air ride questions

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beatupmark

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Hey everyone I am new to this site and am recently a 1993 mark viii owner. I bought the car for 75 dollars sight unseen. Well alot of stuff is missing. I am on a limited budget and was wondering if things will interchange from one vehicle to another. I was looking at a thunderbird suspension to convert the missing air ride to springs to get it on the road. Has anyone attempted this with good results? I want to get her on the road soon and the junkyard is having a half off sale next weekend but they dont have any marks. Lots of t-birds and continentals..Thanks a bunch.
 
Yes it should work... only problem will be in the front because one of the studs will be too long but you can cut that...

$75 for a Mark VIII must be some unofficial record... funny you mention sight unseen?!

Can you post some pics?

And Welcome to the board.
 
I knew worst case scenario i could scrap it and get 200 bucks for it so it was kind of a no brainer. I went and looked at it tonight and it starts and runs and it doesnt look too bad as far as rust goes. I decided it was worth fixing if i can find parts cheap enough. I will post some pics on satuday when i get it to my shop. In regaurds to the rear springs on the tbird do you think they would work with a little modification?
 
Rear springs are a direct swap as far as I know... the only problem is the perches... you need to figure out how to mount them to the lower control arm correctly... Some had good luck using a Centercap from a wheel to do that job...

Make sure that stuff isn't too old though... the Mark is a heavier car than a T bird... and if the T bird springs etc are really old your mark is going to bounce like a mad man on the freeway.
 
well being i am on a budget I want to put this thing together for like 500 bucks any suspension will be better than none at all. I also have to get door panels,heatercontrols,a side marker light, an air bag,door handle,power lock switches, and a grill. I found the heater control from a continental for 5 bucks and the airbag from a continental for 30 bucks, Do you kow if a continental grill will fit? I think the continental door handle will fit as well. I was thinking the thunderbird door panels were real close as well.
 
Yes, T-bird front struts will fit, no problem. As someone said mounting the rear springs is tricky. I bought a conversion kit, I am happy with the results, but If i had it to do again, I would buy T-bird stuff at the parts store, and make my own perches. The upper was just a square piece of metal with the corners bent over to hold the spring, and a stud welded to the top to center it, the bottom they just give you a square piece of rubber to sit in the lower control arm. Probably would have ended costing me the same anyways.
I don't believe a Continental grill will fit.
As far as the record, does free beat $75? I got mine for nothing, but have spent about $2000 on it.
 
thanks for the help. I am going to get it tomorrow. Hopefully it isnt missing anything else major I didnt catch in the dark with a AA mag light. I will try to get some pics up tomorrow too.
 
I don't think that the Continental heater control will work on the Mark. I'd try to get one from a 93-96 Mark VIII. The 95 and 96 are better because they have stronger buttons.

Welcome!
 
The weather and the cold helped to screw up my day. Couldnt get the mark to start and the starter in my truck quit with the tow dolly attached. Always next week i suppose I did talk to a master certified ford tech who said the t-ird stuff was no problem. He just got doing one in fact. All he did was weld like a 3 inch pice of pipe to the existing top bag mount in the rear, slid the spring in and it was all done. Looks pretty cut and dry.
 
Hey I finally got my Lincoln!!! I was told the air ride was gone. The Car sits about 2 inches off the ground. After looking at the interior which much is missing I assumed when I was told the air ride was gone that also meant missing. After putting a starter in it I found the front was intact and I can feel the back bags are still there also. I cant get my jack under the back. I can hear the compressor run but the ride height doesnt change, does that mean that all the bags, or lines are leaking. I really dont know where to start to fix the existing system and am leading towards the conversion. My budget is a huge factor in this. Any Ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
 
Use the factory jack and try to get the car up enough to get a floor jack under it and raise the car 'some' but still leaving the wheels on the ground. Then try to cycle the compressor and see it it raises.

The compressor could be done or the vent valve may be stuck open.
 
good idea i will steal the factory jack out of my t-bird the lincoln doesnt have one. I have some battery cable issues to work out first. have an intermittent starting problem and right now it wont start at all but i couldnt figure out how to get the car up in the air to even get to the starter again.
 
Im really happy i just put thunderbird struts on the car. its riding cali style right now with the rear end slammed but the front end sure looks sexy!!! On to tha back spings now
 
Well here is another site that not only sells the Arnott Struts but also rebuilds compressors and supplies the Spider Valve in order to extend the life of our compressors. He is also an ex-tech for FOMOCO garage, and has a wealth of information that he shares with most of us who have become his customers, as he has been around for a long time.

http://www.americanairsuspension.com/PARTS BY VEHICLE.htm
 
Anybody know how to keep the little computer from telling me to check my air ride. I know the air ridde is gone can i fool that little devil computer into thinking it is ok? Incidentaly i have some air ride parts like height sensors and bags and a compressor. Anybody want the stuff ITS FREE otherwise its going to the scrap yard!
 
Cut the dark green wire with the light green tracer on the black plastic air suspension module behind the glove box. You can get in there by detatching your glove box.
Where are you located? I might be interested in the old stuff.
 
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