January 7 - 8, 2009: Working on a 1964 Lincoln convertible . . .
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As a whole, most of what I worked on during my dealership tech days could be described as “ordinary,” with the occasional “really nice” vehicle periodically thrown into the mix. But every now and then, a special treat would come through the door. A flat-rate line technician usually wants nothing to do with anything “old.” Being known as the “old car” enthusiast worked to my advantage and put most of these special treats in my bay as was the case on this day back in 2009. This is the story of my last special project at Joe Machens Ford Lincoln Mercury in Columbia, MO: "Customer States: Convertible top inop, will not go up, check and advise."
This story began on a beautiful fall day in 2008. Mr. Customer lowered the convertible top on his 1964 Lincoln Continental convertible for a parade, but was unable to raise it when he returned home. The trunk lid would open, but nothing else would occur. So, Mr. Customer decided not to worry about it, and would get it fixed "later," which turned out to be the sunny, but 30 degree winter morning of January 7, 2009.
Seeing a 1964 Lincoln convertible pull into the dealership service lane is unusual enough. To see one with the top down in January makes you scratch your head.
The 1960s Lincoln Continental is one of my all-time favorites ! For the 1961 model year, Lincoln introduced the all new, completely redesigned Lincoln Continental. The sharp angles and straight lines of the giant 1958-1960 models were replaced by a smooth and graceful body with elegantly subtle curves. This overall design theme would continue through the 1965 model year.
The most notable feature of these cars was the “Suicide Door” design, with the front and rear doors hinged at opposite ends. Convertible production usually accounted for 10-15 percent of total model year production. For 1964, 3,328 were produced, and I was sitting in one of them. A really nice one at that !
The same smooth and graceful design theme carried over into the car’s interior.
The interior of this car was in great shape and had a mere 71k miles on the odometer.
The Lincoln convertible top mechanism was quite a piece of engineering for the time period. The trunk lid is hinged at the rear of the vehicle. When the "lower" button is pressed, a series of relays, switches, and something like 1000 feet of wiring raises the trunk lid, retracts and folds the top, then closes the trunk lid to produce a smooth, clean appearance. The reverse of this procedure occurs when "raise" button is pressed.
After a bunch of diagnostics, I narrowed the problem down to a high resistance connection in the convertible top "raise" circuitry. At some point in the car's past, a wiring repair was made to the "top up" relay wiring, which can be seen in the above photo, (note the blue crimp connectors toward the top center). This repair was made long enough ago that corrosion had developed inside one of the crimp connectors. I made the proper repair, (soldered connections and heat shrink insulation), which solved the problem.
The customer had a shop manual for the car, which was good because we didn't. The shop manual for the modern Ford product is generally about 3 inches thick, and has a separate 1 inch thick book for all the wiring diagrams. In 1964, wiring diagrams for everything on the car took up about 10-15 pages in the back of the 1 inch thick shop manual.
With the top now in the up position, the car owner was quite happy to know that he wouldn't freeze on the way home.
I have admired these cars since my high school days.
The car’s lines are flawless.
Once finished, I parked the car in front of the Service Department where I had to take more pics.
Since this car represents "me," I came up with an idea for how I could use it for my resume, (which I needed at the time because I would be moving to Georgia the following month).
I took a portrait photo of the car and cropped it to an 8.5 x 11 aspect ratio. I converted the photo to black & white, made it transparent, and pasted it onto a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. Essentially, I made my own "letterhead" on which I printed my resume.
1964 Lincoln Continental convertible.
One of 2,328 produced that year.
Whoever did the body and paint work on this car did a good job.
As someone who loves what he does for a living, most of my days at work are “good days.” However, I am unable to find the right words to express just how much I loved working on this car.