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68 Cougar XR-7 Build

48K views 123 replies 13 participants last post by  My67Galaxie 
#1 ·
Hey guys! So...some of you all might remember me...I used to hang around these parts on occasion :D. I took a long break from cars however, and have just recently caught the bug again lol.

That being said, a little history, then we'll get right into my build.

My first car was a 1970 Cougar (base model with a Cleveland 2v), and my second (first one I actually drove, lol) was a 1967 XR-7 GT. From there I've owned a string of Mustangs (all 67's except one 82 SSP 5.0), and have finally come back around to picking up another Cougar. This time around I found a 1968 XR-7 for a semi reasonable price (actually I got it in trade for a motorcycle lol), and just couldn't pass it up. It was pretty rough lol. There's a couple of small rust spots around the wheel wells, and dented lower quarters (looks like a tire blowout or two). The driver's side is wavy (to say the least), but the passenger side is relatively straight. Most importantly though...it seems to be all there, if in pieces. My goal for it is a daily drivable, mid 10 second (naturally aspirated...no power adders for this guy) quarter mile capable restomod. The theme's sort of 'grudge racer/junkyard dog' inspired. You know...the kind of car that you can't tell whether it was built by a guy who knows what he's doing, or a kid who doesn't have a clue (or in reality...a guy who doesn't have a clue =p). The dents and dings (and even the external rust holes) will stay. The car's getting sprayed satin black. The chrome I can salvage will probably be cleaned up and reused, but looks are absolutely secondary...all of the car's external attraction will come via function.

The engine goals have taken a few different twists (c'mon...this is MY build lol, we all know these things are never linear for me!!)). The first though was a stock 302 based setup with the HO roller cam, and 225cc High Ports from TEA. The power was to be transferred through a stock t5 transmission to the Versailles 9" that came with the car. I'd intended the drivetrain to be built in stages, with the stock bottom end late model 302 being the first transplant.

Anyhow, here's a couple pictures of what I started with:


Door tag. It appears my car was a 302 2v powered XR-7 in Augusta green, built in Dearborn, with a C4 and Dark Ivy Gold leather/vinyl? It doesn't have a floor console, and the upper console is a very small one (no pictures of the interior yet).



Front view. You can see some of the waves on the driver's side. Bodywork isn't my strong suit, and will probably be the most frustrating part for me...well, assuming there's no wiring issues, lol.



Back side. You can see more ripples on the driver's side. I remember from my first Cougar that those compound curves are REALLY fun to get straight lol.


Interesting tidbit...as I said, the car came with a 9" disc brake rear end (front discs too). It also came with a 'rebuilt' (we have yet to see the truth here) DOAE 351W. For me though, the big Windsor is a boat anchor...so it will be sold or traded off pretty quickly.

So, to clarify my goal here...I'm building a daily driver capable (for me...I've learned my tolerance level is higher than most others lol) car with a serious amount of kick. I'll work on the drivetrain and general interior first, with the only real nod to the exterior being getting it all one color as things continue. I know that's semi backwards...but it makes sense given my goal, and that I want the car drivable asap, so I don't lose interest. I've never completed a project that I worked on that wasn't drivable lol. I doubt that's changed much in the last few years =p.
 
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#4 ·
Thanks man!

The posts I'm putting up are sorta recaps from a Cougar forum I'd posted to originally, so they're kind of from a 'before' the fact perspective lol. I've done a decent amount of work since I picked the car up at the end of January, and like I said, the motor's changed paths a few times. I think I finally have it solidified now, and am moving towards getting that done asap.
 
#3 ·
After getting the car home, I went through some of the parts included with the purchase. Making sense of it all has been a chore for sure, lol. Lots of bolts (only some bagged and none labeled), and it looks like some of the parts are still missing. Overall the car was both more, and less than I expected. The frame is straight...probably the straightest I've ever seen on a car this old. The subframe 'tubing' is clean and square, without many of the dents you typically see in these cars from being improperly jacked up etc. As I mentioned though the body is pretty wavy...and there is the small amount of rust in the rear quarters/wheelwells. A lot of the interior is actually there though, and much is salvageable. I'll be getting rid of the front seats, and I'm not sure about the back. I've got 72 pieces of metal and plastic that look like they go to the dash assembly, none that I'd rate even a 4 as far as condition goes. I've got heat/ac vents and pieces all over the place in the boxes and crates that came with the car, lol. It also looks like I have sometimes two or three pieces of the same trim, and none of another.

Overall, like I said...its going to be interesting. Even inventorying the parts on hand was a chore.

Anyhow though...here's some pictures for you guys, documenting the condition and some of the parts that came with it.


Straight...


Not so straight...I do have the nose section where the little Mercury guy goes...and the trim piece as well, lol.


Seriously, the car's straight underneath. Like I said...one of, if not the straightest I've ever seen myself (more on that later...I found something kind of weird when I fit my wheels and tires).



Headlight bucket area. The vacuum operated headlight doors still seem to seal. I'll be switching to the electric versions asap though.



Radiator/ac parts, and some of the badging I was able to find.



Engine compartment and the 351.



Dirty and dusty, but overall pretty well intact it seems. Excepting the obvious brake hardware of course.









Interior. I've honestly never started with a car that was in this poor of shape on the inside...so it appears just a bit overwhelming.





And...what's in the trunk, lol. What a mess!!

So, that's what all came with the car. I think it was worth the $2500 I got for it in trade, but I'm thinking it'll cost at least double that just to put the interior back together, lol.

Guess we'll see :D.
 
#5 · (Edited)
In the first week or two I took the time to clean out the inside of the car some. Most of the parts were there like I was told, however I did find at least one nasty surprise.




Kind of a crappy shock...but once I got the pile of parts out of the car, and saw the 50 kinds of mold on the carpet, I really wasn't surprised. As a matter of fact, I'm surprised that that's the worst of it really. The other floor panels have surface rot, but ended up solid enough.

Here's the rear floor boards.


Anyhow, hopefully that's my worst surprise during the build.

In closing, I'll leave you guys with a short walk around video. I like to take them to remind me how far I've come when my momentum slows on a project, lol. So far they've never failed to help me remotivate and finish things out :).

68 Cougar XR-7 Initial Walk Around - YouTube
 
#6 ·
It took awhile, but I finally got to the floor pans...the damage was both a little more than I hoped, and yet a lot less than I expected.



Not too bad. All the floor pans were solid, excepting the passenger front of course. I don't know if thee heater core was leaking (or the cowl)...because its rotted up towards the firewall as well. You can see it a little in the second picture. Honestly though I'm a bit grateful...as both are relatively easy fixes with the car completely torn apart. In addition I'm fully aware it could be a lot worse...with the poor thing having been open to the elements for all this time like it has been.


As a funny side note...how on earth does something like this get buried under two layers of carpet, and down between two sections of tar mat??

All in all, it was coming together pretty well. By this time I had my electric headlight door conversion kit...Cal Tracs and shocks...the additional 3.5" exhaust parts (I'm still considering converting over from two straight pipes to an x-pipe directing the exhaust out before the rear tires). I also had my floor pan patch panel, and had picked up my 4spd brake and clutch pedals (along with a roller bearing kit). I still had (and have!) a substantial amount of parts left to buy though, lol.
 
#7 ·
A few pictures of how clean the rear subframe of this thing is.



Is it just me?...or is that inner lip between the wheel house and the frame wider than a 67/68 Mustang? I'd already bought wheels (15x9" Centerline Warriors with 6.5" backspacing per the guy I bought them from), and realized after trying them that I'd need at least 1" wheel spacers to make those fit (again, more on that in a bit...).

On to the rust pictures, lol.


This is the passenger side. I've got to be the luckiest guy in Arizona. I happened to find the ONLY native car with rusted out quarters...shoulda bought a lottery ticket instead.../sigh.


And what's with this weird door misalignment, and only in this spot?? The rest of the door lines up perfectly, lol.



Driver's side. Its a bit worse than the other side...but still fixable without patch panels I think. I'm really not a body guy though, so if I choose to fix it, I'm going to call a friend on this one...lol.



At least the trunk was solid...lol.


I always thought it was funny the strange things that survive the years on these old cars.

Anyway, I was still amassing parts, as well as assessing what I was going to need do to make the car solid. I scored a decent (much better than mine!!) new passenger side grill section (including the entire headlight assembly) for $90 on eBay, which was substantially under my allotted budget for it. The possibly missing chrome trim pieces still bothered me...I know the costs of that stuff can add up really, REALLY fast.
 
#8 ·
The first repair I decided to make was the floor pan. I figured that since this car is probably never going to see any kind of concourse restoration (too much effort to fix the rust, remove the cage, etc etc..all for a 2bbl 302 XR-7 lol), I wouldn't go through the hassle of butt welding in the floor pan. What I DID do, is trim it to fit properly (meaning overlapping), coated all the overlap area with a weld through sealer I got from the guy who welds all of our large diameter cement lined water pipe together, then welded both the inside of the car, and the outside. I also drilled a boatload of holes (more detail on that below) through the new floor pan and the flange on the subframe...along with the overlapped area, and rosette welded all of those back closed. After that, I smothered all the seams inside and out with Sikaflex 1a...then coated with a rust preventative paint.

Here's a few pictures:


Cut out all the rust...


Test fit the (rather crappy) reproduction patch panel...it needed trimmed substantially to even come close to getting the stamping to line up. I finally cut the entire toe board section out, which helped tremendously.


Next, I wire wheeled the crap out of EVERYTHING, then sprayed on the sealer...then coated that with the rust preventative paint...refit the panel, and welded it in. My method for welding it was kind of crude, but it was also incredibly effective. What I did, was screwed the entire panel in with self tapping screws...starting at the door first, and working my way over to the tunnel. I also screwed through to the frame flange as well. I then welded the perimeter (I hate welding sheetmetal...I learned this long ago welding a sump onto a fuel tank...), and one by one removed the screws and rosette welded those holes as well. The screws held everything dead tight, and didn't allow anything to move or warp. I was pretty freakin generous with the screws, lol. I figured the more holes in it, the stronger it'd be.


All sealed up. Sikaflex is great stuff, lol. It's a polyurethane elastomeric sealant, sticks to anything, will cure under water...and never fully hardens. Pretty cool.


The finished job. Not the prettiest, but its solid as all hell, and will more than do the job I require of it. I'll address the heater core and cowl vents to make sure they weren't the cause (and fix them if they were) at a later date.

So now...on to the next issue. Wheel/tire fitment.

As I mentioned earlier...my wheels are 15x9 with 6.5" backspacing. The current tires are 26x10.5 slicks. This combination did NOT work. Even after cutting the excess metal off of the snubber bracket they wouldn't fit.

Pesky leaf springs...

Anyhow, I'd ordered some relatively nice 1.25" wheel spacers, thinking this would be just the fix, and for the driver's side (which was the side I test fit everything on), it absolutely was, the outer edge of the tire bulge was about even with the inner body line of the wheel opening. A nice rolling of the inner lip and it would be perfect. The passenger side however, was now sticking out of the wheel well by a fair margin (even some of the contact patch on the tire). At this point I was thinking the rear end was installed incorrectly. Possibly that the Granada/Monarch/Versailles perches had a larger locating hole in them or something...and that whoever did the install just didn't center it. Wrong. After loosening the u-bolts and being forced to pry the rear end from the pinion angle wedges..it was very apparent that the locating holes were precisely the right size. So I pulled the rear end, and started in on everything with a tape measurer. Turns out, the rear end is fine. Everything is properly centered from the wheel mount face to the spring perch. So, what's the problem you ask?? Well...it appears that THE CAR is freaking offset on the rear subframe by almost an ENTIRE INCH. Seriously :l. The passenger side outer wheel opening is literally 7/8" closer to the leaf springs (which are mounted very solidly to the frame on both sides I might add) than the passenger side. This means I'm going to have to pick up a smaller wheel spacer for the passenger side, which is really just kind of silly. I mean...I don't know if this is common with Cougars...but I've owned five separate 67 Mustangs, all utilizing 10" rear wheels...and never had this problem.

Anyhow lol, here's a picture of how the current wheels and tires look on the driver's side. Not bad...but a bit short in my opinion. Good thing I'm probably going to be switching to a 28" tire anyhow, which will help fill the wheel well some.

 
#9 ·
This was about the time that things got accelerated a bit. The 302/High Port motor was cancelled in favor of a 347 that I picked up for a steal. The cam was an N/A grind with light N20 being a possibility, so I knew it'd work 100% fine in my N/A application.

This thing was built for a wee bit of rpm :).

Anyhow, here's a video of it idling after the previous owner rebuilt it. It hasn't been run in a car since it was freshened.

Canfield - Solid Roller - 347 - YouTube

Anyhow, the main reasons for the change in direction were simple. This entire longblock cost me only slightly more than the 225cc High Ports and a matched intake would have by themselves. The motor makes plenty of power...enough to push a working 3000lb car into the 10's anyhow...which as you recall was my goal. The Canfields on this motor are basically little brothers to the High Port, with very similar valve spacing (NOT STOCK), and a slightly less elevated exhaust port. The only real drawback to them is they're only 197cc, versus 225. Also, since I'm not constrained by the smaller displacement, when/if I DO pick up new High Ports, I can go straight for the 240cc version for a couple hundred more than the 225's.

As I said in the video notes...money saved and value gained!
 
#10 ·
Over the following week or so, I pulled the 351, and looked to see what condition the engine compartment was in. Luckily, other than being a bit dirty...all seemed well. There's a few things I need to address...but for the most part it looks good.








That's that...relatively solid if you ask me. The 351 appears to actually have been rebuilt, thankfully. Ohh, also...does anyone want to trade my power steering setup, for their manual? It seems a shame to spend $150 on the servo delete deal...when I could possibly just pick up a manual setup from someone in need of power assist.

Now, on to more motor fun!!

I'll just let the picture of the shortblock speak for themselves lol.


This bottom end is solid. A4 block (the father of the venerable R302...), GRP aluminum 5.4" rods, and Ross XL400 Ultralight pistons. She spins pretty easily. I'll be disassembling it (for more reasons than I knew here), checking everything, and reassembling it regardless.


Flat tops cut for High Port/Canfield valve spacing. I will never, ever...willingly use an AFR, Edelbrock, or any other stock valve placement cylinder head by choice.

Speaking of Canfield...




These heads made over 550hp on pump gas (at a touch under 11:1 compression), with a tiny 2.02 valve...on the above 347. They are very good heads even out of the box. That's gasket is the same size as a 1262 Fel Pro intake gasket...which is bigger than a Victor Jr runner at the cylinder head.



So there's we are. My next order of business in this area was to clean the engine compartment, address what needed addressed, and mock up an old bare 289 block I have with the transmission I picked up, using the stock motor mounts. I'll take some reference pictures, make some notes, and leave a few marks on the shock towers and firewall so I know where things are supposed to be...then when the heads come in I'll begin fitment of the heads, headers, and motor without the motor mounts. The goal will be to move the motor back an inch or so if possible, and lower it a half inch as well. At that point I'll order the mid plate...fit it to the block assembly, and mark out where it goes against the frame rails. After that, a tiny bit of fabrication...and the motor would be in and set.
 
#11 ·
Instead of messing with the engine compartment, I decided to spend time working on getting the pedals converted over to manual, as well as converting the old style z-bar setup to cable. I actually did this exact swap once on my last Mustang, and assumed (wrongly), that it would involve the exact same process. This would allow me to perform some of the steps out of order, since I'd previously figured it allllll out.

Shoulda known better...lol.

Anyhow, on to the pictures.


I started out by dressing the top of the manual pedal in preparation for having a roughly 3" structural (read: mild) steel extension welded onto it.


Here is said extension. Its actually just a piece of flat concrete stake cut down and dressed up a little. I always keep a few spares of the flat stakes around as they're a cheap source of mild steel for fabricating, guards for knives I make, and various other odds and ends. They can be forged/cut/welded into just about anything I might need.


Backed and trued to the clutch pedal in preparation for joining. I actually took it all apart again and widened the v between the pieces before I welded it.


Welded up, painted, and contoured to fit the cowl area, or so I thought. Turns out that either the pedal hanger on this car is completely different, or the under side of the cowl is. I ended up test fitting it like ten times, and regrinding about 3/4" off the pedal extension in the process. It fits now, but it was a hell of a piece of work doing it. Also pictured is one of THREE nuts I had to tack onto the pedal bracket. Apparently someone had twisted off all but one of the pot metal ones. Lucky me lol.


Roller bearing kit. Last time I used Mustang Steve's deal...but this kit from CJ Ponyparts (sourced from the Mustang Service Center a mile from my house) seemed to work nicely also. The main differences seem to be in the amount of support provided by the setup, the fact that this one uses the pedal shaft as the inner race for the bearing, and that this one also requires no fabrication skills (other than basic grinder work to remove the old pot metal bushings). The Mustang Steve kit is as much superior to this kit, as this kit is to the stock setup. Maybe in another 40yrs I'll have to rebuild the hanger bracket again lol. I'll be sure to use Steve's then =p.


Three pedals in the car...JUST like they should be! On a side note...this was a much more enjoyable process on the 68 (other than the repeated refitting), simply because the steering column was so easily removable. Getting that bracket and pedals in and out of a 67 is a rabid B!%*#!! with the column in place.





Speaking of the column...while it was out I took the time to sand down the primer and shoot it (and a few other loose parts laying around) with a nice satin black. I've decided this will be the main color for my interior, with gloss accents where applicable.


Anyhow, back to the clutch setup. I drilled a 1/4" hole at the upper rear (towards the driver) portion of the pedal extension...pushed a grade 8 stainless allen head through, and attached it to a 1/4" female rod end that I'd modified the clutch cable to fit. Basically I threaded the catch on the cable, and screwed the female rod end onto it with red Loctite.


This is the same type setup on my 67 Mustang, with a slightly different style rod end (captured ball). I went with a standard rod end this time for ease of fitment, and because that's what my local supplier had in stock.


Pretty basic stuff :).





Now here's a fun pair of pictures. The top one is the Mustang, bottom the Cougar. See any differences in where the cable is coming through the firewall? Yeah...me too. The extensions were EXACTLY the same length, and I actually had to grind some off this time around, as I mentioned. It's a bit puzzling, and rather annoying, since I'd planned to simply use a 3/8" thick aluminum brace as pictured above on the Mustang. Now I'm going to have to fabricate a bracket (like the one pictured first above...only, less flimsy) in order to stand the cable off of the slope in the firewall above the master cylinder area.

Yay.

So there we have the pedal construction pictures. Next up, bracket construction.
 
#12 ·
The next day I finished up my clutch cable support bracket. Loads of fun THAT was. In the end it didn't turn out too badly, but I'm still slightly frustrated that I have to use it at all. I would have much preferred fitting an engine today...lol. Anyhow, here's the pictures:



So this is what I started with. A dirty engine compartment/firewall, and a small sheet of 12ga steel I picked up at the local steel yard for $2. I only needed about 1/8 of it for my bracket, but I figured at that price...and with my current batting average...it'd be better to have LOTS of extra for multiple attempts. Thankfully, so far...only one piece was necessary.





I skipped a few steps here, but basically I cut a small section off...transferred the bolt hole locations from my pedal hanger (this wasn't the best idea...the thing sort of flexes out when its not bolted in...but so far I'm making it work), drilled them, dressed the bracket, then put in the initial 90° bend. In the second and the last pictures you can see the measured and marked location of my second bend, as well as the initial mark showing where I'll have to trim it for it to fit under the cowl flange.


Rough fit...still needed to locate and drill the clutch cable opening, as well as the master cylinder opening. The clutch opening I nailed...the master cylinder opening, I'm not so sure. See, the holes in my SVO master cylinder (I've used this on disc/disc conversions in the past with no issue...oh, wait...you've heard that before...go figure) don't line up with the holes to mount my clutch hanger...they're about 1/4" wide on each side. At first I attributed it to me welding the nuts on a bit wide...but then I got to looking at it, and that might account for a total of 1/8" per side. The thing is just flat too freakin wide. Soooo, that leads me to ask...is there a Cougar specific manual disc/disc master cylinder that I'm just unaware of? Or are you guys just making the SVO unit work? I'm thinking that if I have to I can elongate the holes in the car, along with the holes in my plate, and then 'clamp' the lower part of the pedal hanger bracket until it lines up with the master cylinder holes. It's not the way I'd prefer to do it...but I'm not about to do major surgery on anything to get a $20 part to fit.


Roughly finished bracket with a coat of paint on it. In the next post I finish up the fitment...dress all the edges, clearance it for the master cylinder, and hit it with a couple more coats before mounting it permanently.

I've got to say this was a hell of a lot easier on the Mustang!
 
#13 ·
A few more pictures.


Anyhow, I got my bracket mostly completed (turns out I needed to relieve it for the master cylinder lol). It still needs dressed up some, but I'm happy with it otherwise. It's 100% functional as/is. Also, squeezing the bottom of the pedal hanger bracket together worked just fine for mounting the setup. Sucks to have to do it...but at least it worked.


So...it turns out that the pushrod for the SVO master cylinder is about 1.5" too long. Lopping off the required amount, threading it...and using an all thread coupler solved that issue. It also allows me to adjust it a bit, which will allow me to even out the pedals if I so choose.


Mocked up in the car. Nice to finally have something actually functioning as its supposed to!...lol.

Anyhow, I was going to finish the day by pulling the ac/heater assembly...but as the cowl vent doesn't appear to be leaking...so I didn't. I think I will end up pulling it anyhow prior to hooking up the heater (won't need THAT until next winter, lol)...and I don't know if the car will get AC this summer either. That may just end up one of those projects for next year...and I may go with a whole new Vintage Air GenIV system while I'm at it, lol.

Guess we'll see :)
 
#14 ·
Sooo...with the clutch, brakes, and whatnot straightened out...I decided to get some of the work done on the front end. Namely, removing the vacuum setup, cleaning and repairing everything that needed repaired, and installing the electric headlight door kit (nothing but GREAT things to say about that kit btw). Everything started out smoothly enough, I got the passenger side all apart and cleaned up easily. When I moved to the driver's side however...that all changed lol. Apparently the car had been dinged somehow on the front of the driver's side fender, behind the extension. I knew there had been damage there (lots of ripples from an attempt to straighten)...but I didn't realize they'd removed the front inner fender support. You know...the bucket looking part of the fender that the headlight housing bolts to. They'd split it at the spot welds (amazingly it was in my box of parts, and they didn't destroy it in the process) so they could straighten (I use that term loosely) the fender. So, I lined everything up, clamped it down...and tacked it back in. It's rough, mostly because the fender is irreparable (at my level of bodywork skill anyhow)...but it sort of fits in with the 'resurrected junkyard dog' theme the exterior has going on, lol. Later I'm planning on going with glass fenders anyhow...so I didn't want to spend incredible amounts of effort on this.

Anyhow, as usual...on to the pictures!




This was the work I'd finished the day before. I think it turned out pretty nicely myself.






This isn't exactly the proper way to fix this...but they bent the fender flanges all to hell when they separated it from the support bucket. Sooo, I got it back to a serviceable fit, lined everything up, tacked it down, and painted it.



Headlight bucket fit perfectly.
 
#15 ·



I can't say enough about this kit. It IS a bit pricey (I opted for $350 used motor kit, as $535 was a bit out of my budget)...and I probably could have fabbed my own up...but having the headache of fitment, and making it work all taken away was worth the price. I believe West Coast Classic Cougar sells the kit with the remanufactured motors on their site. I honestly don't think I'd have enjoyed drilling that single hole with the grill assembly still hanging in there, but I'm sure its totally doable, lol.






Got the engine compartment mostly cleaned up and sprayed.
 
#16 ·

I also sprayed the grill. The paint that I'm using is a satin, with a self etching primer built in. Pretty cool stuff. Once the paint's set, I'll go back through with a towel and acetone, and remove it on the large chrome stripes.


It's starting to look like a car!!

Anyhow, to finish things up, I thought I fixed the two tiny cracks in the passenger side headlight assembly (JB Weld is wonderful stuff...but it doesn't work well on potmetal, lol) I got off eBay. I did some research and found some stuff called 'Muggyweld' that is supposed to work better. I'm going to order some of that shortly, get the other grill fixed, and get it painted also.
 
#17 ·
Which brings us to this last week lol.

I spent some time doing a quick and dirty resto on my tail lights. Basically I just separated the housing, cleaned everything, buffed the lenses, scuffed/sanded all the chipped areas of the chrome, and repainted them. For the short term this will have to do. Like I said...I need to get the car moving, lol. Once that's done, I'll go back and revisit sections of the car at a time. I know that sounds backwards as it's 'easier' while everything's apart, but I genuinely hate having a project around that I can't drive within a reasonable period of time.

Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out...here's a couple pictures.




Not too bad. 100% better than the way they were (hopefully you can tell which I had already finished lol).



On the car.

So that's that...one more post with the (hopefully) final direction the motor has taken...and we're up to date!
 
#18 ·
So...I discovered an annoying issue with the Canfields. The springs were NOT new Iskys (as advertised), and NOT the right ones for the cam (as advertised)...and in order to fix the issue it I was going to have to drop $600 more on springs. That wasn't going to happen. Soooo, I sold the Canfields to a friend, and am using the money (along with the money from selling all my carb parts) to pick up some lifters to run with the top end setup I already had on hand.








Any of you guys recognize these? AND NO HINTS from you guys who've seen my thread on TooNuts, lol!

:)
 
#19 · (Edited)
@Jetfixr...those headers are designed to fit a High Port in a 67 Mustang (same engine compartment). These heads have a 3/4" raised exhaust just like the High Ports.

Now you see why I was looking up shock tower notching posts??

:D
 
#20 ·
Looking good my friend. Lots of work on that one, but true car guys just shrug it off and never look back.

Glad that the heads and intake are seeing daylight again. Should be a frigg'in awesome powerplant for the 68! Hope the T5 can handle it once you get the combo sorted out.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Thanks man :).

I guess I skipped the post about my transmission somehow when transferring my progress. I picked up a dog ring g-force t-5… mcleod scattershield, triax shifter, and a centerforce clutch with both a dual friction disc, and a promotion disc. I mean, a stock t5 can be made to live longer than people might expect, particularly on the street…but at this power level, going into third under full throttle with any amount of traction would spell the end, lol.

On a semi related note…did I mention that there's three different e85 stations within a couple miles of my house? Good thing too, or those flat top pistons and these 45cc chambers would be a big no no!

 
#22 ·



Sooo...is this considered 'progress'?...or 'demolition?

:)

I'm probably going to change a few things. First...I may fab two brackets to run coilovers in place of the stock spring/sock/perch setup. Reason being...I have the right size threaded body coilovers sitting around from the dirt track cars...and I've got about 50 different sets of springs sitting around also lol. The only real benefits I expect to see are maybe 20lbs off the front end (in a good spot!!), and more room to open up the shock towers. The top bracket will bolt under the existing upper shock bracket (which will be removed), and the bottom one will replace the spring perch. I'll use simple stock car shock mount brackets welded to the appropriate sized plates to make the brackets. All of my shocks mount via rod ends at both the upper and lower positions.

Anyhow...that's just something I'm kicking around...I've got a bit of time before I decide...but less shock tower (and thus more room!), is always a good thing.

On the cylinder head front...I should be ordering the reaming tool for my lifter bores here this week. I'm also going to be ordering my Megasquirt kit shortly as well. I'm going with the MS3x, and will be running full sequential spark and fuel (distributorless with LSx coil packs). The best part is that later, I'll be able to run stacked injectors (2 injectors per port). The primaries will be sequential, smallish (perhaps 36's or 42's), mount very low, shoot basically horizontally into the port, and handle all the low load/rpm fuel supply. The secondaries will probably be 60's, and will run off of batch fire. My biggest problem with the fuel injection setup I have at this point...is figuring out an air filtration solution which first...is capable of supplying 3000+cfm, and second...doesn't cost $400 plus. I REALLY like the K&N sprint car air boxes (and they should be very easy to fit to this intake system), but they're crazy expensive. I mean...$408 for JUST the freakin filter?? Seriously?! Here's a picture:



So there's that. Maybe I'll try Racingjunk for a used one, lol. Any other ideas on that front would be very much appreciated.

Sooo, there we have it. Moving along slowly but surely. I'm hoping to have the thing running and driving by the end of summer (maybe, lol). Part of me thinks if I get it driving in the next 6mos...I'll have really pulled something off though =p.
 
#24 ·
Welll...I tried it out, lol.



Thankfully, before I started welding things up, I decided to go ahead and drop a spare 302 block in using the factory motor mounts...so I could put my heads on and see what was what.



The lowest chalk line, is the level of the control arm mounts. I'm thinking that there's no way my headers will be fitting in there...but I'm still going to drop them in there if possible, and see. It might be that lowering them 1.5" or whatever it is, and losing that much more shock tower...will make some difference.



Yeah...going to have to run the Wilwood compact master cylinder I think.



The camera is sitting on the inner fender here, and the tailshaft of the transmission still needs to come up about 1" or so. What I'll probably do instead however, is leave the transmission where it is (weld tabs to my crossmember), and lower the motor with the plates when I lose the motor mounts. The only reason I'm mocking it up with the factory mounts at all is to get a baseline position.


About 5" to the center of the hood. From the top of the intake as/is, I need 3" in throttle bodies, and probably a 5" air filter as pictured above. Yeah, I think this thing is going to be getting a scoop...lol.




Here you see the T5 setup. The crossmember is simply a slotted C4 unit, with the C4 mount bushing. I've never had to weld tabs to it to make it work like I hear others do (this is my third conversion). When I do them for my cars, I slot them the entire length...just in case the motor needs to slide forward, then back when getting the headers to fit (the bolts are just loosely in there when I'm installing headers). Like I said above, I'll probably leave this one dropped an even inch from the factory location. That'll put the shifter base just below the tunnel, and let me drop the motor a bit as well.


I dunno...I've never seen a big block in one of these cars in person...but with those heads, intake, and valve covers...this thing doesn't look like any small block I've ever seen, lol. Can't wait to get it in there permanently!

Anyhow...I'm currently researching my options on methods to ditch the factory upper a-arms, just in case lowering them won't work. I was initially leaning towards a Mustang II setup...but I talked to another friend with a 67 Cougar, and he used the AJE k-member with coil over struts. The way I figure it...If I want to go to the Mustang II at a later date, I still can. Wheras, if I decide I want struts after doing the Mustang II...that'll be a bit harder lol. Plus I hear that Cal Tracs like some front end travel, and the struts give something like 5.5" versus something less than that for the Mustang II.

Guess we'll see when the time comes :).
 
#25 · (Edited)
That top end is monstrous!!!!! Hopefully it'll be built to scream as its already shouting "Look at me".

The MC ports that you have are facing the wrong way compared to stock, but with those valve covers I would go the more compact route instead. Sectioning the valve covers to make them lower would gain you more working clearance when changing plugs or whatever.

What's the screw looking thing under the intake that blocks the distributor from going in?

I don't see you getting the headers that you already have in there with the UCA's. Maybe a pair of 351w swap headers for a 65/66 Mustang??? Either way it looks like the UCA's need to go. The coilover route intrigues me, but I don't have the knowledge (or funds) to make the jump and I would first want to be sure that the structural integrity of the front end remains.

Thanks for the cool looking pics.
 
#26 ·
That top end is monstrous!!!!! Hopefully it'll be built to scream as its already shouting "Look at me".

The MC ports that you have are facing the wrong way compared to stock, but with those valve covers I would go the more compact route instead. Sectioning the valve covers to make them lower would gain you more working clearance when changing plugs or whatever.

What's the screw looking thing under the intake that blocks the distributor from going in?

I don't see you getting the headers that you already have in there with the UCA's. Maybe a pair of 351w swap headers for a 65/66 Mustang??? Either way it looks like the UCA's need to go. The coilover route intrigues me, but I don't have the knowledge (or funds) to make the jump and I would first want to be sure that the structural integrity of the front end remains.

Thanks for the cool looking pics.

Well, I hope it screams of course, lol. I'm sure the car will be slower at first. There's going to be a decent amount of testing, creeping up on the tune, and even more importantly getting a nearly 50yr old car that was basically growing weeds, ready for what should be 9 second power. I don't know if I'll ever actually be running in the 9's with it...but someday I'd like to.

The MC is an SVO unit for the disc/disc setup. I'm not exactly sure how the Wilwood MC handles dealing with 4whl discs...but they're inexpensive, and if it works out that's what I'll be running. Dropping the motor an inch is going to help valve cover clearance...but I'm really going to have to watch my lash with this setup, and right now, I couldn't get the valve cover off if I tried. Also, when it comes to sectioning the valve covers...there's no room lol. When you look through the breather holes, the rockers are right there. I thought about cutting down the outboard edge like a Cleveland, but the way the rockers are twisted prevents that too. Fun stuff.

Screw looking thing...oh!...I think you're looking at the other fuel rail. It's just laying in the valley, lol. Nice thing about that distributor hole though, is it'll be filled with a cam position sensor versus a distributor. That IS fun stuff :).

On the headers...I don't know. I know that on the last motor, it didn't look like there was room for them against the shock towers either...but they eventually fit. If/when I swap to the AJE setup on the front (here's a link to some cool install pictures: 68 Mustang K-Member installation - 460 Ford Forum), I was told Fox body type headers will work. What I'd probably do though is send my heads to George, tell him I'm running the AJE setup, and let him make a new set. Either that, or have a set built here. I'm going to do my best to get things set as/is though. Need to order an upper control arm drop template.

On the pictures...I've found though that it's actually a big help for me to be able to go back and look again at the pictures and notes I made while doing it, as I move around to other parts of the build then come back to whatever I was working on. Additionally...writing things out like this...once I'm not in the middle of DOING it, has kept me from making some pretty bone headed mistakes, as well as helped me solve problems I was way too close to while actually working on the thing. Then there's the fact that you guys always have great ideas yourselves. I've gone in directions with things that I might never have thought of myself as a direct result of suggestions and comments I've got from you guys in these types of threads. Honestly...I've come to enjoy this part of the build as much as doing the actual work.

So thank you as well :).
 
#27 · (Edited)
Sooo...I've pretty much decided on doing a coilover strut type front end. The price breakdown using a mix of aftermarket, aftermarket fox body, and OEM SN95 parts ends up being right under $1500. This includes strange adjustable coilover struts, QA1 adjustable tubular lowers, caster camber plates, and a brand new pinto rack. After that, its all going to be about packaging it to work with the early car's frame. I'm not going to do a k-member, as our cars had only a tubular bolt in support from the factory. I'm assuming I'll have to fabricate mounts off of the bottom of the frame, but since the lowers I chose mount with rod ends...that won't be too difficult. A friend of mine owns Fox Body Performance here in Glendale, so I'm going to run up while he has a car on a lift and take some measurements to see what I'm facing. I'm going to 'try' to maintain my factory front track, but if it ends up changing within an inch (probably wider) or so to accommodate easier mount locations...that'll be ok too.

Measurements of particular importance:
-Length of control arms from each chassis mount point to the ball joint.
-Distance from floor to each control arm chassis mount point at ride height.
-Distance from frame centerline to each control arm chassis mount point.
-Distance from floor to lower ball joint at ride height.
-Distance from floor to upper strut mount.
-Note any fore and aft difference from upper strut mount to lower ball joint in the placement of the strut for reference.

Basically my idea (if my above measurements show this swap to even be feasible) is to modify/mount the caster/camber plates in the existing factory spring pocket in the Cougar's shock tower, install the strut (without the coilover spring initially), SN95 spindle, and lower control arm assembly. Support the lower control arm so that the chassis mount points and ball joint are oriented properly (as measured at ride height above), and the spindle hub is properly located and oriented as well (I'm guessing perfectly vertical will be the best initial placement lol). Basically I plan on 'rebuilding' the factory fox body setup with the upper strut mount as the only fixed point. This should locate where my new control arm mount brackets go for me with a very small margin of error. Any minor variances should be able to be taken care of with the caster/camber plate, and the adjustable lower control arms. Once the assembly is mounted, that will determine my rack mount point, which should be hopefully somewhere in front of the oil pan. At this point I'll also assess the whole setup for improvements I can make to the suspension geometry, if there is any.

So do you guys see any glaring deficiencies in my plan? I've built front subframe for unlimited late model dirt cars that worked flawlessly...but they were SLA type stuff, never strut based. I did speak to a friend who built his setup using strange universal coilover struts, and this is pretty much what he did also, only he didn't have an OEM setup to pattern his off of. His car traps over 145mph, without issue...so I'm hoping it works out as planned.

Anyhow, just a small update!
 
#28 ·
Wow...

I'm really enjoying reading about this... it's hands down more than I will ever do to my 68, but all your pictures really help me get an idea what I'll be getting into once I begin tearing it apart.
 
#29 ·
Thank you my friend. That brings up the final reason I enjoy sharing my builds on forums like these. I still get PM's regularly from the Mustang build I documented here...and I've always enjoyed helping others where I can :).
 
#31 ·
Chris,

Read through this site, TwinTorino.com

It could give you some direction if you want to go this far. And use a K frame and shock towers from a Mustang.

Jet
I looked through it. Very interesting. I am surprised by the track width of the torino and mustang/cougar being so similar, yet the engine compartments are so very different.

My main difference is I didn't want to use a k-member at all. Although I have considered picking up one that uses rod end lowers to butcher for the suspension pickup points. That would simplify things some, as long as I could mount it after cutting it up. Hell, at that point I could actually see what it really WOULD take to fit the whole thing. I know it can't be as hard as they made it with the torino, and since I don't need engine mounts, and can easily fab a rack mount crossmember, the only thing that matters for me are the pickup points for the lower control arms.

Anyhow, thank you for the link! It was interesting reading and I actually did learn a bit from it. Good stuff all around :)
 
#32 ·
So I tossed my 7qt front sump oil pan on the car with the block still on the factory mounts today...and there was literally less than half an inch clearance to the bolt in factory crossmember. This setup seems to be making its primary task into giving me 'ok...what the hell am I going to do now?' moments at every turn. So I put the oil pan back onto the 347 to check crank/rod to pan clearance in that area, and its well over an inch a half...if not actually 2". I was talking to my Dad at that point about sectioning my pan to gain some lowering clearance, and he looks at me and says

'Why don't you just put a dry sump on it??'.

So I was like '...well, mostly because I don't have $1800 to add to the total cost this things going to run me.'

He kind of looked at me funny, turned around to the parts shelf, pulled off one of the four three stage Aviaid pumps and handed it to me (I'd seen them a million times, and never paid an ounce of attention, lol). Then he opened another cabinet, and grabbed a 3 gallon return tank...and handed that to me also. Next came a moderately sized oil cooler, and after that a box with six new WIX 51222R filters. Then he says 'Pick yourself up a 1.25" gilmer crank and alternator pulley, and a 1.5-12 remote filter mount...fab up a pan...run some hoses, and you've got yourself a dry sump.'

How about them apples?

Sooo...there we go. I haven't really messed with it much this week, other than the oil pan thing. I need to compress the springs tomorrow, pull the heads, and remove the upper control arms and lower shock towers. At that point I'll see just how low I can get the thing without the bell housing or headers getting too close to the ground. If I can get an inch down, and anything back...I'll be very happy. Even just the inch or so down would be good for me. Gotta be able to get the driver's side valve cover off!!
 
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