Nice!, what color are you going with?
A dark green that looks black until you see it in the sun. I will more than likely add a black hood scoop, Either a flat black scoop and flat black stripes down the side of the car (almost like eliminator stripes) or they will be a deep dark gloss black. Black interior with dark green accents. Also the wood grain dash will be the color of the car. At least thats my vision as of now. 
It’s time to really not cut corners and get her done and get her looking good. I will be posting a lot of pictures of body work and the paint process. But still have a long way to go until paint. My step dads dad is a stickler for perfection and I know he wont let me paint the car until the body is smooth as glass. Will be very tedious but it’s going to look perfect in the end.
I guess this would be kind of close to what I picture in my head as far as a paint scheme. A deeper darker green would be better. In good lighting I can tell that green would be a lot lighter.
New Youtube account just for the car youtube.com/coug67xr7
I uploaded a video of starting her up for the first time in a week. With the holly she starts right up no problem. Runs smoother and stronger. It would actually start better when the motor was cold. After heating up I would have to lean on the key longer. But we tweaked the carb for about half an hour yesterday and I can sit in gear at a light all day long with no problems. Going from park into gear is much smoother and idles steady as can be. and she will start right up every time with just 2 pumps of the pedal.
The Cougar sounds good in your video. I like you color combo idea. Green I think gives a very period feel to Cougars. Dark green with flat or satin black stripes, very cool. 
Steven
Sounds good, the idea with the green and black would be nice. The eliminator stripes do work with the 68 from what I hear and it does look good.
Well the cougar is running great other than how it does in hot weather. It’s been right around 101 degrees the last few days here where I live. And the cougar has not overheated on me to the point of pulling over and cooling it off. I used to over heat in 80 degree weather before all the cooling upgrades I did. But anyway, in over 100 degree weather it obviously doesn’t run as good as 75 degree weather. When I take off (sometimes) it feels like the gas pedal is getting sucked down a little. Like the motor is helping me press the gas pedal. My step dad says need stronger return spring but it didn’t do that a few weeks ago in cooler weather. I think it has something to do with the hotter air and vaccuum. Also it can die on me randomly especially in hotter weather and after trying to stomp on it. Maybe the fuel with hotter air mixture? maybe coil getting too hot? it will start right back up after that and I’ll keep driving. Do These problems sound like hot weather problems? what can I do to make it better in hotter weather? I definitely have been forced to take it easy in the car to avoid these things while driving. Also because I notice if I push her harder it will get hotter quicker and stay hotter for a while. Stupid san juaquin valley heat!
ya… no love four coug67 i see…
Not sure what you’re gettin at…is it that no one has responded to you?
I’m not familiar with your car or the mods you’ve done (can’t see the pics of get the vid from work), so I wasn’t that sure about giving you advice since I did not know what you did to get yourself to this point. From quickly scanning back in your posts you put swapped an Eddy for a Holley? Is the fuel line routing in a stock location & in good shape? Or is it adapted from the routing you used for the Eddy? Same for the throttle linkage & return spring? Checked the fuel filter? Fuel bowl levels right? You might have a vacuum leak aggravating things, but I’m thinking it would not cause all your problems. Have you to tried to choke out your carb to see if the motor dies? (that’s when you take off the air cleaner & hold your hands over the top of the carb - if the car does not stall you have a vacuum leak)
I missed why are you running electric fans. Is the car highly modified? These cars run fine at 100 degrees with all the factory parts in place & working properly.
Whenever I have hesitation problems, I read my tea leaves… I mean spark plugs.
When you swapped in the Holley, did you change out the jets, discharge shooters or accelerator pump cams?
Thanks for the info will look into that. Finally made it up to my step grandfathers shop and was able to use his all his tools which made things amazingly easy. Welded up up pin holes and holes where I’m not going to be putting emlems back on. Then Hammered down the last of the highs on the drivers door and worked with bondo and an air file to get the drivers door and quarter panel looking pretty damn straight for a rough cut.
I also replaced my power steering ram and control valve before the 2 hour drive up there and she ran pretty darn good the whole way. Much easier to steer now without all the play in my steering and it tracks the road much easier. It made the 7 miles of winding corners a blast!
My step dad was working on his mustang while I was working on mine.
Not a very good picture but heres a rough cut of the door. HUGE difference if you look back at my first pictures and see how caved in these doors were.
Me using the air file.
We were working outside most of the time. Didnt want to get dust in the shop they are about to repaint floors. But holy cow is it nice to have every tool you could ever need right there at your finger tips. Full restoration shop. He retired from doing customers cars though. Now he uses the shop for his own cars and to run his online business. I got so much done in one day!
Hi Coug67,
I just read through this thread for the first time. Good work on your Cougar! You’ve really come a long way and it’s looking and sounding great. I don’t have any advice for you except keep up the good work!
Looks much better now. I think the cougar is a much nicer looking ride don’t you? Maybe Im biased.
I agree the cougar is much better. but I also may be biased ha. That mustang is sooooo freakin straight (besides the trunk and a little bitty spot on the fender that he worked out this weekend. still need a little more work on the trunk) its going to look like glass when painted. The cougar will look like glass too but it’s got a long ways to go no doubt!
I left the car up there with the windows out (but covered) and bumpers off. So I can get down to business quicker next time. Plus the 2 hour drive i wont have to deal with in the cougar. Going to leave it up there and make trips every other weekend until the car is completely dent free. The cougar is 100% safe out there in the country in a shop. I worry about it every night I have to park it outside my apartments or even at my parents in a nice neighborhood. So I’m happy even though I might miss the dang car
Haven’t been on here much. I get bored of the same ol same ol posts. Bleh…
Anyways…
Made another trip up to the shop to work on my love. All the major body work to the doors are done. Along with my drivers rocker panel and drivers quarter panel. Still have a lot to do but making some HUGE improvments. Love body work. The results are quick and rewarding.
Anyways here is some more clear pictures of my progress and a before and after shot of the passengers side (so far).
It’s crazy to think how excited I was just to get the car stripped down and into a coat of sealer with the doors still caved in. Now is crazy excitment. Every day I’m out there on my step grandfathers property is the happiest day of my life. So much easier and funner to work on cars when you have a full blown (retired) restoration shop at your finger tips.
I’m very lucky and extremely greatful to have the opportunity to learn and work on cars from my step dad and grandfather. With out them I would just be another guy dreaming of these cars instead of actually doing it.
By what I can see from the photos,…that door looks amazing! Most guys would have thrown that door on the scrap heap and got a better one. Yep, must be a pleasure to have an arsenal of body tools at your disposal. So, how did you get the DENT out of the door,… did you use a size 11 boot on it or what?
LOL pretty much! Good old fashion 2x4 and a heavy hammer. A little welding. Then a lot of massaging with body hammers. Some bondo and a lot of sanding. They still have a long way to go to be ready for paint as does the rest of the car. Working on those doors the past year I bet I can remove cougar windows faster than anyone on here. haha. I’ve had those things in and out more times than I can count. I got the bulk of the doors out where I was living almost a year ago. Just got to the bondo and sanding part of it over the last month or 2.
I thought for sure I would need new doors but figured I would at least give it a shot and save some money. Took a lot of hours of work so far but I also learned a lot and continue to learn.
Sometimes the “primitive” approach is the most effective! In my arsenal of makeshift body tools I have a couple good hardwood boards set aside for the same reason. “Improvise to overcome”.
Well guys no update on body work. Haven’t had a chance to make it up to the shop (hopefully will soon though).
But, I did get my hands on a 1988 5.0 ho motor from a mustang. Came with everything. P/S and AC. All hoses and wire harness Even the computer. msd distributor cap. and BBK shorty headers (which I wont be using) Also came with an AOD that was rebuilt a year ago by one of the best we have here in town. Also came with the torque converter. And I also only paid $600!
The motor did have a blown head gasket and has been driven that way for quit some time. Looks pretty nasty how the oil mixed with water. Makes you want to drink a carmel frap from starbucks… NOT!
I didn’t have time to tear into the short block or to even really look at all the cylinder walls. But from what I can see they didn’t look too bad. but I am planning on Boring it and stroking the motor anyway so I’m not too worried. I can probably fix the head gasket and run it like that.
I want to build a 331 out of it. It’s a full roller motor with forged pistons. It’s going to be a long slow build that I will have on the side. Probably going to be 2 or 3 years before I can drop it in the cougar. Hardest decision is to stay Fuel injected with this motor which will cost a lot more money but will be more satisfying in the end. Or go with good ol fashion carbureted. Cheap and effective but might be hard to tune right for the street since I want to put a pretty aggresive cam in it. Maybe I’ll throw my intake and carb from my 289 on the 5.0 temporarily just to hear it run when the time comes. I have a while to make a decision since my money is tied up at the moment (getting married).
Let me know what you guys think. I will definitly be ripping out the 289 and c4 and putting the 5.0 and AOD in. Also going to swap the 2.79 gears for a posi 3.73.
I love my 289 and all. But It’s time for something that can really make some power.
289/c4 might go into another project later down the road for my fiance. It would be a good combination for her to run around town with.
Here is what the valve cover looked like on the side of the blown gasket.
and the other side… not as bad…
and the worst of it is under the intake manifold.
The blown gasket
All in all I think I got a super awesome deal. I can turn around and sell the tranny for as much as I paid for it all. The people I bought it from are good honest people that I have trusted for many years. They are a small family who work at a smog shop here in town. Seems like they pulled the motor at the shop over the weekend and when the boss came in He wasn’t too happy about a motor and trans sitting there so they had to get rid of it quick. I was there actually working on their computer the monday after that weekend (talk about being in the right spot at the right time). They told me it was a blown head gasket. They had bigger ideas and another motor they wanted to put into their mustang anyway so they decided to just rip the motor out. And at first i turned it down because I just don’t have the money. and I started texting my car buddies who were interested in it. But they offered to accept payments and even said if I don’t have cash now to just take the motor and make payments when I do. Like I said were great friends. So I scrounged up what money I could and came back after work to grab it. I almost have it half paid off. I think I have a good base to start with in building my 331 stroker. I’m stoked and feel very good about it and glad I have people I can trust and give me a good deal.
Wow, that is a mess, but fixable. Good price as well. Pull it apart and take your time.