old member new project

[bnickel]

hi all, been away for a while, some of you may remember me and my 69 mustang GT coupe, which is now up for sale, in fact i just posted it in the for sale section. i thought i'd post a little about my new project. it's a 69 cougar standard base model, with 351w-2v, fmx auto, power steering, ac and 4 wheel manual DRUM brakes (yuck). the car has 64,000 original miles and a perfect interior than other than the headliner which got ripped when the PO was disassembling the car to start bodywork and paint. this car has a fairly rare factory 2 tone paint job, where a vinyl top would normally go it was painted instead. the body is damn near perfect with only a little rust behind the right rear wheel about the size of a quarter or so and both door have some rust in the front corners but everything else is totally solid, even the floors. it has had some bodywork done on the passenger side 1/4 but it will only require minor work to straighten out.

the PO is a friend of mine and got the car from his older brother, he started tearing the car down for the repaint in 95 but never finished because he has some kind of eye disease and has had 3 cornea transplants so far and will need another before too long, so i got the car for a really good price.

plans for it are to finish the bodywork and paint it acapulco (like my stang) with a black painted top to keep with the original 2 tone theme. i'll add an elminator style hood scoop, hood pins and front spoiler but i'm not going to use the rear spoiler or make it an eliminator clone. since my mustang was a factory GT car i plan to turn the cougar into my version of what a 69 cougar GT would have been if the option had not been cancelled, plus a lot of hidden modern updates so the feel of the car will be a factory style resto, including 15" wheels.

suspension wise it will have a TCP G0Bar out back, the front suspension is still kind of up in the air but will likely be a custom Opentracker Racing Products setup with coilovers and TCP strut rods and hopefully a set of 1.5" drop spindles. it will also have a TCP power rack and subframe connectors. brakes will be stock size up front but with 2 piston PBR calipers and the rear brakes will be vintage venoms standard rear disc kit with internal drum parking brake and single piston calipers. if the budget will allow it i may do a 12" front brake instead of the stock 11.25" brakes, but probably not since brakes need to be one of the first upgrades i do.

engine will utilize the original 351w block but i will use a longer set of 400 ford rods and KB pistons, mild roller cam with linkbar retro roller rockers and a set of ford racing x305 (or x303) with 64 cc chamber to keep the compression around 10-10.25:1 and probably a 650Quick fuel or holley, maybe a commander 950 TBI if i can afford it, on my early ford Muscle Parts aluminum intake. the engine will be dressed to look stock with ford blue painted aluminum heads and all, and i'll use a factory style ram air system on it as well. trans will be a built aod with a mild stall convertor and Lentech valve body.

interior wil remain mostly stock but i will upgrade to the decor style interior from the stock standard stuff and i plan on making custom molded door panels starting with 69 mustang deluxe panel cores and modifying them to remove the curved part and just have a flat armrest. i never understood why the mustang got a molded door panel and the more upscale cougar didn't so this will hopefully remedy that. seats will be my 86 mustang GT buckets with a different headrest other than the stock halo units and they'll be covered in black leather or vinyl with blue/black houndstooth inserts for a period look. dash will be upgraded with a stock XR7 guage cluster that has full gauges instead of idiot lights but with modern internals in the tach and i'll the Tachman upgrade the stck 120mph speedo to 140 mph. i also have a 68 mustang overhead console that i'll install as well.

comfort goodies will include, power windows, locks and trunk release, rear window defogger, tilt column with a leather wrapped mustang II steering wheel, intermittent wipers and a nice modern but stock looking stereo system. i've got tons of other goodies that i started collecting years ago with the intent of using them on the stang but since i decided to sell the stang so we can buy our first house i didn't use them knowing i'd be using them on this cougar instead, even before i actually bought it. i'll also be using a lot of sound deadening material in addition the extra stuff the cougar had over the mustang as well.

here's a link to a pic of the car in it's current state, plus pics of the stang in it's finished state.



http://www.1969stang.com/gallery/bnickel69gt?page=6

[Benoit23]

Is this bnickel from Stangnet? I've talked to you over there, on that board I go by Phat-Stang.

Anyway congrats on the new project, I'll be keeping an eye on the build.

~Chris

[bnickel]

yep that's me. i've gotta sell the stang before i can really do anything to the cougar but if i get enough for the stang the cougar should be a pretty nice build