Welcome to the forum!

Looks like a real nice start.

If I could, I would suggest making a complete list of mods or repairs you plan to do at the very begaining.
Concentrate on safety, reliability, performance, style (in that order IMHO) Pace yourself and know what you want to end up with before you start! Saves on some backtracking and $ in the long run.

Almost ever part you'll need is avalible.. shop around for the best 'price vs quality' of each item.
Please don't forget the vendors of this and otherforums you are a member of.

 

argh. I finally got a water pump and new thermostat housing back on the motor. I also had to replace the front passenger side freeze plug. My worry was that the other freeze plugs would be as swiss cheesed as the one I replaced. Well today I was able to get water back into the motor and guess what. Yep. Drip, Drip, Drip. Both freeze plugs under the motor mounts are leaking.

I really did not want to have to pull the motor until I had, had a chance to see if it was going to run reliably. I had to really work to get the motor rotating again when I first started working with the car. I have had the motor running for short periods of time but without cooling I have not been able to see if it was going to really work or not.

Oh well. The joys of working on old vehicles.[&:]

[IMG]local://upfiles/71416/0027CD1FC6E64138B5002107F9FA79C1.jpg[/IMG]

 

well if you pull the engine now, you can always clean up the rest of the bay to look like what you've already done with the battery tray

What are your restomod plans?

btw, i dont think anyone responded to your brake question. Def go disc front, but i'd leave the choice until you know where you are going with engine power and wheel size. if you are going above 300hp, then bigger brakes is a better option.

 

Yeah that is the one good part of having to pull the motor. I can get the engine and engine bay completely cleaned up. [&:] It just isn't something I wanted to do until I knew a little better about the shape of the motor.

I don't know yet. I just want to get it driveable first.

Good points. Thanks for the input.

 

just make sure its safe before taking it for a drive its not worth risking your life over a couple bucks.i was 16 pulled a 65 impala out of a barn got it to run and took it for a test drive. found out it had no brakes good thing i didnt have to stop i coasted in front of my house and parked it.

 

Absolutely. The car is not going to leave the garage until I have had a chance to go through all of the critical safety components and repair or replace those that have failed.

It is amazing what 13 years of sitting can do to a car.[8D]

 

Try sitting for 20 years! The 67 Cougar I bought way back in 83 sat since 87 in the quonset at the farm. i pulled it out and trailered it to my house last year. its getting a ground up rebuild. Apparently you dont have mice up there in the Pacific northwest. Lucky you!

Mine looked similar to yours except for the inch thick layer of dust on it. After washing it off it was similar. You will have yours drivable before mine is, but I bet mine is painted first! It makes you miss that car when you drive it to school, go on your first dates in it, have a few other firsts in it (tickets and other more fun things) and then it sits for years before you can get back to it. Life happens and it goes longer without moving, you never forget the car but you cant quite do anything with it yet.

Then you decide to just do it and it happens. Not long and you will be cruisin around, listening to a cd with the music you liked back then playin on the stereo, with all the parts and cool stuff you wanted to do 20 years ago but couldnt afford. Thankfully the really idiotic 'cool stuff' from 20 years ago isnt cool anymore..lol. I can hardly wait to drive mine again, I bet you feel the same way about yours. Its like seeing a great friend after many years.

 

Oh we have mice. I had to evict one from under the back seat and another from the trunk.

Well put. Paint is not high on my priority list. Rust, Engine, Tranny, Suspension, Brakes. Those are my hit list at the moment.

Yeah. Isn't that the truth. It was my kids bugging me and my Dad saying I had to move it that finally got me motivated. You are right about all the parts and stuff that you can now afford. And boy howdy about drivin it again. Sometimes I can hardly wait. Keep having to tell myself patience. One thing at a time.

Good luck on your Cougar. Gotta love the hideaway headlights and sequential taillights.

 

Hideaways and sequentials are two of the things that never worked 20 years ago when I was driving it

 

I had heard that those features were hard to maintain. [&:].

I got the motor and tranny all prepped for removal this evening. Hopefully by tomorrow at this they will be out of the car. (crossing fingers)