1965 Lincoln Continental commercial

This is a commercial for the 1965 Lincoln Continental.

Lincolns & Continentals at the salvage yard - part 4

More photos of Lincolns and Continentals waiting to be saved or parted-out.

The Beast of Turin - 1911 Fiat S76

This recently restored 1911 Fiat S76 has four valve-per-cylinder, multi-spark, overhead cam technology and a displacement of 28.5 litres. Here's a video of this massive engine being started for the first time.

Two of these record breaking cars were built. This is the only one left. Want more info?
Fiat S76 record breaker

Annoying trunk lid problem fixed

With the help of a neighbour I finally figured out a problem that has annoyed me for years. When I closed the trunk lid the left hinge felt as though it was binding - there was always a small 'thud' sound and a shudder. This never happened when I opened the trunk lid. I checked the hinges up close: they're the same and not bent. The tension rod/spring was installed correctly.

As it turns out the problem is the angle between the torsion spring and left hinge. This angle is too shallow compared to the right hinge which functions normally. To be specific, it's where the U-shaped part of the torsion bar fits into the slotted piece of the hinge assembly. This shallow angle causes the two pieces to bind - resulting in the thud sound and shudder

It seems a previous owner tried to solve the same problem by welding a small rod in the U-shaped part of the torsion bar. I did solve it by placing a 3mm shim in the slotted piece of the hinge assembly (piece of tubing cut lengthwise). This created more distance between the spring and hinge resulting in a steeper angle.

The trunk lid now not only closes as it should but also opens wider (a good 4"). 

The Roof Doctor Will See Your Lincoln Now

Here's a nice article in this weeks NYT about John Cashman - slabside Guru:
The Roof Doctor Will See Your Lincoln Now 

John C. Cashman with a 1961 Lincoln Continental in Seattle. Credit Terry Parkhurst

Wheeler Dealers - 1963 Lincoln Continental (full episode)

It's a good episode, they have lots of good things to say about the car.
But I dislike the wheels and paint they chose.

Trunk restoration (part 3)

I ordered plenty of extra trunk liner material along with the trunk kit from Leather Restorations in order to sew together pieces for the LPG covers. I used cardboard to make templates, transferred those to the trunk liner material and had lots of help sewing it all together. A common sewing machine can just handle the material.  

The job´s nearly finished (still need to attach the spare tire cover flap). It came out pretty well although the two black LPG vent hoses look rather stupid. There's little more I can do about that than place a large, old leather travel suitcase or trunk in there. That'll hide those hoses a bit and provide space for the emergency crap I carry.

The covers are stiff enough to hold themselves in place. The trunk liner material added to the stiffness once it was glued in place (I used 3M) but I also added a second sheet of hardboard on the inside of the covers to stiffen them up so they would hold their shape and not sag.

From start to finish:

(Artificial light)

(Daylight)