First post 54 Lincoln

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B-ster

Senior Member
Hello all. Posting from AZ. Just bought a 54 Lincoln Capri. I did get a service manual for it which will be a great help. However, there are some things I've found that aren't covered in it or not covered as well as I need them to be.
To be honest, the oldest car I've owned was a 69 Impala, so this era of car is all new to me.
My wife has wanted a 55 Chevy, yellow with dark green roof, which I like also. This car got our attention and has similar look. It has power steering, brakes, windows and seats. It has the early after market ac system in it also. The car is 98% complete minus the carb and radio. All brightwork is there. Floors, frame and body totally solid with no rust or rot, just surface rust on the paint in a few places. Picked it up for $3k.
It was an AZ car all it's life, and parked in 1965 in a hay barn, with just 68k original miles.
If anyone has knowledge about this car and can talk me thru some things, I sure would appreciate the help, encouragement and advice.
The car still has decent looking oil and ****** fluid in it, but the spark plugs are gone no carb or battery. I want to see if it is locked up or not but since plugs are gone I don't know if it's a good idea to move the pistons. I was just going to move the crank with a socket and breaker bar, just a little, to see if it's frozen or not. Any advice about this?
 
Welcome!

Carefully inspect the spark plug holes and intake manifold openings for any foreign objects or debris that needs to be removed.

Squirt a fair amount of light weight oil / penetrating lubricant into the spark plug holes a few days apart over a week or two before trying to turn the engine. Especially since the plug holes have been open for who knows how long.
Marvel Mystery Oil is often recommended for this.
After waiting that week or two, leave the spark plugs out for the attempts at turning it with a wrench.
.
 
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Yes, it's the possible debris that may have gotten in the spark plug holes that concerns me. I was thinking about just going ahead and taking the heads off and check the tops if the cylinders for debris and that way I can also check the top end. Hopefully no debris or rust in cylinders and heads look ok. Maybe just intake, head gaskets and valve cover gaskets is all I'll need. Plus I'm looking for a carb for it too
 
Pulling the heads sure could answer your initial questions.

Not sure how Lincoln set up their carburetors and distributor/ignition timing advance, but Ford had year-matched parts that don't work well being mixed with other years. Finding a 'correct' carburetor in usable or repairable condition may be challenging???
 
483789


B-ster, Welcome to Ford Barn. You didn't say what Body Style you bought? This is the 1954 Lincoln Capri Special Custom Coupe from the Original Sales Brochure. They are very nice classy cars.
 
When in high school I had a 54 Capri that someone installed a Mallory dual point dist. and coil. It was fitted with “traction bars” and ran great when I could get it started. It needed a special 6volt battery to fit that box and have enough power to start that v8.
 
Lincolns have their own engine in this time frame and it was the big Y-block. The 317 CID came out in 1952 as a replacement for the old 337 flathead. It changed in 1955 to the larger 341 CID engine so the 1954 should still have the 317. These engines aren't as common as their little brother Y-block which was new for 1954 and only available in 239 and 256 CID sizes. There still are parts around though but you have to look for them. MMO is your friend here and nothing else frees up stuck rings and valves better.

Use Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders and let it soak through the rings if they aren't crusted up. You should also remove the valve covers to watch the valve train if it starts to move with a pull on the front crankshaft nut. If you have stuck valves, it will become apparent. Pull it through at least two turns while making sure there are no loose push rods before trying anything with the starter. Engines don't like to set unused for log periods. All sorts of stuff can go wrong if your not careful.

If it has an automatic transmission, just check the color of the oil and smell it for any signs of burnt smell. Make sure it is within the operating range on oil level. If it looks good then I wouldn't worry about it till the engine is running. The types of automatic transmission oil have changed a lot since 1954 so any change will require a complete drain and refill. This includes the torque converter. The automatic used in 1954 was the old Hydramatic which is a GM product but it is a good unit to have. Ford went to Borg Warner units after 1954 and they are a different breed of cat. If you have a T85 standard transmission with overdrive then your life will be more simple but automatics far outsold the manual units after the they came out.

Your fuel system will likely need to be cleaned from the filler cap through the carburetor. Any old gas that was in there is likely a turpentine smelling sludge on the bottom of the tank. I'd rod out the fuel lines with the longest speedometer cable core you can find to make sure there is no sludge stuck in there. You would be extremely lucky if someone drained all the old gas out before they laid the car up in storage.

The brakes and rubber parts will be next on the list for repair and replacement. Salvage what you can because some rubber parts for Lincolns may have to be fabricated.
 
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Thanks for the info. The main thing I'm worried about is the open spark plug holes. I'm trying to find out from the guy I bought it from to see if he took them out . He had the car for about a year. It was sitting for the 57 years from the guy he bought it from, supposedly. If he took them out, I'd feel better about turning the crank to see if it's frozen or not. But if they were out when he got it,there's a better chance of debris getting into the cylinders. I don't want to be moving the pistons at all if there are acorns or dirt that found their way in
 
dmsfrr said:
Pulling the heads sure could answer your initial questions.

Not sure how Lincoln set up their carburetors and distributor/ignition timing advance, but Ford had year-matched parts that don't work well being mixed with other years. Finding a 'correct' carburetor in usable or repairable condition may be challenging???
Click to expand...

Yes, like Ford and Mercury the carbs were a little different each year. If you need a '54 Lincoln 317 four barrel Holley carb, I know a gentleman that had one on his '54 Mercury, and replaced it with a correct '54 Mercury carb that I supplied. I don't think he has any use for the '54 Lincoln carb. If intersted, I can dig up his info.

Sal
 
A lot of mechanics are purchasing the hand held inspection scopes that will fit into the cylinder through a spark plug boss. They are led lighted & have a little TV screen and they are good enough that a person can see what might be in there. I have one and it can look straight or on an angle to the tip depending on the lens selected. The camera lenses are a lot like what's on a lot of cell phones and the resolution isn't bad. You can buy them to connect to cell phones and the price is low but I don't know what the resolution would be on the low price ones.

I would be more worried about corrosion than debris but it does depend on how long it was open to the outside air. I've seen where mice have entered a cylinder through an open valve before but that always depends on what valve was open and whether the carb and air filter was on or off. I don't think they could get through an open spark plug boss unless it had the great big 18MM plugs like a model A. There will always be a valve open somewhere but the intakes are the most likely to allow very small rodents in. Mice can get through some road drafts tubes if it has one. They will nest inside the lifter galley on some engines.
 
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Strange. My friend was telling me about that thing today too. I've seen them being used on tv, never thought I'd have the need for that until now. I'm going to have to look into one of those. Any idea where to look!
 
I was just looking at that one. Read some of the 1star reviews. Sounds like the picture is pretty bad. There's one for around$40 that seems to be better, well after all it's double the price. There are mice, or rats that came along in the car that I have to locate and this scope will definitely help with that. Thinking about closing it up and setting off a bug bomb or similar to try to evict, or preferably kill the little buggers. Really don't need them to find refuge in my garage or house after getting evicted
 
Back in the 80's, I bought a Chevy with a 283 V8 that had been sitting for many years. We had to cut down a small tree that had grown in front of the garage door, then dig down through the gravel so the swing up door would open. That's how long it sat. I towed it home, and tried turning the engine over. It would not make a complete revolution. I did the oil in the cylinder thing, and maybe a couple times a week at the most, I'd go out to the car and try again. Eventually, it made a complete revolution. I got it started and it ran pretty well for having sat for so long. I sold it later as a rebuilder engine. Just takes time.

The spark plugs and carb were on that engine though.
 
That’s the same color combo my folks 54 2 door was. Dark green leather interior IIRC.

A friend has a little scope that works on the phone, we haven’t tried it in a cylinder, but I was impressed with how well it worked. A cheapie, not industrial grade. Probably worth a try.

Since you need a carb, the distributor question comes up. I think some Lincoln’s used the same distributor as the y block, maybe a change in the drive gear? Maybe not the 317? Hopefully someone chimes in on that, it’ll open up more carb options.
 
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