bnickel

I will be using real wood veneer on my 69 cougar. I found some stuff at Lowes that comes in a roll and ios self adhesive, you use a clothes iron to apply it and I really like the look of it so far. I have already done the guage cluster and passenger side dash panel but still need to apply a finish to them. I will eventually do the door and 1/4 panel piecesas well as the console and radio bezel inserts as well. I recently found an FIV Secura steering wheel that is a perfect color match to the original fake woodgrain in the cougar and will finish the new wood pieces to match that as well and I've also been working on some other custom wood pieces too. so far I've got real wood window crank knobs and the start of a wood piece to replace my broken original style speed control/turn signal lever as well. I also have made a wood shifter T-handle with the cougar "stalking cat" logo that started as a plain walnut handle that I got on ebay and a the logo is actually hat pin that I also acquired on ebay. total cost for the shifter handle was about 30 bucks whereas the repro cougar handle run around $150 and up....eventually I will have a wood cougar logo 4-speed style shifter knob that I will use on the lever for my original Hone-O-Drive overdrive unit. I had always wanted to add real wood to the stang but never got around to it so may be going a little overboard on the cougar but the pieces are all small enough that I think it'll be ok and not smack of an 80's converion or something..LOL

I wouldn't repaint the car.....leave it yellow, it looks awesome!!!!! especially with the black torq-thrusts

I would get a bug fogger and set it off in the garage, just make sure there is something covering your paint job and then wash the car after a couple of days

Moon makes some pretty cool ones, check out the ones in this link http://www.mooneyesusa.com/shop/index.php?cPath=188_230 I kinda like this one on ebay too http://www.ebay.com/itm/14-ROUND-FINNED-POLISHED-ALUMINUM-CLASSIC-NOSTALGIA-AIR-CLEANER-CHEVY-FORD-REC-/140652818625?hash=item20bf8fb0c1&item=140652818625&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr

Merry Christmas everyone! well I got a couple of hot wheels Cougars, the Resto-Mod musclecars book, a new Mustang hat and Mustang t-shirt and my Christmas started off at the beginning of the month with me finding the passenger door for my Cougar at one of the local wrecking yards and for only $125.....YAY!!!! that was the only panel on the car that was going to need to replacement due to some sloppy bodywork that rusted out the door shell. I've got a couple small patches that I'll have to do on the drivers door, passenger rear quarter right behind the wheelwell and one actually in the wheelwell that are all about the size of a silver dollar and one small spot about the size of a quarter on the new passenger door. once all the body work is done I cant finally decide what color to paint it.....

that sucks bad, I didn't know him very well but I hope his family is doing well. I hate to see any of our military guys die away from home like that. If anyone is in touch with his family please give them symapthies.

Beuning...who did we lose? I'm not on here enough to anymore to keep up with everyone,,,which sucks really bad in this case...

ouch, yeah I think about the most you ever want to be out of the hole is around .005" and generally even that is more for all out race engines or at least dual purpose street/strip combos....

maybe post a pic and we can tell you for sure. from the sounds of it though it's probably aftermarket but could be a dealer installed unit.

actually most of your info is really old school thinking, a watt's link or panhard bar will only locate the diff in the car and keep it from moving side to side which all leaf spring cars will do. anyone who has ever had an old mustang with wide tires can you tell you that very often you'll go around a corner and the outside tire will rub the wheelwell lip. also, most of the newer triangulated four link systems don't bind nearly as bad as the old fox body mustangs did. TCP or Alston's used to have a video on their site that showed them ariculating one of their 4 link systems through the full range of motion and in fact even more than what the car would actually be capable of doing and there was absolutely no bind whatsoever because they were using a combination of poly bushings on one end and a spherical bearing on the other end. I would not use a system that had only poly bushings though or even anything that had rubber bushings anywhere in the system.

do you have any pics of the cruise system? It may be that the servo unit was replace at one time and that AC unit was what they had available. the stock Ford system was basically and aftermarket Bendix unit with specific switches for the car it was installed in mustang/cougar, full size, Lincoln, etc.

ride quality is one reaon I'm getting ready to build a 69 Cougar now....LOL one thing I can say for sure is that a set of roller spring perches from www.opentrackerracingproducts.com made a tremendous difference in the ride of my mustang which has high rate coil springs in the front and high rate 5 leaf springs out back... the stock rubber bushed spring perches are basically in a binding situation at all times not letting the spring and shock absorb the bumps in the road making for a harsher ride, the roller perches will actually allow the suspension to work the way it was designed to. Ford originally used a similar design to the roller perch that had a bronze bushing on the early falcons and fairlanes but due to the fact that almost no one maintined them correctly and almost never greased them they decided to go with the rubber bushed perch and not have to deal with all the warranty claims. the rubber bushed perches were probably a good bit cheaper to make as well.

ride quality is one reaon I'm getting ready to build a 69 Cougar now....LOL one thing I can say for sure is that a set of roller spring perches from www.opentrackerracingproducts.com made a tremendous difference in the ride of my mustang which has high rate coil springs in the front and high rate 5 leaf springs out back... the stock rubber bushed spring perches are basically in a binding situation at all times not letting the spring and shock absorb the bumps in the road making for a harsher ride, the roller perches will actually allow the suspension to work the way it was designed to. Ford originally used a similar design to the roller perch that had a bronze bushing on the early falcons and fairlanes but due to the fact that almost no one maintined them correctly and almost never greased them they decided to go with the rubber bushed perch and not have to deal with all the warranty claims. the rubber bushed perches were probably a good bit cheaper to make as well.

oh I completely understand the need to sell it back then, I was just curious how it felt to find your old car is all...

if originality is the main concern than go with the 4300, if stock but not necessarily original is acceptable then go with the 4100, it's a much simpler carb and better overall it's also a buttload more reliable. i'd probably run the 4300 if i could get an NOS unit that i know has never been jacked with before

they come up on ebay all the time. just type 4300 into the search or autolite 4300, etc. i have bought several carbs on ebay with little trouble finding what i was looking for. also, you should probably hold out for an NOS one, for some reason there are tons of NOS 4300 carbs out there....can't think why that would be :eek:... this carb wan't one of ford's better ideas really. they can be made to work ok but still not the greatest carb

hey Bill is that article about the 70 SCJ vert about your old car and you...and I guess, the new owner? if so, any comments on how you felt about reuniting with your old car for a few minutes?

I did mine in the bathtub with very hot water and Dawn dish soap and scrubbed them witha good stiff brush. They came out looking brand new except for a couple of faded spots and on those I hit them with a little SEM black fabric spray dye, you can't tell them from the really expensive Snake Oyl restored belts.

what the hell happened? you were making such great progress then we started getting posts about your lawnmower go-kart, which was pretty damn cool BTW, but less and less on the stang. at this rate I'll have my 69 Cougar, which I've barely even touched in the 2.5 years I've owned it, done before you get the stang done.......:smartass::tt2::001_tongue::tt2::biggrin:

I was actually kidding...well mostly anyway. If you know of anyone looking though send them my way.:smile:

well, glad it all worked out for the best anyway, then. you wouldn't be interested in buyng another 69 GT would ya?.......LOL

ok here's a link or two. http://www.superoo.com.au/shaker.html http://www.fomoco.com.au/Shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?Search=Yes&sppp=50 I think you could probably use the individaully available pieces from the second link to make a very nice repro shaker without going all out and buying a complete setup in metal. for example, you could use your stock air cleaner base, add their shaker ring and scoop in metal and use fiberglass for the remainder of the pieces. just a thought

I believe the all/mostly metal repro shakers are/were made in Australia and IIRC they were originally intended for the the Aussie Falcon which originally had a 351c so I'm guessing that they didn't fit the 351w, 302 or big blocks exactly right, I do not remember if they offered differnt versions for anything besides the 351c or not and the cost was actually quite high, what with shipping costs to the US and tarriffs/taxes and what not, however if you really wanted one I'll bet they are still available from Oz. I'll see if I can come up with a link or something for you guys.

actually your oil pressure isn't all that bad for an older 351w, generally speaking they are usually lower than that at idle. the general rule on a stock 351w is about 10psi for every thousand RPM, so at idle 10-15psi is sufficient and 45psi at 35 mph is actually pretty good too. i really hate seeing those chevy motors that have like 65 or 70PSI at idle as all that is doing is wasting HP and over-oiling the engine, probably washing the wedge out at the crank/rods too. now if you're engine is built as more of street brawler than a little more oil pressure is fine but still doesn't need to be excessive.

I think both coupes and fastbacks need the stainless upper door weatherstrip retainers, not sure if anyone is producing those yet. also don't limit yourself to just the fastbacks, a lot of the 69/70 coupe stuff is interchangeable with the 69/70 Cougar as well. some things i would like to see would be stock style Speed Control switches, both of them, the set switch at the the end of the turn signal lever which is basically just a push button in a chromed plastic housing, but i'd prefer to see one made in metal, either die-cast pot metal or aluminum or just make it out of billet aluminum. also the on/off switch for the dashboard that mounts in the same area as the vert top switch and/or the 70 sportlamp switch. the aftermarket has just started making the vert top and sportlamp switches but not the Speed control on/off switch and nobody has even thought about making the turn lever set switch yet. Fortunately Scott Drake has just making a new 69 GT gas cap and it looks very nice!!!!! I have been wanting to try and come up with a an affordable 67 Shelby style steering wheel that could take either a repro horn buton or just a standard Grant Signature Series style horn button. I'll second the aformentioned walnut gear handle for Auto trans cars. I've actually been seriously considering doing this one myself however I was really thinking of doing just the Cougar style but I didn't know the Shelby and Mustang style ones were discontinued. I've even made a prototype Cougar unit but I started with an older repro plain handle to begin with, I'm guessing that even those are discontinued now as well. I's also have to second the deluxe interior map light as there is not a repro for those either and originals are hard tocome by since they were optional and outrageously priced when you can find one, $70 or more. Give me some time and I'm sure I can come up with some more ideas .