the craziest Continental project EVER!

[sykolincoln]

Hola gents! my name is Alan Simmons, im a major lincoln enthusiast from down south in Georgia! Ive owned many lincolns in my short life allready at least 20+ most of them when sold went to very good freinds of mine and are still on the road!

I work for Property Damage Appraisors and I own a custom body shop South GA Customs so I stay pretty busy, in my travels I always keep my eyes pealed for possible projects and nice lincolns for sale. Well one of my areas that I frequent I drive by this place at least once aweek, and always seen this car from the road, in the last 2 1/2 years I never stoped! simply becouse I know that most people know that these cars can be worth quite a bit. Well this last friday I bit the bullet and stoped to find out. After only a 5 min conversation, I bought a 1962 Continental for the stagering amount of $300 dollars!!! I almost cried! here are some pics of my newest aquisition, and dont worry this is my dream car, I wont ever let this one go!












surprisingly this car is very solid, the interior is in tatters, and also someone put a late 60's 460 running gear in, witch I plan to take out and sell for a more modern drivetrain, Plans for this car include full metal resto and custom paint (think smooth custom) air bags to lay it down low and period perfect astro supreme wheels with wide white walls

[ReijerLincoln]

Hello Alan and welcome to the forum. Nice to hear your have found your dream car. There are lots of people here who can help you on your way. Using the search option you'll find answers to most of your (1962) Continental questions.

$300? I would cry too. That is an insane purchase price! But....

...I can't help but notice you used these words in one sentence concerning your future plans for this car: "a more modern drivetrain", "full metal resto and custom paint", "air bags to lay it down low". This will cost you an inordinate amount of money. These cars are expensive to repair and maintain (let alone customize). Original parts are hard to find and thus expensive. Reproduction parts are almost nonexistent. Getting your '62 up and running might even prove to be more work and costlier than you would think. Take a look at the prices Lincoln Land and Baker's Auto ask for certain parts. This will give you an idea.

If customizing it is the way you want to go I would like to suggest - and please don't take this the wrong way - to keep the '62 as a parts car and find a '62 (or '63) in the best condition you can afford. Getting your $300 '62 how you describe it will cost you in total a lot more than if you were starting with a $10.000 car. Metal work and rust repair are time consuming and difficult (and therefore expensive) because it's a unibody design. Engine swaps can be done (using the 460 from later Lincolns mostly) but few have tried and even fewer have succeeded. Try a search - it is a much discussed topic. Does the engine run?

So.... I hope I haven't rained on your parade too much. Please take a few days or weeks to browse this forum. That should give you a feel for the car (I'm assuming you haven't already).

Keep us posted!
Reijer

[toddallen]

Nice little project Alan, a little Armorall and you are on the road !

Reijer, I do not know if you noticed, but Alan owns a body shop so the work will cost him nothing. Great project for a custom IMO, otherwise it will just continue to rust and fall apart, and he can dump his cash into modifications. I am surprised it has a 460, these do not fit into these cars well without huge modifications, maybe that is why the car does not have a hood (wouldn't fit). If that engine is installed right I would rebuild it, you need a hefty big block to move these beasts and there are lots of parts for the 460 available. Start looking for a trunk lid now, because good ones are hard to find.

Keep up posted on the project !!

[ReijerLincoln]

Reijer, I do not know if you noticed, but Alan owns a body shop so the work will cost him nothing.

Woops... missed that one. That certainly changes things.

[sykolincoln]

restoring this car and making it how I want it isnt a problem, the 460 isnt doen right, looks like they just droped it in there (no mounts) and they gut the trans hump in the floor for clearence (YIKES~!) all and all I am very pleased with my purchase, I was thinking about buying a runner near the end of this year, but since My time costs me No money I think I will just get this one how I like it, you guys will sure be seing alot of me, I like to post alot of pictures very often and without care! LOL!

as for the suspension, I have looked at alot of setups I see the problems and I see solutions, I have been instaling hydraulics and air bags for over 12 years, I even had hydraulics on a 68 chrysler new yorker (on the front as well! for those that know they have those wounderfull torsion bars) yep even made hydros fit on that car! so I know the few problems I run into with this car are only minor compaired to that nightmare!

withing the next month almost all the body work will be done and most sitting in a nice primer. Conveinently my shop is coupled with a awesome mechanics shop (sweet deal on drivetrain) and next door is the best Upholstery shop in southern GA (20 ft away) so.... I got pretty much all the bases coverd near IN HOUSE!

[Linc68]

Welcome to the forum, from another GA. boy

Norm

[ReijerLincoln]

I like to post alot of pictures very often and without care!

Hooray!

Alan, it seems you are well sorted for this project. Have you seen what's being done in the customization section? A lot of members are lowering their cars in there. I'm certain a lot of people will be interested in the details of the engine conversion even if most members prefer keeping these slabsides original. What engine & tranny are you going to use? Have you considered using a 462 instead of the original 430? It has more torque and horsepower, not a whole lot more of course...

[Barry Wolk]

Please start a thread and put it in the Member Projects section. Most of us require lots of pictures to fulfill our day so please document excruciating detail of your body and paint work.

Welcome to the forum. If you have several hours to kill click on the 1951 Royal Spartanette link below. I'm currently doing a 6-door Lincoln limousine now and I'd love to learn the best way to give it an air suspension.

[sykolincoln]

thanx for the warm welcome guys, I plan on taking a million and 1 pics for you guys! lol! barrry I will check out your thread, I have managed to fit hydraulics and airbags on just about anything, if it has suspension I can make it go up and down

[linc64]

Welcome Alan! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

[sykolincoln]

just received a concept drawing from a freind of mine a few mins ago, let me know what you guys think! I told him how I wanted it to look and thats it!

[linc64]

I'm not a big fan of customs, but it looks good! Your friend does nice work.

Are you going to leave the hood ornament off?

[sykolincoln]

undecided, all the trim on these cars look great left alone, where as many other types of cars durring the 60s look over done with trim, time will only tell on the trim parts.

[toddallen]

I like the rear filler panel treatment

[black63lincoln]

Sweet! what a deal.. that windshield is worth more that 300 bucks..

I agree with you that the trim on these cars looks great and there isnt much room for improvement... I can tell you have good taste, and since bodywork is your profession im sure the custom will come out very nice..

I started out with a lot of customizing ideas in mind for my lincoln, but over the years working on it (along with the influence of the lincoln forum board members ) ive slowly ended up restoring my car pretty close to stock..
Modern additions dont appeal to me as much anymore because they get outdated.. by that i mean the style of interior or the model and year of electronics.. this almost puts your timeless lincoln in the depreciation category.. Have you ever been to a car show and seen this? Something like a 50s Chevy with a 80s interior style? It can be depressing.. but stock never goes out of style..

Dont get me wrong though i havent completely converted, I will still have to have a lowered suspension, custom wheels, and a hidden high end stereo..

Im not trying to influence or criticize in any way, these are just some thoughts of mine i thought id bring up for discussion..