"Mess to Modern" A 67 Cougar Project

[jstanard]

The flip up headlight doors were originally opened using vacuum "motors". I removed the old system and mounted some linear actuators in its place.
For some reason, I didn't stop to take pictures of how I fit all of this together. I'll have to remember to get some pics while its all out.

I did get a video of the headlight doors in action though.
The pile of wires on the garage floor is an H-Bridge circuit built from relays to allow the motors to reverse direction without causing a short circuit.
The grey heatsink is a 12v - 24v step up transformer. The linear actuators are a little faster at 24v.
When it comes time to install this into the car, I'll probably replace the circuit with an Arduino microprocessor.

[jstanard]

I just found this and read it through this morning. I saw it had been a few months since the last update and was like "Bummer, probably won't get to see it finished." So, thanks for the updates.

Edit: Also like the FR500 wheels much better!

Thanks! I do plan on keeping the updates going until I'm finished but it seems like every time I get on the forums, I end up spending all my time reading others' build threads.

[JayinMI]

Thanks! I do plan on keeping the updates going until I'm finished but it seems like every time I get on the forums, I end up spending all my time reading others' build threads.

Yep. I come on for inspiration and when I'm done the sun has gone down and it's too cold to do anything in the garage. lol
Literally going through this right now.

I've seen a few people convert flip lights with actuators and they always seem a little slow to me. But usually they don't work at all at the beginning, in their original form so we never get to see a comparison. So, maybe it's just me.

I like where this is going.

Jay

[jstanard]

I decided chemical stripper isn't the best way to remove the many layers of caked-on primer. I'm getting good results with a polycarbide abrasive wheel chucked in an old drill. It makes a lot of dust though.



After completely stripping it, I did a little body work on the bottom of the hood.

[AU Doc]

Wow! This is epic!

[jstanard]

Moving on to the tail lights...
The Cougar's signature sequential tail lights were originally controlled by a complicated collection of relays, motor and cam. I had a few parts of this system still attached to my wiring harness but nothing that was usable. You can purchase new electronic controllers to replace the mechanical parts but they are expensive and designed to plug directly into the original wiring harness which I wasn't using. I decided to try building my own sequential tail light controller using an Arduino microprocessor.

The basic function is pretty easy to understand. You need to sense when there is current coming from the left turn, right turn and brake signals. Based on which input goes hot, trigger a series of relays in a particular sequence at a particular rate. That's all pretty simple to program. There are some hurdles to overcome with the Arduino though.

The Arduino operates at 5v so sending a 12v brake or turn signal to the input pin of the Arduino will make smoke. Actually, it won't make smoke but it will fry the input. You could use resistors to create a voltage divider, stepping the 12v down to 5v but the car's electrical system is not ALWAYS 12v. The best way to isolate the 12v signals from the 5v input is to use an optocoupler, a device that has a LED and a photoresistor sealed inside a chip. When 12v is applied to the LED side, the photoresistor allows 5V current (supplied by the Arduino) to trigger the 5v input. The two electrical systems are completely isolated, bridged by nothing but light. That's pretty cool.

I'm no electronics expert. I'm pretty good at Google though. If I've explained anything incorrectly, I won't be offended if somebody wants to correct me.

Anyway, here's my proof of concept using low power LEDs. It's probably not obvious but I'm using the pencils to push tiny microswitches. My fingers are too fat to use them.

[jstanard]

The next step in the proof of concept is to trigger 12v relays instead of the LEDs. Each relay will ultimately be wired directly to the individual tail light segments or turn signal/dash indicator.
I'm using an 8 relay board that accepts 5v as the trigger and is capable of switching 12v.

[jstanard]

Final test is to hook up the actual tail lights inside the car using the car's 12v battery to power everything.

[jstanard]

I won't need fresh air vents with the aftermarket air conditioning system i will be installing so I shaved the cowl vents to keep this rust prone area as dry as possible.

[jstanard]

I found a good deal on a used Steeda Tri-Ax short throw shifter and I couldn't let it go.

[jstanard]

Back to the dash panel with the MUSTANG emblem...

When I was cleaning up the headlight doors, I noticed that the embossed decal on the headlight door badge had the word COUGAR in exactly the size I needed for the dash panel. Luckily, this decal is reproduced.
I cut out the part I wanted and, after grinding off the MUSTANG raised letters, glued it in place. I think it's perfect.

[jstanard]

I'm almost done with rust repair. All that is left are the areas around the rear wheelwells.

The passenger side wasn't too bad so I opted to make the patches myself instead of buying aftermarket quarter panel patches.





The driver side is much worse so I'm using the aftermarket patches here.

[frink84]

Something I've been curious with sequential, could you have it run in a full loop of light instead of turning off all 3 segments at the end of each flash... something like:

1. On|off|off
2. on|on|off
3. on|on|on
4. off|on|on
5. off|off|on
6. off|off|off (then return to 1, or skip step 6 and go back to 1)

[jstanard]

You certainly could. That's the beauty of a programmable microprocessor. You're only limited by your programming skill. I found the programming can get kind of tricky because you have to also account for the front signals which don't blink at the same rate. Also have to account for brake lights coming on in the middle of the sequence. You don't want to wait a full sequence before checking the state of the brakes.

[JayinMI]

Final test is to hook up the actual tail lights inside the car using the car's 12v battery to power everything.

As a thought I'd make a suggestion. I did a project some time ago, and used an I2C controlled relay board. IIRC, it had 8 relays on it. You could potentially use the arduino to detect current on the turn signal wire, then write the software to use I2C to control the relays. Another way to do the same thing, I suppose.

Jay

[langleylad]

Looking good ! , it's coming along ...

[jstanard]

As a thought I'd make a suggestion. I did a project some time ago, and used an I2C controlled relay board. IIRC, it had 8 relays on it. You could potentially use the arduino to detect current on the turn signal wire, then write the software to use I2C to control the relays. Another way to do the same thing, I suppose.

Jay

I haven't done anything yet with I2C. I guess if you went that route, you'd only use two analog pins instead of 8 digital output pins. That would be handy if you're doing anything else with the Arduino. I'm already thinking of so many other things that the Arduino could solve....windshield wiper delay at the top of the list.

[67cougnut]

Love the project!

[andrewb70]

Excellent progress!

Andrew

[jstanard]

I had to rebuild a little of the wheelwell before installing the rear quarter patch.