I have a list of do's that never get done so I started taking my '50 Lincoln to local shops and my bank account took a nose dive. Some shops even damaged my rod! Like destroying the upholstery up front! Tore it all up. They denied it of course. What could I do? We are at the mercy of these crooks unless we can do it ourselves. I have run out of money now so I am putting my rod in the garage for this year and will try to fix the things that need fixing. I will be posting them one at a time so as not to overwhelm everyone. First one for now is the speedometer. Has never worked since I got the car 8 years ago. Any suggestions where to start? Nothing works, no speedometer, no odometer.
Start at the speedo cable that is linked to the trans. I have a 51 baby Lincoln. I was able to turn the gear at the back of the cluster and odometer works fine. It would be entirely mechanical so I would assume its disconnected or the gear is broke? If I get a chance I'll take a photo of it and post. If I remember correctly it looks like a cable you would use for tv. Posted using the tubbed Lead-sled with a blower H.A.M.B. App!
Good luck my man, I hear ya about the bank account issues, got the same. When the account went low with my ride, I bought the best thing anyone can buy, I bought an original shop manual off ebay. After getting the manual I just started taking everything apart according tothe manual and cleaning, as it turns out, I was able to fix most things, including the speedo just by taking it apart and cleaning it. You would be surprised how quickly a year can pass, with the bank account raising the whole time. again good luck my man. T
so, post a pic of car now. what kind of work did you have done to it? what needs to be done, besides speedometer? if you can, reach up to back of speedometer to see if there is a cable attached. if no cable attached try to spin the cable connection on speedometer by hand. it should move, even slightly would be a good sign. if there is a cable unscrew it from speedometer. there should be an inner cable ens sticking out. try to tun inner cable by hand, if will not turn that is a good sign. if it does turn it might be broken. if no inner cable that would explain why it does not work. etc.
The first thing you need to do is purchase an original factory service manual. I'm not talking about one of those fosdick Haynes manuals or Motors manuals, I'm talking an original or reprint of an original Factory Service Manual. I've been buying them from these guys forever.... http://www.faxonautoliterature.com/Search.aspx?c=6300
I've been interested in one of these manuals for awhile now. Do they have detailed instruction on items like window cranks tear down and other "trim" items? Thanks in advance Posted using the tubbed Lead-sled with a blower H.A.M.B. App!
There are no rules to eating the shit sandwich all at one time.......A bite here and there...... pennies make dimes.......Get it? Just tackle little things and mark them off the list. When you throw a check mark as done off your list,you'll feel a little more releived......It'll happen,just takes some time,plus+- you will have done it yourself!
Yep, that's why you want the factory manual; it has all that stuff. Do be aware though that if you have a car with multi-year bits on it, it may not cover everything as sometimes they're very year-specific. A 55 Ford car manual won't be completely accurate for a 56 for example...
Great! I will look at the link you posted. Thanks crazy steve Posted using the tubbed Lead-sled with a blower H.A.M.B. App!
The one sometimes bad thing about factory manuals is they'll sometimes specify special 'factory' tools for some procedures, so some ingenuity will sometimes be needed...
....nothing beats a factory manual. You can usually buy them at swap meets for maybe $30 and they are usually covered in grease and oil spots for a reason. They are the source material that the mechanics used back in the day. The instructions for disassembly are concise as are the rebuild and reassembly instructions and on top of that the beautiful exploded view illustration are gold...pure gold. Get one and good luck with your project....
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