Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Topic: Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners............. (Read 11649 times) previous topic - next topic

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #30 – January 22, 2015, 05:42:21 PM

Quote from: Haystack;443153

Could just swap a dohc into a crown vic....

now we're back to the Lincoln MKVlll

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #31 – January 22, 2015, 06:16:50 PM

Crown Vic is solid, less electronics to contend with, non-air suspensions, and a plus: they're everywhere.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #32 – January 22, 2015, 06:42:54 PM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;443290

Crown Vic is solid, less electronics to contend with, non-air suspensions, and a plus: they're everywhere.

X2, way less electronic and no air bags etc..............

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #33 – January 22, 2015, 06:43:13 PM

If you were closer I could put your son in a 2002 mercury grand marquis. 68k on the clock. Chestnut brown, tan leather, 35% window tint, catback exhaust, 3.55 gears, 99 svt cobra wheels, no accidents, for under $3000.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #34 – January 23, 2015, 06:42:42 PM

Well, turns out its now a moot point as I sold him an 03 Altima I had.

Funny thing, I'm trying to sell cars as a business, and I completely rebuilt the engine on that Altima with EVERYTHING! I also did away with the factory problems that caused the engines to fail in the first place which was gutting the "pre-cat", and putting locktite on the butterfly bolts in the intake.

Anyway, whenever I showed the Altima to anyone, and mentioned that I had completely rebuilt the engine [with all of the receipts] they would totally freak out. So it finally got to where I wouldn't even mention anything about the new engine. One lady I had look at the Altima this past weekend ask what my "trick" was to get the engine that clean, as her father owned a car lot, and used laundry detergent. I told her the "trick" was to pull the engine out, and rebuild it............lol. After that, she was no longer interested in the car.

So in having said all of that, I'm glad my son got the car as all of that hard work will be appreciated. Turns out the transmission finally went out on his Honda Accord. Looks like I will be doing a rebuild on the transmission as soon as the weather breaks, so I can get it up for sale. [I took the Honda as a partial trade].

Thanks for all of the replies as this has been a fun topic [for me].

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #35 – January 24, 2015, 11:45:06 AM

I've never understood the unfavorable reviews of the air suspension. That is one of the traits I really really liked. I had to replace the front set of air struts and it was a cake walk. No spring compressors to deal with and the parts weren't terribly expensive. I really enjoyed always having a level car no matter who was in it and how much was in the trunk. I also really liked the automatic lowering feature at speeds over 50 or 55 or whatever it was.

Like, really.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #36 – January 24, 2015, 12:01:00 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;442962

I wouldn't rule out a new car either. Yes, a new car is a horrible investment, but you are paying for peace of mind, not to mention modern amenities, fuel economy and safety gear. Plus it helps build credit, and there are plenty of options out there for under $200/month. Unless he puts a bunch of miles on, even a lease might make sense - he can walk away from it after three years, or he can hand in the keys, grab a brand new car, and drive away with the same payment...

This. A house is an investment, a car is not. However, if you never buy things like the new car, you don't build credit to buy things like the house. Nobody I know ever paid cash for a house. The earlier you start building the credit, the earlier you can make the bigger investments. Leasing isn't a bad idea for someone who can manage their mileage, but I don't know many younger people who have achieved that level of wisdom. #lookatthebiggerpicture

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #37 – January 24, 2015, 05:22:51 PM

I've been involved in the resto of air ride on a Continental (Lincoln Taurus, if you will). As Karl says, it's easy stuff. We replaced all 4 bags...think it cost my dad about 250 bucks. If you have to buy the whole things preassembled though, they really stick it in with out the lube. But if you can flip a wrench, buy the parts and fix yourself, it's cheap, and easy.

I'm not sure why people flip out over rebuilt engines...unless they had a car that had one done by a dumbass and it caused them problems. I'd rather have a higher mileage car/one notorious for engine issues with a rebuilt engine than one with lots of miles on the stock engine...except for a Caddy with a northstar..I want nothing to do with those shaged up pieces of dog . Lots of 'em in the junkyards...no damage...but the engine came apart. Good job, Cadillac.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #38 – January 26, 2015, 11:05:15 PM

Quote from: Cougars 2 go;442895

The problems in those cars tend to be focused on the area between the front bumper and the rear bumper. Address that spot and you're good to go.

I'd like to find my thread or post with the list of problems but I think that post was back in 2003 or 2004 or sometime around then. My Mark was a '96. Great concept/design, poor execution. The drivetrain should stay intact but I wouldn't risk the rest. Those cars aren't durable enough to be daily drivers. I like them and may have another one day but it will be a Sunday/limited driver only.

Wth are you talking about?

My '95 was fine.
Sure, the transmission was missing 4th gear, some slippage during shifting, leaking from the oil filter adapter, poor leakdown test results etc.

Still she ran like a champ for almost 20k miles until I parked her in the barn where she sits now because I'm working abroad.
-35C witohut engine heater, no problem. Go on a 1000 mile trip, no problems.
A car I could really trust. And that transmission, what a fighter! Slipping with only 3 gears for 20k miles and still working as when I bought, shiznitty but rolling. Never changed the oil or anything in that trans because the oil costs more than a used transmission from the junkyard.

There are ofcourse gremlins with these cars like for example the air ride suspension. Can be converted to coil overs.
I had zero troubles with mine. Took about 3 days and then the car was on the ground which in my opinion, isn't that bad.
My father had some issues and found a smashed O-ring. Fixed that and never had troubles again.

We have 3 Mark Viii's, they are good cars. Unfortinetly, I bought the shiznittiest most ghetto Mark Viii I could possibly find.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #39 – January 27, 2015, 01:50:03 AM

You can go to most any salvage yard here, and there's always 2 or 3 Mark VIII's in there. None or hardly any have body damage. That means the trans went out or the owners got scared of the so-called expensive to fix air ride.

SMH.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #40 – January 27, 2015, 02:45:56 PM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;443110

Some years ago...99, 2000 or so, I was at the local Ford dealer to get some parts I'd ordered. The parts counter is just inside the shop door, from there, one can see whatever is being worked on. I was pretty familiar with the people there, so when I saw the first County Sheriff's CVPI with it's hood up, I walked over to check it out.

It too had the DOHC 4.6. And right away, some mechanic I'd never seen before came up and told me I needed to walk away, that it was a prototype car and the public didn't need to know what it had.

But, as above, it was definitely a 4 cam 4.6 under the hood.

That was the first CV our sheriff's dept had...before that they used their own personal cars and the county reimbursed the deputies/sheriff for mileage, maintenance, etc.

Now the Sheriff drives some sort of chevy truck and it too has a not stock engine, and the chief deputy drives on of those bad-ass explorers..eco boost, or whatever. The city cops over in brookfield are running a couple of ex HP chargers now. Big times in Podunk, North Missouri.

I have no idea why a DOHC Crown Vic would be a "secret". The Marauder had the same engine. It wasn't some sort of crazy high tech thing. Did they think people would freak out? Even with a 300hp DOHC 4.6 the Marauder wasn't that fast (6.9 sec 0-60 and 15.4 1/4 mile) as it's lugging 4000lbs around. Hell a V6 Camry could stomp it in a drag race.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #41 – January 27, 2015, 05:13:05 PM

Quote from: thunderjet302;443509

I have no idea why a DOHC Crown Vic would be a "secret". The Marauder had the same engine. It wasn't some sort of crazy high tech thing. Did they think people would freak out? Even with a 300hp DOHC 4.6 the Marauder wasn't that fast (6.9 sec 0-60 and 15.4 1/4 mile) as it's lugging 4000lbs around. Hell a V6 Camry could stomp it in a drag race.

Probably for the same reason Ford built a couple of aluminum F150's in the previous body style and provided them to a fleet customer without even telling that customer (they were afraid that the customer's drivers would treat the trucks differently had they known, which would have affected the test results). Most manufacturers keep their prototypes secret, even going so far as wrapping a new platform around an old body, sometimes with hilarious results (google Honda S2000/NSX prototype).

It also isn't out of the ordinary for Ford to provide prototypes/developmental mules to police departments. Remember these?

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #42 – January 27, 2015, 05:37:54 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;443515

Probably for the same reason Ford built a couple of aluminum F150's in the previous body style and provided them to a fleet customer without even telling that customer (they were afraid that the customer's drivers would treat the trucks differently had they known, which would have affected the test results). Most manufacturers keep their prototypes secret, even going so far as wrapping a new platform around an old body, sometimes with hilarious results (google Honda S2000/NSX prototype).

It also isn't out of the ordinary for Ford to provide prototypes/developmental mules to police departments. Remember these?

The only way a DOHC Crown Vic makes sense is if it was testing a Coyote prototype. I have heard that there were some Coyote powered 6 speed Crown Vics built for testing purposes but they were only used in house by Ford.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #43 – January 30, 2015, 03:05:21 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;443497

You can go to most any salvage yard here, and there's always 2 or 3 Mark VIII's in there. None or hardly any have body damage. That means the trans went out or the owners got scared of the so-called expensive to fix air ride.

SMH.

That's the thing! It's not expensive the parts.
Just a bitch to work with. once it's fixed it will definetly not fail you for atleast 10 years.

Need some advice from Lincoln MK Vlll owners.............

Reply #44 – January 30, 2015, 08:00:33 PM

Wouldn't the air ride problem be cured with a set of coil over struts/shocks?

I just looked at a 97 MKVIII in a magazine today, and man those cars had good lines. I think the car would look good even if it was released today.

The transmission in the MK is supposed to be the holy grail of OD transmissions for the Ford performance crowd. I know the transmissions do need a little modding for really high hp, but they seem to really hold up well.....

Sure would be neat to have a MKVlll with a remote turbo kit [I did the remote turbo think with a Mazda B2200, and I really liked it. Of course I had to fabb everything myself], or supercharger. Maybe a 5.4l transplant for a little more TQ down low, but heck with turbos you really don't even need that much cid.