I just recently replaced the fuel pump on my Mark III. I thought that would have solved my problems for a while. When I started the car a couple of days later it did not idle as smooth as before though. I checked everything and when I touched one of the ignition wires I got an electrical shock. So I knew that I would have to replace the ignition wires and ordered some new ones with spark plugs. When I entered the garage the next day there were some fuel fumes in the air which one could smell pretty clearly. The new fuel pump was dry and after a while of searching I saw that the carburetor was leaking fuel out of the accelerator pump gasket…
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New diaphragm in place

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Tags:1971, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip, Lincoln, Carburetor, Autolite SP-459, Holley, Spark Plug Wire Routing, 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III, Mark III, Rebuild

Today I finally found the time to replace the leaking fuel pump of my 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III. It probably leaked because I did not drive the car for a longer period of time last year. It seems that there is a gasket inside which leaked when the car was parked for a few days. After a few minutes it would stop leaking, but of course this had to be fixed.

The fuel pump is not exactly easy to replace because of its location and very limited accessibility to the two mounting screws.
I had to remove the oil filter and also loosened the power steering pump....
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Changing fuel pumps normally is an easy repair - but getting the two mounting bolts out on the 460 engine takes a lot of patience.

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Tags:1971, Lincoln, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip, Restoration, Fuel Pump

This are my two winter projects for the 2018/19 winter:😞
The Mark III has a leaking fuel pump if it was parked for more than an few days... (It stops leaking after its running for 2 minutes...).
The 1978 Eldorado needs both CV boots replaced ( the original ones just came loose but did not rip after only 40 years slinging grease everywhere). The 78 will also need some minor exhaust work (welding) and either the EGR valve needs to be replaced or the accelaration pump in the carburetor has a problem... it won’t get boring in the dead car season… I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to spend any…

The two "patients" in the shop

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Tags:Restoration, 1978 Cadillac Repair Tip, 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, 1971, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip, CV Boots, Fuel Pump

I thought that changing a simple light bulb would not be a big problem but a pretty self explaining thing. The transmission indicator bulb in my Mark III did no longer work. So I thought I could change it quickly and order a bulb. (the one I got from rockauto.com does not fit btw..) Its bulb #1445 you need - thats the correct one as you can see in the owner manual.

The owners manual lists all the bulbs you need. One should order them by part number.

The shop manual for the Mark III is not very helpful when you try to change the transmission control selector indicator light...

I had no idea where to start so I contacted the excellent Lincolnforum where I got some very helpful tips.

2sasilverbullet sent me the following two pictures below to show what covers have to get removed to be able to access the indicator bulb.

© 2sasilverbullet

©2sasilverbullet

You have to carefully remove these covers and you then get access to the bulb.


with the bulb already removed


The bulb is then inserted into the hole where you can see the finger.

After the bulb is replaced its pretty tricky to put the covers back into place. Be very careful to not break the plastic covers!

Tags:1971, Lincoln, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip, Mark III, transmission control selector indicator light

My 1971 Lincoln always looked very nice and shiny when you looked at it from a distance, but I had a really hard time keeping the black paint in good shape. I applied a lot of coats of wax to hide swirl marks, fine scratches and other paint imperfections.
I even had the car at a professional detailer to have some of the paint corrected - but he gave up and said that there is nothing he could do for me as the paint would be too soft...
The paint really is very soft, and you could even make swirl marks with a soft microfiber towel...
The detailer left some wet sanding marks behind on the trunk lid, which were a big sore in my eyes.
So I decided to correct the paint by myself.

I bought the best dual action polisher on the market - the Rupes BigFoot 21. This is a professional machine which can correct all serious paint defects and bring the paint back to perfect condition. It takes some practice to do it correctly, but its not very difficult to do. I can't recommend this polishing machine enough!
See my previous post to check out the correct technique.
I also bought the complete Rupes foam pads, compound and polishes system, and the results are amazing.
The swirled and scratched paint came out like a mirror!
I´m very happy with the outcome.
I also did some touchups on some small stone chips and wet sanded some areas.

You can see the before and after pictures below.

I finally bought a professional polishing machine. The Rupes BigFoot 21. It's a great and very effective tool!


I removed the CONTINENTAL letters to be able to polish the hood better

Look at all the fine swirls and scratches

I will also restore the letters, as some of the black paint has polished off over the years...

Repainting the letters

The paint before and after polishing - as you can see all the imperfections are gone.

You can see all these fine scratches and haze and some wet sanding marks that were left behind from the professional detailer.

All scratches and imperfections are gone after polishing!

The Mark III looks spectacular after the paint correction. I have to reinstall the restored letters now.

The restored letters are back on the car. As you can see I´m very happy with the result.

The polished car

Tags:1971, Lincoln, Continental Mark III, Paint correction, Rupes, Bigfoot, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip

Today I got some new pictures from Brian, the previous owner of my Mark III, who is doing the final refinements before the car will be picked up next week.
He got a new set of replacement speakers for the car The right one had a tear in the cone. The left wasn't that bad, but the mounting part was starting to crumble.  Brian removed the wiring harness from the old speakers and soldered them onto the new, so they would plug in correctly.  He is a professional philharmonic musician and he said that they sound much better, no distortion and better frequency response. Brian got the speakers from the same source where I got the ones for my Cadillacs before - from Greg Thompson from Turnswitch.
Skip, the upholstery guy, installed the new trunk carpet - and as you can see on the pictures below - it turned out beautifully. He also installed a new windlace on the drivers side - which turned out perfectly as well. As you can imagine I´m really looking forward to finally get the car ;-)
When Brian thought that everything was fixed the alternator went out - so he replaced it as well and even installed a new battery! AWESOME! The speed control was also fixed and works perfectly too!

The windlace before

and after it was replaced...

The old connectors were soldered to the new replacement speakers

The old speakers

The new speaker installed on the drivers side...

...and the passenger side

The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip

The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip

The new trunk carpet - perfectly installed by Skip

Tags:Windlace, Speakers, Trunk lining, Alternator, 1971, Continental Mark III, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip

While my 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III is still in the USA and waiting for the shipment to Austria, the seller was so kind to have some things fixed on the car.
The padding underneath the drivers seat became very dry and crumbled. So he took the car to his upholstery guy to have some new foam installed. While the car was there, they also installed a new trunk carpet set, a windlace and repaired the front window mechanisms to work perfectly.
I cant thank Brian enough for having all these little things done before the car is leaving. He will also install a new set of original front speakers, fix a heater valve and repair the acceleration function of the speed control. He also already installed a new inside rear view mirror as the old one was “blind“.
Thank you Brian!

The foam underneath the drivers side was crumbling


pretty big hole


not much left


the new seat padding under construction


the finished new seat padding

Tags:Seat Padding, Foam, 1971, Lincoln, Continental Mark III, Lincoln Mark III Repair Tip