1956 Lincoln Mark II: Basic one step detail

[Uber Auto Conditioning]

This car comes from a great customer of mine that I get a lot of repeat business from but I hadn't seen this particular vehicle before. Overall the car was in good shape and for being an older classic the paint and body work was actually holding up very well. With restored cars you never know what you are going to get but this one was a pleasant surprise and a joy to work on. Let's get started with some "before" pics...

A few water spot issues on the roof and doors etc







Lightly soiled interior, nothing atypical.





Overall, not in bad shape at all



I started as I usually do, cleaning wheels. P21S was used and was allowed to dwell for 5-10 minutes. Optimum Power Clean took car of the tires and got the white walls looking right.




The rest of the washing process was carried out using a foam bath with CGCW/OPC and the 2 bucket method. Car was dried with Master Blaster and waffel weave towels.

Interior was in decent shape too but slight improvements were made to "freshen" the look. Einsett 1 Z cockpit cleaner was used in conjunction with various brushes and compressed air. All carpet was vacuumed and lightly shampooed. A touch of 303 Aerospace protectant was used on trim and upholstery to give it a nice look with a bit of UV protection.

Left side dirty, right side looking right!





Found some dust




All better






Side Note: When dealing vintage/classic/restored cars the chances of the interior being repaired, re dyed, and all around "not factory" are increased exponentially by the age of the car. It is always good practice to do test spots on any car you work on but it is ESPECIALLY important on older vehicles like this.
I knew there was upholstery work done on the front seats of this car and I ended up using a more diluted and lighter cleaning approach than I normally do because I didn't like how the cleaner was reacting with the material. Taking your time and using caution can save a car from extensive damage and costly repairs.

Moving on to the exterior, the vehicle was prepped with Pinnacle Ultra Poly clay and ONR as a lubricant. Not too much contamination as the car is garaged and not driven all that much.



3M masking tape was then used to mask any trim in an effort to protect it from possible damage by the polishing steps to follow. Also the tape helps with excessive compound in the cracks and crevices that can take a long time to remove. I think it is always easier to spend 10 minutes masking rather than cleaning compound out with q tips and brushes later.



This car was just scheduled for a basic one step to brighten the finish a little bit. There was some deeper damage but on such a light colored car it was hard to see and probably not worth the extra expense to correct everything. There was what looked to be a garage door scuff on the roof, like it got closed on the car or something.



I did use some 105 on that area and got it mostly removed. Other than that, polishing was performed with a FLEX 3401VRG and a 5.5 Lake Country flat white pad using Meguiars 205.




After a quick Isopropyl Alcohol wipe down to remove polishing oils, lubricants, and carriers, the finish was then ready for a LSP or last step product. For this car I used Chemical Guys Blacklight.



After shots












Thanks for looking,

Mark Seidenstricker
Uber Auto Conditioning
Minneapolis, MN
763-772-6283


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[Underdawg736GTC]

That's a sweet looking Lincoln! What did you do, hop into the Delorean and went back in time? Awesome job, she probably looks better now then when she rolled off the line 56 years ago!

[mnewxcv]

Please rehost the pics! Would love to see this


Sent from my iPhone

[Ron Ketcham]

Nice work!
An "inside story" on these series of Mark's from an old Ford employee told to me 25 years ago.
He said that the "Duce" was visiting the production line and noticed that a box of "star washers" had a small flaw of metal that the press had not removed when they were produced.
He had dictated that when a Mark was assemblied, wherever possible, star washers rather than normal lock washers be used, which is why one finds so many of them when restoring a Mark of this series.
When he found those washers with the small cosmetic flaw, called the line supervisor to the line, had all boxes of star washers inspected and any with the flaw were removed from the line.
He then contacted purchasing and informed them that they must contact the supplier and inform them all the flawed washers were being returned and if they ever sent such poor quality products to Ford again they would be removed from the approved supplier list!
The fellow who shared this with me should know, Ernie ran two assembly plants for Ford during his 40+ years with Ford and in his final 6 years with them, was the number one "field trouble shooter" for any concerns that came up with vehicles.
At one time, before J D Powers and corporate bean counters, who only believe in "numbers" ,there were people at car companies that actually cared about the products they were part of producing.
Grumpy

[Accumulator]

Uber Auto Conditioning- Hey, nice job on a swell Classic! Heh heh, I see you discarded the pine tree air freshener

I bet the owner hadn't realized how soiled the cream-colored part of the interior had become!

Ron Ketcham- Cool story. I doubt the powers that be these days are even remotely concerned with such stuff.

[Brad B.]

What an awesome car! I bet the owner was really happy with the re-fresh of his classic. Nice work.

[ZimRandy]

Nice work on an iconic car. My neighbor did a frame off restoration on one many years ago.

Those Mark II's have an interesting history, too.
1956-57 Continental Mark II | Hemmings Motor News

When it debuted as a 1956 model in October of 1955, the $9,966 Mark II was one of the heaviest American cars extant at 4,825 pounds without air conditioning, 5,190 pounds so equipped. Riding on a 126-inch wheelbase, it stretched 218.4 inches long and sported a low 56.25-inch roofline. The original Lincoln-Continental's proportions remained, with the Mark II's hood stretching a massive 70 inches. Under that hood was a standard Lincoln engine and drivetrain; the 368-cu.in. V-8 was overmatched by the car's weight, offering a 0-60 mph time of just under 16 seconds and an indicated top speed of 118 mph.

The Continental Division instituted a seven-point quality-control program, and each Mark II required twice as many man-hours to build as did a contemporary Lincoln. The quality of materials used in these cars was one of their best attributes, as Ford felt everything in their flagships should be the best. The standard four-way power front seat could be covered in blemish-free Bridge of Weir Scottish leather or a number of fabrics including matelasse, brocade and broadcloth; in all, there were 43 standard upholstery trim choices to complement the 19 standard exterior lacquer finishes. Other standard features included power steering, brakes, antenna and windows with tinted glass, a dual heating system, premium Travel-Tuner AM radio with two speakers, self-regulating electric clock, fully carpeted trunk and an engine dress-up kit. The Mark II was so comprehensively equipped that the only option offered was air conditioning, and if so built, the condensing unit was housed in the trunk and four registers were set in the headliner to deliver cool air to the occupants.

Randy

[DaGonz]

It's nice to see an iconic classic grace these forums.

[Uber Auto Conditioning]

That's a sweet looking Lincoln! What did you do, hop into the Delorean and went back in time? Awesome job, she probably looks better now then when she rolled off the line 56 years ago!

Ya doc brown hooked me up, getting back to present time was the tricky part though. Thanks for the comments!

Please rehost the pics! Would love to see this

Not sure why you can't see them, anyone else having problems?

Uber Auto Conditioning- Hey, nice job on a swell Classic! Heh heh, I see you discarded the pine tree air freshener

I bet the owner hadn't realized how soiled the cream-colored part of the interior had become!

Ron Ketcham- Cool story. I doubt the powers that be these days are even remotely concerned with such stuff.

The owner was very pleased, as was I, with the outcome. I love cleaning those little things that don't really jump out at you as being "dirty" but once they are clean it freshens the whole look

Ron: Thanks for sharing that cool story. I agree that it might be hard to find that "quality" factor in today's car factories.

What an awesome car! I bet the owner was really happy with the re-fresh of his classic. Nice work.

The owner and his friend both really liked the job I did and gave me compliments on separate occasions. His friend might be a potential new client in the future.

Randy: Thanks for the fun facts. When I do older classics like this I like to do a little research before hand and read up on them. It is unreal the kind of stuff you can find out and it is cool to read about, then check it out in person when working on the car. I couldn't believe this car had AC.... in 56.

[Scottwax]

Wow, that's some really wet looking paint!

[C. Charles Hahn]

Now THAT is a true piece of rolling art! '56 was a good year for cars for sure.

[mnewxcv]

Not sure why I can't see the pics. Only the first one works for me. The rest have the photobcket icon saying this picture or video has been moved or deleted. Maybe it has something to do eith me being on my phone. I'll check later. Hope to see it then!


Sent from my iPhone