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

[95Cardinal]

I think you've got a happy engine, Matt! Enjoy the weekend drive.

[Matt Harwood]

OK, no more cooling system obsessing. Weather is crummy so no driving, either. We're gearing up to drive to Columbus next week (which is about 140 miles away) and you never know what the weather will do. That means I have to deal with the ancient roof insert up top that has a few cracks and splits that very well may leak if we get caught in the rain.

 

Technically, yes, I should have the insert replaced, but there's not a lot of money left in the coffers for Lincoln upgrades right now and I'm not even sure who would do such a job. So instead I used Flex-Seal to seal it up. Yes, the "as seen on TV" stuff. Now before you criticize me or tell me that's a mistake, the stuff is good to 350 degrees so sitting in the sun isn't a problem, it's UV-stable so it won't degrade in the sun, it's relatively cheap ($35/quart), and it's easy to apply. Guys with RVs and trailers swear by this stuff on the roofs of their rigs. So no, it's not an ideal solution but it should weatherproof my car until such time as I'm able to afford to get the insert replaced properly (I believe it's original). 

 

I wiped down the insert with some degreaser then set about masking the car off. I used some 3mm fine-line tape to outline the perimeter of the top insert at the paint line, then a layer of standard masking tape, then some plastic sheeting to protect the rest of the car. I don't expect to be sloppy, but you never know. I stirred the sealer in the can, poured it into a tray, and used a foam roller to apply it to the top. I laid it on pretty thick around the edges where water will collect, and tried to work it into the splits to help get it sealed. The stuff lays down pretty well, flows out nicely, and sticks where you put it, so it was ideal for this job. My only real complaint is that it's a little too glossy, but it is what it is. Nobody can really see it up there anyway.

 

Masked off.

 

First coat. You can see some of the cracks

but I'm optimistic that the sealer will fill

them and keep water out. That's all

that really matters.

 

I'll put a second coat on tomorrow and maybe a third on Monday (it needs 24 hours to cure between coats), but it should do the job I need it to do. It only needs to last a few years, so we'll see how it goes.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

I like it.  I bet it works, Only NBA centers can see it, it was inexpensive, and it can all go away in the future if you choose to remove the whole thing and start over.  Depending on the cost of replacing with a new one, you might find that you like it pretty well.  I wonder if a little sunlight will tone down the glossy nature of it.....but again, only the tall will notice.  

[ply33]

Someplace in one of my late 1920s or early 1930s automotive trade magazines there was an article on how to apply dressing to the tops of enclosed cars. Two items from memory, first was to clean the top to remove any loose material. You did that. The second was that the photos of the finished result showed a pretty shiny surface. Maybe that old top dressing would lose its shine rapidly, but I bet your result doesn’t look much different than a what would have been achieved way back when. I think they applied with a good brush rather than a roller though. Now I will have to go thought those non-catalogued, poorly indexed magazines and see if I can find the article to see how good my memory is.

[prewarnut]

Another way to go (for future readers as you've already applied a coat) is to consider commercial asphalt roof sealer. We have two small flat membrane roofs that I have coated twice already a few years apart. These products are guarranteed to seal microscopic cracks, withstand UV exposure and temp changes. Some are latex acrylic versus silicone based. They often come in gallon (or 5-gal) cans and white in color. I had to argue for a few minutes to get the guy to tint it for me.....At least as a roofing product these coatings are made for this sort of application. The only devil in the detail is will it stick to your substrate and not lift over time?

Edited July 16, 2023 by prewarnut (see edit history)

[MCHinson]

Having used it on running boards in the past, I will say that after it has dried a few days, a light scuffing with a foam sanding block will dull the surface shine. 

[EmTee]

56 minutes ago, MCHinson said:

I will say that after it has dried a few days, a light scuffing with a foam sanding block will dull the surface shine. 

I was going to suggest a light rub-down with a Scotchbrite pad.  Hey, if it works on the screen door bottom boat, why not? 

 

[edinmass]

Matt……we had a 29 Pierce that was 100 percent original and exceptionally nice. Only problem was the outer soft top. It was falling apart from dry rot. We used flex seal on it….cracks, splits, and all. Did several coats……presto…..it was and has been fine for five years. It dulls down over time. It was common back in the day to see the roofs tarred over. I have bought several barn finds and parts cars that had the tar treatment. The roof will be fine till you replace it. 

[Matt Harwood]

Second coat. I don't have enough goop left for a third, so that'll have to do for now.

 

 

[AB-Buff]

That should save the headliner 😁

[ply33]

The photos are not all that great, fairly high acid content paper, not a high end photo publication and small image sizes. But here are some images from the October 1931 issue of Motor Maintenance regarding using top dressing to spruce up a car for sale. I think you can see that the final result is pretty shiny. More obvious on the trunk than the top but it is definitely shiny when finished. In the text of the article there is mention that the particular top dressing brand was picked because “it shines like new — it’s almost the same as new fabric.”

 

Before:

During:

After:

The trunk:

I scanned all six pages of the article and would upload it but apparently PDFs are not allows on these posts.

[trimacar]

4 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Second coat. I don't have enough goop left for a third, so that'll have to do for now.

 

 

Matt, if you ever want to replace insert correctly, bring it to me in Virginia! You buy materials, I’ll install for free.  Oh, you have to leave it for two weeks and allow me to drive a little!

[alsancle]

5 minutes ago, trimacar said:

Matt, if you ever want to replace insert correctly, bring it to me in Virginia! You buy materials, I’ll install for free.  Oh, you have to leave it for two weeks and allow me to drive a little!

 

You could follow Ed's lead and drive it to work every day and give it back in 2 years.

[trimacar]

1 minute ago, alsancle said:

 

You could follow Ed's lead and drive it to work every day and give it back in 2 years.

Well, that works too!  Although following in Ed’s footsteps….hmmmm, let me think about that!

[trimacar]

Installing new top, 6 hours, cheap. Driving for a few days…priceless!

[edinmass]

28 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

You could follow Ed's lead and drive it to work every day and give it back in 2 years.

You forgot to tell them you’re sending me another car……..there MUST be a reason. 🤔

[trimacar]

38 minutes ago, edinmass said:

You forgot to tell them you’re sending me another car……..there MUST be a reason. 🤔

Ed, there’s always a reason with you!  Said with great admiration and friendship…

[Matt Harwood]

On 7/16/2023 at 6:23 PM, trimacar said:

Matt, if you ever want to replace insert correctly, bring it to me in Virginia! You buy materials, I’ll install for free.  Oh, you have to leave it for two weeks and allow me to drive a little!

Wow, that's incredibly generous of you, David. I'm humbled. Yes, I will surely take you up on that, hopefully in the not-too-distant future. I'd be happy to leave it and you can drive it around all you like!

[Matt Harwood]

There wasn't enough roof goop left for a full third coat, so I poured it on the roughest spots and rolled it out just to make sure they're sealed. It's good to go. I removed the masking and it looks pretty neat and tidy (aside from all the fingerprints). 

 

Partial third coat should seal everything

up for good.

 

Then I did another test drive on my loop with no surprises. Reviewing my data, the most obvious conclusion is that the car runs pretty consistently at 100 degrees above ambient, with a 3-4% variance. That's probably good to know.

 

It's less obvious whether the restrictors are doing anything. My gut says they help but the data doesn't really show it. We're heading out on a road trip this weekend and I think I'm going to leave water in the system for now and skip the restrictors. I don't want to add anti-freeze (which may make it run a bit hotter) unless I can do it in a controlled fashion and evaluate the results. The first road trip isn't the right place for that. So the water will stay for now and I'll make the final decision next week.

 

 

[Matt Harwood]

Gearing up for a big drive tomorrow with Melanie and Riley, who will be driving Melanie's '56 Chrysler wagon. We're going to the Arthritis Foundation car show in Columbus, OH to which we've taken the '41 Buick many times. It's an easy drive with country roads at 45-55 MPH. We're going to try to leave at 7AM when it's nice and cool, but we'll see what the weather is like--it's supposed to rain in the morning and clear up around noon. I guess we'll find out

 

This should be a good test for the Lincoln and I have no reason to believe that it will have issues other than the facts that it is what it is and I am who I am. Doing a little math, I figure that 55 MPH in this car with 4.58 gears is about 2600 RPM. More than I'd prefer, of course, but not a deadly speed for this engine, especially now that it has insert bearings in it. You know I'll report the drive tomorrow, regardless of whether it survives or comes home on a flatbed.

 

Tonight I merely checked fluids, aired up the tires to 40 PSI, and put a wrench on things like the lug nuts and head studs. All tight. I also tightened the manifold nuts, which took a little bit of a turn, and the intake/carburetor mounting nuts which were surprisingly loose. I was thinking that my snuffly idle might be due to a vacuum leak, so perhaps there was something there. It started and ran about the same, though. It did seem like it was down on power a little bit, but I'm not sure tightening the intake and carburetor would have any effect that I could feel. Meh. We'll see with some more tuning later.

 

Took a brief drive to get some gas. 16 gallons for 91 miles. 5.6 MPG. LOL! 

 

On the drive back to the shop from the gas station, the sky opened up and soaked the car. On the plus side, the roof seems weatherproof.

 

 

Roof seems to be shedding water pretty well.

 

I loaded up the trunk with tools, a jack, a lug wrench, water, oil, and cleaning supplies. A big fire extinguisher is in the car with me, and the luggage will go in Melanie's wagon, which should make the trip without a second thought. It's bulletproof reliable.

Wish us luck!

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[keiser31]

Have a safe trip and a blast while you are at it.

[dalef62]

Have fun!  The Lincoln will do well!

[BuickTom87]

Enjoy the trip have fun 

[DrData]

Enjoy the trip. Do not forget to pack your gold AAA card and a good cellphone 😁

[95Cardinal]

Safe travels and enjoy the show!

[Matt Harwood]

Well craps. This is the second time for that particular wheel. Tube valve stem failed. We have help on the way. Lincoln is 100% so far...

 

More later.

 

 

 

[95Cardinal]

These cars certainly know how to keep us humble, don't they?

[ply33]

The last longer trip I took in my old car ended on the way home when the passenger side rear tire’s tube failed. Getting decent tubes is getting to be a problem nowadays.

 

I hope that this is the only automotive issue you have on this trip.

[Matt Harwood]

Pit stop for food. Chrysler is on its way back to the shop, Melanie is now driving the TourX. Lincoln cruising at 50-55 pretty happily, temps under 180, oil pressure just meh. Just had a hiccup where it lost power for a few seconds but we stopped and nothing was amiss. Continued until we found civilization. It's cooling off in the lot outside while we eat lunch. 

 

We will press on...

 

[edinmass]

Fortunately the tire was only flat on the bottom.  Just saying.........🫣

[AB-Buff]

Matt

if you keep having issues with that momentary power loss reach down and feel behind your ignition toggle switch. If the wires are warm/hot they might need tightening, but I had issues with that switch and had to replace a part in it. If it turns out to be that switch you can jump that switch by connecting those two wires with just a jumper lead. It has to be pretty good size lead to do it. I tried to figure out how to forward that thread, but didn’t see anything, but it’s under the Lincoln K only site and this is the title. “Wanted ignition switch for 1935-39 Lincoln”

Have fun on the trip!

[West Peterson]

1 hour ago, ply33 said:

The last longer trip I took in my old car ended on the way home when the passenger side rear tire’s tube failed. Getting decent tubes is getting to be a problem nowadays.

 

I prefer to get my tubes from regular tire stores... NOT the restoration tire companies. The correct-size truck tubes are much, much more hearty.

[dalef62]

Melanie's wagon, which should make the trip without a second thought. It's bulletproof reliable.

See you jinxed it!  

[Matt Harwood]

Arrived at the hotel without any issues. I can't ask for more than the Lincoln gave us today--a near-flawless performance with no issues other than 2 seconds of hiccuping that was probably an air bubble in the fuel line or something. I couldn't be more pleased with it. 

Parked the car under some trees to let it cool off. Opened the hood to adjust the idle (again) and found one part that does get EXTREMELY hot. I burned my hand on the hood handle. Yikes! At any rate, I am 100% positive that the idle screw is tightening itself, difficult as that may be to believe. Yesterday I cranked it out two whole turns, this morning I turned it another full turn, and just now I backed it off another full turn. It's somehow getting tighter as I drive. I'll have to devise a way to lock it in place, probably with a lock nut.

 

Other than that, the car worked properly. Cruised best at around 54 MPH. Stayed under 180 the whole way except at the very end when we hit rush-hour traffic near our hotel and I was sitting at red lights. Even then it only crept up to 195 or so. And I know I can trust it because of the testing that I've been doing--I know it'll sit for 3 minutes and only go up 8-10 degrees. 

 

I'm calling this a big win. It's also a big relief. 

 

[old car fan]

Great  Matt,looking  good. 

[edinmass]

Now dump those god awful lights and mirrors please. 

[AB-Buff]

One more thought about your idle. Make sure your carburetor bolts, the four that hold it to your manifold or not loose. A slight air leak there could cause an increase in RPM also. I check mine periodically. Just last night I gave them about an eighth of a turn. I also carry a pair of cheap brown cotton gloves when I open my hood when it’s hot. Another nature of the beast. 

[maok]

54 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Now dump those god awful lights and mirrors please. 

 

This bloke doesn't know what he is talking about....🙄

[38Buick 80C]

red loctite on the idle screw perhaps?

[keiser31]

Isn't there a spring on the screw to keep it tight?