1965 Lincoln Convertible Top Issues

Anything that pertains only to a convertible goes here. Such as: Top material, pads, mechanism, hydraulic pumps, switch and relay mechanisms, latches, etc.

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nimag83
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1965 Lincoln Convertible Top Issues

Post by nimag83 »

Hello everyone

My name is Nima Gholamzadeh and I own a 1965 LC convertible in San Diego. I was having some issues and thought I would reach out to the group .

Just to give you some back story the top used to fully function. When I first bought the car it did not but was lucky enough to find someone here locally who knows how to work on them.
For the most part, I kept the top down and had no reason to put the top-up. Most recently I tried to put the top up and realized there was a problem. As soon as I put the top up the deck unscrewed and began to rise, I wanted to check and see if I could close it, so I hit the top-down switch it but it wouldn’t go down and actually kept rising

So I decided to just try and run the entire cycle. The decklid was completely vertical and the top began to come out of the trunk. At the same time the clamps prematurely engaged and when the top came to meet the windshield header, the clamps would not allow it to close and lock because they were engaged. I contacted some friends who have some experience and they basically walked me through the process of manually jumping the relays in order to get the decklid closed.

I first unlocked the clamps so the top would fit securely on the window header, then I locked the top, retracted the flipper panel, and finally was able to close the decklid.

After some troubleshooting I thought maybe the top control switch was bad, I determined this by using a power probe to check the back of the switch and the three wires coming out. One was a ground, one gave me 12v but the other didn’t register anything. From this, I was told to replace the switch. I purchased a 50amp Lincoln mercury power convertible top switch. I followed the wires and soldered them together but still nothing.

At the moment I have jumped the top-up relay so I can get in the trunk. When I hit the top control switch down nothing happens, but when I hit the top up on the control switch I hear a relay clicking. I was able to determine that the relay that is clicking is the panel retract relay.

So here I am basically kind of stuck. Was hoping to get any feedback on things I can trouble shoot. I know this site has a ton of knowledgeable and friendly people and with my knowledge, access to other mechanics, and my ambitious nature I could try my best to figure it out on my own.

Again thank you so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Nima
bd94s10
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Re: 1965 Lincoln Convertible Top Issues

Post by bd94s10 »

Nima,

If you're still having an issue I would suggest calling John Cashman https://convertiblelincolns.com. He is a great guy and will help you out. John Brewer is also a great option https://www.brewerclassiclincoln.com

Both will do their best to help you out.
JAB
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Re: 1965 Lincoln Convertible Top Issues

Post by JAB »

Nima,
There is nothing wrong with your top control switch. Given that you could get the top to operate (even incorrectly) in both directions, this means that the switch was passing current properly.
Your header locked while the top was coming out of the trunk probably because the button on the top up limit switch front (the one sticking out of the front of the top frame that comes in contact with the top of the wind shield) was either stuck in, or the switch is malfunctioning internally.

Hopefully you were able to contact John Cashman and he has resolved your problem. If not, feel free to call me and we can work together to diagnose the problem.
John Brewer
Brewer Classic Lincoln
303 562-8368
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