Hello all, this is my first post on the LVC forum.
There has always been something about personal luxury cars that has captivated me. They are able to offer the perfect combination of performance and comfort. In addition, they aren't overly common like their sport/muscle counterparts. Growing up, my father had a 1990 35th Anniversary T-Bird Super-Coupe. I remember it fondly; when I was 18, two years ago, I had a Super-Coupe of my own. It was a 1995 AND a 5-speed. Such a combo is quite sought after and I knew I had to have the first one I drove. My lack of patience when car searching is what caused me to get rid of it only a few months later. It was rusty, had an engine vibration, and had a shot second gear. Although it had these issues, it was a fun high-school car. I learned a valuable lesson regarding being patient and waiting for a car that doesn't have major issue, if any. Recently, my father was considering getting a Mustang (Saleen, Shelby, or Cobra variant). On my way to school and back, I see at least twenty Mustangs. It occurred to me that Mustangs are FAR too common and can be strong "cop-magnets."
Here's a picture of the '95 SC
I started to think about what type of car is sporty and not necessarily a cop Magnet. Among the ones I thought of were Monte Carlo, Riviera, and Eldorado. To me, the downfall of these cars (the model years I was considering) is that they were all front-wheel-drive. I had to re-think. It seems GM had failed to make a personal luxury car that appealed to me. I then thought about Ford and what they had to offer. I remember the Lincoln Mark series and determined that the Mark VIII would be an excellent car to get. It is RWD, doesn't attract cops, and has a relatively powerful engine. I then narrowed the search further to only include 1997 and 1998 LSC models. However, Lincoln (Ford) never offered a Mark VIII with a manual transmission. Luckily, thanks to the internet, I was able to find threads regarding the conversion. Because it was possible to swap out the auto in favor of a manual tranny, my father and I decided to get a Mark VIII.
We looked around on Craigslist and my father stumbled upon a yellow Mark VIII. This wasn't just an LSC, but also a Collector's Edition. (Obviously the yellow paint detracts from value for some, and probably, most people). But there was a reason this Lincoln was yellow, it was formally owned by the barefoot water-skier Banana George Blair. We went to look at it; the paint appeared of good quality, but it wasn't applied in the best manner. Evidence of over-spray was obvious and, upon opening the hood, you can see the original color of the car: Cordovan. However, even with these cosmetic issues, the car was straight and had roughly 50k on it. We purchased the car and drove it from Sarasota home to Atlanta that night. While driving it home, I realized why this car appealed to many people online. It was smooth, comfortable, and quite spacious. The Florida/Georgia border was reached within the first few hours; the “Banana Car” was approaching its new home.
Getting gas
Banana George with the car
Video of George with the car
[video=youtube;3uGgM7ogTeE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uGgM7ogTeE[/video]
Converting a car from an auto to a manual tranny is quite an ambitious build. It is one thing to convert a car that was made in both transmission types. However, it is ANOTHER to swap a manual into a car that was NEVER offered in such a configuration. We decided it would be a good idea and a wise investment to acquire a parts-car, solely for the interest of part-redundancy.
We located the perfect car on Craigslist to source parts from. It was a 1997 Toreador Red LSC, it was in good condition with around 80k on it. It even can with nice “octa-star” wheels. Ultimately, this car wasn’t used to acquire parts from. It was simply too nice. The only major problems were: the blend-door, leaking front bags, dirty oil, and a dent in the front passenger side quarter-panel (the majority of which was removed using soapy water and a plunger). This car had no problem driving home, just as the “banana-car” didn’t six days earlier.
I drove the red Mark VIII to college for a couple of weeks. The only issue I ever had was a flat-tire. Luckily, I had a bicycle pump and was able to park with the wheel in a position where it wouldn’t leak. In the meantime, while I was driving the red Mark VIII (now known as sausage), my father started to prepare the Banana Car for the manual swap. We found a TR3650 tranny in Macon. We drove down and picked it up. It was out of a 2008 Mustang GT. It came with the Hurst-shifter, a Mustang pedal assembly (brake and clutch), a flywheel, and the clutch and pressure-plate. (The Mustang pedal assembly would take too much work to mount to a Mark VIII we ultimately decided. That same day, we picked up a 1989 Cougar XR7 5-speed parts car. Off of it, we could use the 7-spoked XR7 wheels and the pedal assembly. (We actually had a 5-speed SC/XR7 pedal-assembly arriving in the mail, but an extra set wouldn’t hurt).
The XR7
![20150301_174554[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79108-c1b7beb49977798d5d0878ab8a8ccd1e.jpg?hash=wbe-tJl3eY "20150301_174554[1].jpg")
The Banana Car is now (mostly) ready for the swap, the only major component we need is the drive-shaft. At this point, the front seats, center console, door panels (to address electrical woes), and hood have been removed. The dash has been loosened, but a few wires need to be disconnected before it can be completely removed. That is the progress as of this point. Updates are to follow, thanks for taking the time to read!
![20150228_123354[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79107-ad3fa5826713739e82b51df17243de2f.jpg?hash=rT-lgmcTc5 "20150228_123354[1].jpg")
![20150228_123354[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/attachments/20150228_123354-1-jpg.828471826/ "20150228_123354[1].jpg")
![20150301_174554[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/attachments/20150301_174554-1-jpg.828471827/ "20150301_174554[1].jpg")
There has always been something about personal luxury cars that has captivated me. They are able to offer the perfect combination of performance and comfort. In addition, they aren't overly common like their sport/muscle counterparts. Growing up, my father had a 1990 35th Anniversary T-Bird Super-Coupe. I remember it fondly; when I was 18, two years ago, I had a Super-Coupe of my own. It was a 1995 AND a 5-speed. Such a combo is quite sought after and I knew I had to have the first one I drove. My lack of patience when car searching is what caused me to get rid of it only a few months later. It was rusty, had an engine vibration, and had a shot second gear. Although it had these issues, it was a fun high-school car. I learned a valuable lesson regarding being patient and waiting for a car that doesn't have major issue, if any. Recently, my father was considering getting a Mustang (Saleen, Shelby, or Cobra variant). On my way to school and back, I see at least twenty Mustangs. It occurred to me that Mustangs are FAR too common and can be strong "cop-magnets."
Here's a picture of the '95 SC
I started to think about what type of car is sporty and not necessarily a cop Magnet. Among the ones I thought of were Monte Carlo, Riviera, and Eldorado. To me, the downfall of these cars (the model years I was considering) is that they were all front-wheel-drive. I had to re-think. It seems GM had failed to make a personal luxury car that appealed to me. I then thought about Ford and what they had to offer. I remember the Lincoln Mark series and determined that the Mark VIII would be an excellent car to get. It is RWD, doesn't attract cops, and has a relatively powerful engine. I then narrowed the search further to only include 1997 and 1998 LSC models. However, Lincoln (Ford) never offered a Mark VIII with a manual transmission. Luckily, thanks to the internet, I was able to find threads regarding the conversion. Because it was possible to swap out the auto in favor of a manual tranny, my father and I decided to get a Mark VIII.
We looked around on Craigslist and my father stumbled upon a yellow Mark VIII. This wasn't just an LSC, but also a Collector's Edition. (Obviously the yellow paint detracts from value for some, and probably, most people). But there was a reason this Lincoln was yellow, it was formally owned by the barefoot water-skier Banana George Blair. We went to look at it; the paint appeared of good quality, but it wasn't applied in the best manner. Evidence of over-spray was obvious and, upon opening the hood, you can see the original color of the car: Cordovan. However, even with these cosmetic issues, the car was straight and had roughly 50k on it. We purchased the car and drove it from Sarasota home to Atlanta that night. While driving it home, I realized why this car appealed to many people online. It was smooth, comfortable, and quite spacious. The Florida/Georgia border was reached within the first few hours; the “Banana Car” was approaching its new home.
Getting gas
Banana George with the car
Video of George with the car
[video=youtube;3uGgM7ogTeE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uGgM7ogTeE[/video]
Converting a car from an auto to a manual tranny is quite an ambitious build. It is one thing to convert a car that was made in both transmission types. However, it is ANOTHER to swap a manual into a car that was NEVER offered in such a configuration. We decided it would be a good idea and a wise investment to acquire a parts-car, solely for the interest of part-redundancy.
We located the perfect car on Craigslist to source parts from. It was a 1997 Toreador Red LSC, it was in good condition with around 80k on it. It even can with nice “octa-star” wheels. Ultimately, this car wasn’t used to acquire parts from. It was simply too nice. The only major problems were: the blend-door, leaking front bags, dirty oil, and a dent in the front passenger side quarter-panel (the majority of which was removed using soapy water and a plunger). This car had no problem driving home, just as the “banana-car” didn’t six days earlier.
I drove the red Mark VIII to college for a couple of weeks. The only issue I ever had was a flat-tire. Luckily, I had a bicycle pump and was able to park with the wheel in a position where it wouldn’t leak. In the meantime, while I was driving the red Mark VIII (now known as sausage), my father started to prepare the Banana Car for the manual swap. We found a TR3650 tranny in Macon. We drove down and picked it up. It was out of a 2008 Mustang GT. It came with the Hurst-shifter, a Mustang pedal assembly (brake and clutch), a flywheel, and the clutch and pressure-plate. (The Mustang pedal assembly would take too much work to mount to a Mark VIII we ultimately decided. That same day, we picked up a 1989 Cougar XR7 5-speed parts car. Off of it, we could use the 7-spoked XR7 wheels and the pedal assembly. (We actually had a 5-speed SC/XR7 pedal-assembly arriving in the mail, but an extra set wouldn’t hurt).
The XR7
The Banana Car is now (mostly) ready for the swap, the only major component we need is the drive-shaft. At this point, the front seats, center console, door panels (to address electrical woes), and hood have been removed. The dash has been loosened, but a few wires need to be disconnected before it can be completely removed. That is the progress as of this point. Updates are to follow, thanks for taking the time to read!
I look forward to seeing where this thread goes.![imagejpeg_0[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79118-47ddc14a8591e2d953a6a4a8d038be50.jpg?hash=R93BSoWR4t "imagejpeg_0[1].jpg")
![20150307_172704[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79119-614fcf2720fe63f223148fb3eff7643f.jpg?hash=YU_PJyD-Y_ "20150307_172704[1].jpg")
![Gas_tank[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79120-5c5acd13d01969ec9b351ab978a5d7f6.jpg?hash=XFrNE9AZae "Gas_tank[1].jpg")
![Driveshaft[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79121-6cf57f49d0c1c991f56d38be8487034c.jpg?hash=bPV_SdDByZ "Driveshaft[1].jpg")
![imagejpeg_0[2].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79122-c22e0d79d3e2265f7552461464f0ee1a.jpg?hash=wi4NedPiJl "imagejpeg_0[2].jpg")
![Exhaust[1].jpg](https://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/data/attachments/79/79123-5c1aa447bb7582322e6c25331a73896e.jpg?hash=XBqkR7t1gj "Exhaust[1].jpg")
