1988 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 148k
Click on the thumbnail to see the full picture.
Modifications:
Nothing yet.
She is stock.
My wallet has all it can do to keep it on the road at this point.
Perhaps when I get done with the "Chase the Leak" game.
As soon as I fix one, another starts.
History
I got her in trade for a strip down model '91 Ford Escort Wagon with 100k and needing 4 tires and front-end work. I had just paid $1200 for the Escort from my place of work, when this came through the door as a trade-in. My boss was looking to get $1100 from the auction for the Mark w/ 144k. Needless to say, the Escort went to the auction; I kept my girl. I think I got the better deal on that one.
Not to say that she was in perfect shape. She was rough, looking and running. Looks can be deceiving. I am a detailer by trade, and soon had her shining and pretty once again. She had a rust spot starting along the bottom on both sides. I took the pad off my high speed buffer, stuck on a grinding disk, and went to work. The rust had not gone though, so she is bondo free! Sanded her smooth, put five coats of truck bed coating and five coats of black trim paint along the whole bottom part below the lower molding, and she looks better than new. Took about four hours (the pictures do not reflect the work).
The running problem was not so easy, however. Her noisy fuel pump became eerily quiet. I changed that by myself, which most definitely would not fall into the category of my favorite activities. While I had the tank out, I sent it to be cleaned and they welded some new metal to the hole openings and reformed them (they were thin from rust, it was cheaper than buying a new tank). I ground off the rest of the rust and gave it the old truck bed coating trick (good stuff).
She also did not like to run at idle. I was hoping this was caused by the pump going bad, but was not so lucky. Lucky for me, my dad has a good friend in a Ford dealer, who new the common parts on the fuel injection unit that go bad. There are three of them that should be replaced every 60k, but had not been, as they usually are not until they go bad. I replaced them one at a time, each one making it a little better. After all three and the PCV and little screen under it were changed, she purred like a kitten. Unfortunately, she purred a little too much when I turned the wheel. So too the mechanic she went, first the hose on the power steering was leaking, so he put on a new one. This fixed for two weeks, then that humming again. Next to go: the seal around the pulley for the power steering pump was bad and spraying fluid. So now she has a new pump. The front seal is leaking in the transmission, so that is next.
The seats are shot, but from others I have seen, I am not alone with this problem. It seems Ford uses some real sorry leather. The next $2000 I have to spare, I'll take care of that. Needless to say, I do believe I will have ripped seats for a good long time to come. LOL
As soon as I get some time, I will take better pictures to put on here. These were taken while the camera and I got used to each other; they are not my best work.
Update: It now has a new water pump. One more leak down.
I have switched to Mobil1 synthetic oil, will keep the site updated to anything resulting from this change.
I took the silencer out of the air intake. It has more engine noise and seems to respond quicker. Definitely a worth while hour spent.
Scratch the Mobil 1... at $4 a quart and a quart a week, it was getting a bit expensive. I switched back to regular oil. Immediate difference in consumption, but also in that rough start, both in noise and idle. I just threw some MotorUp in her at 160k. Took about 200 miles, then there was a definite difference. She was back to idling smoother and sounded better. Used the GearUp by the same company for the transmission while I was at it. Improved shifting seems to be coming from that, slowly, but it is there. She was getting a little rough shifting and was starting to shift weird. I guess hunting for the gear might explain it, but not really. Just wasn't right! Well, after, a guess, 400 miles, she is starting to get back to normal shifting again. They claim it will helps with leaks, but I have not really payed that attention yet. Will let you know.
Guess what? Since we were having so much fun with steering stuff, why not have the rack take a crap too?!! So, after finding out that my car had the second most expensive rack of the four they used on 88 LSC's, it got that too. I'll tell you, when that rack went bad, it was some seriously scary driving! What the hell, since the lower ball joint rubbers were toast, might as well do those while we are there.
Also on my third set of valve cover gaskets. Seems there was some pressure building in there. I replaced the valve cover oil fill cap with a filter vent from K&N. Seems to be working so far. Oil leaking is down too. Got to be thankful for that.
Heater core at 160k. Ouuuuuch!!! Damn, those mechanics like to rape ya! They all wanted between $400 and $600. A friend of my boss did it for me for $200 and I got the part for free from a dealer connection. Boy, did I luck out or what? I almost sold her, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I was getting ready to rip the dash out myself when heard the $200 offer. Needless to say, I put my tools away! I did get an offer for $1000 for her while she was at the shop waiting to get repaired, cash now, before its fixed. That was tempting, I will tell you. Oh well, so much in it now, and I love the car, so it just doesn't make sence to let her go.
Will try to get some updated pictures soon.
Drop me a line:
