1977 Lincoln Mark V

[farm]

I bought this car about a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed driving it for a whole 2 months this summer. Before buying this car I was on the prowl for a mark v or vi for about 2 years. Most of what I found was overpriced, rusted out crap. When I finally found this car I knew I had to pull the trigger on it berceuse I might not find another one for the price- and I haven't since.
The car is a 1977 mark v bill blass edition powered by a smogged out 460, c6 tranny, with a lazy (I think 2.75) rear end. 119000 km. Last summer I bought a set of dougs shorty headers, since I have a cracked passenger side manifold, probably from all the exhaust coming out of the valve on those stock d3 unported hi flow heads [emoji14].
This winter I'm going to attempt a top end rebuild on this car to help the old girl get the air flow she needs, along with some new exhaust. Until then I will drive her as is, it still has no problem getting up to highway speed...
I just took her out of storage for the year, so she's horribly dirty, but without further adieu:

[mercurygm88]

I like it, the Mark V is my favorite of the Mark series, but the Mark IV is a close second or maybe the III. Actually I like em all III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, only in my dreams could I have a Mark II.

[miamibob]

LOVE the color combination - best of luck with it!!

[87gtVIC]

Seen that color combo in a junkyard quite a few times. Nice to see one out of it though. Love it.

[Hearsesrock427]

Wow! That is one super cool, super clean Mark you've got there. She's got all the good stuff, from that epic Bill Blass color scheme (dark blue with gold pinstripes) to the mighty 460 under the hood! The proportions of the Mark Vs are absolutely perfect. The smogger BBFs definitely need help in the output department, but you've got a solid plan to remedy that. She should be a fun summertime hot rod/cruiser when it's all said and done!

[79lincolnlover]

Awesome! Do you own the box in the background as well?

[farm]

Thanks guys.
87gtvic- you're a lucky man. I wish there were cars like this at the local junk yard. It all seems to be 2000 and up with very little panther representation.
79lincolnlover- Yessir, that's my dd 87 Marquis. I've only pit about 5000km on it, but she's been trusty so far!

[88Vic]

What are those wires coming out of the air cleaner lid? I'd get rid of all that, cut that oil-filter-looking thing on the side and make a dual snorkel intake out of it, maybe route some ducting to the fenders for cold air intake, semi 85 Mustang GT style cold air intake, which would be nice when you put, I assume, an aluminum intake and 4bbl carb on it.

When you do all that top-end stuff, consider re-gearing as well. Going from stock 2.73 to 3.73 would be a night and day difference. Marquisman did that on his old Mark VI, ask him how much better it was.

Also it looks great, I love how low, long and wide it is.

[Grand1]

Awesome Find.
glad to see the 460!!!!!

See my build thread...!!! There is so much that you can do!!!

[sly]

This gives me warm fuzzies inside.

[farm]

No idea what the wires on the site cleaner lid do. I would assume a sensor of some sort. I will have to investigate.
I read somewhere that the oil filter looking thing is a sound deadener of some sort. It'll be hitting the garbage. Dual snorkel sounds like a great idea. I already need ducting for the first one.
She's already got a 4 barrel carb, but it's only the stock motorcraft 600cfm one, probably more suited for a 302 or 351. Pretty much everything is original. I wish I would've got a better pic on the side of the engine- the plug wires say 1977 on them, so I assume they haven't been changed. A tune up will do it good.
I'm looking forward to seeing the difference the rear end swap will make.
Grand1 I love the page you have about your 460 Marquis. Best of luck, it's going to be awesome!
I've been following it for a while and enjoy seeing progress.

[RyPow]

Awesome! The Mark V is also my favorite of the Mark series. Up until recently I had a '78 Diamond Jubilee project car, but let it go since it was more commitment than I could make for a long time. The '77 'Blass is a beautiful color scheme.

As for the "smogged out" 460: the vacuum lines running to/from the air cleaner lid are part of the diverter in the snorkel. There is a bimetallic valve on the underside of the lid that switches vacuum to the diverter actuator based on intake air temperature. It was intended to help cold weather operation and emissions. The lines on the passenger side of the air cleaner housing also operate with temperature - I believe they modulate either the Thermactor system or the evap canister, I can't remember. The "oil filter looking thing" is a resonator to quiet down drone. I removed it on my '76 Thunderbird like 88Vic mentioned, and ran a second snorkel on the driver's side. For a 220hp, 7.8:1 compression wonder on stock internals and manifolds, it actually sounded half decent under the hood.

From my own experiences with the mid-late '70s 460, the CFMs of the stock carb are adequate for a stock long block. An aftermarket carb will help with throttle response but not much more, if everything else is untouched. People almost always over-carburate with aftermarket choices. The only way you will need over 600cfm is if the intake manifold, compression, heads and exhaust have been altered. IMHO, removing smog equipment is an all-or-nothing endeavor. Unless all parts of the equation are upgraded, you will never get the all-round quality of driveability (cold starting, smoothness etc.) that a fully functional stock system will deliver. My '77 Town Car is staying stock for the time being, especially if I end up selling it. With a stock 460, starting/running issues are almost always due to something in the carb or smog system not set or operating properly.

[farm]

I was absolutely in love with your mark v. If I lived even relatively close by I would've picked it up. I highly doubt I'll ever find a dje here.
Thanks for the background on the intake setup. I have lots to learn about all the different vacuum and smog systems and everyone's input is much appreciated.
Grand1- did you get rid of most of the smog equipment on your setup

[85crownHPP]

Those "wires" are vacuum lines for the hot air riser. Definitely not a critical component

She's a beauty!!
I have a sweet spot for that era chassis, since my first car was a 77 LTDII. I definitly hope to have another (or a t-bird, cougar, or V )

[lincolnlarry]

Love that car! Someone took good care of it. It even has an intact heat riser tube! Is that the manifold cracked or just the thin metal heat riser shield?

460ford.com has the best info on the "385 series" engine. You can wake those things up pretty easily. A good pre-1972 timing chain and gears will advance the valve timing. In 1972 they retarded the valve timing for emissions reasons. Re-curve the distrib. timing to get full advance at 2,500rpm. The heads aren't bad on the intake side but the exhaust can use some smoothing out and matched to your header port size.