I bought this car from a disgruntled divorced lady. Her husband had done some damage to the engine, so I knew going in that there were going to be some problems.
The engine was replaced with a genuine Lincoln (refurbished) model and it works just fine.
I've replaced a lot of things on this car (torque converter; brakes; wheel bearings; tires; bulbs; fuses, the list goes on). Plus I've done some pretty extensive external repair.
It runs pretty well right now and looks decent, but I can see this is going to be a money pit.
For the life of me I can't find anyone to repair/replace the neon tail light panel. I guess that is what I get for buying an 8 year old car.
Since the 97-98 LCS's came out, I always thought this was one of, if not the, best looking cars ever produced, American or import. The styling is second to none, and when cleaned up it has a magnificent appeal.
The lights around the car (when working!) are amazing and it has an impressive stance... a great combo of luxury & sportiness.
The interior is brilliantly designed and provides comfort and convenience. I wish Lincoln would continue this car with today's reliability standards.
This guy sells Mark 8 neon ballasts (inverter) for under $100.
Http://markviii.org/~glitch/inverter.html.
The tube itself is likely good if not broken in pieces.
Good luck.
Thank you for the info on the neon light. I obtained a new ballast from this site and it works great. Since I wrote my first comment I have done even more to this car and I am very glad I did. It looks gorgeous and runs even better. At first I was very frustrated - but given the treatment this car received I had to have patience. No regrets at all - I love it, and everybody that comes into contact with it loves it too.
The neon tail-light IS expensive - if you actually buy a new one. However, if you take the whole unit off and examine it carefully, you'll notice that the lights are no more than a string of red lights in a plastic tube -- much the same as some Christmas decoration lights. I compared mine (the previous owner replaced the whole unit, so I have 2 to play with), with a string of red LED christmas lights -- and the Christmas lights actually worked! (and were brighter, too!).
If cutting and wiring the proper length of Christmas lights is too much, I'd try a string of lights from a Master Replicas Darth Vader light saber - -much the same, but just about the right length, LOL! (This part would cost more, though - and would mean researching 'how to build a lightsaber' sites.)
How long is the rope neon light on a 97 Mark 8 if you were to replace it with the Christmas LED 12volt rope lights talked about before, and how would it be wired? Thanks rvscott4554@yahoo.com
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