"Mess to Modern" A 67 Cougar Project

[langleylad]

Looks solid , nice work

[jstanard]

Looking good!

Thanks Andrew!
I have a few more posts to catch up to current status.

I shot some epoxy primer before starting on the body work.



At this point, I had all the mechanical systems worked out and I REALLY wanted to test drive it. The battery was just sitting in the trunk though.
I made a temporary battery mount so it wouldn't roll over.



And then I backed it out of the driveway and took it around the block...just like you see it here. There are a lot of car collectors in my neighborhood but as far as I know, nobody actually works on their own cars. I'm sure my neighbors weren't happy to see and HEAR this coming down the road. Everything seemed to work ok though. It was the first time the transmission had seen second gear (and 3rd, 4th and 5th) since I rebuilt it. At one point when I thought nobody was watching, I stomped on it in second and lit both tires up. Neighborhood kids came running! So i know the Trac-Loc works too! :-)

[jstanard]

Looks solid , nice work

Thanks, Langleylad. I wish I could say I'm as close to finishing as you are but...

[jstanard]

All the body panels are back on. The chrome on the bumpers wasn't quite good enough so they'll get painted body color.
I picked up the Torino sport mirrors from Ebay. Both driver and passenger side came with remote adjustment cables.

[Revvv]

Amazing progress. The Cougar is looking good.

[jstanard]

Amazing progress. The Cougar is looking good.

Thanks Revvv!

[jstanard]

I got sidetracked from working on the Cougar for a while when the Mustang broke down. I had to replace most of the front suspension because the bushings in the cheap coil spring perches seized up. That apparently transferred the flex to the tips of the upper control arms which then broke in two! My son was driving when it happened. Luckily, he was slowly approaching a stop sign at the time. Scary.

Anyway, it's back on the road. Daily driving has taken its toll but it still looks pretty dang good. If any of y'all make it out to Cruisin' the Coast in October, I'll be there in this car.

[jstanard]

Those of you who have 67-68 Cougars know that it is nearly impossible to find decent interior door panels. If you still have the originals, it's not that difficult to restore or re-cover them. If you don't have the originals, get ready to spend some money on a used set in bad condition. The original style is not reproduced. I only had one of the original panels so I was preparing to make my own out of fiberglass. Then I stumbled across a website advertising molded ABS plastic door panels for 67-68 Cougars! The price was MUCH better than used originals so I took a chance on the too-good-to-be-true replacements. It took a while to ship but I have to say, I'm extremely happy with what they sent me.

I ordered the black vinyl covered panels without the brushed aluminum insert. The holes for door handle and window crank are pre-punched. I won't be using window cranks so I'll make my own insert covered in whatever accent color I have my seats covered in.

[jstanard]

The special thing about this picture is what I'm holding in my hand. It's a small thing but I'm really excited to have remote door locks and trunk latch.
I intend to shave the lock from the trunk lid. I'll have a wired push button hidden in the glove compartment in case the remote fails. In the event of a dead battery, I can jump start from under the hood.

[jstanard]

A while back, I bought some Mazda Miata remote mirrors from the salvage yard. They didn't look good on the Cougar so I tossed them into a growing spare parts pile. Later, I purchased a set of remote sport mirrors from a Torino. I like the looks of them but the joystick and cable remote control system wasn't that great. I talked myself into tearing apart the guts of the working remote mirrors in hopes that I could retrofit the electric motors from the Miata mirrors.

The driver's side mirror was actually pretty easy to mount with a custom bracket to the original mounting points.




The passenger side mirror only has one mounting point and it's kind of in the way of the motor but I managed to make it work. Sorry, no pictures of the passenger side bracket.



I am controlling these with a remote mirror switch from a Ford truck. It's a single joystick but can control both sides.

[jstanard]

Last picture for a while...
I installed some halogen headlamps with COB LED halos from Octane Lighting that can be used as daytime running lights.

[langleylad]

The special thing about this picture is what I'm holding in my hand. It's a small thing but I'm really excited to have remote door locks and trunk latch.
I intend to shave the lock from the trunk lid. I'll have a wired push button hidden in the glove compartment in case the remote fails. In the event of a dead battery, I can jump start from under the hood.

I shaved the trunk lock as well , push button under the dash. I also installed a Lokar trunk release cable , just in case.

[Tsaints1115]

Whats the name of the company if you don't mind?

[langleylad]

Whats the name of the company if you don't mind?

What are you referring to ?

[jstanard]

Whats the name of the company if you don't mind?

I assume you're asking about the door panels. MP Products Inc.

[Tsaints1115]

I assume you're asking about the door panels. MP Products Inc.

Yes, i should have been more specific. Thanks.

[jstanard]

I shaved the trunk lock as well , push button under the dash. I also installed a Lokar trunk release cable , just in case.

The Lokar cable is probably good insurance. I'll eventually have the trunk walled off with a subwoofer enclosure so emergency access through the rear seat would be a pain. Did you use a universal type solenoid for the trunk latch or something specific to the Cougar?

[langleylad]

The Lokar cable is probably good insurance. I'll eventually have the trunk walled off with a subwoofer enclosure so emergency access through the rear seat would be a pain. Did you use a universal type solenoid for the trunk latch or something specific to the Cougar?

Universal , Electric-Life is the company. They're cheap , got mine from Summit.

[jstanard]

Things are still progressing but I've slowed down a lot since hitting my least favorite part of the process, bodywork. I'm almost done with the filler and then I'll seal it all with another coat of epoxy primer. Follow that with some high build primer and back to sanding. Y'all know the drill.

I shouldn't have a ton of work to do when it comes time for blocking. Everything seems pretty straight right now...and that's saying a lot considering the condition of the panels when I started.

[jstanard]

I like to watch car shows - you know, the ones where they fully restore a pile of junk in 30 minutes. Since I've been stuck at home for the past two months, I've had time to watch a LOT. It's funny how something so time consuming as bodywork gets condensed down to a single shot of a guy slowly and carefully block sanding a gently curving area of a fender. Yeah, it's boring. Nobody cares that the 5 second shot actually represents 2 months of nights and weekends. I don't know where the dust goes in these TV shops. In my garage, it's everywhere.

Here's my version of the 5 second clip - a few pictures just to show that I actually did the work.

Prepping to seal the body filler with another coat of epoxy primer






Prepping to spray primer surfacer




Block sanding in the driveway to keep the dust down in my garage.


And finally, wet sanding prior to paint.