I have a 49 Lincoln with a three on the tree with OD 337 Flaty that purrs like a kitten. To my surprise the car's top speed is 50mph. I was told these cars could do 85mph easy. I'm starting to think it has a low geared rear in it. Any one know what rear was used in these cars. The OD is a hoot it free wheels when in OD. The drive train seems to be all stock. The rest the car is not. Thanks Hoss
Hi, Hoss, Something is wrong. That hot rod Lincoln should get close to 100 MPH. Are you sure you understand the overdrive and how it is supposed to work? When you are in third gear above thirty miles an hour and let up on the throttle, does it shift into OD? When cruising in OD, does it downshift when you floor the throttle? jack vines
Check the throttle is opening all the way. Check the compression. If the engine is not worn out give it a tuneup. Top speed when new was 90+. After all this time there could be a million things the matter with it. But those are the first things to check.
Those will cruise at 70+ without breaking a sweat, when you say won't go past 50... Can you be more specific?
I spoke to my Pops the other night and he told me the same thing. When I shift it in to OD it doesn't seem to go any faster but it will free wheel like it is in OD. I have no idea how the OD works. I just rescued this car last October and have been working on it all winter getting it back in shape. Did the 49's have a two speed rear. I don't have a lift and the car is lowered 6" making hard to get under it. I'm starting to think maybe the rear was changed out. I hope to get it were I can drive it On the highway. Thanks Hoss
Sounds like your overdrive isn't working, it's usually a bad overdrive solenoid. Here's how overdrive in these cars works.... Push the handle in to engage it. Over about 25mph or so, a quick lift of the gas pedal will engage it. To disengage the overdrive you either stomp on the gas which is "kick down" on an overdrive car and THEN pull the handle out to disengage it. If its not working you probably have a bad solenoid but I suppose it could be anything. You also need to disengage overdrive for engine braking. Still, even on an overdrive car 3k seems a tad high for 50 but I could be wrong.
Thanks for the help! I'm starting to think the selanode is not hooked up. That's how I was shifting it in to OD. I shift like you would a two speed rear. I thought 50 at 3000 was high also. I like to drive my cars so I hope I can get it figured out. Thanks Hoss
This might help ya... http://www.fordification.com/tech/overdrive.htm If your solenoid is bad, you might try Naragansett Reproductions in Rhode Island, they have lots of stuff for early Lincolns and I saw this listing on the LZOC page: R and R Repair Overdrive Components Repaired Solenoids Rewound Lincoln, Mercury, Ford Milford, NH 603-673-2857 or 672-2118 Roger F. Comire, LZOC Member #1822 One of the guys on here will know better than I about fixing the solenoid.
The 3000 R.P.M. won't hurt it but it IS indicative of the 4.27 gear that came standard with the Borg-Warner overdrive. Obviously, your transmission is doing something or it wouldn't freewheel. It's not shifting into O.D. The effective final drive ratio in top gear if the O.D. was working would bb .70 X 4.27=2.98:1. That should allow you to cruise at 80. There have been many threads on here focused on O.D., several of which included complete trouble shootong info. You need to become familiar with the wiring, function, and operation of the system before giving up on it. There is a website called "Old Car Manual Project", which includes a complete shop manual for the Borg-Warner O.D. (which is nothing more than a 2 speed planetary transmission attached to the back of a standard 3 speed.)
Cool info, I looked all over the net trying to find info on this drive train. Wen I go to take it out of OD she will grind the gears kind a like a two speed rear does . I thought the OD was a second trans behind the three speed. What's the celenoid for. Just trying to gain knowledge on the drive train before I tare in to it. From what I'm hearing it sounds like I'm driving around in third gear. What I don't understand is it free wheels like it is in OD. I'm going to look up that site and do some phone calls. You guys gave me some good leads . Thanks Hoss
Hoss, Read that link I sent ya. If the car is freewheeling the tranny is OK, you almost certainly have an electrical issue with the overdrive. Wiring, relay, Solenoid, etc.
Good luck with the Lincoln, those are a super cool ride. Does sound like a o.d. problemo. Good luck gettin this ol girl working right. Post us up some pix of this baby. ~sololobo~
I'll post some pics as soon as I can get them off my laptop. I have to warn ya it was painted a bright green. I plan on painting it and changing the grill out this winter. Thanks Hoss
Her she is the Beast. I found this car sitting along side a car garage slowly sinking in to the ground. It was covered in black dirt and mold the hubcaps and Lakers were solid rust, the rear brake was locked up on the right side the wiring was there but it was all disconnected for some reason. I worked on it every night I could getting the lights to work, brakes un-stuck. I installed a new Dakota Digital dash in it. I really wanted to keep the old gauges but they are not working and I don't know any one who rebuilds them. The Digital stuff is nice I have a gas gauge that works and it was easy to adapt the speedo. But I'm old school so I don't know if they will stay! I would like to chop it,paint it and change the grill and bumpers out this winter. I'll get some pics of the engine today. Thanks Hoss
Amazon.com has it on cd rom for about $40, should include parts manual, trans manual, etc. Paper copies probably about $50
I found the problem with The OD,the celinoid is not hooked up. I'm installing a switch on the shifter with a relay. I'm going to be an expert on these by the time I'm done. Thanks for the help. Hoss
I ended up bypassing all the crap and running a push button to the shift handle. The car now hums along at 1600 rpm at 55 MIles an hour. These old Lincoln's are really nice to drive. I was going to sell it to finance my other project but I changed my mind. Hoss
When they were new those cars were famous long distance haulers. With the overdrive they would whisper down the road hour after hour. They even got better mileage at 70 than they did at 50 MPH according to some owners. Especially on flat prairie highways.
Good stuff Hoss, nice to see that car back on the road.. she should be able to cruise all day long at 70-80.
Exfknactly ! and he's already said the grill is gettin swapped and he didn't think the green will stay .... no pleasing some folks though eh ? Neat ol Linc and well done on sorting your O/D issue . .
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