More on the serial number

[RalphG]

I had posted a question here a while back about finding the serial number on my 39 Deluxe and how it was located on the bell housing at the back of the engine. I was checking my "inventory" of used parts today and looking at the spare 38 transmission and found this number stamped on a flat area at the top of the housing. Hopefully the photo will show it.

[RalphG]

In this close up photo you can actually read the number . I ran out of time and daylight to check if the same number was also on the left front frame rail. Maybe tomorrow.

[Mart]

That's it, Ralph. That's where the V8's were stamped.

Mart.

[41LINC]

I had always thought that the letter "H" made it Lincoln

[JWL]

Yes, I always thought "H" was Lincoln. However, I have a floor shift case which makes me wonder if I can assume that??

[41LINC]

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36-39 Lincoln V-12 were all floor shifters ;39 were hidden in the dash to make it look like column shift.

[41LINC]

Ralph's transmission is definitely from a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr.
Engine numbers for 1937 L-Z ran from H15529 thru H45529

[RalphG]

Really? You mean I have had one of those LZ transmissions stored in a leaky old shed with a dirt floor for 35 years and never knew it? I guess anything is possible. My uncle bought the car , a 38 Ford sedan, used in the fifties, drove it a few years and it sat til the late seventies until I bought it from him as a parts car. I am pretty sure the engine was replaced so maybe the transmission was too. The engine has an i.d. tag riveted to the left side rear of the block but needs a bit more clean up to be readable.

[Bruce Lancaster]

LZ's had Ford type floor shift case '36-7, then went to the oddball right-side floor shift case '38-9. These used two versions of the Ford gears through that period, with the gears Ford started using in 1939 coming out in 1938 on LZ. None of the floor shift Zephyrs had the close ratio Zephyr gear set...I think all were 2 generations of 28 tooth Ford.

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lancaster

LZ's had Ford type floor shift case '36-7, then went to the oddball right-side floor shift case '38-9. These used two versions of the Ford gears through that period, with the gears Ford started using in 1939 coming out in 1938 on LZ. None of the floor shift Zephyrs had the close ratio Zephyr gear set...I think all were 2 generations of 28 tooth Ford.

So chances are this spare LZ transmission is identical to the one that I am using in my 39 Deluxe. Years ago I had to pull the top off the 39 transmission when it locked up . I found a piece of a gear tooth jammed somewhere that was holding it up. Not good. But years later the transmission seems to work fine. This spare LZ trans looks ok from what I have seen of it so far but it won't turn by hand. Rust? Further inspection to follow.

[Bruce Lancaster]

That type of floor trans in a '37 would have the '36-38 gear set that many 1939 Fords also used, not the late synchro type used on some 1939 Fords and all '38-9 Zephyrs. So...you could say it's the same as some '39's. Clutch arm is also likely different.

[RalphG]

One major difference I notice between my transmission in the car and this spare (LZ) transmission is the shifter. The LZ has no "S" curve, just a straight curve back towards the seat. Was this a Lincoln feature or has somebody just done some custom bending on this shifter? This photo shows the two shifters side by side.

[TonyM]

The shifter attached to the car appears to be a 1938-1939 Ford Passenger Car Shifter with normal stock bend. The other shifter connected to that tower looks just like a 1937 Ford Passenger Car shifter.