Bamamav's 1947 Lincoln Club Coupe build

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Time for a little update

Since we sold the Firebird, I’ve been spending a little on the Lincoln. Finally ordered my glass kit, it comes with everything but the curved rear glass. Not going to install it until probably spring when the days are warmer. Bought the first of the AC stuff, a Vintage Air Compact unit. It has AC, heat, and defrost. Did a trial fit, have got to take out the factory heater box to make room for it like I figured I would. No big deal, but I’m running out of warm days, so that might have to wait until spring, too. Have to get the line kit anyway, plus a condenser and compressor.

I did do a major repair this week. I say major repair, it was cost wise anyway. My front brakes started grabbing real bad, so I pulled the drums to check, sure enough the shoes were almost down to the metal in spots. Then the fun started, finding brake shoes. None of the parts store list them, I had a few on different forums tell me this or that would fit, when I checked, none were correct. Finally found a set on eBay, $100! Dang, I remember brake shoes being about $25-30, guess when you play with out of the mainstream stuff it costs more. Got them in, started putting one set on, apparently I didn’t get the keeper clocked and locked, and one shot off. After looking for 30 minutes and not finding it, I went to the local parts store in hopes of finding some new keepers. You’d think such a generic part would be in stock, nope. We looked through every hardware kit they had, none would work. eBay again. Found a complete hardware set for 4 wheels, $50. Dang. Wait another week for that to get here. Put them on yesterday, kit worked, but the top two springs were 1” too short and a thicker gauge wire, no way to stretch them enough, so I had to use the old upper springs. They looked good, so they should be ok. Can’t believe it cost me over $150 just to do the front brakes. I could have spent $150 more and changed it to disc. Oh well, it stops good again
 
We're in the middle of a December heat wave, so I've been taking advantage of it! Started by removing the cover plate from the old fresh air inlet for the heater. Then, took out the heater. Actually, it was only for the defrost, it had under seat heaters when I got it but they were rotten, so I filled the holes under the seats when I took them out. The defrost unit put out a little heat, enough to give you a little warmth, but not enough to warm the car.

With that out of the way, I hung the Vintage Air Gen II Compact unit. To go any higher, I'd had to cut out the air box for the cowl vent, and would have had problems running the lines. As it turned out, I can still use my original glove box after I freshen it up a bit. It's half hidden by the dash, so it doesn't look too bad, still plenty of leg room. I wanted to use the original heater hose holes, but they ended up right behind the unit, so I had to move over toward the drivers side. Going to work out better anyway, AC lines will be a straight shot and one heater hose will be, too. This is my progress in just two days. I'm being slow and methodical, going to get the heat hooked up for now until I get the compressor, condenser, and line kit.
 

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About through under dash. Still have the inside AC lines to make up. Waiting for a couple of heater fittings from Jegs to be able to hook up the heater. Tried the blower on all positions, it really moves the air and isn't very noisy at all.
 

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Old Iron, I already be styling, I just want to be comfortable doing it![ddd[ddd

I hope to be roasting pigs in the winter and freezing beef in the summer!:D:D:D
 
Finished up the heater hoses today. I had ordered two fittings off of eBay from Jegs, apparently FedEx lost them. Tracking said the bar code was damaged, so they gave it a new one, then nothing after that. After a week, I figured I wasn't getting them, contacted eBay, who contacted Jegs, who contacted FedEx, so they find out what I already knew, they didn't know where they were or what happened to them. Told them, and they agreed, I wanted a refund. Still waiting on it, if I don't get it Monday, I may have to file with paypal.
I ordered two of the same fittings from Summit, guess what? Got them THE NEXT DAY! Can't beat that for customer service! I'm not fooling with Jegs anymore. The ones from Summit cost me about $6 more, but I was happy to pay that to get them in a reasonable time. Jegs has went downhill since they got bought out by the vulture investment firm.

So, now I have heat and defrost! Going to wait until after Christmas to start collecting the AC stuff. Won't need it until spring anyway, the HIGH here next Saturday, the 24th, is supposed to be 24*! I dread it ! The blue taped lines are the AC lines.
 

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Time to get back to work!

Got my new condenser last month, put it in a couple of weeks ago. Supposed to be for a 39-49 Ford, fit great but I had to mount it backwards to how they had it set up. They had the lines coming out the passenger side, I wanted them on the drivers side closer to the compressor. Nothing that a couple of spacers and a block off plate couldn't cure.

Got my line kit, compressor, and crimping tool in last week. Thanks to IR Pops for the good review of the crimper, it worked great. We're having spring weather here at the end of winter, so I took advantage of it. Started yesterday to mount the compressor.

Don't know if it's just I'm older and slower, or stuff that's supposed to fit doesn't anymore, but it took all day yesterday to mount the compressor. I used the stock Ford mount, but had to clearance it in a few spots, and shim it out to get pulley alignment, but it works.

Today, I started making lines. Started under the dash, I knew they were going to be the tough ones, and they were. My hands and arms look like I've been in a knife fight! No room to play with, they had to be spot on, but I pulled it off. Then I started under the hood. That went pretty smoothly, took a little thinking and juggling fittings, but I pretty much got them routed where I wanted. Got through with those about 3:30, so I decided to go ahead and hook up the vacuum while I finished tying things up and wiring the pressure switch. It pulled down to about 28 lb vacuum, but most importantly, it held it, no leaks! So I stuck a couple of cans of R134A in! Easiest AC charge I've ever done! The proof is on the thermometer, about 35-37 degree air out of the vent! Vintage Air is great! I'd recommend them to anybody wanting AC! Ready for hot or cold weather now!
 

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Thanks guys! Gonna be a lot more comfortable cruising now. Still need to put in my new windshield, gonna have to wait until we have some nice sunny and warm days to be able to warm the gasket up and get it nice and pliable.

Only one big job remaining, unless something pops up, and that’s body and paint. Hanging around you guys I’m not in as big a hurry to do that anymore:rolleyes:, I’ve kinda gotten used to the semi survivor look, and like it.:eek: I like not having to worry about rock dings and scratches, but would still like a little better finish and to get rid of the few rusty spots it has. Time will tell. Older I get, the longer it takes to do things, so it will take a while after I get started. Gonna enjoy driving it awhile now and let things work out like they always do.
 

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