whats a cheap way to add horse power?

[BAD97LSC]

strutmasters standard ride height coil conversion, take off springs and throw away. install vogtland progressive 2 inch lowered coil springs for the t-bird and laugh at the floaty sloppy air ride equipped marks!! i always said i would never own a mark with springs too until i drove my 97 with the above set up, lol my wife can have the air ride in her mark, i wouldnt go back to it.

 

[LaserSVT]

strutmasters standard ride height coil conversion, take off springs and throw away. install vogtland progressive 2 inch lowered coil springs for the t-bird and laugh at the floaty sloppy air ride equipped marks!! i always said i would never own a mark with springs too until i drove my 97 with the above set up, lol my wife can have the air ride in her mark, i wouldnt go back to it.

I know you know your chit and will prolly never try this but....... air ride with good shocks (Bilstien or Koni) and large sway bars is FAR from sloppy. I do believe for absolute top levels of cornering control you need springs but for relative ease you can make the air very very nice.

 

[BAD97LSC]

im sure you can, but i had the above listed and the addco front and rear bars with energy suspension bushings and the rear kyb shocks so all of this combined made for the best riding mark i ever drove, and i have driven way too many to care to remember!

 

[MKVIIRIP]

I have a '95 LSC I picked up, but haven't driven it much yet (fixin' little things wrong with it). Performance-wise-so far, I've collected up a K&N, 9mm Ford Racing plug wires, U/D pulley set, trak-loc, 103 plugs, and I removed all the silencers from the stock intake tube.

Basic maintenance it needed (or still needs), fixed vac leaks, alternator, oil adapter gasket, tie-rod end, tires, 'Door-Ajar' message, and idle speed motor.

The question I have for you which kind of goes along with the OP's original question - What BBK headers did you use? 96-98 Cobra headers? How did you modify them? There is another guy on another board I've spoken with and he said the driver's side header was a real PITA, and he won't do it again (modify a Cobra header).

Did you try cleaning the door latches with some type of spray? I had the door-ajar message on for a year or so, then one day I hosed the latches with Corrosion-X and Voila! no more message.
Secondly, I was told by several people that you can't use long tube headers on the mark because of interference issues with the transmission. I was told to go with some kooks 3/4 length headers. If they don't market them specifically for the Mark VIII, Super coupe Performance has them I believe.

 

[MKVIIRIP]

I know you know your chit and will prolly never try this but....... air ride with good shocks (Bilstien or Koni) and large sway bars is FAR from sloppy. I do believe for absolute top levels of cornering control you need springs but for relative ease you can make the air very very nice.

This has probably been posted somewhere, but where is a good place to get Bilstien or Koni shocks for a Mark VIII? For the past 5 years I have had some blue monroe's for a 97 t-bird, and I'm quite disappointed.

 

[chris2523]

the issue with headers is the steering column. not the trans. we have the same trans as a mustang anyway.
the kooks 3/4 length headers are the only drop in headers.
get rear bilsteins or konis or whatever for an 04 cobra. very stiff. and adapt the stock upper shock mount or buy a new one from 98lincmk7lsc.

 

[MKVIIRIP]

No stupid ?'s, he's a newbie. Just think of how your actions will make newbs feel about this site.

Quick run down of go fast mods on mine.
1) 4.10's and posi -- used payed $15 to take them , used free
2)9.5 inch PI 3200 converter-- used 220 then Circle D upgrade 380 total $600
3) Diablo chip-- used $195
4) C&L MAF with 9 inch K&N filter --used $68 new $32
5) March Ram Air setup-- used $50
6) BBK 1 5/8 long tube headers-- used $147 total
7) full 2.5 mandrel exhaust with 2 in 2 out internal X muff-new $237 used $60
8) Nitto 555R drag radials-- used $195
9)March underdrive crank pulley--new $80
Total comes out to $1649 and most of that was converter. 13.31 ET N/A

A few questions for you...
Where did you find a 9" (cone?) K&N filter for $32? Or the C&L for $68? I almost purchased the K&N 57-2523 Cone filter & MAF adapter for a 96 cobra, but I am not sure if that would even work on my car.

 

[Right on the Mark]

A few questions for you...
Where did you find a 9" (cone?) K&N filter for $32? Or the C&L for $68? I almost purchased the K&N 57-2523 Cone filter & MAF adapter for a 96 cobra, but I am not sure if that would even work on my car.

I got the K&N many moons ago from local speed shop I deal with.(get jobber price) All the used parts on my list I got off Ebay.

 

[the1andonlyGR81]

never said i didnt like the air ride, but when you have multiple problems it becoms a cost issue, then the bags can still go.if its also your DD time down sucks. for me 350 and 2.5 hours, no more headache and i dont even noticethe difference

 

[KStromberg]

strutmasters standard ride height coil conversion, take off springs and throw away. install vogtland progressive 2 inch lowered coil springs for the t-bird and laugh at the floaty sloppy air ride equipped marks!! i always said i would never own a mark with springs too until i drove my 97 with the above set up, lol my wife can have the air ride in her mark, i wouldnt go back to it.

I will join you in that quest. You are the second person I have heard say the springs handle better. I don't care if the ride is more firm with springs. So is a Mustang! My front end is slamming and I really don't care to monkey around with it. Once I get it done, I'll challenge an air ride Mark VIII to a road course.

 

[NetKeym]

Did you try cleaning the door latches with some type of spray? I had the door-ajar message on for a year or so, then one day I hosed the latches with Corrosion-X and Voila! no more message.
Secondly, I was told by several people that you can't use long tube headers on the mark because of interference issues with the transmission. I was told to go with some kooks 3/4 length headers. If they don't market them specifically for the Mark VIII, Super coupe Performance has them I believe.

I sprayed the bajeesus out of the door locks with WD-40 for over a week several times a day because everywhere I read said that would fix it. It didn't... I'll try the Corrosion-X if that worked for you so well!

Yes, I'm very familiar with the Kooks, but have seen LT's made to fit with some modifications. Usually the passenger side goes in pretty easily, but the driver's side needs some finesse because of the steering shaft; it's been done. As for interference with the tranny, from the vehicle I saw, it wasn't a problem.

I've seen that Bill over there at SCP has the Kooks, but that's more than I've spend on the car and a couple of mods! lol