How difficult would it be to swap the Lincoln MK VII Air Ride into an 80's T-Bird?
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
I'm not aware that the Mark VII's had factory air suspension, I could be mistaken on this though. I am sure that the Mark VIII's had factory air. This is a direct swap on a '89 up Tbird or Cougar, but would take major fab work to get it in a fox chassis. The Air Ride setup for the fox chassis mustangs should be a bolt in for the fox Tbird. It's a little pricey though.
Didn't they only have front air ride?
The Mark VII had air ride front and rear.
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
I think the LSC's had only front air ride (I may be wrong) and Bill Blass Mark VII's had full air ride if that helps.
You're right, they did have it. Front and rear. I would say definitely a bolt on.
This link has some good info; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Mark_VII (http://"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Mark_VII")
I'd think it could be done.I'm not sure,but you may need the k-member from the Mark as well.If you have the Mark VII for parts,why not?I wouldn't want it myself due to potential problems that the Mark VII owners have ,and install T-Bird suspension.
Mark VII owners are converting to springs, that ought to tell you something... You'd need the k-member, control arms front and back, plus you have to weld in a upper pad for the rear bags...
Plus with the amount of wiring involved it'd be more work than swapping the 5.0 into my TC... Better forget it...
I owned a Mark VIII with air ride, and to me it was more trouble than it was worth. Granted, it never worked completely right, so I don't know how it was supposed to feel, but to me it felt rough. The parts were expensive too. I would vote NO on that project ;)
CoogarXR
The mark 7 owners convert to springs because of the cost to replace the air bags and also if the pumps or control unit go out of them....your screwed on price. They are expensive to fix and replace.......and replacement parts are hard to find new.
Oh and it all does work but you have to tie into the speed control system and pcm for the air ride to work correctly. For all the hastle I would just go with a mustang set up from Air Ride Technologies. Less problems and you can tune it yourself.
What I was thinking was to utilize the air springs only, then use something aftermarket for the control unit.
But, as I have spent way too much already, I don't think this is something I will attempt any time soon!
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
http://www.suspension-alternatives.com/lincoln-mark-vii-air-suspension-kits.php
Has replacement parts & conversion kits ;)