Found an '83 Lincoln Mark VI...... Should I buy?

[Caddydaddy13]

Well I was looking into buying a '95 Town Car but now I found a 1983 Lincoln Mark VI. Signature series It has 87k miles on it. It is gray with red interior and a black top. Turbine wheels. It runs great and all of the power features work. Body is in very good condition. There is no rust except for bubbles on the bottom edge of the trunk lid and the back bumper has rust. Which is weird because the rest of the car is clean as a whistle. The doors and rockers are like new! interior is in good shape but it needs the headliner replaced and the glove box door warped. underneath is clean and was undercoated.

Overall the car is very clean. Flip up headlights still work. But windshield is cracked.
So needs overall: windshield, headliner, rear bumper, new glove box door, and trunk lid repaint.
He was asking $2000. But lowest he will go is $1500. I think this is fair. Offered $1200 but he was kind of insulted. His dad has owned the car since 91. What do you guys think. I love these early 80's marks. Pretty rare find up here. Basically it just needs TLC to me but you tell me.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

No rust on an 83 is pretty hard to come by these days, I think $1500 is fair so it sounds like a deal to me!

[Caddydaddy13]

Also on a side note the car has badges that say automatic fuel injection.... I didn't think that came around til 87..... And it had a digital dash. Are these rare options?

[gadget73]

Many of the Mark VI had the digital dash, particularly the Signature Series trim level. Lincoln had Electronic Fuel Injection standard starting in 1980 on the 302 powered cars. 80-83 was the EEC3 system, which quite frankly is crackers. It works great when it works, but God help you if it dies in some bizzare way. the sensors are expensive, diagnostics via computer are basically non-existant, and not a whole bunch is known about it. You absolutely need to own the manuals for this because its a fair bet nobody will be able to help you. That is unfortunately about my limit of knowledge on the EEC3 CFI system, which is to say that I know I don't know nearly enough about it to fix one.

[t65neon5]

Many of the Mark VI had the digital dash, particularly the Signature Series trim level. Lincoln had Electronic Fuel Injection standard starting in 1980 on the 302 powered cars. 80-83 was the EEC3 system, which quite frankly is crackers. It works great when it works, but God help you if it dies in some bizzare way. the sensors are expensive, diagnostics via computer are basically non-existant, and not a whole bunch is known about it. You absolutely need to own the manuals for this because its a fair bet nobody will be able to help you. That is unfortunately about my limit of knowledge on the EEC3 CFI system, which is to say that I know I don't know nearly enough about it to fix one.

however,it wouldnt be hard to convert it to a carberator,so if the fuel injection goes wonky,just get a 2bbl carb(or a 4bbl intake and carb)and those worries are over.....

[jaywish]

I have made car choices in the past made on my situation. Do you have a garage, tools, skills & sufficient money to maintain the vehicle? Do you drive a lot? The mark is more of a collector car by virtue of the vintage. The Lincoln is a really nice car which would be much easier to maintain and on average could easily make 300k miles with a RELATIVELY small investment.

It depends on what you want to do with the car and your resources.
Also maybe none of that applies and you only want to run a car for a short while and then sell/dump/junk it. This is also a viable option.

Jay

[Caddydaddy13]

The Lincoln would be more of a collector car to me. Stored for the winter, etc. Def not a daily driver. Just something to restore and cruise in on nice days. I have always wanted a mark vi and finding one without breaking the bank up here is pretty rare. Just wanted some input from you guys, since most of you know these style cars in and out....

[Lincolnmania]

if you got a place to store it and you understand that the eec3 absolutely sucks, go for it
i would not use one for a daily driver tho, drop a efi ho motor in there and convert it to sefi and your set powerwise.

[79lincolnlover]

If you don't mind giving it some TLC, go for it. How many cars do you currently own?

[jaywish]

Why not for a collector car? Its purpose is to make you happy and occupy your time.

[Caddydaddy13]

Ok so now I have a dilemma. I also found a 1991 Cadillac Brougham d'Elegance for sale. It's triple white and completely rust free with 83k.... Mint. Asking $2900. A deal. I want both now but I'm thinking the caddy is the wayto go. Needs no work and I am a die hard Brougham fan. I already own a triple black 91 Brougham. Maybe in a 2 weeks when I have a little extra cash again I'll see if the Mark vi is still available.

[tjc78]

The Caddy does seem like a deal. Last year for that style IIRC.

[79lincolnlover]

Test drive each car if possible.

[85crownHPP]

I bet that caddy will give you more troubles than the Lincoln, CFI and all!

I still want to do a CFI-3 to CFI-4 conversion...

[mercurygm88]

While I really like both cars, considering the condition of each I'd get the caddy. That body style is one of my favorites, and if it's the 5.7 it's even better.