This is a 1975 Mercury Cougar XR7:
Here are some basic fact about this class of car from Wikipedia.com
Here is the Link to the article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Cougar
For 1974, the Cougar had evolved from its Mustang, pony car origins. The wheelbase grew to 114 inches and was now shared by the Torino/Montego twins, being marketed as an intermediate-sized personal-luxury car to compete against GM's hot selling Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix. Engine offerings from 1974 to 1976 included a standard 148 hp 2-barrel 351 in� V8 and optional power plants included 158 hp 2-barrel 400 and 216 hp 4-barrel 460 in� V8s. , The manual transmission was dropped in favor of the C4 and C6 automatic transmissions.
Total Production:
* 1974 - 91,670
* 1975 - 62,987
* 1976 - 83,765
My car is equipped with Power Windows, Locks, 6 Way Power Drivers Seat, plus I added 6 Way Power to the passengers seat, Auto seat Back Releases, Factory Moon Roof, Air conditioning,
I have Power Trunk Release to add. The Car is powered by a 460cid engine
with C6 automatic transmission 2.75:1 rear end gears.
I plan to build a 514cid engine mate it to an automatic overdrive transmission and change the rear end gears to 3.75:1 posy. I am working on finding or repairing the rear inner fender wells because of the rust problem.
As you can see this car has rust in the inner front fenders and in the rear wheel tubs. The search for new parts turned south very fast, these cars just do not have the following they need to have these parts remade yet. The search for a new body was on it took half a year but I think I have a body that is good enough to use as a starting place for the rebuilding process. The first parts car I found was a 1975 Mercury Cougar XR7 floor shift sport model with 351 Modified 2-barrel, Gold in colour. It had been sitting in a field for about ten years.
The Gold Cougar:
The 1974 through 1976 Cougars were all the XR7 model. The cars are very much the same in all three years, but in 1975, two slots were added in the front bumper, as seen in these two pictures.
Just after I find a Cougar parts car, I find another. This one is a 1975 Ford Gran Torino Elite with 400 Modified 2-barrel, blue in colour. The same body with the only differences being found in the grill, headlights, taillights, and the opera windows.
Here is the difference in the Opera Windows:
The job of stripping the cars is on and the gold Cougar is the first to be taken apart. Here are some pics.
The front grill panel and fenders were removed and all the interior taken out. The car will have the rear quarter panels cut off and maybe the floor of the trunk will be kept. As you will see, the Torino is in much better shape and the repairs will be fairly simple. The opera windows need to be changed so the Gold Cougar will be donating them for trial parts. I pushed the Cougar out of the garage and in came the Torino.
The Torino is being taken apart now and here are some pics.
The main floor in the Torino is rock solid, just a bit of surface rust, mostly rusty water stains. The Torino is the easiest to repair with the opera windows being the only extra change to make. Here are some pics of the Torino's wheel tubs:
The time came to take apart the black Cougar and send it on to the scrap heap. This car is a prime example of bad and well hidden rust repair job. In the end this car has become a good interior and lesson on used car buying. Have a look at what I found upon tear down, as you can see the mess just under the surface.
For those interested in these car and other people of like mind here is a link to a forum:
http://www.members3.boardhost.com/MERCURYCOUGARS/
http://forum.grantorinosport.org//default.asp
Keep watching as I will add more as time Passes.
