[GreenMachine]

I posted questions a few weeks ago in the 65-73 Mustang section about an old Cougar. Opportunity knocked, so I sold the '66 Galaxie I had and purchased my favorite muscle car, a 1968 Mercury Cougar.

So... I haggled on price, got it home, and got it to run (it hadn't run in about 10 years). I'm pretty proud of myself for getting it going, even though it was ridiculously easy. I've done a lot of cleaning on it, and still have a long ways to go.

It's a 302 with Edelbrock aluminum intake and a four barrel Holley. C4 auto, manual drums, base interior. Nothing fancy, except the new vinyl top.

It needs floor pans on the driver's side, some inner fender work, a little trunk work, and there is Bondo popping out of the quarter panel on one side. Bleh. Not to mention a 67 fender on the passenger side.

I'm trying to track down parts for a front disc swap, and I haven't decided what route I'm going for a transmission- I eventually want a T5 manual or an AOD.

The plan is to paint my favorite muscle car my favorite color, that happens to be the same as my favorite pickup (1995 F150, Deep Forest Green Metallic).

And I've only taken two pictures so far (epic fail):

David

 

[Mroldfart2U]

I'm trying to track down parts for a front disc swap, and I haven't decided what route I'm going for a transmission- I eventually want a T5 manual or an AOD.

The plan is to paint my favorite muscle car my favorite color, that happens to be the same as my favorite pickup (1995 F150, Deep Forest Green Metallic).

And I've only taken two pictures so far (epic fail):

David

What a GREAT find, even tho I am a Mustang guy I have always had a real soft spot for the 1st-2nd Gen Cougars... Used to they were looked down on as undesirable, (think thats what I found appealing about them).

Any ways with the changes you want to do, brakes/trans, I would just fix the stuff you can to keep it mobile and enjoyable until you have ALL of the parts gathered, and your mind made up on the trans route. Easiest to to the AOD, but will probably be more fun with the Manual O/D....
Once you start knocking the bad places off the car more pics are sure to follow... ,Right?
Also when ya swap the trans, dont forget that you can usually go deeper in the rear gear which always makes em fun....

 

[GreenMachine]

Right now, I'm gathering parts. I figure it needs brakes anyway, so I'm going to get that squared away first. Then, I'll get anything it needs to pass inspection and be road worthy- the real work won't come until the spring.

What drove me nuts about the Galaxie is I never got to drive it. I've got this car at my home, and once it's legal, I'm going to drive the heck out of it. I'll probably end up going AOD, but that's a long ways down the road. I'm having a lot of fun already, and yes, more pictures will be coming as I go!

 

[Jetfixr320]

Nice score!
Hopefully nothing hiding under the new vinyl top.

Keep the pics coming though.

Try this place for brakes. Welcome to CSRP

 

[djfllmn]

nice find man...but please please keep the car factory original when you restore it

 

[Mroldfart2U]

nice find man...but please please keep the car factory original when you restore it

I do have to agree, not nec a chalk mark type of resto, but period correct type of muscle, no 22's or such non-sense, but in the end it is his car, and what ever floats his boat....

The AOD would be a good addition, I stated this in another thread somewhere, but going to the late model O/D trans makes em fun, as you can gear much deeper than normal and not suffer from poor mileage....

 

[dbratcher]

Nice find. I have a 70 cougar and the roof is in bad shape due to the vinyl top, you might want to think about seeing whats under there before it gets too bad.

 

[GreenMachine]

The vinyl top is new, and from what I can tell, everything is good, so far beneath.

No 22's for this guy- I hate 'em on new stuff even. Outward appearance, it'll be pretty much what you expect for 60's muscle- Cragar D spoke wheels, RWL BF Goodrich's, just a non-stock color. I want to keep the inside basically stock looking, as well. I'm a "less is more" type of guy.

The idea behind an eventual transmission swap is for highway cruising and getting a little more MPGs out of it. And a manual transmission is a novelty to me (a sign of my youth, I guess, Dad thinks I'm crazy). We'll see what happens, it's far down on the list.

I found some 68 Mustang disc spindles on CL, so I'm purchasing them this weekend. Stockpiling parts isn't very fun, but soon enough (and plenty of OT later), I'll have all my parts to convert to front discs and power brakes.

 

[Mroldfart2U]

:tup::tup::tup:

 

[craigerGTA]

ive always wanted one of these, looks good!

 

[craigerGTA]

ok hold on before you buy much more.

your 67 cougar is just like a 67 mustang and just like my 67 fairlane, especially in the front suspension.

but on that assumption that im 99.999% sure of, here is your answer to your disk brake swop.

Mustang Front Disc Brake Conversion Kit 4 Pist Caliper | eBay

this vintage to year disk brake kit will make it soooo much simpler on your disk brake switch.

why? because you DO NOT need to replace your spindles. doesnt matter if your car has drums. the spindles are the same for disk.

this way if you need to replace a part on your/these disk brakes; every bit of it can be found at your local parts store.

nice right?

now if that price is too hefty or you dont have/want to blow $800+. you can piece all the parts you need from your local auto parts store and or cougar/mustang/fairlane parts books.
even nicer right?

with the exception of this part.


this part i found on ebay:
65 66 67 Mustang Comet Disc Brake Brackets Quality SSBC | eBay
and the only fabricating i had to do was cut and flange a bigger fitting on the end of the brake line that connects to your rubber brake line/hose to your calipers. drum brake hoses are a bit different then disk for what ever reason.

i run power brakes. which i prefer, but i can tell you my 4pistone vintage 67 disk brakes work wonderfully. especially with a booster.
heres my favorite booster.

which i have no idea if this type is applicable, it most likely is.

here is my not so favorite booster.

make sure to verify that i am right before buying lol

hope this helps.

PS you do not NEED a proportioning valve if your cougar still has rear drum brakes. but it can never hurt.

 

[GreenMachine]

Craiger- I replied to your PM.

Everybody else- what do you prefer? The KH 4 piston setup, or a 68-69 disc setup? All parts seem to be available, and I'm trying to do this as economically as possible (as in, I'm not buying a kit from someone, I'll buy pieces individually and save money).

 

[Mroldfart2U]

(as in, I'm not buying a kit from someone, I'll buy pieces individually and save money).

To try and re-quote something i heard/read the sum of parts usually more exspensive than the whole car sum.

Something to that effect. In other words sometimes spending in small bits adds up to more than 1 chunk...

 

[dbratcher]

Too bad these are so far away, you could probably get one of them pretty cheap. They have been for sale for a while down here..Im guessing the XR7 would have frt disc?
1968 Mercury Cougar XR7
1968 Mercury Cougar

 

[GreenMachine]

To try and re-quote something i heard/read the sum of parts usually more exspensive than the whole car sum.

Something to that effect. In other words sometimes spending in small bits adds up to more than 1 chunk...

Sometimes, that is true. In this case, I don't think it is. Famous last words, I know.

I think if I were going with the 4 piston setup, it would be cheaper to buy a kit rather than piece it together. With the single piston setup I'm going for, it's cheaper to piece it together than to go with a four piston kit.

 

[GreenMachine]

Too bad these are so far away, you could probably get one of them pretty cheap. They have been for sale for a while down here..Im guessing the XR7 would have frt disc?
1968 Mercury Cougar XR7
1968 Mercury Cougar

I seem to think I've seen those before... I get pretty crazy with my Craigslist hunting at times though.

 

[GreenMachine]

I'm a little slow... and finally took pictures a few weeks back.

And, my favorite... I took her for a cruise and terrorized the neighborhood! The proof:

 

[GreenMachine]

Dad bought an '80 F150 and ended up doing a motor swap. My pay for helping were the M/T valve covers. Old school

So, it's been slow at work, so I had them blasted, then I [got paid at work] to paint and sand the tops off.

 

[GreenMachine]

So, I went to install the valve covers.

Pulled the passenger side off, and found this:

I'd been hearing what I thought was a valve/lifter related noise from that side and was excited to possibly found the culprit.

So, I grabbed a 5/8 socket, straightened the rocker, and tightened it down (it was very loose).

And then, I moved to the driver's side. Found the same thing on cylinder #8, only the push rod wasn't in the rocker. I straightened it, then it fell down again. Tried to pull it out, and this is how far it came:

Oh joy.

Dad is coming down today and we are going to get this pulled out and try to figure out if the lifter is bad/destroyed. I'm hoping we won't have to pull the intake, but if I do, it'd be a great time to clean it up.

And in other news... I got a 289 HO air cleaner (I'm going for the nostalgic look) and picked up a 68 Mustang console (thanks, Craigslist). I still need the piece that holds the radio, if anyone has one, I'm sick of ebay searching.

I installed the new fuel tank, had a fuel line bent, new fuel pump, accelerator pump in the carb, and some new brake lines besides new brake parts.

 

[GreenMachine]

Only had to replace the bent push rod- whew

Runs a lot better after as well... the weather is supposed to be nice by the weekend, so I'll be able to run it outside and get the valves adjusted.

Any advice would be welcomed. I've already Google'd it and it seems straightforward enough. I'm going to cut the top off an old valve cover so I can monkey with the valves and not leak oil everywhere.

And I installed my valve covers, obligatory picture below