Restoring 1936 LZ

[Guest Schoppi]

Hello there.

My name is Schoppi and I´m a new member in the LZOC.

I´m living in Germany, nearby Munich and going to restore a 1936 LZ.

I want to do it as a "every day use car" and i have same questions about the interior an the breaks.

I tried to find carpets, headliner and seatcovers, but here in Germany the is nothing similar to find. Can anybody give me an adress or a dealer who sales autentic materials. Also need every rubberparts. Where to buy?

To use the car every day (also in wintertime) I think, the breaksystem is not the best. Is there a possibility to inbuilt the hydraulic breaks from the later models? and who did this yet?

Sorry abuot my bad English, but didn´t use it much times since years!!

Last thing: will go to SF next year probably in April or May. Is there a swap-meeting or show to see some LZ V12.

Best regards, merry christmas and a happy new year to all "old-iron enthusiasts.

Schoppi

[peecher]

For fabrics you might want to contact SMS Auto Fabrics in Portland Oregon (USA) they have a web site at http://www.smsautofabrics.com/index.html

They are able to match the fabrics for many old cars including the Zephyrs. I'll defer to others concerning your brake question. I know many folks used to convert the mechanical brakes on their Fords to hydraulic using components off '39 to '48 Ford/Mercurys. The '39 to '48 Lincoln brakes are superior to the Fords but finding the backing plates necessary for the switch will take some looking. Check out the "parts for sale" section of this site. I do know that the mechanical brakes on the Zephyr can be made to work well approaching the stopping power of the hydraulic brakes but will require constant "adjusting" with a lot of use.

[Rolf]

Amen to Peechers comments, I too have heard that the LZ mechanical brakes can be equal too, or superior to the hydraulic brakes, and with a good German expert, should not be a problem. Close equivalents to the original fabrics are also available, if the recommended source fails, try Le Baron Bonney in the USA, they have many fabrics they can match if you have samples, good luck, Rolf