In reply to The_Jed:
So what's the general overview of the car - is it reliable transportation? Are there any serious problems, or just small quirks/bugs to work out(or not) as time/money are available?
It was my dd until I bought the Vic. It is absolutely reliable.
My parking lot at work is gravel and mud. Also I get dirty, greasy and oily at work and driving there, changing clothes and shoes, then changing back to drive home is a p.i.t.a.
I didn't want this car to get door dinged, dented and rusty (snow and salt) being driven to and from work so I bought a beater, rather than letting this car become one. It needs to be owned by someone who has the time, money and patience to care for a "cruise in", "weekend" type of car. I needed a car that could get dirty, dented and rusty without breaking my heart, hence the Vic.
There's also the TEVES brakes and 23 year old air suspension that currently function flawlessly but, they won't last indefinitely. It's essentially akin to driving on 23 year old tires; it's only a matter of time until it takes a bite out of the wallet.
Transmission: (The o.d. clutche(s) are toast, it acts like neutral. 1st, 2nd and 3rd still shift nice and firm with no slipping whatsoever.) I was quoted $1,300 to drop it off at a local shop, then drive it away a few days later with an O.E. spec rebuilt AOD. It drives just fine now but the MPG suffers a bit since drive is 1:1 and it has 3.55 rear gears. I would opt for the planetary gears from a 4R70. The gears are stronger and first is deeper to help get the 3,800 lb car moving. I'd also throw in the 4R70 o.d. hub, it has a lot more clutch area that the AOD. I'd opt for the "A" servo while I was at it. Not sure what all of that would run, a few hundred more maybe, but I would consider it money well spent.
Suspension: (still functions perfectly) IIRC the strutmasters coil conversion kit I used on my '87 was around $300. I wasn't very happy with the spring rates, spring location method or ridiculous muscle car rake. If I were to do it again I would get some '87 or '88 T-Bird or Cougar rear LCA's (same length as Mark VII with spring perches), SN95 A-arms, spindles, struts, and GT coil springs (front and rear) and ideally a '94 or '95 GT K-member and fab some upper rear spring perches.
Brakes: (they still work perfectly) A Fox or SN95 booster and master cylinder bolt in (after drilling one hole) but you'd have to monkey with the lines a bit and decide whether or not you want to run a proportioning valve. I ran my '87 sans prop valve and abs and I liked it.
All of which, sadly, would add little if any value to the car and I don't have the time for any of it.
It seems as though whenever it sits for a long period of time or sits through multiple, heavy storms it does this.
While trying to eradicate running issues I have replaced; the distributor with new pickup, cap, rotor, new ignition switch and it revs cleanly but idles high and rough.
Disconnected the vacuum hose from the MAP sensor and the idle dropped and acted like it had an E-cam.
Now this:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1992-lincoln-mark-vii/76290/page5/
I'm getting close to selling it as-is, where-is. 
I don't have the time for this E36 M3.
Tps setting? These cars are stupid simple. I'd suspect a vac leak somewhere if the tps initial voltage is below 1.0V.
One bright side of my allotted time each week for trying and failing to fix this car for the past month is at least it happened to me and not to someone directly after they bought it.
I tried to remove the upper intake to scope out the under-plenum vacuum lines but all of the appropriate size torx bits twisted and/or broke.
I must be simply stupid because it's kicking my ass.
Between failing to fix this one, failing to rid the wife's Outback of a cel despite cat, o2 sensors and all the other E36 M3 that is "operating within normal parameters" and new plugs that were a motherberkeleyer to change, and failing to get my Scoob reliably running I'm ready to swear off cars all together. Old cars at least. The Crown Vic needs ball joints, sway bar endlinks, shocks and steering bits too. At least the Vic and Outback are still drive-able.
It's no fun when your cheap, old cars E36 M3 on you in unison. Especially when your work schedule changes every week, you never get 2 days off per week and you work every shift each week, sometimes forced to work a double with no notice... which leaves no time for this E36 M3.
Maybe this should have gone in the rant thread. 
I don't know how you guys with huge car collections do it.
$200. Cash. I'll pick it up next week. 
lol
Ok... $400. Same terms. Serious offer. 
Just pulled the upper plenum and replaced the vacuum hoses and the heater hoses at the rear of the engine. It still misses at idle and part throttle, but full throttle is fine. No CEL, no codes, no more beeping from the tripminder.
$1,000 as is, where is. Come and get it before I start shooting it.
Sent a pm awhile back without answer....
Never got it. Would you mind re-sending it?
PM re-sent.
Got it and replied.
For next week's episode of Fix Fail Rage I will be deleting the EGR and associated berkeleyery since the fact that it runs fine at WOT indicates to me that that may most likely be the issue.
Join us next Sunday morning for more debauchery and profanity!
Oh yes...there will be rage.
This morning (Tuesday morning, after work) I took a thin, flat piece of steel and drilled three holes in it. Two holes for the EGR studs to pass through and one for the egr valve plunger. The spot where there should have been another hole will prevent exhaust gasses from entering the intake while the plunger moves as much as it wants.
I sandwiched it between some gaskets and hoped for the best but was greeted with the same. Ever wonder why meatheads regularly peel off the fuel injection bits and slap on carburetors?
Gee, your approach to fixing things looks a lot like mine. Hope it gets figured out soon.
I'm interested in trades, if anyone else is interested in trading something for the Lincoln.
I think it may have a bad injector. There was some insulation stuffed under the upper plenum that had probably been there for years and a few of the injectors are rusty.
Seems to be running quite lean. I had planned to eventually install the intake and injectors from a 5.0 Exploder but the local pick and pull hasn't had one in quite a while.
KOEO code = 11
Everything's fine. Lol
KOER codes:
1 = not listed
2 = not listed
12 = idle out of range
23 = TPS signal out of range
33 = EGR not opening properly
42 = O2 sensor out of range/system rich
93 = KOER code not listed
TPS?
Thoughts?
Finally have a day off so I glared at the Lincoln for a bit then lowered the air suspension and took it out for a wash, blasting the ice cold a/c. Pulled into the car wash with it stuttering at idle, pulled out with it running better than it has in quite some time...
So I drove it out to speed lube and had the oil changed then cruised around for a while. When i got home I did the idle reset procedure and a minute adjustment of the timing. It is now idling smooth...
shrug
It's probably behaving well because it's happy to be clean
That was my thought as well. I took the wife to lunch in it (after the idle reset and timing tweak) and it was idling and running better than it ever has!
Drove it to work today then went for an hour long cruise. During the cruise the temp gauge needle was acting strange. It registered the usual gradual increase in temperature but the needle was "fluttery" instead of steady. Every sensor is new so I'm 99% sure that isn't the issue.
It hovered on the R in NORMAL, as it usually does, but then started a slow, steady climb upwards with no more fluttering. All of the coolant rushing past the sensor must have been nearly uniform in temperature since the needle was now steady. It was steadily rising so apparently the coolant wasn't staying in the radiator long enough to cool down.
My conclusion; the thermostat is stuck open. Oh well, it's better than closed. I ran the heater on the way home to keep the temp in the R.
Tonight's plan is to scuff and paint the battleship gray underbody with satin black then shoot some satin black plasti-dip on the upper trim and bumpers, in case I want to remove it without risking any permanent damage.
Pics to follow!
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