It's close to a mustang. My 1970 Mercury Cougar.
05-20-2012, 03:08 AM
#1
4th Gear Member
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: DFW, TX
Posts: 1,925
It's close to a mustang. My 1970 Mercury Cougar.
Picked this car up last month to turn into my daily driver. It's a 1970 Cougar base model. It currently has a 351C 2V, C6 automatic, but I am planning a manual transmission swap soon enough. Going to try and keep the 351 in it, but it has to get over 20MPG. I am hoping with a 5 speed, an electric fan, and the stock 3.08 gears that I can squeeze out 20MPG.
So far, I have fixed the brakes, welded in new floor pans, got new carpet, fixed some rust around the trunk, and repaired all of the rust on the top. Brakes needed a good flush and new wheel cylinders. The pans were gone, so I had to get some reproductions to weld in. Carpet is a two piece reproduction.
As for the top, I had a large hole in the center and a bunch of holes around back window channel. I had to cut out the center area and weld a patch panel in, then use Marine Tex to seal it and bondo to fill the gap. In the pictures, the bondo work is bad, but I sanded it off and redid it much smoother. For the back window, I had to replace 3/4 of it, bending a 10 inch section at a time. Once everything was fixed, I primed it and shot it with a base coat/clear coat paint.
I am currently in the process of installing the new vinyl top. I got the seams lined up and the middle glued down tonight, so the hard part is over.
It's been one hell of a job so far, but I love the car, so it's worth it. I am a mechanic, but this is pretty much my first attempt at any kind of body work. I even managed to take it out to the local 1/4 mile track. Pulled a whopping 16.5@83.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMhKF...layer_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iofeE...layer_embedded
70 Cougar Exhaust. - YouTube
So far, I have fixed the brakes, welded in new floor pans, got new carpet, fixed some rust around the trunk, and repaired all of the rust on the top. Brakes needed a good flush and new wheel cylinders. The pans were gone, so I had to get some reproductions to weld in. Carpet is a two piece reproduction.
As for the top, I had a large hole in the center and a bunch of holes around back window channel. I had to cut out the center area and weld a patch panel in, then use Marine Tex to seal it and bondo to fill the gap. In the pictures, the bondo work is bad, but I sanded it off and redid it much smoother. For the back window, I had to replace 3/4 of it, bending a 10 inch section at a time. Once everything was fixed, I primed it and shot it with a base coat/clear coat paint.
I am currently in the process of installing the new vinyl top. I got the seams lined up and the middle glued down tonight, so the hard part is over.
It's been one hell of a job so far, but I love the car, so it's worth it. I am a mechanic, but this is pretty much my first attempt at any kind of body work. I even managed to take it out to the local 1/4 mile track. Pulled a whopping 16.5@83.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMhKF...layer_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iofeE...layer_embedded
70 Cougar Exhaust. - YouTube
05-20-2012, 01:41 PM
#3
4th Gear Member
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: DFW, TX
Posts: 1,925
05-20-2012, 09:24 PM
#9
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: DFW, TX
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All of them look great, but I too like the 70 the best.
05-20-2012, 10:30 PM
#10
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Colorado
Posts: 2,793
Had a 69 years ago. Love the Cougar. I had a three speed manual in mine, made it lots of fun. Only flaw was the headlight covers would flip up at about 100 mph. Mine was lime with a white top and lime interior. Had Cragar SSs on it. Lots of fun.