I recently bought a '39 Lincoln and was thinking of doing some light modifications to it. Dual exhaust (mainly for the sound), slightly lowering, and perhaps some black powder coated spoke wheels with black wall bias ply tires... Because the paint is in 10 different colors right now, I was thinking of stripping it to bare metal and clear coating....at least until I have time and money to paint it right. Any thoughts/suggestions?? If I go with the spoke wheels then I would be in the market for those. Does anyone have experience with the Coker custom spoke wheels? thanks, mendo
Hey Mendo, What model '39 Lincoln, is it a K series? Factory or coachbuilt? You may be cuttin' off your feet by building a kustom from it! The factory wire wheels from that era will require tubes, and can be tough to get balanced.
Let's ***ume it's a Zephyr. Dual exhaust sounds like a great idea. I believe Lincolns had a transverse spring like the Fords did, in that case, reversed spring eyes will give you a slight lowering without monkeying with the rest of the suspension. To me, painted wire wheels were more of an early 30's thing and might look awkward on a '39. What bolt pattern does a '39 Lincoln have? I'm not sure. I'd skip the bare metal thing. Showing a car in bare metal is a great way for a metal craftsman to display his/her work before painting, but is also a ton of work to properly maintain over a period of time. Clear over bare steel requires a ton of effort in prep work, probably more than a reasonable standard paint job does. And it's not something that's really period-correct, either.
It's a Zephyr 4 door sedan. Maybe you are right about the wire wheel thing. I was inspired mostly by looking at rods of the early 30's...but '39 is a bit more sleek and meaty. I have never modified or painted a car before and was going to use this car (with no real paint to speak of already) as an experiment. But if it's nearly as easy to just go ahead and paint it, then...that's probably the wiser choice. I do like the suggestion of lower it with reverse eye springs. It's the sort of thing that I can handle easily and doesn't require chopping the car up. It's too nice of a car for that and I don't have the acorns (or experience) to do so. I realize that performance parts (bolt on) for these motors are few and far between, but does anyone have experiences to share about electronic ignition and dual carbs on the V12? What's your favorite exhaust set up for the Lincoln V12? thanks for the input....newbie here.
I don't think Lincolns had wide 5 wheels like the Fords, I think they had a more conventional bolt pattern, so maybe some type of artillery wheel would give you the look you're going for and still be era-correct. I know the 5.5" pattern artilleries can get expensive, but it's something to think about.
I've always thought the 4 door's would make nice early bombs. Maybe a nose high stance and lower it with skirts and dual fog lights?
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