1962 Lincoln Continental

[Harry P.]

Curt, those '61-'68 Continentals did indeed have a B pillar albeit a very slender one.

Photobucket seems to be down (did the rapture get them???), so I can't post the photo... but I have a photo of a '61 Continental with the windows rolled down, and it clearly does NOT have a B-pillar.

???

[MrObsessive]

Harry, that may be a pre-production photo in which Ford may have come close to making the sedans pillarless. Somewhere along the line a change was made to give the car a B pillar.

Everyone I've ever seen had a full post when the doors are opened.

(not my usual style of posting as I'm doing this from my iPhone.)

[Harry P.]

Harry, that may be a pre-production photo in which Ford may have come close to making the sedans pillarless. Somewhere along the line a change was made to give the car a B pillar.

Everyone I've ever seen had a full post when the doors are opened.

(not my usual style of posting as I'm doing this from my iPhone.)

Bill, you may be right... but like Chuck, I could swear I remember those cars as having no pillar when the windows were down.

[Chuck Most]

I always remembered them as hardtops, my father just confirmed his '67 is in fact a pillared sedan. Seems kind of strange Lincoln Continental did not offer a hardtop sedan in the '60's now that I think of it! I might have to venture over to Dad's place and snap some pics of the '67- might be handy reference for that '66 promo I want to restore.

[Harry P.]

Sorry guys ,, Bill's absolutly right, those cars did indeed have pillars. [Don't know why anyone would even concider him being wrong, unlike other people ,, me for instance ]

But, Yea, do a Google or Bing image search,

I did do a google image search! That's how I found a photo of one with no B-pillar.

http://automobile.au...ntal/index.html

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/05/lincoln-continental-to-return-depends-on-who-you-ask/

[Skydime]

With or without B-Pillar, it looks good.

[Dr. Cranky]

Keep it going, Chuck. It's looking good.

[Jon Cole]

Steve-

I may be in my mid fiftees, perhaps my eyes aren't what they used to be. But I have enlarged that photo by 50%, and I see no mid pillar. And yet, they all had them(?) The car appears to be 100% stock, so why would a chrome trimmed post be painted black?

That makes me wonder if the photo of the blue '61 is a pre-production car. Because the converts had the pillarless door post, Lincoln would have had the part to build one. 1961 was the fist year of that body style.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Jon Cole

[Jim Gibbons]

Well I'll be...

Never remembered my father's '67 having a full B pillar. When I was a kid, I always wondered what would happen if the thing was in a side collision! That one was a 'stripper' model, as strange as it sounds- cloth seats, no AC, not even a radio! Like he used to say "This was the cheap-o one, made just for the guy who wants to say "I drive a Lincoln" but doesn't want the frivolous stuff."

Mine's staying a hardtop, though.

I have a book on vintage car wrecks, and the 4 door pillarless hardtops did not fair well in side collisions, especially the GM X frame era cars. I had a '58 Cadillac 4dr hardtop, and often thought the same thing.

[Harry P.]

That one does have the pillars Harry ,, they're juat painted black. The one on the driver's side is in the shadow but you can see a lighter line in the pic from the bottom of the pasenger's side window to the bottom corner of the rear window with a dark interuption where the driver's side pillar would be in front of it. The pasenger side pillar is just lined up with the vent window strip on the driver's door so it's also hidden.

What are the odds that the car would be shot at the precisely correct angle to hide the passenger side pillar behind the vent glass post???

If Bill is correct and all '61-'68 Continentals did in fact have B-pillars, then this is either a doctored photo or some sort of pre-production photo from Ford showing what a pillarless hardtop would have looked like. It's obviously a studio shot... maybe a "what if" from Ford.

[sjordan2]

I'm getting very confused here. All of the shots below are of a '62, all with B pillars. Could it be that the B pillar on the kit was molded on the kit glass, which was cut out?

EDIT: Hmmmm...Here's an AMT 1962 Continental promo (yours for a mere $480)

http://fast-autos.net/diecast-cars-models/AMT-1962-Lincoln-Continental-4-Dr-Ht-Promo-Model-Car_380319285616.html

Edited May 22, 2011 by sjordan2

[Chuck Most]

Nope- no side glass in the kit. But if you look at the car with the doors closed and the side windows up, the window frames straddle the B-post.

Oh- and said window frames are molded into the body. See the link to Jeff's WIP and you'll see what I mean.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Chuck Most

[Chuck Most]

Well... if I may interrupt the hardtop/sedan debate one key element is in place, the four cam Cobra 4.6 engine, robbed from an AMT Phantom Vicky kit. I cut out the frame crossmember and installed it backwards, and reshaped the oil pan to get it to hunker down in the Connie's ample engine bay. Still a few doodads to add underhood, but here's the gist-

[lowriderphil]

Very nice looking ride. I built a 67 a few years back for my first trip to the nnl nationals in Ohio. I mixed things up a bit by using the frame from a 62 catalina and the engine from a 69 torino cobra and sprayed it duplicolor orange mist. Keep it up I can't wait to see the finished product.

[MrObsessive]

Chuck that's lookin' mighty nice! LOVE that engine! I remember seeing a burgundy '64(?) done similar with TWIN turbos! Talk about tearing your head off!

Keep up the good work!

[Chuck Most]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, Bill I think I've seen that same car. I considered a supercharged 5.4 from a Revell Lightning (should pack enough punch to power one of these babies), but I thought the four cam 4.6 just plain looked cooler!

Phil- I remember that one pretty clearly. Didn't you start out with a promo body? I've toyed with the idea of running a modified new-tool AMT/Ertl '62 T-Bird chassis (unibody) under one of these.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Chuck Most

[Foxer]

I like all those plug wires all over the top ... do they go down into a cover on top of the valve cover?

Too bad for that sink mark on the wires end, thou ...

Edited May 23, 2011 by Foxer

[Chuck Most]

Yes, Mike- the wires are all molded as one piece, and the terminals at the ends fit into holes in the tops of the cam covers. I really need to black out the ends, it'll look better, and I can mask the sink marks.

[Chuck Most]

A bit of progress, seemingly minor stacked against the fact Jeff's traditonal '62 is almost done!

The interior tub has some weird, vestigial tab molded beneath the package tray. My guess is they're leftover from when the kit was retooled from drop top to hardtop after the initial convertible was put to pasture. At any rate, they led to some nasty waves and sink marks on the package shelf, so a little bit o' putty work was in order...

I also managed to finish up the detail painting underhood- still have to figure out the electric fan and a filler panel to cover up the screw posts. Might need to find a smaller battery... or 'move it to the trunk'...

[lowriderphil]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, Bill I think I've seen that same car. I considered a supercharged 5.4 from a Revell Lightning (should pack enough punch to power one of these babies), but I thought the four cam 4.6 just plain looked cooler!

Phil- I remember that one pretty clearly. Didn't you start out with a promo body? I've toyed with the idea of running a modified new-tool AMT/Ertl '62 T-Bird chassis (unibody) under one of these.

to the best of my knowledge it started life a kit, built up but unpainted, I swapped engines as the kit engine was literally a blob of glue, and I didn't like the lack of detail on the chassis or the fact that it was a unibody car.

[Randy D]

Hello Chuck, This is really looking good!! Like that motor

Randy

[Chuck Most]

Work on the interior has begun.

Kit had both seats molded in place-

That HAD to go. I first tried cutting them into buckets, but didn't like the way they looked, even after filling in the sides.

Made the seats go away, and made a huge mess of the tub. I've removed the front bench from a 1:1 car in the past, THAT wasn't as tedious as this!

And it STILL needs some work, but I filled in the gaping holes in the door panels, and grafted in the floor from a '65 reissue.

[lowriderphil]

Work on the interior has begun.

Kit had both seats molded in place-

That HAD to go. I first tried cutting them into buckets, but didn't like the way they looked, even after filling in the sides.

Made the seats go away, and made a huge mess of the tub. I've removed the front bench from a 1:1 car in the past, THAT wasn't as tedious as this!

And it STILL needs some work, but I filled in the gaping holes in the door panels, and grafted in the floor from a '65 reissue.

That's where I got stuck on my 63. I decided to make it a phantom two door (keeping it a suicide door), but when I cut the door out I realized the interior sits a good 3/16" above the sill plate and cannot find a replacement anywhere, one day I'll get back to it and figure something out.

[charlie8575]

Chuck, just as a thought, might it have been easier to simply remove the door-panels and detail those separately? I know some people will cut them off just behind the kick-panel area (where the dash goes) and at the back, and then re-glue them on. For that, I'd suggest using a small piece of flat stock up front and a perhaps an "L" at the back to help line things up if you think it needs it.

Charlie Larkin

[Chuck Most]

I did consider that, Charlie. In fact, I've done exactly that on a couple of models (neither of which are done yet ). But I'm thinking of keeping the door panels somewhat smooth, and I'm about 90% certain I'll add speakers to at least the fronts. Once that's figured out I'll proceed from there. Still not sure about how I'll do the center console, and that flat, lifeless package tray needs a little spicing up!

On the plus side- no need to order those Modelhaus repop taillamps- I had a spare '65 kit for parts, and the taillamps from that kit fit the '62 bezels perfectly. I was hoping to spray another coat or two of clear on the body today, as the trim is all foiled, but it's too humid. Can't wait until I build my spray booth...