1968 Cougar track car build

[derekdj87]

I recently got rid of a 2003 Corvette z06 because it needed a transmission rebuild among other major things. So I traded it in and got a truck thinking that I could take the cougar, that has been sitting in my dad's backyard for around 10 years, and make it a more dedicated track car that I wouldn't need to rely upon for work or school. The goal is to attend at least one track day by the end of this year.

-Derek

[andrewb70]

:postpics:

Andrew

[derekdj87]

Ok Andrew,

First I bought these tires,
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Then this cage from S&W Race cars
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This motor for after when the car is trackable
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Towed it home today
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And here are the pics of it with the last being of the floor board.
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[andrewb70]

Nice start. Are you keeping the shock towers?

Andrew

[derekdj87]

I am for now, my budget is really low initially it will be just refresh of stock suspension with the "arning drop" and other budget friendly modifications to get it going.

Other than that I was pleasantly surprised that it runs so well for sitting for about 10 years, no miss fire or ticking. It just idles at about 3000 rpms.

Also I have a fx1 pro seat that will be used until I work a kirkey into the budget.

-Derek

[andrewb70]

I am for now, my budget is really low initially it will be just refresh of stock suspension with the "arning drop" and other budget friendly modifications to get it going.

Other than that I was pleasantly surprised that it runs so well for sitting for about 10 years, no miss fire or ticking. It just idles at about 3000 rpms.

Also I have a fx1 pro seat that will be used until I work a kirkey into the budget.

-Derek

Cool. Looking forward to progress.

Andrew

[derekdj87]

Got the seat mounted in today before I finish taking out the interior to restore the panels.
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Bought this shifter today since I want more gear control and don't have a manual swap in the budget at the moment.
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Also got this basic wiring kit from speedway motors as well as some pieces needed to make an adjustable strut rod.
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-Derek

[Motown 454]

Nice! My buddy had a 390 in his. Fast Car.

[Z06killinSBF]

Nice to see the Cougar get some love.

[derekdj87]

Yea this one has a pretty basic 302 in it. And yea this one needs a lot of love, the body is pretty bad. Luckily the floor pans are all good with very minor work needed.

-Derek

[derekdj87]

Realized the cougar's dash is welded in today, so after thinking about it I decided I'd rather leave it in to keep some of the vintage look. So far I have ripped all the interior wiring out and began to wire brush the interior to lay down some primer. After that I'm going to go ahead and rewire the car before getting the cage installed.

Derek

[shortrack]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/sofia001_zpssqdrwyoy-1.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/shortrack/media/sofia-001_zpssqdrwyoy.jpg.html)

[BlueGhost93]

Lol^ On a serious note this is going to be a sweet build! If you wana go the rout of new breaks and suspension, exhaust etc, PM me and ill see what kinda discounts I can get you through our dealer accounts with a lot of big name companies :) Help you save a few bucks here and there to spend elsewhere on the car.

[derekdj87]

Shorttrack, I assume the picture is referring to her being older, or vintage yet still fairly attractive? You chevelle is pretty inspiring btw.

Blueghost, I am sending you a PM.

And just for everyones SA, this is the first full car build I have ever done so any advice or correction is welcomed as to what works best or better. I am trying to build it NASA American Iron specs although I have no intention of wtw, just track days, hill climbs, and time trials.

Derek

[shortrack]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/cougar_2_zpszvkmn6ep-1.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/shortrack/media/cougar_2_zpszvkmn6ep.jpg.html)

[Munssey]

interest officially peaked. Good luck on the new build.

[BlueGhost93]

Hey Jeff! He has a instagram. Now we can both follow on there too.lol

[no go nova]

Sweet build but what will you do for headers or manifolds if you do the ls swap?

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Always loved those Mercury Cougars...have to be specific in this thread now :)

[derekdj87]

No go- I've been watching andrews build, but I think I want to try to the 351w headers with ls flanges. That is at least a year away though, my main priority is getting the car safe and reliable from a brakes and suspension point of view, then I'll worry bout the little 4.8. Also I'm like an hour north of you in Charleston.

Derek

[derekdj87]

Anyone have a good suggestion on mufflers that are less than 100 bucks a piece? Also I'll have pics today of the gauges I got.

Derek

[Z06killinSBF]

Loud - Magnaflow Magnapacks

or if you can spare a little extra change

Bassani BX400 series
Dynatech Split Flows

[Bird of Prey]

Have you called some shops to see if they will give you a deal for the whole exhaust , like $225.00 out the door .

[derekdj87]

I'll do some research on those mufflers and how they sound. I keep coming back to spintechs but I want to make sure I'm not over spending.

On getting the whole exhaust done, I'd like to do it myself since I have a welder here. Planning on just getting an x pipe kit and then mufflers and then running side pipes.

Derek

[derekdj87]

And I have my gauges. They are the auto meter pro comp series.
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Other than that I haven't had too much time for the car between medical stuff, school, and work. I did get some of the floor primered and once that done I'm gonna wire it up and take it to get the cage installed.

Derek

[derekdj87]

Got the interior primed and pretty much ready to wire, so I can drive it to get the cage put in. So I started trying to make a gauge panel.
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Me and my helper.
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Set em in the car just to get a look. Love it.
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Since ABS plastic is difficult to find I'm trying plexiglass. Still not sure how I'm gonna cut the holes out yet, but I'll get it done. Ready to get it running so I can mess with the suspension, brakes, exhaust, and everything else.

Derek

[derekdj87]

So I got to making the gauge panel and my first one cracked right down the middle after I had gotten done making it. Really annoying.
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So I made a second one below and here they are mounted in.
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Now I'm ready to start wiring the car up.

Derek

[68Formula]

Love the old Cougars (cars that is). Hope to see this at Cars and Coffee sometime.

[derekdj87]

You in Charleston?

Hopefully be starting the car in the next two weeks.

Derek

[68Formula]

You in Charleston?

Hopefully be starting the car in the next two weeks.

Derek

I is. ;-)

[rustomatic]

Cool project--you're smarter than I in knowing from the get-go that you're building a track mule. It's taken me more than four years to figure out that this is where I wound up with my Falcon. Swiss Army knives (metaphor) don't exist in real life...

As for exhaust, always be on the lookout for specific decibel output in various systems, so as to avoid being disinvited from various tracks. Somehow, I accidentally built a 3-inch single setup that pukes out 89-91 decibels going into turn 5 or so at Laguna Seca. The thing I got most right was the sound, and it wasn't near the top of my list of "fabbing" objectives...

[derekdj87]

Yea, the only reason mine went straight to race car is because of how rusty the body is. I figure if I wrecked it, oh well. Speaking of decibels I sold the 4.8l that was going to power this car in the future. I'm deciding right now whether I want to use an ls motor or not. I can't see where a 302 stroker can make anywhere near the power and the aluminum block is nice. Anyone have suggestions? Reliable 420-450rwhp and 400tq is endgame goal.

Also I think I've decided to go with the black widow exhaust venom series. Sticking with the do it once, do it right mentality. Getting the 2.5 inch venom 250 series.

Derek

[derekdj87]

Built this switch panel today and began the wiring process. Tomorrow I'll hopefully have the wires ran and ready to start getting connected.
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Goal is to start it next week.

Derek

[68Formula]

So which engine is going in? Whatever you had before?

[derekdj87]

Its a 302 right now, but deciding if I want to go LS or ford stroker in the end. I know I don't want to go with a 6-speed transmission because it seems like a lot of work.

Derek

[Jetfixr320]

A 331 with a good set of heads and cam can get you to your power goals. But it may cost more then the LS?

[derekdj87]

Yea I've been thinking about that. The guy who was supposed to buy my 4.8l backed out, so I still have it just in case I decide to use it.

Derek

[68Formula]

Yea I've been thinking about that. The guy who was supposed to buy my 4.8l backed out, so I still have it just in case I decide to use it.

Derek

:)

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[derekdj87]

Haha just saw that one formula. Been doing research on the 4.8l, and as long as I can figure out how to get a tko-600 or astro t5 mated it to it then I will continue to plan for it.

No huge updates, but I have the engine bay wired and all the components put back in. Only thing left to do wire the gauges and tail lights, then fire it up (hopefully it works the first time).

Derek

[derekdj87]

So I am 98% done with the wiring and decided to see if how I did tonight by seeing if it would run. Cranked up nearly immediately. All the accessories worked except the electric fan. So I'll have to do figure that out as I finish the taillights, wipers, and tidy up the wires. Overall a pretty great night in the garage.

Derek

[68Formula]

Getting darn close! :twothumbs

Thanks for the inspiration. Finally got mine running again.

[derekdj87]

Snapped a picture of the engine bay. Not very pretty but it works. I'll do some more cleanup when I switch motors.
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But I did get my mufflers from Black Widow Exhaust. Cannot wait to hear them.
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Other than that I figured out why my fan wasn't working so that means I wired everything up correctly, which is a relief as it was my first time and I deviated from the instructions.

Derek

[derekdj87]

Got my new x-pipe and harness today. Waiting on my stop light switch to finish the wiring, so I'm going to try my hand at carburetor rebuilding tonight and tomorrow.
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Derek

[derekdj87]

Rebuilt the Holley 600 on the 302 and I pretty much failed. It ran worse when I got done. I put on an Edelbrock 750 and it starts up faster than my newer truck and seems to run pretty good. I know the Edelbrock is way to big for the 302 so I am going to go back through the Holley and see if I can figure it out. Other than that all of the electrical is done and everything works. I buttoned up everything until I decide to change something.
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The only thing is the seating position is kind of tight. My knees are pretty close to the steering wheel (the wheel is down about 2 inches in this picture, but still close), but I don't want to get too far away from the pedals.
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Derek

[derekdj87]

A quick update

Drove the car today, I need to tighten up the steering and get a bigger steering wheel. With sticky tires it is pretty hard to turn. It also needs to be lowered something fierce, it sits higher than my truck. I still have to figure out the leaf springs, I'm thinking I may try make mounts to use some mustang leaf springs since they are easier to get.

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On another note I've decided to sell the 4.8l and stick with some sort of sbf. I like the ls motors more, but it would just eliminate form a few of the racing classes I think I'd like to be in. Also, my father let me know he had an old top loader 4-speed just laying in his back yard from a wrecked 70 mustang. So I decided to check it out and I got lucky, it had a 28 tooth second gear meaning it is a close ratio.

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It also had the factory hurst 4-speed, but I don't know if rebuilding the shifter will be worth it. Also when I popped open the top to check the tooth count the fluid was still clear and the inside looked brand new, so it shouldn't need to be fully rebuilt.

Derek

[68Formula]

Rebuilt the Holley 600 on the 302 and I pretty much failed. It ran worse when I got done. I put on an Edelbrock 750 and it starts up faster than my newer truck and seems to run pretty good. I know the Edelbrock is way to big for the 302 so I am going to go back through the Holley and see if I can figure it out.

I've rebuilt a few Holley's (although it's been a while), and I have lots of reference books. PM me if you want some help.