What I Did on My Lunch Hour

[Vic Piano]

I went down to my friends auto repair shop at noon, to get the '47 Continental fired up so I could drive her home, so we can play with her tomorrow.

The car still has some electrical mysteries that need solving/fixing, mostly in the charging side. Both headlights work on high & low beam but only one tail light works... No fog lights work, the brake lights were working... No dash lights, I tried the rheostat switch but no luck so, it looks like we'll have some fun with the Lincoln in addition to Mike's '41 BC and possibly Steve's '55 Pickup...

[Marv]

Vic maybe it is time to install a new wiring harness. marv

[Vic Piano]

Marv, the harness is relatively new; (although some of the end connections look a little iffy) it looks like a Rhode Island harness. I think the coil needs to be rebuilt and the Optima battery that is in the car needs to be in the trash... I just came out and tried to fire the '47 up and the battery (which showed a full charge last night) would hardly crank the motor... I'm charging up an Optima 6 volt that I had on the shelf to see if that makes a difference. We'll see.

[Vic Piano]

Steve and Mike came over and we messed with the '47 Lincoln... The consensus; the coil needs to be rebuilt (we did the ice bag test on the coil and the car fired right up...) We also added two new grounds, battery to frame and engine, and disconnected the horn relay as the horns were shorting out at the horn ring on the steering wheel... We took her for a test drive, and it was time for pizza... After lunch Steve and Mike took off so, I decided to wash a few cars... Later this afternoon I'll see if the Lincoln will fire up, take her in the garage and see why the brake lights are not working...

[Vic Piano]

Wow... Talk about opening up a can of worms... this '47 Lincoln has a ton of issues. Who ever it was that did the "restoration work" on this car, should be flogged!!! This morning I crawled under the car to check the brake light switch, there was power going to the switch but no brake lights. I installed a new switch and still had no brake lights; also, only one tail light was working. I opened the trunk and pulled back the carpeting to fine the right rear tail light was not connected to the harness... now, after making the connection, the car has two tail lights albeit one is brighter so, I removed the lens from the other tail light and took the bulb out... as soon as the bulb was free, the brass "dot" connector for the brake lights popped off... The tail light sockets are after-market, not original or OEM replacement parts... So, at the moment, we're dead in the water until I let the owner know what fun we've uncovered and get his approval to "spend his money" to make the necessary repairs. I guess I can still continue to search for other problems...

[V8COOPMAN]

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Your troubleshooting technique seems a little out of sequence, but the comedic value here is priceless. Any chance that someone knowledgeable will look at that thing before something bad happens? This is sixty-five-year-old plus automotive electrical technology...doesn't get a whole bunch simpler, yet is still capable of burning that thing to the ground when someone doesn't have a clue. A $5 VOM from Harbor Freight and even limited knowledge of it's use would have confirmed the brake light switch was NOT your problem, for starters. DD

[Marv]

Vic that Lincoln may have some problems but it sure is a nice looking Lincoln. Marv

[37 Coupe]

The guy that owns that Lincoln needs to get it to someone like GM that knows what they are doing and quick. In the meantime doublecheck insurance.

[Vic Piano]

Thanks V8coopman & '37Coupe, glad you are enjoying the fun and Coopman, how come your buddy Kube hasn’t chimed in? Anyway, it's nice to see you crawl out from your hole and join in, I'm glad to know you are still my number one fan... You are right about it being simple technology, what makes it tough is (not knowing what someone else did or didn't do to the car previously, this car had all kinds of electrical weirdness done to it). We don't have the luxury of ripping everything out and starting from scratch. The brake light switch was part of the problem, perhaps I should have been a bit more rudimentary in my explanation for you to grasp it but I didn't think you still cared... And how about you '37Coupe, how many cars have you burned up? I haven't burned any in almost 50 years of messin' with Flatheads. It might interest you to know that we’ll be sending the coil to Skip and the distributor to Bubba’s to be rebuilt. Might I suggest (if you want to comment on my threads in the future) that instead of firing off cheap shots, you provide some constructive criticism and/or useful information, if you have any! At any rate I hope you’ll both continue tuning in and enjoying our Flathead adventures. And now, its time for me to drive (one of my Flatheads) up to the Cigar Shop for a treat. Have a nice weekend.

[Vic Piano]

Hi Marv, the Lincoln is a nice looking car, and it will make a super driver once we get everything ironed out...

[37 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Vic Piano

Thanks V8coopman & '37Coupe, glad you are enjoying the fun and Coopman, how come your buddy Kube hasn’t chimed in? Anyway, it's nice to see you crawl out from your hole and join in, I'm glad to know you are still my number one fan... You are right about it being simple technology, what makes it tough is (not knowing what someone else did or didn't do to the car previously, this car had all kinds of electrical weirdness done to it). We don't have the luxury of ripping everything out and starting from scratch. The brake light switch was part of the problem, perhaps I should have been a bit more rudimentary in my explanation for you to grasp it but I didn't think you still cared... And how about you '37Coupe, how many cars have you burned up? I haven't burned any in almost 50 years of messin' with Flatheads. It might interest you to know that we’ll be sending the coil to Skip and the distributor to Bubba’s to be rebuilt. Might I suggest (if you want to comment on my threads in the future) that instead of firing off cheap shots, you provide some constructive criticism and/or useful information, if you have any! At any rate I hope you’ll both continue tuning in and enjoying our Flathead adventures. And now, its time for me to drive (one of my Flatheads) up to the Cigar Shop for a treat. Have a nice weekend.

I thought it was constructive and usefull, especially the insurance part.

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by 37 Coupe

I thought it was constructive and usefull, especially the insurance part.

Given in the proper context I would have considered that constructive... But thanks anyway...

[Vic Piano]

Well, here's an up date on the '47 Lincoln (for those who might be interested). I walked out to the garage this morning and (no surprise here) found that the car was not burned up, and did in fact fire right up... Sorry to disappoint the naysayers...

[Vic Piano]

Let's see now... for the second day in a row, the '47 Lincoln has held a charge and fired right up... Wow... could it be we really do know what we're doing?... LOL

Next I’m pulling the coil and distributor out, to have the coil rebuilt by Skip and the distributor tweaked by Bubba. I’m also going to order new tail light buckets and wiring to fix the brake lights. Soon this “boat” will be ready for a voyage… I’d sure like to drive her up to the Moonshine Festival…

[Vic Piano]

It's Saturday so... It must be play time again...

This morning I moved a few cars around (in and out of the garage). Our '47 Rag Top was occupying the lift, and I needed to put the '47 Continental on it to check the fluid levels in the transmission and over drive. The cars look good together with the early morning sun shining through the oaks.


After I checked (and topped off) the fluid in the transmission & Over Drive, etc., on the Continental, I got very ambitious and decided to wash the '47 rag top...

Now I'm tired and I haven't even started my yard work chores...

[Vic Piano]

Ok, I could use a little help here...

Hopefully some of you are familiar with the electronic Over Drive in the '47 Lincoln Continental. We have a '39 Zephyr and a '49 Cosmopolitan, the Zephyr will have a Columbia two speed rear (vacuum operated) and the Cosmo has the electric Over Drive however, it is not configured (read that wired) the same as the '47 Continental. The '47 has "box" on the firewall which (for lack of a better name) I will call the "relay" (see photo)

I have indicated, with the green arrow, the two green wires (in a seperate harness) connected to the "relay". The harness runs along the block between the drivers side head and intake manifold. the wires had been previously terminated and taped off (see photo)

I found this harness tucked under the generator when I traced it from the "relay". My question is: Where do these two wires belong? Judging from the length of the harness and its location (if correct in the first place), the only places that these wires could go, would be on the generator or the coil, and neither of those seem likely to be correct… As always, help is appreciated. Thanks. Vic

[40cpe]

Hi Vic. Later models of the overdrive units had a wire from the solenoid that was run through the kick-down switch and terminated on the coil distributor-side post. This would interrupt power to the engine for an instant to let the overdrive drop out for passing gear.

I'm not familiar with the wiring on the Continental. Are there any letters or markings on the relay terminals?

[Vic Piano]

Hi Gene,

Both terminals (with the green wires) look like they have the number 2 stamped on them. According to the '47 Continental Owner's manual, "the OD is fully automatic; the only manual control for the overdrive is the lockout control knob. When the knob is pushed in, the overdrive will be in operation. When the car speed is increased to over 25 mph, the overdrive goes into operation automatically as soon as the foot pressure is removed from the accelerator pedal. When the car speed falls below 23 mph, the return to standard drive is automatic. The return to standard drive from overdrive at any speed above 25 mph (for additional acceleration or power) is accomplished be pressing the accelerator pedal all the way down (past wide open position). The unit then remains in standard drive until the foot pressure is removed from the accelerator pedal. The clutch pedal is not used in any of the above operations.

I wish there was a schematic in the owners manual because I don’t have a shop manual for the ’47 Lincoln Continental and (from what I can see) the ’49 Cosmo overdrive set up is different… Vic

[40cpe]

The operation sounds just like the later models operate. The relay on the later models only have 3 wires: (1) power in, (2) power out to the solenoid (through the kick down switch) , and (3) the governor control wire

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by 40cpe

The operation sounds just like the later models operate. The relay on the later models only have 3 wires: (1) power in, (2) power out to the solenoid (through the kick down switch) , and (3) the governor control wire

Gene,

That's the way the overdrive is set up on the '49 Cosmopolitan but the '47 is not the same... I've got some calls into a few guys I know that have '42 -'48 Lincolns, so hopefully they will be able to provide some insight... I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Moonshine Festival. Vic