I'm after a project car, a '61-69 Lincoln in particular, hardtop.

I basically only care about the frame, body, seat frames, and trim/moulding. Will redo the interior myself and graft some (more)-modern engine and drivetrain onto/under it eventually, TBD, but I don't mind if it has everything, it just doesn't ultimately even matter if it runs or even has an engine at all, and, frankly, I'd rather pay less for what some purists find objectionable, maybe...

I'm just now starting to shop, and am seeking any additional resources or useful first-hand knowledge anyone might have with these particular vehicles, places to look, people to call, things to look out for, preferred years within that range, car shows or auctions to watch (beyond the obvious, Barrett-Jackson was a client of mine years ago, I watch the big ones), but I want an almost-barn-find, someone else's stalled project, maybe, an in person deal, pay on the spot, and not in some bidding war or on ebay. I'm not buying a thing like this without laying hands and eyes on it myself, for an hour or so at least, in great light... I'm capable of fetching one myself and trailering it, or hiring it out, it depends on where it is.

Slashed up seats... ok, no motor ok, no drive train at all is okay, even, but not a rust or crash bucket and I don't want to have to make or buy every niggly trim or moulding piece so it it better be mostly okay that way. You get the gist, I'm sure. It'll be more like a modern mashup than a restored original. Low and slow and comfortable. Subtle, not flashy. Go to dinner car, cruise, take clients out, etc.

Anyone?

(longshot, but it's here...)

Thanks.

I hope you have tons of money, skill and knowledge. I saw one of those redone on a car show on tv and the amount of tiny parts you have to chase down is insane. I'm not talking about the stuff for an accurate restoration which is a whole other thing. I'm talking about tons of things on the dash or to make the lights work or the transmission to shift properly. It was overwhelming just watching it I couldn't imagine actually doing it. Best of luck though they are super cool cars.

I'm capable enough, patient enough, and have enough resources, but am cheap and very DIY, and I have friends in various related trades who are available for fees and free in different degrees. I won't be so foolish as to call it trivial or cheap. But I'll sort it out.

I see what finished ones go for, and I'll work backwards from one of those before I spend 3x the going rate to do one from the bottom up, and I'll be doing all of this exact math the next many months as I zero in on specific candidate cars.

I'm too picky to leave well enough alone even if I snag a finshed one, so it's a project car no matter.

I'll be using a Dakota Digital type dash cluster, I can fab or have fabbed any aluminum I need, billet or otherwise.

Plain black retro styled but comfy modern seat cushions and upholstery, I csn work with upholsterers already from other endeavors, and headliners carpets, etc, are easy. I've favbed loads of door panels and stupid big woofer boxes for kids in a past life... I can handle all electric myself, know 12v well, do fiberglass work, blah blah, an okay welder (for superficial, decorative things, MIG string welder), access to plasma, water jet, cnc, two family members are machinists, two engineers, one painter, ome bodyman, etc. Like, I'm not an engine mechanic, myself, I don't rebuild, but I can swap a crate motor... etc. Adult LEGO.

Solid points, though. Not for the faint of heart. I have shop space, a lift, much of what I need, but this will be my first whole car. I've built, rebuilt, flipped, and help do all that to several Bikes over the years, and more. I'll rob ideas from the truly talented dudes on TV and make it work. Like most. It'll be fun.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

I basically only care about the frame, body, seat frames, and trim/moulding.

Thanks.

Coincidentally, my friend is also looking at the same range of Lincoln, convertible or hardtop. Although he's looking at a driver quality but not show quality.

I found a 65 green convertible in San Diego for $30K. There's a HT in Sacramento for $29K. A starter project for $7K.

San Diego CL

Sacto CL

LA CL

I am not familiar with this range of Ford, but understand your concerns about the trim etc. I can't imagine much is reproduced, making it critical that the used stuff is in good shape or repairable. I don't know if the chassis shares wear items that are common with Ford.

I don't know what your budget is, but I'd try to buy as much "car" as possible. Let other's time and energy work to your benefit. If they've sunk $20k on the body and frame, they may only be able to sell for $10-15K.

I have a 59 Impala that's basically daily driver quality. It took us about 15 years to make it road worthy. With our limited budget, we should have concentrated on little bits that didn't break the budget all the while keeping it on the road. We made a mistake but going crazy at first and stripping it down to the frame.

If you can, try to find the SigForum equivalent to a conti website. Lots of advice and perhaps leads on good projects. Are they originally airbags? Check out the youtube video for the green convertible. Kind of cool.

Where are you located?

'I'll tell you what. I'll swear you were doing a great job taking care of his car, but, you parked it out back last night and this morning, it was gone. D-Day takes care of the wreck. We report it to the police. Your brothers' insurance company buys him ..a new car!'

Colorado.

Thanks, great stuff.

I will only go bottom up (and degrees of it) where and if the math works out, or I find just the right vehicle.

My budget is enough to get it done, but I'm not one to toss around "an extra" 20 large or more all willy nilly like it doesn't matter, so I will tread lightly, mostly because I come from poor country people, I'm that and part-bougie by now, so to speak, a funny mix, so I act cheap but do well enough in life.

Redneck 3.0 or something, I suppose. (shakes head at self)

Look at Jay Leno '64/65 Lincoln convertable episode. The guy that helped with his car was in the episode. He has a website and business devoted to lincolns.

That search may yield you some good info..

I'm sort of in the old car type business and here's the only way I'd buy something like that.
Study up so you know exactly what you want. Then look for one involving a widow or divorce.
Even doing all the work yourself and getting the basic car for free you'll be lucky to not be upside down before you get to 25% done with the project. Unless you're young, the project is likely to outlive you and your widow, heirs or divorcing wife will be selling it to someone someday.
I'm kind of joking with you but not really.

Try to buy a driving vehicle at a minimum. A parts car or idle car has soooooo many unknowns. If it's a least turns over, you'll have an idea of the engine and transmission's health and drive-ability. If it's an idled car, you're almost guaranteed to replace or repair everything.

You might end up like my buddy.

He started with one car to rebuild then bought a couple more for parts donors. He got what he needed off cars #2 & #3, then sold those 2 remnants and recouped a fair amount of money to defray his cost.

Good luck to you, and enjoy.

Wife had a real affection for these a few years ago. My research led me to buy one down don’t do yourself.

If you want something mid-century vibe with coach doors and can't find something quite right for whatever reason, you might consider a late-'60s Thunderbird.

There are 3 pages of them from 1960 to 1969 @ Hemmings Motor News on line. A couple similar to what you are looking for little over a grand. One 1969 looks very nice listed @ $5,500.00. They go way up from there. You can find many original parts listed at Hemmings also.

Very solid cars, very heavy, very quiet. I enjoyed driving them. Surprisingly fast but not overly quick acceleration. Engine was huge ! ( 460 cu ?? ) About 10-12 mpg. It was my favorite luxury car back then. Never drove a convertible.

Many moons ago , I worked for a used car dealer that emphasized large , luxury cars. I got to drive a bunch of big cars when I was 14-17 years old.

Only experience with suicide a door Lincoln was one of the cutest girls in high school used to drive one. She was a wild child, good thing I just watched from a distance.

Based on personal experience with cars and airplanes, buy a good one that is close to what you want. You’ll still have some changes, fixes, or upgrades, but you can start enjoying it right off. It was my experience that I ended up spending just as much on the projects by the time they were done and sunk a whole lot of time into them as well. Time I was working on them rather than flying or driving them. If you’re doing the project to really learn the machine, because you really enjoy the work, or because it is one of the only ones in the world (not the case here), go for it. Just don’t plan on saving any money. If anything you’ll spend more.

Here's how to make a small fortune restoring a car:


Start with a large fortune.

As others have said start with the best one you can find, rust free or at least a non structural area and minimal affected area. Anything "can" be saved but some are just not worth it.

Car dealer I used to work for had the "hots" for a particular year and make convertible. I did everything possible to talk him out of buying it but he did anyway. The rust was so bad in the front door pillar it moved when the door was opened all the way against the stop in the hinge. Our body shop did the work,basically rebuilt the car body structure inside and out. By the time that car was finished it looked good but waaay too much money in it, all charged internally to the dealership. All we did was to put perfume and lipstick on a pig, in my opinion it was still junk. Cosmetic rebuild,if memory is correct he had about 25k in the work and to make it driveable not even rebuilding the engine or the transmission.

Two hints, look at Scarebird, both on Ebay and his website, they make disc brake conversions using over the counter parts together with his adapters to mount the calipers. Much easier than using specialty parts manufacturers that may or may not be in business after this economic shakeup is over.

Second, while I'm not a Ford guy look at this for an engine. 460 hp out of a 5.0, you'll not get that from the engines of that era plus with fuel injection and an O.D. transmission you might actually see some decent highway MPG. https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-6007-M50C