Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Changing the 12 spark plugs in my XJS, Act One.

This is the engine before I started.

Even without doing any research I knew that it is going to be a very complex and labor intensive project. I went to the Jaguar forums to look for some advice. One of the members Doug D. gave a pretty good rundown. First thing that he advised was to relax, take your time, and look carefully to see just how things are assembled. The first part of the operation requires removing much of the components that are bolted to the top of the motor.

I'm going to log how much time each steps takes. I will take photos to document the adventure.

First I removed the throttle linkage rods.

I started out by removing the Y shaped steel breather line. Then the throttle capstan. After that, I removed the coil. Finally I removed the cruise control vacuum motor. All this was necessary to open up some working room. Now you can actually see the plug leads that are attached to the spark plugs.

Throttle capstan, coil, cruise control motor all removed.
Looks much less cluttered right? 

That's all for today, Next I will vacuum the valley and use compressed air to clean out the areas where the plugs seat. So far I've invested one hour. Not too bad.

That's enough about spark plugs for this week's post.

The Lincoln Mark VII, There's a lot to like.

I've been posting about how I was interested in getting a Lincoln Mark VII. I did more than talk about it. I went to go check out a car located in Hayward.

White isn't a common color on these cars. 
Most were painted darker colors like gun metal grey, burgundy, or blue.

White outside and tan inside, that's my new favorite combination.
I don't want anymore cars with black interiors!

This was the white car that was advertised for 2,200.00 When I actually saw the car I was a little disappointed, the paint was kind of chalky in places and it could use a touch up in a couple of spots.
I have to remember that this car is only about thirty years old! It was actually in quite good shape for it's age.

The car was straight with no major body damage and really only a couple of little dents and dings. I'm sure more would be obvious if the paint was nice and shiny. There wasn't any visible rust and of luckily there wasn't a vinyl top to be concerned with.  The interior was in pretty good shape. It was clean and only had one cracked area of leather on the passenger seat back. The upholstery was tan corduroy -like cloth, with leather bolsters. The headliner and door panels looked good except for an issue with the driver's door panel. It was a Bill Blass designer edition which accounted for the cloth upholstery, electronic digital dash, and BBS style alloy wheels. By 1990 the mechanical specs of the Bill Blass and the Lincoln Sport Coupe (LSC) were almost identical. That was good because the designer editions had trailed the LSC in horse power for quite a few years, Now they all shared the 5.0 H.O. motor that was also in the Mustang GT. This mill put out 225 horses and 300 ft/lbs. of torque. The 300 lbs./ft. of torque was equivalent to that produced by my North Star Cadillac motor, Plenty of grunt. This is the same power train that is in my '96 Explorer. It's a strong, long lived, reliable engine and transmission. It only suffers in slightly poorer fuel economy compared the the DOHC design that was adopted with the Mark VII.

With a wheelbase eight inches longer than my Mustang, there is plenty of room in the back seat. I found myself quite comfortable back there. The trunk is only a bit bigger than the Mustang. This car is also equipped with a glass sunroof. Ford invented the "moon roof" and it wasn't adopted by European cars for quite a while. I wish that my XJ6 had one.

This picture looks like a period advertising photo.
The seller works at the airport in airplane
maintenance and service.

The seller installed a new set of Arnott's air shocks up front, preserving the air ride system. The digital dash works but the message center/trip computer is no longer functional. The digital dash would not be my first choice, Actual gauges would be easier to repair and much sportier looking.

Another Bill Blass model in the more typical silver, but check out those wheels!

Here's a closer look. It's actually an alloy wheel with two rows of laced  wire spokes.
My favorite Mark VII wheel.

The add is punching a bit above it's weight, but the Mark was fine
and well suited to American highways.

So would I actually buy one? It's a good looking car that in my opinion bridges the gap between traditional American luxury and contemporary aerodynamic designs. It was cleanly styled in and out in very good taste. In my opinion it's styling has withstood the test of time.

While it is a much more complex car than my Mustang or Explorer, it's power train is good old American Blue Oval engineering. It will run and run, and can be easily fixed. The airbag suspension gives a smooth ride with good handling. According to the President of the Mark VII club, replacing an air bag is much easier than replacing conventional springs. That makes sense as there's nothing to compress.

Comparing the Mark to my XJ6 finds the interior quality lacking, but my Jaguar was a more expensive car and it shows. Still, the quality of the Lincoln is plenty high for an American car. I was very attracted to this example's tan cloth and leather interior, Like my Mustang's tweed like, cloth interior it is cooler and holds the driver in place.

The Lincoln Mark III was labeled the "Chairman of the Board's Mustang," The Mark VII actually comes much closer to fulfilling that role. It was designed to be a Gentleman's GT. Lincoln designed it to to be an effective high speed touring car for American highway conditions. Yes, I would like one. It could replace my Mustang. It is larger with a usable back seat, larger trunk, and a much smoother ride. It also has that neat moonroof!

If not this particular example, than maybe another. Definitely something to think about!