August 29, 1989: Bringing home a project . . .
Read MoreAugust 29, 1989: I spotted this 1969 Lincoln Mark III at a small used car lot along Pleasant Valley Blvd. in Altoona, Pennsylvania and stopped to have a look. The car belonged to the owner of the car lot, and was one his "projects." As is often the case when one accumulates one too many projects, something had to give. Asking price on the 77k original mile car was $800. I looked the car over as thoroughly as my limited knowledge allowed and offered $600, which he accepted.
My soon-to-be wife was definitely surprised to see a tow truck drop the car off in the driveway, but not in a "Gee, what a nice surprise" way. She was not thrilled to have a giant Lincoln sitting in the driveway that, at that moment, didn't run and couldn't be driven.My $600 investment got me a 1969 Lincoln Mark III with 77k original miles on the odometer. The condition of the car reflected its price tag. Getting it started was a chore due to several electrical gremlins, (I had to have it towed to my house as a result). Once running, it actually ran quite well. The brakes worked, but resulted in an uncommanded hard right turn and making some really scary noises in the process. The lights and signals, horn, power seats, windshield wipers, and HVAC system worked fine. The power windows, a/c, and windshield washer did not. The radio didn't work, and the antenna was broken. I had a lot of work ahead of me.
The interior was complete and in good shape, all things considered. The driver's seat was in the worst shape, as expected. The dash and all the interior trim were in remarkably good condition, but more importantly, all present and accounted for. Trying to find replacement trim parts for this car would prove to be quite challenging.
It needed a bath. But it was all there. The a/c didn't work, (compressor was bad), the fan shroud needed to be replaced, and the cruise control didn't work. But it was complete. I would later discover that the no-crank concern I had, (which prevented the car from starting), was due to a faulty fender solenoid which can be seen in the photo above.
I must have moved the camera at the last moment, which is a shame because I wanted to show how nice the interior actually was, all things considered. The exposed metal behind the driver's seat was actually an old patch over rust in the floor in that spot. I would eventually have to address rust holes in several places in the floor.
The rear seat looked really nice, and was tear-free and quite soft. All the seat belts were there, and the center arm rest folded down like it should and also looked great. I would later discover something strange. Manufacturers in those days would place several copies of the assembly line build sheet in various places throughout the car during the assembly process, (in the seat springs, above the gas tank, under the hood insulation, etc.). Build sheets are vehicle specific and show every option that particular car came with from the factory. The build sheet I found under the back seat cushion seen above was for a different car, (the VIN number didn't match). I still have it in a folder with the car's paperwork.
This is a really interesting picture. The image I was trying to capture - the driver's door panel and the decent shape it was in - came out completely blurry. For whatever reason, my Canon Sure Shot focused on the reflection of the "442" logo in the driver's door mirror that belonged to the 1985 Oldsmobile 442 found elsewhere within this site. That turned out great ! Completely unintentional, but great. I took this picture 26 years ago and didn't notice that until I scanned the negative to upload here . . .