David Long – a master mechanic that’s otherwise known as the purveyor of the Car Wizard YouTube channel – churns out some informative content on a regular basis, going over the Lincoln LS in detail and using a customer’s botched 1990 Ford F-150 as an example of why it’s so important to find a reputable shop – something that fellow YouTuber Brian Makuloco is quite familiar with, too. Now, Long is back with another interesting video, this time outlining why it’s getting difficult to work on older cars like this 1967 Lincoln Continental.
Though Long admittedly loves vintage vehicles and is almost finished working on this particular Lincoln Continental, he notes that there are many challenges associated with that sort of job these days. The biggest problem, it seems, is that parts are getting harder and harder to find, even for vehicles built as recently as the 1990s – let alone something decades older.
As such, Long isn’t really making any money by working on old vehicles like this one. In fact, because it took so much time searching for the parts he needed – 17 hours, in this case – that it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the customer or the mechanic to do so. Long could have easily tried to charge the customer the going rate for this kind of work, but didn’t do so, opting to take the loss himself.
As Long points out, this wasn’t an issue 20 years ago, when parts for older cars were plentiful. Given the fact that vintage vehicles are going to have issues pop up – oftentimes frequently – this is something that potential shoppers must really think about before plunking down their hard-earned money as well. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t make financial sense for Long to continue to work on vehicles such as this Lincoln Continental any more, and he’s admittedly turned away eight customers in just the past week for that very reason.
We’ll have more informative videos like this to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Lincoln news, Lincoln Continental news, and comprehensive Ford news coverage.
Comments
It’s as shame because I own a 1992 F-250 Diesel and the parts are cheap, very easy to put on, and the truck starts instantly hot or cold after I repaired it and it got it’s secondary break in at 120,000 which gave it even more boost of a power. I have the non-turbo one.
I heard a guy trying to start his later model F-250 tow truck and it looks like a recent model I estimate 2010 or later and was surprised it took him several seconds (4-5 maybe) to get it started (hot) after towing a car that I thought he was ready to tow it himself.
My only complaint is I can’t get an OEM dual tank switch (mine broke) for it and wired it for one tank only. Only cheap Chinese ones are available that I heard aren’t very good or reliable. I took one apart and they are made very cheaply compared to the American one which is ROBUST inside.
You tell the customer what you need, he sources it and while he does that you work on another car. It is about time management as many cars had inter-changeable parts. Late 60’s Thunderbird owners can use a lot of full size Ford and Lincoln parts. Trim is harder but with 3D printing anything is possible. Of course there are companies like NPD who offer great support to the aftermarket so that helps in making a car purchase decision.
If you’re going to take on an extreme specialty item and you’re not 100% prepared, shame on you. For this, or any 50s Lincoln/, Continental convertible and you are not on a first name basis with Kelly, and if the stars align and you’re not a jerk to deal with, HERB, you should be. Are their parts cheap? Not hardly. Did you live in a hot summertime overgrown field stripping cars for weeks at a time? Probably not. If a guy brings in a rare, ancient, specialty car and doesn’t expect to pay for all of the shop’s invested time, he needs to see the boot. This is an extreme specialty. You need to treat it as such.
When you’ve done your homework you’ll know who Kelly and Herb are.