Transcona, the Dirty Old XR7

[egoman]

There is a neighborhood on the east side of Winnipeg called Transcona. Long renowned for where a young man could go to get experience at the hands of an older woman. A Cougar if you will.
This is the build thread for the 1997 cougar XR7.
This will be the best thread here for several reasons.
1. Its a lot farther along and I may actually finish it
2. I use a lot of pics.
3. It is not a first gen Camaro. (Sorry I am just burnt out on them right now)
4. Because I said so! (See my online name)
This was never supposed to be a Cougar. The plan all along was for this to be a super-coupe. BUT, I received a Cougar from the classified ads for the sum of $450. I HAVE money, I just don't like spending it. The car has been safetied and licensed.

[egoman]

The car isnt in horrible shape and that dent passenger side is the only straightening required. The floor is quite bad but you will see in future posts that it doesnt matter.


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I enjoy those who respond.
I enjoy those that provide constructive criticism.
But most of all I just enjoy those of you that interact.
I already at twice a week, have enough posts for a couple of years. I PLAN ON SHOWING YOU WHAT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH A VERY SHODDY GARAGE AND SOME VERY GOOD TOOLS. Oops caps lock.
LOL. Anyways this build is over the top in everything but money.
Its been 10 years or so since my last build. I have it linked here, http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=7995
If you look at that you get an idea of what's in store for this car.
I kind of feel guilty as I watched some of you struggle with stuff I had already solved. Maybe you can forgive me as you read along?
So maybe another post Monday or Tuesday?
Trust me I will give you more info than you ever wanted.

[egoman]

I lied, the next stuff is easy to post up and I want to get you guys sucked in.
This is the stuff laying around the yard that may get repurposed, used for mockup or just give me some good ideas. I have 9inch floater to install and a Crown Vic front end. Does anyone have a source for performance info for these front ends? The truck guys love them but how good are they?

[egoman]

SOOO like all the rest of us I want the biggest tires that are possible. So where do I acquire such things without spending too much money?
Lets see rich boy D-Bags drive Vetttes, Vipers, Porsches and Ferraris. And they have more money than brains so usually they get rid of the stock rims.
HMMMM Corvettes are the easiest to find and they show up on the classifieds around here. Hey a set just showed up.
First he wanted $600, then when we arrived they were $500. After we let him talk some more they dropped to $400. Finally he agreed to sell them for $300. Remember I haven't said a word to him about price yet!!!! My buddy Dave says we should have just stood there and said nothing until he gave them away?
I am just starting to acquire some parts here. I have a plan for how it should all turn out stored in my head though. It will be freaking amazing!

[egoman]

Naturally I now have the bug and buying stuff is getting out of hand. I am also making other deals as all this goes around too. The seller of these tires wasn’t going to make any sweetheart deals like the other guy. He is building an SLC and the work he is doing is meticulous. Here is a link to his project, https://www.gt40s.com/threads/kens-s...-thread.38446/
Now we have some even bigger tires to put on a project. 850$ gone. Do I keep track of the money or just forget about dollars and be blissfully ignorant instead? You guys can guide me about this part. Its just Canadian dollars so eff it, we don't have a budget anymore!

[egoman]

The delivery angel
Remember that I said I was making other deals? This is the arrival of a very expensive deal. I am just getting started and I already hate shipping companies and vendors that are flakes. This fork lift operator is my favorite guy as he loaded my bounty in the trailer and helped get my shipment released. He just went and yelled at the shipper receiver and problem solved.


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This deal was about 6 grand worth of materials that would decide the course of this build. The shipper was new and the dock hand wasn't. I could see my crate sitting there and he just went over and told the shipper how it was going to be and VOILA I had all my new stuff. LOL
__________________

[egoman]

It finally arrived
I contacted a Corvette dismantler in Welland Ontario just after Christmas. Honest to god, the dealing nearly drove me nuts. It took me 3-1/2 months to get my stuff delivered. That’s right my 97 Cougar is getting a large amount of C-6 ZO6 parts. A lot of people will just say, why didn’t you just start with a Corvette then? Well, I don’t fit in a Corvette. I am a big man, like NFL defensive line big. This was $6600 dollars worth of goodies and this post will show you the wheels. I will list prices as I go but will let you add them up if you so choose. Remember the prices are in Canadian funds.
SOOOOO Stock C6 ZO6 wheels in an 18-19 combo. I made a decision years ago when this idea began to germinate about wheels and tires. My way of thinking was that these are very expensive items that have a good chance of getting destroyed. There are rich boys all over the place that want the latest and greatest wheels and tires. Ferrari fan boys, Porsche people, Corvette kooks, they all have one thing in common. They will sell the stock stuff off fairly inexpensively. Seeing as I was purchasing corvette suspension, may as well have the same wheels. It also allows me to update by buying for a corvette and just bolting them on my car. Luckily I got them all from the same place.


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By the way the 6600$ was not just for the wheels. There is a lot more to come in the Cougar Tales/Tails. See what I did there?

[egoman]

Those of you that frequent other forums may have seen some of this content already. This forum was one of my first choices to use but the managing of attachments is overly complicated. I needed to get my crap in order so I could post pics with comfort here.
My promise is now that this forum will receive the updates along with the others at the same times.

[egoman]

Listen to this for an idea................. Just a taste of Transcona LOL
https://soundcloud.com/nestamatthews...ougar-hits-the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwio5bJ0xNY

[Vimes]

Cool, I'd love to build one of these as well. I wouldn't sweat getting a Cougar over a Thunderchicken, the Cougar is a better car. I bought a new one in 1993, with the 5.0, and the car drove and handled better than the Chicken at high speeds. Felt like the shape of the rear on the Chicken was causing the rear go get light once takeoff speed was achieved, but the Cougar kept a firm grip on the ground with all four paws. Plus, the sharp angle on the glass with the Chicken made it more uncomfortable for an adult in the back. The only thing I didn't like was those friggin' automatic shoulder belts they put into them. They did nothing to make you safer, and you STILL had to put the lap belt on manually. It was a whole lot of wasted effort on their part. I think 1993 was the last year they put them in.

Up to you, of course, but were I doing this I'd also see about putting the 1992-1993 nose on. Looks better, IMO. This is not a picture of mine, mine was a solid teal. No pics, digital cameras and the internet were not a thing back then.


Unfortunately, I had to sell the car when I bought a house a couple of years later in order to get my debt ratio down enough for the banker. It was a real shame too, loved that car but my young children needed a roof over their heads and my income wasn't enough to pay for both way back then. I'll be watching your build with great interest.

[egoman]

Cool, I'd love to build one of these as well. I wouldn't sweat getting a Cougar over a Thunderchicken, the Cougar is a better car. I bought a new one in 1993, with the 5.0, and the car drove and handled better than the Chicken at high speeds. Felt like the shape of the rear on the Chicken was causing the rear go get light once takeoff speed was achieved, but the Cougar kept a firm grip on the ground with all four paws. Plus, the sharp angle on the glass with the Chicken made it more uncomfortable for an adult in the back. The only thing I didn't like was those friggin' automatic shoulder belts they put into them. They did nothing to make you safer, and you STILL had to put the lap belt on manually. It was a whole lot of wasted effort on their part. I think 1993 was the last year they put them in.

Up to you, of course, but were I doing this I'd also see about putting the 1992-1993 nose on. Looks better, IMO. This is not a picture of mine, mine was a solid teal. No pics, digital cameras and the internet were not a thing back then.


Unfortunately, I had to sell the car when I bought a house a couple of years later in order to get my debt ratio down enough for the banker. It was a real shame too, loved that car but my young children needed a roof over their heads and my income wasn't enough to pay for both way back then. I'll be watching your build with great interest.

I am in no way worried about choosing the cougar. its a classy looking car. I didn't realize it before though!

[egoman]

Brake stuff
I am just going to let you look at this stuff and enjoy it just like I did when it arrived. I describe these as mechanical sex. I will use that term often over the course of the build.

[egoman]

Just some more pics that were part of the shipment from the corvette dismantler.

[Styx1967]

Cool project, always fun to see the oddballs! I have a question on the Crown Vic front, do you know (or can you get) the dimension from the center of the front lower control arm bushing to the rear of the front lower control arm bracket? Basically I need to know how far under my firewall that bracket will be for my project.

Also, adtr.net is the best place that I know of for CV performance parts.

[egoman]

Cool project, always fun to see the oddballs! I have a question on the Crown Vic front, do you know (or can you get) the dimension from the center of the front lower control arm bushing to the rear of the front lower control arm bracket? Basically I need to know how far under my firewall that bracket will be for my project.

Also, adtr.net is the best place that I know of for CV performance parts.

Thanks for the reply. It gets lonely when no one responds. The crown vic front end is currently buried out back.

[egoman]

Suspension stuff
Along with the wheels I also got all the front suspension complete with cross-member and brakes, rear uprights and hubs. I am not sure if I got a good deal or not but I got all my stuff to get designing with.

[egoman]

I have acquired a lot of C6 ZO6 components. There is a reason for this.
Remember the build actually started about 2-1/2 years ago. Who was the big winner for a long time in optima? Danny Popp was.

What did he drive, HMMM. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery I copied that end of his car for my own personal glory.
As we go forward you will see that I am not as enamored with the corvette rear suspension. I actually have a lot of experience building cars for dirt track racing and my favorite rear suspension will be adorning the rear of the car.

[egoman]

Cross-member and various parts.
Just some more parts that came in the crate
So I just told you that all this suspension was C6 ZO6 stuff. Well it mostly is.
I chose the aluminum crossmember because of the magnesium one being prone to cracking. A heavier car wouldn't make anything better right?

[egoman]

More yard inventory
Various engines and rear ends just lying around. I may design around the 351 in the one ton van. Nephew wants to do a Gt40 replica and needs the 5.0 engine for mock up. I can’t turn around without running into more crap. I often joke that when my parents divorced I had to buy the homestead because I could never move everything. It wasn’t really a joke.

[egoman]

So this is where we start to take a change of direction/ I believe this will draw you in where before it may not have.
I am a journeyman steam-fitter and have built approximately 30 cars for competition on dirt tracks and drag strips around this area. I have prepared cars for the local road racing circuit as well as the ice racers. I have no intention of building a boring car where we just bolt stuff on. Unfortunately my best work was done in the time of film cameras and not much evidence of it exists. I do have a few dirt mods that I built that I can post here but some of my real cool stuff only exists in BS sessions amongst old friends and racing buddies.
We are done with the initial collecting of parts and are actually getting started on construction.
Little bit of a heads up. This is not a mild build! It may never compete at optima but it is being built in that vein. We are talking a complete frame replacement, full roll cage that is built to the rules of several series including SCCA, NASA, optima and CASC for the Canadian watchers.
As a racer it’s weird to build with a nod to creature comforts. Air, cruise, tilt, power windows, and door locks. Won’t have a ridiculous stereo cause that doesn’t interest me at all but would look to have a navigation system with a big screen.
Ultimately I would love to do Drag Week, Bonneville, Optima and cruise nights with the same car. I would also like to make the car available to any sponsors that would like to do displays with it.
While I am farther along than the stuff posted today I want your input and to dialogue with as many people as possible.