Made New Account - Older Member with new progress

[97Mark8]

Hello,

Some people might remember me, I posted a few times on here, my name is Travis and my old user name was Travisg32v or something like that. Anyways, my car is a 1997 Pewter Metallic Mark Viii. Around last time I posted here I had just gotten the 4.10 gears w/ Track lock, 93 1 pc driveshaft, and 2 1/2" exhaust with the 3rd cat removed. I rejoined to have a place to record the progress ive made on the car since then. Currentely, ive just began to take the car apart, it had a tick for a long time on the passenger side of the car, it started getting worse, and the car had a HUGE lack of power for what it was, so i took it apart expecting to just have to do some Valve cover gaskets and a basic tuneup (car had oil on the plugs and an old fuel filter, etc.) and discovered my issue, it had multiple SEVERELY scored cam lobes on both the intake and exhaust cams on the passenger side cylinder head, car had metal shavings laying in the bottom of the head near some of the rockers. I dug farther into it and found my primary timing chain was so loose it could be moved back and forth nearly a inch or more & nearly come off of the sprocket. I have began to gather parts and will post back with more progress pictures, weight reduction numbers and before and after shots of some weight reduction i have done on the car, and of the plastidip spray job im doing to remedy some of that flaking clear coat. Mods to come soon are IMRC delete, Ported Short runner cobra intake, Degreed 96-98 Cobra Intake Cams, Kooks Headers, and a 3400 Edge Racing stall. All parts are in my possesion minus 96-98 cams. If i can figure out how to post some pictures ill add some older ones of the car as well. It will definitely be good to hear from some of you again and see where you are with some of your cars.

- Travis

 

[slowmkviii]

Look forward to the progress
Don't forget lots if pictures.

 

[97Mark8]

 

[97Mark8]

 

[97Mark8]

 

[97Mark8]

 

[97Mark8]

 

[97Mark8]

Some pictures of my car. I had a lot more older ones but idk what happened to them. Anyhow, that's basically how the car looked when I got it minus the chrome 10 spoke directionals & the dual exhaust with borla pro xs mufflers you can see in some of the rear shots. I purchased it with 113,000 miles for 2500$ still had functioning a/c, new alternator, spring conversion, aftermarket stereo, etc. Not a bad deal, but in my area knowing what I know now about these cars I'd most likely pay no more than 1800 max for one in similar condition to mine was.

 

[97Mark8]

Now on to the weight reduction...

First thing I would like to say is, when looking up #'s and real world numbers on weight reduction with the Mark Viii I saw many other people got negative responses in regard to doing weight reduction on a mark Viii, I personally thought this was stupid for my application, I want a fast 1/4 mile time & don't really mind not having some things most people couldn't live without on a DD, I understand that mindset as well. But with the fact these cars weigh in at 3800 pounds stock, the most obvious thing to do to improve performance was to take the weight out. All #'s are scale verified, I saw MANY false claims on numbers when reading. Here are my weight reduction results

1. Spare removal - 31.1 pounds
2. Jack Removal (trunk) 6 Pounds
3. Rubber underlayment from trunk and under rear seat area
1st load - 7 lbs (haven't even came close to finishing)

Now, some other things I did to make the car lighter but DID NOT weigh below:

4. COMPLETE A/C delete (No compressor, Evaporator, Condensor, or A/C lines)
Just a guess but I'd say MINIMUM 30 pounds, and it's off the front end which is much better for weight transfer as many of you know

5. Rear Seat Delete - I have heard rumors of as little as 7 LBs for the rear seat, don't believe these people. Too portion was roughly 10-12 pounds and bottom was another 10 lbs I'd say, both were much heavier than the 6LB scale verified jack I removed. So call the rear seat delete 20 lbs easy if done correct.

6. Trunk carpeting - not much weight here but it all counts! This was roughly about 5 lbs

7. Hood insulation - Most people don't think of this one, but mine was in rough shape so I tossed it. I'd say this was 3 lbs. It also made the car noticeably louder at part and wide open throttle, many people also think it reduces underhood temps slightly, not too sure on that one but it's a nice little free mod.

8. Underhood plastics. My car is a 97 and has the 1 year only "Intech" alternator cover only found on the 1997 mark. I removed this, and ALL beauty covers, and plastic covers covering the headlight buckets with the "Lincoln mark Viii" logo on them. This wasn't much either roughly 3-4 pounds.

Most of you might be questioning, well why do weight reduction? Well the answer simply is the Mark Viii definitely benefits from it, with 3800 lb curb weight their is much room for improvement without increasing power at all. Some might say it's rice to "gut" or "strip" your car but it helps compete with those imports with a 3100 lb curb weight and 320 hp that are coming out left and right these days. Just by simple math and common sense anyone can conclude I've taken a minimum 100 pounds out of the car and that's on the low side. Everyone knows the 100lb = .1 off of your et formula, so why not take advantage of free performance? Just food for thought.

 

[97Mark8]

This is one of the damaged cam lobes on my motor that was making it run so poorly. This is a cam lobe on the intake cam of the passenger side cylinder head

 

[97Mark8]

View attachment 828473841

Here is another pic of the tear down so far. This shows the passenger side valve cover off. Like I said previously in this post the primary timing chain is incredibly loose, and was the obvious cause of my start up rattle/knock so many of us Mark Viii owners deal with.