Mark VIII Marauder Coupe

[Aren Jay]

Has anyone ever made or thought about making a Marauder coupe out of a Mark VIII?

Put Marauder front seats and dash in, keep the Mark VIII rear seats, change the front and rear fender covers (ends).

Would it work?

or would a Thunder Bird be a better donar to use?

[Peter]

A Lincoln to a Mercury clone?

[djbruce26]

I like the VIII dash more than the marauder... the cluster is also better if you ask me. I also think the VIII is more aerodynamic... and kinda faster...

[96DiamondVIII]

I've owned both. The VIII front seats are more comfortable and the dash is a MUCH better design. Other than transferring the Marauder gauge cluster I wouldn't change anything in the interior. Except maybe to put gray seats in a black interior to get the Marauder Light Flint look...

I imagine you could put Marauder front and rear clips on a VIII with some good metalworking skills, but it still wouldn't really look right. The VIII has the sloping, almost fastback-ish rear roofline, which would not work with the rest of the Marauder sheetmetal. I almost think you'd be better off taking a Marauder and converting it from a 4-door into a 2-door (I've seen it done on a Caprice...)

Would be $$$ either way but kind of a cool idea.

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Does anyone else not like how the center of the dash(radio, air cond) is angled off to the driver? IMO would look alot cleaner if it was nicely centered.

[Tyrone Minto]

hmmmmm.. I have a Mark Viii siting out back of the barn and an extra set of Marauder wheels and tires. wonder if they would fit??

[offroadkarter]

Why not just buy an old CVPI, (98+) cut the passenger section out, reweld the back and front on, and put the MM body kit on? That would be cool. Heck, cut the roof off and make it a roadster! :D

[Aren Jay]

1 Picked the Mark VIII as it is already a Coupe.
2 It is also longer than a Cougar / Thunderbird more inline to what a Marauder coupe would have been, also is a 4.6L V8 not a V6.
3 The roof might be removed to mave it a convertible/roadster then the lines wouldn't matter, too much.
4 Mark VIII's are cheap.
5 Wouldn't want to spend the money to cut a car in half and weld it back together and try and make everything fit.
6 I don't like the curvy dash, I hit my knees on such dashes. (taking out the dash shouldn't be too big of a job).
7 With the roof removed the lesser Mark VIII headroom isn't a problem. Replacing it with a removeable landau roof would give the best of both without worrying about convertible mechanisms etc... And it could easily be made to look more Marauderish.

[RocsMerc]

Someone should photo shop this out of curiosity.

[offroadkarter]

If you can find one cheap, go for it i say.

[MarauderTJA]

Two weeks ago my son-in-law put my first Marauder motor in his MK VIII. A lot of work and changes had to be made. It has a Procharger and a now built manual shift FB auto tranny with a trans brake. The lug pattern will not allow the Marauder wheels to fit for 1994 -1996 years. The car is really fast being lighter. Can't wait to see how it runs at SSHS7. May surprise a lot of cars. Previously with his original motor and the SC he ran a best 12.7 et with the orginial tranny and 4.10 gears. I figure he may bump the 11's with the car now.

[96DiamondVIII]

Two weeks ago my son-in-law put my first Marauder motor in his MK VIII ... Previously with his original motor and the SC he ran a best 12.7 et with the orginial tranny and 4.10 gears. I figure he may bump the 11's with the car now.

Did the incremental changes made to the engine in between the mid 90's and 2003-04 really help the power potential that much? IIRC, the DOHC 4.6 in the VIII was rated at 280hp/290tq, and the Marauder stock is 302/318...not huge gains in stock form...

[MarauderTJA]

Quite a bit actually. 10 years of technology, mostly in the heads and intake manifold are the differences. The 94 MK VIII 4.6 32v motor is first generation. Horsepower difference really do not show the resutls. Lighter car (3750 lbs) and with re-routed S/C piping, I am confident the car will bump the 11's. We had to change a lot of things around (fuel rails, intake - using a 96 Cobra Intake, fuel pump, injectors and more) to get everything to work and line up. WIth the ignition, the Marauder motor has eight coil paks whereas the MV VIII has two. We also added an MSD ingnition for added spark. We'll see soon how she does.

[RaceLegend79]

hmmmmm.. I have a Mark Viii siting out back of the barn and an extra set of Marauder wheels and tires. wonder if they would fit??


The bolt circle of the Mark VIII is smaller than the MMs. Which is why, maybe, that this hasnt ever been done. Still would look cool though.

[96DiamondVIII]

I know it's a popular mod with the Mark VII crowd to switch to SN95 spindles so that Cobra R or Bullitt wheels can be used. Could the VIII be converted to use Panther spindles? It'd be a lot of work, sure, but the end result would probably look pretty cool...

[Aren Jay]

What about a Mark VII as a donar car? More inline with the shape and room for the engine. Add bumper covers, change the back lights and trunk and switch the front grill.

It looks good from the side with Marauder like wheels:
http://www.automotiveexpression.com/newrims1.jpg
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.com/images/lincoln-mark-vii.jpg

[Master]

Why not just build it like this?

[OneBADLsE]

I would say buy the DTR MM i looked at recently here in NY. It can be gotten maybe for 9ish.


Cut that car, and fab away!

[Dennis Reinhart]

Has anyone ever made or thought about making a Marauder coupe out of a Mark VIII?

Put Marauder front seats and dash in, keep the Mark VIII rear seats, change the front and rear fender covers (ends).

Would it work?

or would a Thunder Bird be a better donar to use?


I have three 1998 LSC here at the shop for SC these are awsome cars

[Drock96Marquis]

I know it's a popular mod with the Mark VII crowd to switch to SN95 spindles so that Cobra R or Bullitt wheels can be used. Could the VIII be converted to use Panther spindles? It'd be a lot of work, sure, but the end result would probably look pretty cool...


Why would you do that? The SN95s use the same bolt pattern as the panthers ;)
Small spacers will be needed for the 03+ Panthers higher offset.

[Bigdogjim]

Marauder had the best front seats Ford ever produced.

[Aren Jay]

I actually perfer the Mustang Cobra (GT) cloth seats from 1986. Infintely adjustable and very comfortable, not that Marauder seats are bad, but why oh why does the seatbelt socket have to be were it is?

[Aren Jay]

Why not just build it like this?


That is the idea but refabing the whole body to be a coupe and a convertible has got to be difficult and expensive. Why not start with a coupe and just make it look more Marauderish.