 Airflow that needs a lot of love.

 

I also had similar issues with my '36 Airstream splash pans, drove me nuts to get them off, never re-installed them due to my lack of patience.

 

You must be feeling hellava lot more excited this year than last...lol

I actually reconditioned it myself. I soaked the internals of the booster in neatsfoot oil for a few days, then coaxed it back into operation with my press. Once the piston was moving easily, some testing showed that it would hold vacuum so I guess it's operational. I still have a leak in the diaphragm for the control valve on the brake pedal, but those are available from straight-8 (formerly Brian Joseph's shop). I'm not making it a priority, but it would have been nice to install the booster while I was under there. 

There's also a company in PA that I found that does work on vintage power brake systems: https://www.powerbrakex-change.com/manufacturer.php?id=3478

 

I don't know anything about them other than they exist. I haven't used them, but I'd start there and see if they have the ability to service whatever Chrysler was using on the Airflow.

Hope this helps!

[m-mman]

The engine stand.  The floor boards….

It seems like the wood working is the only thing that has not gone down kicking and screaming.  
You deserve some easy successes.  

[maok]

Thanks Matt for the lead. My booster is not a priority also but it is good to know someone who can do it, those guys look like the goods. I have book marked their website.

 

Unfortunately, my booster needs a full recon, it was full of thick mud like substance, no idea how or why, seals are non existent and there is wear on the shaft tube probably from mis-alignment of the mount.

 

I recently also did timber floorboards on my Airflow.

[Matt Harwood]

A few make-work projects this evening just to tie off some loose ends. First up, I installed some new LED bulbs in the dash so the instruments would be easier to read at night. Sadly, the LEDs aren't notably brighter than the incandescent bulb (what's going on with the LEDs lately? Am I just getting crappy bulbs or what? They used to be so much brighter) but it'll be more durable and will last forever, so that's good. Changing the bulbs in the dash is a major pain in the neck, literally and figuratively. It looks brighter in photos than it actually is and I think a lot of the problem is the poor design of the gauge lighting--there's just a little bulb holder over on the edge of each housing that kind of reflects into the gauges from the side. There's no direct lighting. Meh, it is what it is.

 

 

LEDs not notably brighter, but the

gauges now light up properly.

 

Then I put the car up on the lift for several tasks. One, I wanted to install the wood screws on the bottom of the floorboard into the metal seat platform. It probably adds some structural stability to the floors. Once the screws were in place, I painted the fresh wood satin black to help it blend in with the rest of the undercarriage.

 

New wood floor painted to help it blend in.

 

I also found my power brake booster in an unlikely spot (someone who isn't me must have boxed it up and mistook it for something else), so I bolted it into place. The system isn't working yet, but at least I'll know where the booster is when I get around to restoring the system's functionality.

 

Booster installed.

 

And just in case you were wondering

how I could possibly mistake a generator

 for a power brake booster, I offer

this photograph as exhibit A.

 

While I was under the car, I disconnected the speedometer cable at the transmission to try to diagnose the noise I've been hearing. Then I took a short drive and there was no change. It's not the speedometer cable. The sound is definitely related to driveshaft speed, not engine speed, so it's not the clutch. It seemed to be coming from the transmission tower so I took it back to the shop, put it in the air, and checked the transmission fluid. And, well, here are the photos:

 

  

That's a lot of slurry and gold flecks ,

likely from the synchros. Ugh.

 

I seem to recall that I changed the transmission oil when I first got the car but now I'm not so sure I did. That was five years ago. That's a lot of sludge and synchro dust for the 20 or so miles that I've driven since the engine went in and the 70 or so that I drove it before everything went to hell. It shifts nicely and aside from the weird noise, makes no other unpleasant sounds. I don't think it's hurt, but it would be if I had kept going as-is. I gave it a good blast of brake cleaner through the fill and drain holes and I'm letting it drain overnight. My plan is to put some fresh gear oil in it, drive it a bit, and flush it again. Maybe do that twice, then fill it with some permanent solution like synthetic gear oil. In fact, that's how I found my brake booster--I had some synthetic SAE 140 gear oil on the shelf in the storage room and went to get it. The box blocking the gear oil contained my booster. So that was fortuitous. 

 

Anyway, my thought is that since it still shifts well, it isn't hurt... yet. A few flushes with some fresh, correct gear oil should reduce or eliminate whatever is causing the wear, and it should be OK. These are robust, over-built transmissions so it should survive. I just need to get it cleaned out and the right gear oil into it. What that might be, I don't know yet.

 

Any suggestions?

[Matt Harwood]

Doing some research, I found this old thread that I started asking the exact same question about what kind of gear oil to put in the Lincoln:

 

 

Apparently I ended up using the SAE 140. That's too thin and discussion in that thread suggests that SAE 250 is closer to the right stuff. I found some Amsoil synthetic SAE 250 that is safe for yellow metals, so I think I'm going to order up a case ($275! YIKES!) and use that in the transmission and rear end. Hopefully that will cure my disintegrating synchros issue and maybe the sound if I'm lucky. Glad I took a look instead of assuming that everything was OK. Gotta get that changed out ASAP.

 

 

[Joe Misuraca]

Regarding Power Brake X-Change in Pittsburgh.  They rebuilt the steering box for my 1916 Buick.  I brought the steering box out to them.  They spent an hour plus showing me all the reasons it failed (one of the half nuts sheared).  Over the course of about 2 months they sourced replacement half nuts and made my steering box better than new.  I recommend them.

[Bloo]

I dunno about the Amsoil. From their blurb:

•

Premium-grade, extreme-pressure gear lube engineered specifically for high-load demands.

 

That sounds like exactly what you don't want in a synchromesh transmission. Maybe they have a different one.

 

In my opinion, SAE250 is far more likely to be close to the deprecated SAE160 than SAE140 is. A lot of the evidence is anecdotal though. I have never been able to nail down exactly what range SAE160 covered. The standard has been dead a long time. I would guess maybe we have some SAE members in the forum who could get hold of that? Do we?

 

That seems like an awful lot of contamination for as little as you have driven the car. Best of luck with it.

[DonMicheletti]

Since the synchros only work when shifting, they may not be the source of the bronze.

Your sound is all the time - the synchros dont work all the time, only while shifting

 

I had a similar issue,but with a differential. The bronze in the oil was curious.

On disassembly, I found that the bearing ball separators were bronze and were beginning to break up, thus the soursce of the bronze. Perhaps you have a similar problem.

Especially since the sound is all the time.

[Matt Harwood]

37 minutes ago, DonMicheletti said:

Since the synchros only work when shifting, they may not be the source of the bronze.

Your sound is all the time - the synchros dont work all the time, only while shifting

 

I had a similar issue,but with a differential. The bronze in the oil was curious.

On disassembly, I found that the bearing ball separators were bronze and were beginning to break up, thus the soursce of the bronze. Perhaps you have a similar problem.

Especially since the sound is all the time.

 

Great. That's really filling me with hope. I don't have any money left after the engine; if I need a transmission too, I'm not sure what I'll do.

[EmTee]

Is the front seat still out?  How hard would it be to pull the top of the transmission and look inside?

 

[Matt Harwood]

Here's the noise with the engine at idle, the rear wheels off the ground, and transmission in 2nd gear. Noise is the same in all gears and is directly related to driveshaft speed, not engine speed. 

 

 

It sounds exactly like something small being tossed around inside by the gears. I know that can't be what it is, but that's what it sounds like. I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the free-wheeling unit? The lever under the dash doesn't feel very positive in each position, kind of mushy. Maybe it's not all the way disengaged? That's just me being an optimist, I guess. Or a fool.

 

I flushed it twice with diesel fuel, letting it idle in various gears for about 15 minutes each time. It's draining now. I used a paper towel as a filter to catch debris on the first drain and there was very little, although what was there was big enough to see--bigger than grains of sand, not fine like the gold flecks from yesterday. Sticking my finger in the drain hole, there's a low spot in the transmission case below the drain plug that probably won't drain and I could feel a few more chunks of metal there. Not big but not small. The diesel fuel was murky, but I expected that as there was surely still some oil in there. No gold flecks this time.

 

 

I'm going to have to open up the top of the transmission. Usually that's an easy job, but I don't know if you can see it in the video: the E-brake is part of the shifter assembly, so taking the lid off the transmission will be more than just six bolts and lift. But I think that's the next step. I'll tackle that tomorrow or over the weekend.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[EmTee]

I'm guessing it's that 'clicky' sound...  I didn't consider the freewheeling mechanicals; that's something I know nothing about.

 

11 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

Noise is the same in all gears and is directly related to crankshaft speed, not engine speed. 

In other words, are you saying it is associated with the input shaft rather than the output shaft?  Maybe something with the input bearing?  Did you notice anything unusual when you were installing the engine/transmission?  I think looking inside at this point is probably worthwhile, if for no other reason than to confirm there's nothing serious going on.  That it shifts smoothly and there's no roughness or vibrations is encouraging.

[Matt Harwood]

3 minutes ago, EmTee said:

I'm guessing it's that 'clicky' sound...  I didn't consider the freewheeling mechanicals; that's something I know nothing about.

 

In other words, are you saying it is associated with the input shaft rather than the output shaft?  Maybe something with the input bearing?  Did you notice anything unusual when you were installing the engine/transmission?  I think looking inside at this point is probably worthwhile, if for no other reason than to confirm there's nothing serious going on.  That it shifts smoothly and there's no roughness or vibrations is encouraging.

 

Sorry, I meant to say it was related to driveshaft speed. I fixed my typo. Apologies.

[EmTee]

5 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

Sorry, I meant to say it was related to driveshaft speed.

Ah, so maybe something to do with the freewheeling...  Still, if it's not too hard to do, now would be the time to look inside the transmission just for peace of mind.

[Matt Harwood]

I grabbed Roman to help me remove the transmission top cover and we eventually managed to remove it. It's a fairly involved job, although the hardest part was removing the cotter pin that holds the E-brake handle to the linkage. We wrestled for a while before realizing that the only way it comes off is if the shifter is in neutral. Once we did that, it popped right off. 

And we found nothing obviously amiss. No broken gear teeth, no bent shift forks, no signs of trauma. 

 

Transmission was pretty clean inside with

nothing obviously broken.

 

The only thing we found was a LOT of debris in the little trough there in the lower left corner, including one fairly large chunk of steel. There's no indication that it was something that broke inside the transmission. I guess it's possible that this little guy has been circulating and causing the noise, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. It seems like that little trough was designed to catch debris just like this, because it was FULL of junk. Fishing around with a magnet revealed that the rest of the transmission was quite clean--all the shavings and other debris was in the trough. Is it possible that when it's running and the gears are spinning and there's oil slinging all over the place that it could have picked up that large chunk and thrown it around? Because that's EXACTLY what it sounded like.

 

Cleaned out this little trough and found

A LOT of trash.

 

A LOT of trash.

 

Including this guy. Could it have been

flying around in there making the noise?

 

I am not optimistic that we found the source of the noise, however. It has been my personal experience that whenever a car is broken, there's an obvious reason and a not-obvious, difficult, expensive reason. If my car rides roughly and I discover four flat tires, that will NOT be the reason it rides roughly. It will be something expensive and weird instead, like the shocks are also full of concrete. If this wasn't the source of the noise, I still think it's possible that it was coming from the free-wheeling unit, so I'll experiment there and see if I can identify it. Nevertheless, I'm not getting my hopes up that we've actually solved anything.

 

While I had things apart, I cleaned the top cover inside and out and found a serial number on it--it doesn't match anything but there it is.

 

 

Top cover clean and ready to reinstall.

 

Serial number.

 

Then I filled it with 3 quarts of 

stinky SAE 250 gear oil.

 

Tomorrow we'll reinstall the top cover and see if there's any improvement. Anyone want to bet me $50 that nothing has changed?

 

Either way I need to get it back together because on Saturday it's going to the upholstery shop for new carpets and kick panels, plus some clean-up on the door panels and armrests. They'll probably have it for a week or so. After that, we'll put the front sheetmetal back on it and start driving it. Will the transmission blow up? I guess we'll find out.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Bloo]

53 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

Including this guy. Could it have been

flying around in there making the noise?

That looks like a piece of the ball separator for a ball bearing.

 

[dalef62]

1 hour ago, Bloo said:

That looks like a piece of the ball separator for a ball bearing.

 

If that is a bearing cage, that could explain the wiss, wiss, wiss, noise...  The bearings could be uneven.

[37_Roadmaster_C]

I hate to be a party pooper, but if that is a piece of a bearing separator, you really need to dig deeper to find the bad bearing. As it turns the bearing will not keep the shaft evenly supported. This will cause more of the separator cage to break and make the support worse. This leaves more metal to wedge in the gears and possibly bend things. Also, poorly supported shafts will cause uneven wear on other mechanical parts.  Right now the problem may very well just be a bad bearing......later it could be broken gears or case. Bearings are cheapish and fairly easy to replace.

I know you do not want to hear this, but........

[EmTee]

Looks familiar...

 

[DonMicheletti]

I'm with Bloo

[LARRYCAROL]

That piece of metal looks like it’s from a ball bearing. That means input shaft or output shaft bearing. If noise in only when driving then it’s output bearing. I have heard similar noises from bearings when cage broke like that. If all else is working one bearing, gaskets and seals, back on the road. 

[Matt Harwood]

I'm all done. This car has finally broken me. I'm going to take a break from old cars, maybe a permanent one. At least I won't do anything with them this year, put them all in the back of the shop and just try to figure out how to not hate them. I know I own a business selling these awful things, but I know enough to fake it from here on out.

 

It's been good knowing you. Thank you for all the help along the way. You're good people. It's the cars that are absolute shit.

 

Have good lives. I hope your cars bring you the happiness that mine never would.

[dalef62]

Matt,

We all feel your pain.  Please take a break from the Lincoln and enjoy your tow truck for awhile.  It looks like it could be fun to take to shows and let the kids see Tater.  

You are so close to the finish line with the Lincoln but take a break from it and when you are ready you will have a great car.  Cars can be fun, and a pain.

[37_Roadmaster_C]

@Matt Harwood, Please take a break and enjoy whatever gives you peace, but PLEASE don't go away! You add a lot to these forums. I hope to see your posts when the frustration ebbs.  Be well.

[keiser31]

Matt....I cannot relate to the money gone, but I can certainly relate to the disappointment. After disassembling, cleaning and trying to reassemble my already rebuilt 1931 Dodge engine, I let a piston slip out of my hand and the connecting rod went down to the crankshaft and chipped the babbitt on the rod bearing. I was so very disheartened that I stopped working on it then and there. That was about 25 years ago. Since then, I have been told that a small chip would not hurt the assembly, but I still have not continued on the assembly. I now probably have to disassemble the whole engine and start over since it has sat for 25 or so years. I finally realized that NOTHING was going to go forward with my car, so I have vowed that THIS year there WILL be progress on it. So very sorry to see you give up. Hopefully, after a hiatus from the Lincoln you will be able get after it again. I so wish I was closer to be able to help you with it. I am not British, but that thing about keeping a stiff upper lip may help.   

Edited April 7, 2023 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[old car fan]

Matt,we feel your pain.Step aside a day or two, your  to far alone, and to close  to surrender. At this point, forget about the money, hell,any old car .

[nsbrassnut]

For Matt

 

From another one who has been following along and feels your pain. Please make it a temporary break. Put it all way for some time and enjoy something else in life. Eventually the interest and urge will come to try again.

 

I have a Packard 120 which was my first antique and has been with me now for over 40 years and 30,000 miles. In that time when younger and more "adventureous", I once said I will find out how fast the car can go, the Packard book said 90 mph. At 82 it let out awful whine and the oil pressure dropped to near zero. Limped to the nearest garage with no oil pressure showing and they that let me use their pit to drop the pan. Found two spun rod bearings. Then when a friend helped to trailer it home we had our brown shorts  scare going down hill at only 50 and the open trailer started to sway. He said hold on and I ducked under the dash. I don't know how we crossed that bridge at the bottom only to stop 90 degrees sideways across a 2 lane main highway without going over the side or hitting another car. The Packard swung sideways hitting both sides against the trailer fenders, which probably save it from loosing the car. So in one weekend I went from just finishing the body and paint and having a running car to having a blown engine, crushed running boards and dented fenders. And still with one more year in university to go, no funds to do any repair.

 

Later on when I started work and finally could afford it, out came the engine for total rebuild and later the running boards were pounded out. The marks in the fenders are still there as then I didn't have the resources to repair them and since then just didn't bother yet since they weren't to deep. That was nearly 40 years and 20,000 miles ago. And it became a car that I could jump in and drive 300 miles or more for a weekend run with comfort.

 

Then a few years ago the car started to hiccup and lose power and ended up having to be floated home from a tour. The next five years were like your Lincoln. Chasing ghosts. Fixing one item and then somehow messing up something else along the way. The car went from a reliable tour car to something that I was afraid to even leave the driveway with. Each summer I'd pull it out of storage and try some more for a week or three. One step forward, another backward, then disgust and back into the back corner of the garage. Finally after 5 rounds of this I think I got the issues sorted out last year and have slowly being driving it a bit more and slowly regaining some of the confidence in the car that I used to have.

 

I still have never fully found what the original problem was that laid it up. But along the way I replaced/rebuilt the carburetor 2-3 times, the distributor, replaced the head (spark plug helicoils incorrectly installed), changed the headgasket, new ignition parts, fuel pump rebuild, etc.. And it still would blow fluid out the tailpipe, yet have power down the road for a bit then carbon the plugs. One of the last finds and fixes was to replace the head gasket again, since it looks like I used the wrong sealant and ended up with a leaking head gasket as one of the major mistakes that wasn't sorted for two years. Then the radiator blew out a seam and had to come out. And there was the time that on one test drive the shifter didn't feel quite right after having the top off the transmission. Re-opened it and found it full of metal flakes from a dropped lock washer. Fortunately no damage, but it needed a drain, detailed cleaning right into the gear teeth and fresh fluid.

 

Some days you just have to park things and close the door for a while. And then do something completely different that you enjoy doing. Eventually the interest returns and the challenges can be solved.

 

The end result can be something rewarding.

 

Drive Safe, Stay Well

Jeff

Nova Scotia, Canada

 

[Laughing Coyote]

Matt,

Sorry to hear that this car is giving you trouble still.  All the hard work and money you have put into this car so far shows. From the start you have found so much sub par work done by the previous owner and you have been painstakingly correcting it over the months. My hats off to you for hanging in there and still plugging away at it. All of us here on this forum try to help where we can, from moral support, to parts or what ever we can do to get you on the road and enjoying all your hard work. Step back, take a breather and enjoy some time with your family and whatever brings you happiness. When you're ready it will still be there waiting for you....so will we. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history)

[Walt G]

I can only echo what all have stated so well here. Go out and drive something that gives you pleasure - your 90 series Buick, the 56 Chrysler station wagon. They will help renew the spirit you had and still have but needs a rest. Many of us have gone through similar situations working on cars, perhaps not as severe as you have. You need time to recover. Yes, we are all thinking of you .

Walt

[neil morse]

Very well said, Walt!

[dibarlaw]

God Bless you Matt for your patience and persevearance so far. We spoke some time ago about the POS problematic 1925 Buick Standard your parents had. Always letting you down on a drive. As I have been working thru the multiple issues with my 1925 Buick since I bought it in 2011. Each expensively sorted out system only revealed another issue to be conquered. After 11 1/2 years I am still working thru things that crop up. I have had to walk away many times and hide heavy tools.

Thank you so much for your support thru my time of trials.

[ramair]

Matt, I hope you come back to this thread and read what some of your friends have written. Many here have never met you in person and for those of us that live thousands of miles away would have never made your acquaintance in person. I am sure I speak for others when I say that everyone was trying to get you across the finish line and truly want you to succeed.  I could point out some of my bad luck and what irreparable damage I self inflicted after I could not find an appropriate enough swear word .  
Instead I would like to point out the only shortcoming of the forum , even though I read this thread all the time and I swear I can even smell the transmission oil when you pulled the cover off, what I can’t see in real time is your facial expression or your voice to judge if I should give you advice of what to do, or should I say hey did Ed leave a bottle of the good stuff, let’s call it a day and have a adult beverage. Another words we might have overloaded you with ideas for what could be wrong when maybe it was time to take a break.
 I will close by saying that the positives which is you have repaired rebuilt every major mechanical component and now you have proven that the transmission gears and shafts look like they are in great shape. I have experienced cracked cases and chipped teeth no fun,  I truly wish you the best and I look forward to seeing you back here

[EmTee]

Maybe consider having Riley work with Roman's help to remove the transmission.  This would be done as time and opportunity allows and ideally you wouldn't be involved until the transmission is on the bench.  I can't help but think replacing a couple of bearings now, before driving the car will avoid having balls start falling out and destroying the gears.  The worst part of this is the idea of taking something apart that was just assembled and driving.  If your son is willing and can get assistance as needed with no hard deadline this might be a way to make lemonade.

[billorn]

Isnt this lincoln a torque tube car? I think I saw that mentioned somewhere. That might be part of the reason to not want to take things apart. Its probly a pretty big job maybe harder than taking the engine out.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

23 minutes ago, billorn said:

Isnt this lincoln a torque tube car? I think I saw that mentioned somewhere. That might be part of the reason to not want to take things apart. Its probly a pretty big job maybe harder than taking the engine out.

 

  I have never worked on a Lincoln. Having said that I can't imagine it being harder than a Buick.  I have done it on mine.  A guy, Sonomatic, just did a Dynaflow on his. 

  I think Matt is just tired.  We all can hit that proverbial "brick wall" sometimes.

 

  Ben

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history)