Hi everyone, thanks for all the views and comments over the last few years.  As you might have inferred from the lack of updates, my time and money have gone to other things, although this is still my car!  If you're interested in tech, movies, games, and muh more, head over to my blog at www.contrapaul.blogspot.com , and if not?  Well, this stuff is still here, enjoy! -Paul, Sep 09

This pic shows my front lip and harnesses (only one installed now), and the general state of my car as of Early January 08

This is my 1999 Mercury Cougar.
Performance-
Bomz Short Ram intake
Rear Muffler replaced with Dynomax Turbo muffler

Looks-
Red Painted Brake Calipers
Red Painted Dash Pieces
Removed Exterior Striping and Molding
Aluminum Shift Knob
Custom Antenna Replacement
Custom White Vinyl Headliner
Black Painted A-B-C Pillars
Black Painted Overhead Components
Relocated O/D switch
Renewed Healights
Black Front Lip

Audio-
JVC KD-G230 Head unit

Functionality-
Relocated Imrc
Custom Rear Strut Tower Brace
4-point Racing Harnesses
Roughly 50 pounds weight reduction

DECEMBER:
Brand New Crap for you to read:
So were in the process of swapping the engine and transmission in my brothers 1986 300ZX Turbo. The tranny is going from auto to manual, and the engine is losing 250,000 miles (the old one spun a rod bearing.) So, its got me thinking pretty hard about 3 new areas that would revive my car, allow it to do autocross, and make it fun again. First step- manual transmission. I have a feeling this will completely change my brothers car, and I can't wait to drive it. So that would breather new life into the cougar. Second Step- turbo. Now, I have a perfectly good, if slightly old Garrett T3 sitting in the garage at home. That + custom work = cheaper turbo kit. I thought about a 3L, but A) I love boost, and B) same cost gets me less power... Third Step- Aerodynamics. I'm very seriously considering front splitter from aluminum and rear aluminum diffuser. Custom of course. Those paired with a few more choice aero mods should help keep the car stable, while adding to the looks.

SEPTEMBER:
NOTE! After a lot of thought, I realize that this car cannot do what I need it to for auto-x, so I will spend more time on making it well rounded. I'm not sure how many more events this car will race at, but I am looking forward to making the car much more of looker.

MAY:
OLD stuff- but still worth a read.
I am working on making this car a competetive STS class autocross car. I am going to extend the intake into the fender soon, to suck in cold air and eliminate heat-soak. The suspension is in need of an overhaul, and I plan on putting in kyb struts and sport springs (haven't picked a brand yet) that will drop it 1.5 inches. A friend of mine fabricated a rear strut tower brace, that helped tighetn up the unibody contruction of my car, and help it corner faster and more stable. That mod is the best thing in my car, period. All that follows hasn't been updated for a long time, and may not reflect current changes. Also, my listed mods don't reflect the enormous amount of time spent in fixing the roof, power windows, cleaning the headlights, recarpeting the trunk, cleaning things I don't remember, and fixing every small problem the car had. At this stage of the game, I feel like I have a reliable car, and the majority of its kinks have been worked out, including a rebuilt transmission and new alternator.

December Mod Plans/ideas:

Optimized Throttle Body-
Front Splitter-
Rear Diffuser-
Front Strut Brace-
Mad Color Changing inside-
Seafoam-
New Tires (probably a few sets...)

Additional Ideas:

I'm going to have the car repainted next year, probably in the winter, and it will either be stock Rio Red (current) or the Red from the Mazda3. With this paint job I will do a few cosmetic mods, nothing crazy, but notiecable change.

September 22, 2007 Update:

After attending a car show last week I realized that the cougar (in my hands) will never be an amazing auto-x car, and that I would like to add some more show bits to it. Yes this was inspired by the endless amounts of carbon fiber I saw at the show, but I realized that after I touch up the exterior, add wheels and a drop, and fix the interior, I can participate in those shows... I also figure that I'll save the big performance money for my next car, which I think will be a WRX.

Plus a total cleaning and fixing of problems.

September 28, 2007 Update:

I got my harnesses in the mail today, and after a bit of work, actually a lot of work, my friend and I were driving around town in sweet 4-point harnesses. We attached them to the strut brace in the rear, and to different points for the sides. This required a couple parts from lowes, but no drilling and messing up the car. Clean install and very reccomended.

I have Falken tires, my old Kumho Ecsta Supra tires wore out fast. I can't stand normal tires, they just don't stick. The Cougar has awesome handling, but I need tires that can handle the suspension.

Page 1- intro
page 2- intake
page 3- shifter