'99 Lincoln Continental Refurbishment

[bradyelich]

Keep up the great work. Long story short, I sold my car to a cancer patient whom wanted it, so I fixed it up and sold it to her less than she offered me. Now I have to get my boys some other vehicle to drive after they get their license next year and the year after. All y'all keep your Conti's in nice shape, I may be needing two of them!

This is great the way you are showing us all your hard work.

 

[Svets96]

Keep up the great work. Long story short, I sold my car to a cancer patient whom wanted it, so I fixed it up and sold it to her less than she offered me. Now I have to get my boys some other vehicle to drive after they get their license next year and the year after. All y'all keep your Conti's in nice shape, I may be needing two of them!

This is great the way you are showing us all your hard work.

Thank you very much! I appreciate it. That's awesome how you helped someone out in need. Not to many people do that today unfortunately. I'm sure you'll find a cool car for your kids, just takes awhile.

 

[Svets96]

Ok so the rear rotors from Bendix are on back order again until Sept. 29, so I cancelled them. I had picked up the rears at O'reilly's they are from Brake Best Select part # BBR66406RGS Here are the front, rear rotors, and front, rear pads:

I have an appointment for Tuesday at 10am to get these installed. I'll have pictures of the new hardware installed. I also think that I will have this shop do my custom exhaust too. They will quote me on it.

 

[Svets96]

I started looking at aftermarket transmissions and parts. So far I read about Luk Schaeffler torque converters and Sonnax transmissions and torque converters. I requested a catalog from Sonnax to study the information about their parts. It is a very good company with great results. If you dudes need information go to sonnax.com and get their free catalog.

Still trying to figure out what I want to do with the drivetrain.

 

[Svets96]

I got everything installed today. They had to grind down the rear caliper pins because of rust. Nothing major the brake pedal feels softer. The car feels great with new brake hardware. I couldn't get good enough pics of the car in the shop, so I took one at home with the new hardware sorry for the bad angle.

 

[Svets96]

Tomorrow I plan on washing the car. I'll post a pic all cleaned up.

I didn't get an exhaust quote, however I'll play it by year for now.

 

[BILLBOATS]

Hi, I was very impressed with the care and restoration both inside and outside of your lincoln ls. I live in Akron Ohio. I drive a summer 1996 mark 8, 129,000 mi, never been in salt. Your car is just great looking and the engine is clean enough to eat off it. Very beautiful car.

 

[Svets96]

Hi, I was very impressed with the care and restoration both inside and outside of your lincoln ls. I live in Akron Ohio. I drive a summer 1996 mark 8, 129,000 mi, never been in salt. Your car is just great looking and the engine is clean enough to eat off it. Very beautiful car.

Hi Bill, thank you very much for your comment. My car can never be to clean! I'm always doing something to it. Your Mark VIII sounds like a very well kept gem, post some pics of it if you can.

 

[Svets96]

I had washed the car, and touched it up with some Megs QD.

Look at the water bead :

Took some pics in a parking lot, couldn't find any better place to snap them. Pearl white is some what hard to capture the shine in pictures for some reason. Maybe its me...

 

[Svets96]

So now I have 2 problems that have arisen.

1. Getting the coolant crossover cap off. I've read all the threads on LVC, I don't have a torch or anything to heat up the bottom of the cap....I did order a cap with a nut on it from this site.

2. My parking brake light will not light up on my dash when I put the parking brake on....I'm thinking I need a new switch?

 

[Svets96]

I do not need a new parking brake switch. So that's good. I had bought a new coolant cap: Thank you Jay

I have to take the car in to the dealer for a drivers seat belt spring in the retractor not retracting the seat belt properly. So I am going to make an appointment for next week.

 

[Svets96]

Here are 2 aftermarket companies that may carry parts for the Continental. I keep looking for companies who will stock various parts that need refurbishment. Like trim pieces and so on. I had called Lincoln Motor Company for assistance.

1. Green Sales Company 513-731-3304 www.greensalescompany.com

2. Vintage Parts 877-846-8243 www.vpartsinc.com

 

[Svets96]

Ok dudes well tonight I changed my coolant. I had used Napa's green antifreeze/coolant for Ford vehicles built 2000 and earlier. They had said it will work just like the Zerex Ford coolant. So I had followed the workshop manual for Continental.

I had bought a coolant cap from a member on this site,very well engineered piece:

Here is the old bypass cap:

Had some sediment at the bottom of the tank, I was going to take out the coolant recovery tank, but figured I would get everything professionally flushed out in the next couple years:

Here is the old coolant, I used tin pans to catch the coolant worked pretty well.

Let car idle up to NORM gauge was at the o no lights or warning messages came up. So evidently I did the procedure ok. Although I am working on getting the hot air to blow hot not cool to touch like it is right now.

 

[Svets96]

Cooling system is now bled and hot air is hot out the vents. Now that I dealt with this myself and got help from lincolnelite this car is perfect once again.

 

[Svets96]

So my power driver's seat quit working on me. It made a loud grinding sound. Here is what had happened I'll post a pic as to show you what you need to do if this happens. Brought the car home inspected under the seat where the electronics are in the DSM module. There was some minor dust on the wires and module itself, once I had cleaned it up I noticed there was a wire that was not seated properly the power seat switch clicked and it started to move seat. It is highlighted inside the yellow circle. Keep in mind this photo was taken upside down so my wire would be on the left if you looked at it in the car, also to point out any of these wires can come unhooked. I would result in you to check this first then fuses, before you were to spend any money.

DSM modules are being sold on Ebay.

 

[Svets96]

So I put the car in storage for the winter season on November 23rd would have still drove it but because it could snow at anytime and along with Holiday season idiot drivers all around I'm not chancing it. I had washed it with Dawn dish soap to strip all the old wax off. I planned to use a new kind of polish/sealant/wax I seriously was considering purchasing the Zaino kit. But walked away from it when I talked with a professional detailer who told me it was not worth it. There are far more superior products out there than Zaino which are also more cost effective in which I was told. So I ended up purchasing Britemax Polish and HD Poxy sealant and wax. Bought new clay bar and used Mothers QD as lubricant.

Yes I parked the car on carpet squares:

Dawn Dish soap:

BriteMax polish and HD Poxy, The HD has Montan wax in it its a Hybrid formula which is very durable:

 

[Svets96]

Steps include:

1. Wash with Dawn Dish soap (surprisingly the paint still felt smooth)

2. Clay bar with Mothers QD (paint still felt smooth after this procedure) I plan on purchasing a different QD when Mothers runs out.

3. Cleaned windows inside and out, vacumed the interior and put Megs leather cleaner and conditioner on leather.

4. Still have to put Britemax polish on at least 2 times, take off with orbital.

5. Put HD Poxy wax sealant on car let it sit for 24hrs. take off with orbital.

I will post pics of this process once its complete.

 

[Svets96]

Pic of car during clay bar process:

 

[Svets96]

Here is a picture of the hood, after I gave the car 2 coats of Britemax fine polish took polish off using an orbital polisher:

 

[Svets96]

Here are pics of the hood of the car after I had taken off the HD Poxy. One key procedure in using the HD is letting it sit on the paint the longer the better. I let it set for about close to 2 hours.

Hood with HD Poxy setting up:

Hood after HD was taken off with orbital:

 

[KevinD]

Very nice car, great condition. I have had a 1998 Lincoln Continental since 2000 and love it. A driver; first as a primary car now as a back up. It seems I've had all the usual maintenance issues and problems over the years and still enjoy the heck out of it. Looking at your post makes it more likely that I'd get another:cleaner, lower mileage and non-snow country !

 

[Svets96]

Very nice car, great condition. I have had a 1998 Lincoln Continental since 2000 and love it. A driver; first as a primary car now as a back up. It seems I've had all the usual maintenance issues and problems over the years and still enjoy the heck out of it. Looking at your post makes it more likely that I'd get another:cleaner, lower mileage and non-snow country !

Thank you very much! I hope you get another clean well kept Continental soon.

 

[Svets96]

I am now a member of Lincoln and Continental Owners Club (LCOC) It is a 1 year annual membership fee of $48.00. There are over 2500 members across the world, you receive certain discounts on certain things. The coolest discount that you get is Ford X-Plan discount when you buy or lease a new Ford or Lincoln vehicle. They have annual meet and greets all over the country so I encourage you to join. Two years ago they opened the Lincoln Heritage Museum they have JFK's X-100 Limousine there which I think moves around from other storage places. One of the Ford family members original and custom Continental Mark II Coupe, a very early February build of a Mark VIII Collectors Edition coupe, depression era Lincoln KB series Victoria's, and roadsters.

LCOC window cling:

 

[Svets96]

Got the car out of storage a couple weeks ago. Battery is going on 8 years now, which for a Duralast is pretty good in my book. Its only a matter of time when it depletes.

 

[Svets96]

I ordered a free Blackstone Labs oil analysis kit from their website: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ Anyone interested in getting a kit and paying for an analysis can get in touch with them with this link.