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Home > Mercury > Cougar > 1968 > High School's Mercury Cougar

Vehicle Owner

Member ID: Joloney_Jones

Location: Portland, OR

Vehicle Info

1968 Mercury Cougar

Modifications

Performance Parts

Interior

Exterior Styling

Ratings

- Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
Overall Rating
- Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
Performance Mods
- Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
Overall Exterior
- Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
Overall Interior

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Color=2005 FORD Screaming Yellow.....We'll be noticed !!!!!!!

Yes, that is a cheap AM/FM cassette player with 3 band graphic equilizer.....Oh My !!!....."Old School Baby"

April 17th 2005

Ok, here's the story.....I wanted to give my 16 yr. old son a chance to race in the "HIGH SCHOOL DRAGS", And to learn some respect for "Old School" American Muscle !!!! you know, High speed - Loose steering, sloppy suspension, real " OLD SCHOOL"

So I went looking for an American car with a V-8. And I found this 1968 Cougar with a 302. This was a project someone lost interest in. The car had been rebuilt 10 years ago. While being rebuilt the upholstery was being redone. After the engine was rebuilt the car went to paint. 2 days after the car was back from painting, it started to "Blister" really bad. The new interior never made it in the car. The guy I bought it from, had lost the wind in his sails on this project. So he put a car cover on it under a carport for 10 years.

The engine had been rebuilt with an Edlebrock Torker II mainfold, wearing a Holly "Double-Pumper". and the rest is supposed to be stock. So we will be ordering a Edlebrock "Performer" cam to give this feline some "Claws".

So, I offered the guy $1200 and he took it and delivered it on a trailer in the rain (What a GREAT deal). Now we have a real Muscle car we can build, AND look the part. Our goal is going to be real "Old School".

---------PROJECT TIME !!!!!!!!----------

We will start by cleaning the wheels....It just would not be inspiring to walk in the shop day after day to see rusty wheels.

So an hour with some Steelwool (SOS pads). Seemed to do the trick. Ahhhhh CRAGERS !!!

Now we gut the interior and look for rust........MUhaaaaaa!!!!!

Since we are on a roll.....We'll do the trunk too.....(All race cars need a clean trunk )

Here is the trunk after a little wire wheel on the drill followed by primer and some of that cool "Crinkle" trunk paint.

And .......Wa-La !!!! that new trunk look

OK, we're in a hurry so we are going to paint the interior.....All of it, Seats, Carpet, Headliner, Doorpanels, Dash....everything. " MuHaaaaa!!!!!"

So, in 7 days we have gutted the interior and trunk. Removed all rust and primered for protection. Then installed the carpet and dash and Seats and Doorpanels.....

And yes, that is the "Hippy Bigfoot" gas pedal....."Right-on , Right-on"

So we thought this is supposed to be a "HIGH SCHOOL DRAG" car.....So.... "WHERE'S THE BEEF ?"

Now we need to see if that Crusty motor will run. It's been 10 years and there is a lot of corrosion. I'm sure we're in for some fun.
First we found the ignition wire disconnected under the dash. Then we blew out the gas tank with compressed air (some rust and sludge washed out), the points were corroded and out of gap. Replaced the fuel pump, and finaly found that the carburator "Banjo" bolt for the gas inlet had a solid inch of rust so it was cleaned out.

Wow !!! it runs good.....Almost sound like it has headers. So, now that we have a good running engine.....What do we do ?.......Take it apart....I mean "IF it's not broke.....Make it FASTER !!!"

May 1, 2005

That's my 16 yr. old taking out the motor....A gearhead in the making

> Ok, the motor is out. Time to begin replacing the "Thump Stik".

We removed the old cam to make way for our new high performance cam, BUT WAIT....The cam we took out is bigger than the new Edlebrock performer....OH NO !!! the engine was already built - CRAP !! We asked the guy we bought it from if it had a cam upgrade, he said no. Well no wonder why it sounded like it had headers.
It was a good thing we took it apart. All the nuts and bolt on the outside of the engine were loose, nothing was torqued down. We found the water pump was half clogged with crusty build up. So my son gets to learn some things and if we had not torn it apart, it surely would have overheated or fell apart. The rods, crank,main bearing caps were all torqued to specs. (gee, was beginning to think the last guy to rebuild this did not own a torque wrench - LOL.)

The new Edlebrock 750CFM carburator on the Torker II intake maifold. The secondarys on the Holly that came with it were not working and rather than rebuild it we choose to just buy a new carb. But we will be taking the old Holly apart to teach my son how they work.

Before installing the Intake manifold, the block is outlined with high temp RTV to insure a good seal.

Now, my boy "Speed Racer" attaches the intake manifold to the block.

Now we have to install the Oil Pan, Valve covers, PVC valve and Fuel line (new location with new carb).New Alternator and Votage Regulator. While we are at it a new starter and battery should help.Then we painted the engine compartment gloss black. Details, Details....gotta pay attention to the details.

5/07/2005

Engine is already to go into the car tomarrow.

Ok, it took about 3 hours to install the engine. I had never used an engine "Leveler" before.....OH man !!, I'll never consider pulling or installing an engine without it. It was pure luxury to tilt the motor as it came in and out. A big " Thanks " to "BOB" for loaning it to us.

Now that the engine is back and all torqued down, The exhaust system can now be installed.

MAY 5/08/05

Here's the exhaust pictures.
We installed FLOWTECH headers with new "Turbo" Exhaust kit from "Summit" Racing.

We found some 4" chrome exhaust tips and cut the lower rear valance to custom fit them. We think they match the "Starsky & Hutch" sound this Cat is makin'. March 4, 2006 - UPdate:

New "FLOWMASTER 40 Series" mufflers installed. Took about 2 1/2 hrs. to install,at a cost of $149.00 for the pair. Now this cat sounds like a hungry LION !!!!

A few racing componants

Drive Shaft Loop (some Tracks require it, or if your car is really fast), and the rear Traction bars (LakeWood), are yellow to match our color we plan to paint the car.

May 15, 2005

Now this is REALLY COOL !!, I found this "Blower Hat" on E-Bay for $100 and made a conversion plate with a filter, then fit it to the new carb. I think it totaly makes the car a real "High School Drag" Bracket Rat.

Now, where is that Hood.....I think we need a BIG HOLE.....MuHaaaa !!!!

MAY 21, 2005

Here, my son cuts the hole with a high speed body saw

There, now we'll get some trim and that should work fine. This should get some attention at the track.
MAY 22, 2005

I've always thought that the cougar was just screaming for some "Mach I" side vents. This car wants to Flex some muscle. So we are going to fabricate some custom side vents from sheet metal. .................we'll start by drawing a rough idea, then transfer that to a cardboard mock-up

Now that we have a general idea, it's time to mark the metal with our pattern and cut it out with a air Nibbler

I bent the sheetmetal on a homemade Brake. I made it from some angle iron, it's slow to work with but you can see it did the job.

Custom made for about $8.00 ea. See, "talent saves money !!!"

I used a mig welder to tack the vents to the body. Then the first round of "Filler" AKA-BONDO.

Ok, it's gettin' late Sunday night....So I'm gonna do a quick sand job on this first coat of filler, and paint it just to see what it will look like ( I need some kind of reward for my whole day). I'll have to sand the paint off tomarrow after work, but whats 5 minutes of sanding when I can have some "instant gratification"--------MUAhhaaaaa !!!!!!

So for the next few days I'll be sanding "Filler" on these vents. And take care of a few small dents....No big deal....Just takes time.

June 21, 2005

Ran into a lot of bondo when stripping the paint --OH NO --
Lots of sanding.........Hope to be Primed very soon....

Now we need a paint booth (Garage wrapped in plastic) and paint supplies. We choose OMNI brand cause it's cheap. (it's the lower paint line of PPG, So it's still quality stuff)The cost for primer,base coat and clear coat was about $300 .My paint gun is a DeVilbiss "Finishline" HVLP that we picked up at Harbor frieght for about $150. It came with 2 tips 1.4mm for base coat and 1.6mm for primer and clear Coats. I use this gun for all (just make sure it's super clean after each use. I've painted 3 cars with it including priming and a Black motor cycle. So this one paint gun has worked very well (for home jobs).

FEB. 3, 2006

Let the "Home" painting begin !!!!! Time = Approx. 5 1/2 hrs.

Before Clear Coat............

.............After Clear Coat

The day after paint.....$300.00 in materials and many many hours sanding and we have a fast good lookin cat to take to the track !!!

I'm going to have to figure out how to lower the front. Never have liked the stock stance of Cougar or Mustangs.

So we'll let this cure a day or two and begin wet sanding the clearcoat with 1500 grit sand paper to flatten out the clear, Then we use 3M medium-cut rubbing compound to remove the 1500 grit scratches, And then the last step is to use a polish to bring out the Show shine. We use Maguires "Swirl remover" for the final polish. I know the name "Swirl remover" doesn't sound like polish, but it works awsome !! (this is what gives that "Show car " Shine !!!! .......... Great, More sanding......URRRGGGG !!!!

Now that the car has been wet sanded and polished, we will wait 60 days before waxing for the solivents in the paint to bleed off. Then we will wax with "Mothers Carnuba Wax". So for now I will install a SUN tachometer, Tint the windows, choke cable and install a cheap stereo to have some tunes to and from the track.

March 11, 2006

Ok, today was Brakes day. The rear left brake cylinder was rusted so we replaced that. Bought new brake shoes and pads. Bleeding the brakes was easy but you can empty a master cylinder in about 4 bleeds, so keep checkin the master cylinder !!.

So, the last thing is the sequential tail lights, brake lights, and running lights.......This should be fun.

June 11, 2006

OK, All Done and tuned. Lowered the front suspension 2 1/2 inches by cutting the front springs (I think it handles better), Had to put in a new distributor (the old one had too much crust inside), electronic ignition, fuel tank, fuel sending unit...Blaa Blaa..

July 8, 2006

Well, well, well.....No Brakes (again)....Power booster is shot. Replaced with new Booster and Master cylinder and Brake switch. Broke the brake line to the Master so I had to learn how to flare new ones. Oh well, a few new tools for the box. But add that to the list of new stuff this cat has.

So here is our car ready to go Bracket racing. That was a ton of work. But, It really shines and sounds good. It just begs you to get a ticket !!!! It's a true Muscle car and we really think it turned out nice. At least we won't be embarrassed around the true motor heads at the track. So now it's time to see if we can turn some heads !!

August 23, 2006
We went to the race track to complete our dream of watching my son get a chance to race. The people at the track were really nice to us and we had a great time. I sat in the grandstands eating hotdogs and glowing with pride (what a feeling!!!) My son admitted that American Muscle is the way to go. ......DREAM ACCOMPLISHED !!!

He made it to the second round of bracket eliminations and then raced for "Time Only" against this silver Hemi Charger and won.

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Guestbook

Displaying entries 1-5 of 39

Posted by: olds68

12/23/2008 04:38PM

5 stars

Posted by: myhighschoolxr7

05/08/2008 09:38PM

Great looking Cougar. How much of the coil springs did you cut to get that ride height in the front. I'm about to lower my 67 Cougar by cutting the coils, and like how yours turned out.

Posted by: olds68

03/01/2008 06:57PM

I like the side scoops. Super job

Posted by: slusher

02/29/2008 02:52PM

wow!! i dont kno what else to say. wow!! u spent alot of time n $$, it paid off!!

Posted by: 64cutlass

01/11/2008 05:00PM

Nice car! I'm still mad at my old man for making me "pass" On a 67, when I was 17, back in '79. 300 bucks! I wonder what its worth now? You did a real nice job on the Cougar. Best of luck with it.

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