1997 Mark VIII; 01NOV25

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I plan on looking at this car in the morning. If you need anything, please let me know. It has the rare Light Prairie Tan interior; I usually only see grey or ivory.

 

[AdamG]

Check out the sill plates, they swap right over and I think look a lot better than the stock ones. They have two sided tape that somewhat holds them down, I've never reapplied it when installing them. That's a little mod you might like, especially since you see it every time you get in and out of the car...I don't need them, but now knowing that, you might...all my buddies around here that have mn12s have them plus I have 2 or 3 extra sets. They come in 2 styles, a brushed look and a polished look, and the metal strip is easily removed if you wanted to paint, wrap or dip it...

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

@AdamG
I once destroyed one in the attempt to remove it. I'll try again.

I'm trying to keep purchases for myself to a minimum, but I'm eyeing the carpeted kick panels. Anyone know if they fit MN12?

 

[AdamG]

I'm pretty sure they do. Definitely would fit better in a 94 and up, the a pillars and kick panels look totally different for the 89-93 because of the electric seat belts. The trick to removing the sill plates is take a razor knife along the bottom edge to cut some of the adhesive. Most times if you start peeling it from the front or back and it will rip right apart without one though. If you get the adhesive loose before trying to unclip them it will avoid bending the metal insert.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I tried this in the junkyard itself, pulled them from a mark and tried to put them in a bird and the fit just didn’t work for me. Plus the mark carpet texture is a lot finer than the MN12 texture.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

. Plus the mark carpet texture is a lot finer than the MN12 texture.

That's what I realized, too, which is why I didn't pick them up. But I got my headrests, so I wasn't empty-handed.

One would have to pull those parts, then re-cover them with MN12 style carpet. Too much work.

 

[AdamG]

Or swap to mark viii carpet, that's what I did. I like it a lot better than the factory tbird carpet. I had to do some cutting and shaving since mine is a 93, but it looks like it came that way now.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Nice!

 

[Trunk Monkey]

The rear LCA's are a good upgrade for your car. The Mark VIII LCA's are aluminum and weigh less than the Tbird LCA's.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

The rear LCA's are a good upgrade for your car. The Mark VIII LCA's are aluminum and weigh less than the Tbird LCA's.

Do they have wood trim on them? Otherwise no.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Do they have wood trim on them? Otherwise no.

Rear Lower Control Arms … ? Uh no, they don’t have wood trim.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Rear Lower Control Arms … ? Uh no, they don’t have wood trim.

Then no.

Seriously though, I understand the desire for incremental weight savings; it's just not "my kind" of mod. Plus I haven't done anything suspension related at all yet. I find suspension work pretty intimidating in general. When and if I touch it at some point, I'm guessing it'll be ball joints or bushings.