1963 Lincoln Continental

                        1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible                                  

This is a Lincoln Convertible you are drawn to as soon as it comes into view.  It's a fact that this 1963 Lincoln Continental never looked this stunning coming directly from the factory in 1963.  If you take a close look at the pictures and description of this Lincoln Convertible you will see that the term “Total Restoration” clearly applies to this beautiful car.

While this Lincoln Convertible involved several years of restoration, performance building, and spared no expense to complete, it is priced well below what you would spend for an old 1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible and start from scratch to build this same Lincoln continental Convertible. This Lincoln Continental Convertible needs nothing but a new owner who will appreciate the quality of this showstopper and is ready to enjoy all the performance improvements in this build that were not available in1963.

The work detailed below summarizes the upgrades completed to deliver this classic and stunning Lincoln Continental Convertible, which will make the potential new owner the envy of anyone who lays eyes on it.

Exterior Body:

1.       The main components of the body are original: Trunk lid, doors, hood, fenders, bumpers etc. No reproduction on the above parts, “real” steel.

2.       The Lincoln convertible was disassembled, taking the front end completely apart; doors, hood and trunk removed, then body and parts were sent out for total media blasting to get 50+ years of rust and paint off the Lincoln.

3.       Next the convertible was assembled and body and parts made laser straight then fitted to perfection to get all the lines and gaps just right. 1963 Factory fitting could not compare to this Lincoln Continental Convertible today.

4.       Next up was paint. Original color was Spanish Red from the factory in 1963, this color was very dated so we stayed with red but used a red tint base coat and many coats of clear, and this really made this paint job have the “Wow” factor.

5.        Note: paint was not just done on the parts that show, many parts were painted on both sides which takes considerably more work but makes the job a real restoration.

6.        Finally, as the Lincoln was at the point where it could have sound deadening applied to the total interior of the Lincoln ,trunk area and under side were coated with 9 gallons of Lizard skin product that's used for sound deadening and also a heat barrier. This process totally makes heat, body rattles, and road noise a thing of the past.

7.       All the exterior chrome on the Lincoln --and there was a lot of chrome----was sent out for chroming along with many pieces of stainless that had to be straighten and polished. For a custom look all the door handles were recessed in the doors with “Silent hands” custom door handles. Very cool touch.

8.       All the window glass and rubber weather-stripping around windows, doors, hood, decklid, and windshield are all brand new and have today's advanced glass and rubber technology versus 1963 products.

Just to recap what has taken place with this body is an example of what should be done to a 50+ year old Lincoln Continental Convertible. Anything less is just a new paint job on a very old Lincoln Continental Convertible.

 Suspension and Drivetrain:

1.      Because 1963 Lincolns do not have a complete front to rear frame, the suspension is two parts (Front and rear).  All parts of the old front and rear suspension was removed from the Lincoln and replaced with a suspension built by a company called Choppin Block.  This company has developed a front control arm stage 2 kit and rear triangulated 4-link system suspension for these Lincolns that allows the Lincoln to drive and ride like a brand new Lincoln.  In addition to the updated suspension the Lincoln rides on a special controlled air bag system and Ride –tech shock sat all 4 corners that can place the Lincoln on the ground or cruise it in comfort down the highway at any speed. 

2.      All the new suspension parts were powder coated black.  New bushings were installed in the front core support, new body mounts were installed. All these products are made from today's available materials versus the old 1963 materials which will give the Lincoln a more solid feel going down the road.

3.      A new power steering box replaced the original old steering box, along with new lines, power steering pump at the engine and a remote power steering reservoir mounted on the left side of the core support.

4.      All the old Drum brakes and master cylinder are all gone. The new braking system is a brand new product built just for this Lincoln by Wilwood Brakes which has 16” drilled and slotted rotors and 6 piston calipers front and rear supported by a new master cylinder and vacuum booster. Stopping on a dime now will give you change.

5.      The original Lincoln 430hp engine was rebuilt from the ground up with the best parts available in today's market. For flawless performance the FASTCFM XFI THROTTLE BODY fuel injections system along with a MSD distributor to ensure reliable performance.

6.      The radiator was built to hold 25qts coolant so overheating would not be an issue. All plug wires and under the hood power cables are brand new and installed so that the engine compartment has that clean uncluttered appearance.

7.      This is a big vehicle so you need a strong 3 speed turbo- drive automatic C6 transmission, straight driveshaft, and rear-end with289 gears that were all completely rebuilt and ready to deliver power to the ground.

8.      Talking about power to the ground you must have tires and wheels that will deliver and when you see the choice that was made for this Lincoln Continental Convertible you will agree that the LEXANI Custom 22 x 9wheels with polished lip and natural center wheels are the right choice. The wheels are mounted with TOYO 255/30ZR-22 tires.

 All the above suspension and drivetrain changes have taken this Lincoln Continental Convertible from an outdated vehicle that no one would enjoy driving it on today's highways to a Lincoln Continental Convertible that drives straight, corners perfectly, rides smooth, and has power at all speeds and best of all flies down the freeway at today's speeds should you want to enjoy that experience.

 Interior:

1.       The electrical system required operating modern equipment like A/C, high voltage alternators, power windows/Doors, power convertible top, lights and sound systems requires the best batteries available and that's what in the battery tray.

2.       The electrical wire harness not only supplies power to all the things mentioned above it also supplies all the power to the exterior lights like headlights, taillights, turn signals, flashers, and all of the interior  electrical  needs. In summary this was a total rebuild of the 50+ year old wiring harness making it a modern age harness that can support the power needs of this ensure safety of the Lincoln Continental Convertible.

3.       Now that we understand the wiring harness and power system changes, let's consider the interior of the Lincoln starting with the brand new dash padded in matching Ferrari leather. This new pad not only replaces the 50+ year old dash pad it is home for the special built Dakota Digital gauges that fit into the restored dash bezel.  The new gauges by Dakota Digital not only show you Fuel, water, oil, and voltage they monitor everything from the clock to setting the speedometer. This didn't happen back in 1963.

4.       Classic Autoair created the A/C unit for this Lincoln and as this Lincoln Continental wa not an original A/C car so custom vents were designed and installed in the center dash console

5.       All the seats were taken totally apart and rebuilt to today's standard for comfort. No more old rusty frames and smelly upholstery. The new leather is more than just leather it is Euro leather Dark saddle in color with Sand Beige Napa Porsche leather color inserts.  Absolutely stunning.

6.       The carpet in the entire Lincoln to include the trunk is made from Saffron German Mercedes Benz velour material which takes the interior to the level of luxury needed for this beautiful car.

7.       To finish off the look of the Lincoln Convertible the soft convertible top needed to be perfect in color and mounting. This Convertible top hit the mark; it is made from Aero 2000 beige top material with a German made tinted plastic rear window.

8.       While the Convertible top is gorgeous, does it work with all the old equipment that's dated back to 1963? Hardly, everything that works the convertible top has been replaced or rebuilt, then worked to get adjusted so that it works like today's convertible tops.

9.       There is always a center piece to every dash and this time it is the state of the art Arc Audio stereo system. The audio system has its own battery using monster cables to speakers in every door and the sub-woofer custom built into the trunk.

10.   There are many small things like dash knobs, electric window and power door switches that needed to be all rebuilt to work and look as new as the day the Lincoln left the factory.

Closing comments: the building of the interior of this Lincoln Continental took a great deal of content because there is so much to this beautiful car. While there is just no way to capture every detail in the interior I'm sure your eyes can capture the beauty of this convertible.

Summary:

There is a great deal of detail in this description because if you are interested in owning this 1963 Lincoln Continental  Convertible, you will need to compare every little detail in this description to other Lincoln Continentals you might consider owning,

This Lincoln Continental Convertible is not only a stunning beauty; it has been restored the right way in every detail to bring it to this final stage.

Based on the labor and parts that it took to complete this wonderful example of a 1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible you have the opportunity to own it for  less than half of the cost for you to build one yourself.

I have driven this Lincoln Convertible to ensure that all the details were tested and up to expectations. Contact me for further questions. Sale price is $160,000.  Contact me and we can discuss.

Also published at eBay.com

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