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Car Model : Lincoln Capri
Year : 1954
Date of Purchase : 2002
Cost of building : $60,000
How long to build : 8 months
Who helped you and how ? Tom Davidson
Won the 2005 Pan American
Suspension, Breaks and Chassis
lowered by Approximately 4”
Skid Plates added
Front Shocks : Bilstein
Rear Shocks : Bilstein
Front Brakes : Lincoln Disks 1979 Lincoln Towncar
Rear Brakes : Ford Truck
Break Lines (copper/braided, ect) : Steel & braided
Wheels : Size : 15x8
Tires : Firestone Firehawk P225/70R15
Roll Cage : Yes, full front to back
Arms beefed up, sway bars, Chevrolet truck steering box, power steering
Ignition : Dave’s Distributors
Spark Plugs : Champion
Coil : MSI
Any other ignition parts used : MSI
Exhaust
Manifold and make : Mike Leach Headers, with electric side exhaust cut-outs
Muffler :
Transmission
Make and year : Ford C6
Shifter : Art Car
Gear Ratios : Auto
Differential/ratio/final drive : Currie Rear End and Axles 3:50 Ration
Clutch:
Body and Interior
Style : 2 Door
Year : 1954
Fiberglass parts : No
Bodywork completed by : Technology Auto
Paint Color : Red & White
Graphics, Color : Lots
Mirrors : Yes
Dashboard stock or custom : Custom dash by Body Guys
Stereo (make, tape, CD) :
Amplifier :
Equalizer :
Speakers :
Steering Wheel : Grant
Seats (front) : Beards
Seats (back) : N/A
Safety Belts : Crow
Upholstery material and color : BLack & Grey
Carpets :
Who completed the upholstery ? 2 Guys Auto Upholstery
Electric add-ons (windows, ect) :
Any other interior features or trim mods : GPS & Rally Meter
Engine
Make, model, year : Lincoln 1954 V8
Bore : 3.94
Stroke : 3.5
Case modifications : Exterior Oil Cooler - Hi Torque Starter
Who completed the case machining ? Bates Engineering
Crankshaft, make, type and size : Stock - Sonny Bryant Rework
Rods : Stock
Pistons, make, size : Seal Power
Rings : Seal Power
Compression Ration : 9.1
Bearings : Stock
Flywheel type and weight :
Oil Coolers : B&M
Oil Filter : Remote
Oil Pump : Heavy Duty
Fuel Pump : Facet
Camshaft : Bates Hi-Pro
Lift and duration : .500 272 degree duration
Heads, make and model : Stock
Ported : Slightly
Polished :
Who did the port and polish work ? Bates Engineering
Valves, intake, size, material : Silichrome 2.000”
Valves, exhaust, size, material : Nickel Chrome Alloy 1.500”
Carburetor make and model : Holly
Size :
Quantity : One
Inlet Manifolds : Ford Truck
Air Filters : K&N
Approximate Horsepower : 300
At what RPM : 4,200
Torque : 368.2
Any other modifications to the engine : Electronic Ignition - Custom large oil pan
2005 La Carrera Panamericana Mexico Rally
14 Days in October
On OCtober 17, 2005 Team Kennedy in car #407 left Orange, California headed for Tuxtla - Guitierez Mexico via Laredo Texas. Jon and Midge Kennedy along with Mike Schlinger and Tom Davidson loaded up in the motor home with the Hot Rod LIncoln loaded on a trailer in tow and made the 6,000 mile trip south of the border.
The trip had its share of trials and tribulations. The first day out found us in El Paso, Texas looking for new transmissions for the motor home which set us back by an entire day so we had time to make up right off the bat. The trip was a breeze after that until we reached Mexico City and a chance encounter with Mexico Federalies. A word of warning here- don’t use a cell phone when your driving in Mexico, even if you are lost. As a matter of fact don’t use a cell phone anywhere in the world when you are driving! If you plan on using your cell phone in Mexico make sure you have plenty of cash to buy your way out of trouble.
The trip proceeded smoothly from there to Tuxtla-Guitierez where we arrived on October 20th. We checked into out hotel and got old 407 ready for the race and had the first round of roat trials to get the cars and drivers ready to run. Transmission problems seemed to be the theme for team 407 as we lost the transmission in the race car and searched franticly for a shop that could help us. Senor Oney Cruz came to the rescue and at 3:00 AM had us ready to compete that morning.
Day 1 with Jon Kennedy driving and Midge Kennedy as the navigator we headed the 538 Km to Oaxaca where 407 finished in first place for day one. Day 2 brought out the “B” team of Mike Schlinger and Tom Davidson who switched of as driver and navigator during the day. 446 Km later we entered the town of Puebla in second place. We were a bit embarrassed after Jon Kennedy had built a nice lead for Davidson and Schlinger to squander, but the embarrassment worked to our advantage, because we never looked back after that.
The driver teams switched off each day after that as we wont Day 3, the 465 Km section from Puebla to Morelia. Day 4 took us 569 Km from Morelia to Aguaclientes again as winners. The afternoon was spent at the race track in Aguaclientes where we pitted against a Canadian team in their 911 Porsche and an American team in a vintage Corvette. Mike Schlinger was the driver of the day as Tom Davidson was the navigator, momentarily. After the first 4 turns where Davidson was shouting turns to Schlinger and we were whipping around turns, navigator Davidson realized that Schlinger had spent many hours at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California at racing school, and threw down the service book, tightened his seat belt and enjoyed the rest of the ride as we blew by the Canadian team and watched the corvette team spin out of sheer fright as we blew past everyone and increased our lead on the field by a substantial margine- what a day, what a ride!
Day 5 took us 256 Km. from Aguacalientes to the beautiful towns of Zacatecas with an even larger lead. Zacatecas is an old silver mining town with a great stretch of road known as “La Buffa.” Day 6 we were scheduled to race “La Buffa”, but one of our race teams had a bad accident (thankfully, everyone survived fine, but racing was canceled for the day). One thing that was not cancelled was the “burro walk” and that took place that evening with all the race teams following a burro laden with tequila lead by a vaquero or cowboy around town. This burro walk is one of “high” lights of the trip with some heavy drinking by all.
Day 7 took us the 678 Km. from Zacatecas to Nuevo Laredo where the race ended with Jon and Midge Kennedy again finishing first in the Original Class.
7 days and 3,048 Kilometers later without one mishap to old 407 we finished the race in first place!
What an experience, what a race with suck storied history. It’s almost like a fairy tale.
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