1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV

Price: $4700 Canadian Dollars (Or Best Offer!)

Mileage: 74,000 original miles

Drive Train: 460 V8 Ford Big Block - Automatic Transmission and Ford 9" Rear End

History:

This car was purchased in May of 2005 from the second historical owner. It had a lot of surface rust on it, faded paint, and had been sitting since 1995. The old fellow that owned it started it up every couple months and let it run to operating temperature to make sure the seals didn't dry out, but he never moved it an inch.

When I purchased the car, it wouldn't run well. It would start running, and shortly thereafter cough, fart, and stall. After gingerly driving it, stalling 6 times, to my shop, I began to undertake some severe work. I rebuilt the carberator, replaced the fuel pump and relevant fuel lines, replaced the fuel filters, and she roared to life with the first turn of the key!

Having sat for a long time, one caliper needed to be replaced, so the front brakes were done. Also, there was an exhaust leak at the manifold due to shoddy work from the prior owner, so the gaskets were all replaced, and subsequently the exhaust from the catalytic convert to the back of the car was replaced including the muffler. The car has a little more rumble given the choice of muffler, but is still very quiet and conservative.

Exterior

In July of 2005 I undertook to completely restore the paint and vinyl top. BC AutoBody Repairs, headed by Dhiren Prasad, was given the job, and by the end of August it was completely done. Anywhere that the rust was severe, entirely new metal was properly welded into place. No corners were cut in the process. I used the original Base-Clear, factory tint, brown metallic paint. Nothing fancy here. I wanted it to appeal to collectors. The vinyl top was given a professional cleaning, scouring, and re-coating. It is original, and it is in fantastic shape as the pictures will surely demonstrate.

The only draw-back to the body work and paint was that the original wheel-well trim is no longer installed. It was corroded beyond redemption and a purest can find the trim on the web or at the wrecking yard and install it like factory. I did not enterain this option as I liked the clean lines of the body without the trim as it shows just how well the bodywork was done on the paint job. The mouldings were not needed to hide shoddy work!

There are two small problems with trim that must be mentioned. The front driver headlight trim was cracked when the prior owner bumped the car parking it in his car port. Also, the rear driver-side trim doesn't hold as tight to the body as original as the same bad parking incident had him back into the pole on the corner of his car port. A close inspection of the parts in the pictures below will show how minor these issues are.

I have recently replaced the radiator as well as the alternator with brand new parts.

Interior

The interior of the car was in good shape when I got it. There are no rips of the leather, and as you can see from the pictures, it is in excellent shape. The original carpet is clean, free of tears of burns, and plush. The rear seat is in mint condition, but the front driver side is slightly worn and sun faded from use. However, an estimate by a leather dying company estimated that a $300 dye job and restoration would bring the interior back to a factory appearance.

There are NO holes drilled in the dash, no after-market gauges or parts. It is a beautiful, spacious interior, with ALL amenities in functioning order (air conditioned excepted). There are no missing knobs, broken switches, or the like. The electric seats, auto high-beam sensor, power locks, power windows (all 6 of them) are ALL functional. Even the old-school cable-operated mirror adjusters are in perfect working order.

My reasons for purchasing the car was that it functioned so entirely well and needed just paint and mechanical work. I bought it with the intention of refurbishing it and selling it. I don't want to drive it, despite it feeling like I own the road in this thing.

Other Work Needed:

I am debating replacing the heater blower motor as it is loud and largey ineffective. The 8 track still works great, and I left it in for collector reasons.

I would like to see new tires on it, but the fountain of money that got me this far has dried up. This finishing touch is up to the purchaser.

I would also like to see new shocks put on it. Although they are not direly in need of replacing, it would likely make the ride a little more stable.

Despite rebuilding the carburator, I did not want to monkey with the fragile electric choke mechanism. I have left it as it was, and the vehicle starts without trouble. However, it would be best replaced with a new, after-market factor replacement.

That is it. The vehicle is a well preserved specimen that, with the right owner, he would have a real gem of a vehicle. Please review the pictures below. There are a LOT of them in thumbnail format. Click on them for a full-blown version. They were taken with an 8 megapixel Canon D70 camera so the should show you any details. Please ignore the ugly surroundings as this is a dirty shop located out in the "Sticks."

NOTE: I am not just an idiot, the car DOES come with the shown heavy-dut Wolfe car cover from picture 59 below - a $159 value as it is brand new.

SELLER / OWNER INFORMATION

Rowan Smith
604-657-6775
rowanmsmith@gmail.com

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Seller Contact Information:

Rowan Smith
604-657-6775
rowanmsmith@gmail.com

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