I am a long time member but I have been inactive for many years now, mostly because I haven't been able to use or work on my car and couldn't bare it.
Backstory: I bought my 65 sedan in 2004, it was my first car and only had 39,000 miles on it. Its from southern California has no rust and was VERY nice orignal then. After high school I moved out on my own started college and had to fight tooth and nail to hang on to the car. Mostly this ment that it was stored outside for about the last 4 years or so. It also was driven very little and is in a slight state of neglect, while I started working with Jeeps. Well this month I finally moved into a place with a two car garage all to my self. The car runs and drives but the second you let go of the wheel it DIVES off the road. It also has a bad shake under braking from the front end. The front end should have been replaced when I bought it 8 years and 20,000 miles ago so now, lets just say its bad. So my question is this if YOU had to replace pretty much every wear part in the front of a 65 where would you go for parts. I want to do it all one time and together (unless advised otherwise). Would you get a part form this company and a part from another for the best price or get a all inclusive kit? Looking for vendor names, feedback, experiences and any advise about the tear down & install it's self.
When I bought the car:
This week, home safe protected from the elements (you have no idea the burden that has been lifted by knowing its in a garage)
Thank you in advance and im sure you all will be seeing a lot more of me now
Nice '65 you have there and congratulations on getting your first garage! It is a really great feeling to be able to store your cars indoors.
As for your front end, I would recommend a front end rebuild kit from Kanter's. I put one in my '67 over 35,000 miles ago and it is still going strong.
Beautiful '65. This was the first vintage year that I really grew attached to. Would still like to have a '65 sedan someday.
As for the front-end rebuild kit, I can't speak to others' experience with the suspension parts sold by Lincoln Land, but I do know that they offer a front-end rebuild kit for about $1,000. It includes darn near every part and you get a discount by buying the whole she-bang rather than piecemealing. Good luck and keep us posted!
Nick
Current: 1971 Mark III, 2012 MKZ AWD, 2016 F-150 Platinum
WANTED: 1969 Continental sedan, 77 Continental Town Car w/opera window delete, 76 Fleetwood Brougham
I saw the the Kanters front end "kit" what parts are NOT included in the kit? I don't think it had a parts lits on their website. As with most rubber on my car almost every bushing, joint, or pad is either coming apart from heat, dry rot, or oil exposure. I will try to post some pictures and maybe a video so I can have a few more pairs of eyes look it over and point out potential problem areas.
When I got my '64, it had been fitted with a Kanter kit. I didn't do the work, so I don't know the details. But the PO looks to have swapped the ball joints, control arm bushings, and sway bar bushings. It's still working fairly well 12 years later (but I had it off the road for the first 4 years or so). I don't think the kit includes the steering parts like tie rod ends, center link, etc. But Kanter does offer those too.
Your best bet is to give them a call and ask.
- John
Designer & manufacturer of the GearHead Engineering disc brake conversion kit for 1961-1964 Lincolns.
1964 Lincoln Continental Convertible
1965 Ford Galaxie
1967 MGB
2007 Mazda5 (kid hauler with zoom zoom!)
First thing I'd do is get a pry bar and get the car up on some heavy duty jack stands.
I'd start with the brakes, I'd bet you have some bad bushings, but at 39k I doubt everything is worn out. I'd suspect a sticky brake cylinder or caliper. And change the front hoses for starters.
1960 Premiere Coupe - Cloud Silver / Silver and Black interior. Factory Cruise!
1960 Continental Convertible Maple Leaf Metallic / Light Tan (Loaded but a big project)
Non Lincolns: 32 B Roadster, 54 Customline Fordor, 60 Vauxhall PA Velox, 62 Vauxhall PA Velox, 88 M5, 01 XJR, 06 XJ8, 10 Jaguar XF Premium Lux.
Check your steering gear mounts, the darting sounds like it could be this or the "rag joint". If a brake grabs a little before the other then it will pull you that direction.
3 1977 Mark V Luxury Group
2 1979 Mark V Collector Series
1 1967 Continental Coupe, (Dads car)
It's a little dark to take pictures now im hoping to get some by the weekend. I guess when I say I think it needs everything I mean everything thats rubber because everything I have seen has really bad cracking. And I am worried driving on it for 20,000 miles didn't help. I know my way around for the most part and maybe this is wishful thinking but is there anything like this Jeep front end picture floating around? If not I might have to make one when I start work on my car.
The darting off the road is with or without braking pressure applied. It's been so long since I have worked with this car I feel like I am starting all over and having to relearn it.
Nick, if you owned the car for the last 8 years and drove it 20,000 miles I sure hope you were lubricating your upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. on a regular basis. If not, these parts are most likely shot as the front end parts on these cars were designed with grease fittings and should have been greased regularly. As far as the Kanter front end kit, it does not include the center drag link. See the link below for the parts included:
Well I actually drove about 19,xxx in the first 2 1/2 years or so and then the last 1k 5 1/2 years. But it was greased when being driven. It currently has not been registered since 2009 and has only racked up about 5 miles in that time and is currently only being started in the driveway.
Kanter, amazon.com, and autozone. Kanter's kit is by far a great deal. There are a few parts not included like the center link. That you can also get from kanter, but autozone has it too, and cheap. Get a service manual and get familiar with the parts, then have a shop show you what is bad. Check prices for everything against amazon.com. I have a completely new front end waiting in my trunk and i found that i saved at least $500 by comparing prices.
I agree. I got my center link from Baker's and the rest of the worn front end stuff from Kanter in a kit- The inner tie rod ends aren't available in the kit, but my tie rods weren't bad and the kit price for the ball joints and the rest of the stuff were like getting the outer tie rod ends for free... And the parts had comparable apparent quality to name brand front end parts.
Definitely replace everything made of rubber in the front end and use poly where possible. I had the dart-off-the-road symptom once, and it was a broken control arm strut (the solid metal bar that connects the lower control arm to the solid front crossmember, that by the way you should inspect to make sure it is solid).
Not sure if there is a picture like the Jeep one you posted but I will look in the archives. Which speaking of, you seem to be starting a list. here is a list from a while back in reply to a more moderate problem. You can use the handy "usual suspects" thread on this board to get the best individual prices, or for that matter a complete kit.
autostick wrote:
JonW wrote:..are there some mods to make my Lincoln handle a bit better? Heavier springs or aftermarket sway bars? My steering works fine but it would be nice if it was a bit firmer as well, not as light to the touch. Anyone have any suggestions?
Jon:
I assume your question pertains to 1972 but my 1963 was all over the road but today it goes exactly where I point it and it is fun to drive on a curvy road. The changes were incremental and I can not point to any one item; some of these are already mentioned but I list here what made a difference on my Lincoln:
1- Polyurethane bushings, particularly the swaybar end links and control arm strut.
2- New center link along with solid steering box donuts (a particular problem of early sixties Lincolns, the box moves and weakens the link).
3- Four new shocks.
4- repack and properly seat front wheel bearings.
5- New idler arm, new rubber upper control arm bushings (as poly was not available).
6- Did not do tie rod ends, but of course check yours for play.
7- Did not do the rag joint,[/b] but lots of guys claim this was a weak spot.
8- Rear leaf spring bushings (poly). It is natural to focus on the front end for handling improvement, but as a car ages the REAR end starts steering the car, markedly affecting handling. So don't ignore play at the rear.
9- Tires: going radial from bias ply makes a difference, and for the seventies lincoln I suspect a plus one or plus two conversion would make your car more responsive.
10- Sounds silly but it is cheap: add five pounds in each tire and see how it feels.
11- Welded new metal around front crossmember (this gets corroded from radiator and battery juice).
12- Never did springs or any aftermarket parts, I think the car handles great when restored to like-new mechanicals, but that is just a matter of personal preference and there is no way to measure it. Good luck.
-Ken
