pic of the cougar finally

[bnickel 10,004]

ok guys i finally beat the camera and was able to download the pic... i had a software conflict with of all things my old printer which i replaced a few months ago. guess i didn't get all the old stuff from it deleted. anyway, on to the pic

 

[SELLERSRODSHOP 13]

man, if that thing is as straight as it looks, should be an easy one to build! you gonna keep the top? don't see many around here with a vinyl top.

[69grandecj 0]

What do they call that color on Mercurys? I know it's Aztec Aqua on Mustangs.

[bnickel 10,004]

there it is in all it's Grandma glory!!!!!:whistling: but is an all original 64,000 mile car. the standard black interior is perfect other than a small rip in the headliner from when my buddy Brian took the car apart to repaint it, the carpet isn't even faded much. there are only a couple of small rust spots mostly in the doors but one small area about the size of a quarter in the passenger 1/4 panel right behind the rear wheelwell. the front corners of both doors are rusted pretty bad and the passenger door is also rusted on the bottom side in the front, i may have to replace the whole passenger door but i haven't made up my mind on that yet. it's got an H-code 351w-2v, FMX automatic, AC, power steering and manual drum brakes, not much else in the way of options that i can tell either but it does still have the original Am radio and the original jack and spare tire with, i think, the original 1969 air in it!!!!! LOL :biggrin:

 

it is a standard base model 69 Cougar but it does have a rare paint combination. the paint color is called Light Aqua and it has the factory two tone option which consisted of a white painted roof (black was also available) and chrome trim where the optional vinyl top would normally live.

 

my current dilemna is whether or not to keep it this color combination since it is a pretty rare combo but i really want to paint it acapulco blue. and that brings me to my next dilemna....what to do with the top? do i keep it white (the only painted top color available with acapulco blue), do i paint it black or install a black vinyl top, or do i skip it all and paint the top boby color? if i paint the top body color do i keep the chrome trim molding or do i fill the holes and ditch the trim? decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

 

i'm really leaning toward painting it acapulco blue with a painted black top and redoing the interior with black and blue houdstooth inserts in the seats, a custom 69 mach 1 carpet in black with 4 blue inserts and changing the plain standard interior panels to the Decor' option panels with woodgrain trim but with custom molded door panels using 69-70 mustang deluxe door panels as the base panel but heavily modified to use the woodgrain inserts from the cougar decor' door panels and i'd replace all the fake woodgrain in the car with real walnut veneer. also trying to decide if i want to do the rest of the seats in black leather or black vinyl, i'm leaning towards vinyl since the seating surfaces will be the houndstooth cloth but i lobe the smell and feel of leather in a car :punk:.

 

of course i still have all my goodies i was going to use in the stang too. for the interior i've got a tilt column, 68 mustang overhead console, headlight warning buzzer, intermittent wipers, my 86 mustang GT buckets, a 69 cougar tach dash, some stereo stuff that i saved, a floor console (since no one ever bought it), a universal power window setup (not sure if i'll use this just yet), a factory style cruise control setup, a leather wrapped ford 3 spoke sport steering wheel from a 70's cougar with an Xr7 horn button, a walnut shifter handle (i've actually got a 2, a shelby one and an old cal custom one that i had in my old 70 cougar), a remote power trunk release, and some other miscellaneous stuff.

 

for the rest of the car i've got my TCP power rack, 1" front and 3/4" rear swaybars, my Opentracker roller perches (may take those off the stang, i think, but i may get the coilover kit Burritto boy isn't going to use), my C90X Ford Muscle Parts intake, a 4100 autolite carb (got 2 of these), a key locking inside hood release, a very rare spare tire lock, my 15" Riken mesh wheels and i've got an AOD that i need to build for it. and some more little goodies too.

 

other things i plan to get for it are; TCP G-Bar rear suspension, full Opentracker roller front end kit and a set of TCP strut rods, probably going to get an actual power window kit for it and a power door lock kit. eventually i'm going to build another motor for it too and have it setup to run on regular gas and either propane or E-85 or something. i've got a whole bunch of other stuff running through my head that i want to do to this car but i'm still having the dilemna of keeping it stock as a rock like it is with new paint and a few little add on goodies or doing the full tilt restomod that i just wrote a novel the size of war and peace about......:wacko:

 

 

so what do you guys think i should do? should i take a poll on the stock as a rock restoration or the full tilt restomod?

[bnickel 10,004]

What do they call that color on Mercurys? I know it's Aztec Aqua on Mustangs.

 

it's just light aqua on the cougars. acapulco is just called bright blue metallic, winter blue would be medium blue metallic, they didn't really "spice up" the names of their colors much for some reason.

[bnickel 10,004]

man, if that thing is as straight as it looks, should be an easy one to build! you gonna keep the top? don't see many around here with a vinyl top.

 

 

it's actually a factory painted top, mercury called it the "two tone paint option" but i could easily replace it with a real vinyl top which is one the things i've been considering but this paint combo is pretty rare so i'll probably stick with a painted top even if it's not the same color.

[SELLERSRODSHOP 13]

i would build it exactly how you want it. if you are gonna spend the time & money to do it, you have to be happy with what you have at the end of the line. even if you are planning on keeping it, you still have to look at resale value. you know what a modified, upgraded car will bring, but how many buyers are willing to pay top dollar for a restored base model even with the rare paint combo? in an emergency, it might take a while for that buyer to show up. i always add the "sh*t happens" rule to mine. even though i plan on keeping this mustang, as it is such a solid car to begin with, if the wife suddenly popped up with cancer god forbid, it would have to sell to pay expenses.

 

besides, i like the idea of the acapulco blue with the black top!!

[coz 108]

Anyone else here think B jumped the fence of a stranger, pulled back the tarp and snapped a shot before the dog chased him away?

 

IMO - Leave the top white and vinyl if possible. I love vinyl tops - it defines the era. Only thing is the top should be the same color as the interior....

 

AC Blue would look great on it.

 

Oh and you know me - full tilt Restomod. Would be a one of a kind....

[Pakrat 1,043]

Here I sit waiting and taunting you to post pics forever and then I see this thread and get all excited and I find out that you just ripped off the picture from some poor guy named Steve on cardomain. I'm ashamed of you B. I had a feeling you were lying all this time but I can't believe you stooped to this level.:nono:

 

 

BUSTED!!!!

[coz 108]

Foul on Pak - double foul actually....

 

1 - for sticking it to B even though it was a good one....

2 - for making me go out and find the "real" Steve's Couger

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2829368

 

Good photoshop though....

 

I think a 3 day suspension of Pak's privledges is warranted ..... or not....

[Pakrat 1,043]

Foul on Pak - double foul actually....

 

1 - for sticking it to B even though it was a good one....

2 - for making me go out and find the "real" Steve's Couger

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2829368

 

Good photoshop though....

 

I think a 3 day suspension of Pak's privledges is warranted ..... or not....

 

Awe man, you ruined my fun, not that I expected to rattle him at all. Ha Ha on you for looking it up though. Not what I would call a good photoshop, I just printed the screen and added his pic, I didn't even bother putting the black border around it.

 

Anyway, I'll be in China from 5/10 to 5/26 so feel free to give me a 2 week ban as long as it's between then.

 

Speaking of chops though here's a quickie I did while eating lunch today for someone on Stangnet. I think if I spent some time and really tried to get the lighting and values right this would make you look twice.

 

[coz 108]

China huh? I went to HK awhile back. It was OK.... Hot... Coolest thing was I'm 5'8" and over there I was taller than 70% of the people....

 

Make sure to leave the 'fatties" at home. That is a huge no-no.... They will make sure to tell you that considering we are all stoned, gun toting Americans....

[Pakrat 1,043]

Lol, not to worry, I've been doing this 3-5 times a year for 15 years now and speak Mandarin pretty well. And I am well aware that drugs like most crimes there is punishable by death. If you are lucky 20 lashes in public with a wet cane. I'll actually be in Hong Kong for a day or two going in and coming out also. With a little luck I should be able to get Iron man and Speed Racer on DVD. :shifty:

[bnickel 10,004]

well my problem is that i like both color combo's, the light aqua for the total sleeper effect and of course acapulco blue has always been my favorite.:tongue_smilie:

 

Coz, the car does NOT have a vinyl top....it's painted white from the factory.

 

i'm kinda like the idea of keeping it an original color combo and the black painted top was not available with acapulco blue, only white, but black was available with other colors, so i'm kinda torn on what to do with the top as well. my ultimate goal for the car is to make it look factory.

 

there was supposed to be a GT option for the 69 cougar and if the car was ordered with it will show up on the marti report but they didn't get any kind of GT badging or anything, basically it was just the GT suspension and pretty much all the same standard equipment that cam on the 69 Mustang GT, like the visibility group but no hood scoop or hood pins. there was however, another package called the 351 performance group that required the M-code 351-4v that came with dual exhaust, hood pins, eliminator style hood scoop and the 351 numbered center hood stripe in either black or silver.

 

so my plan was to make it into what i think the 69 Cougar GT should have been by combining both of those option packages, a set of GT wheels (in 15" of course but i'll use the Riken's most of the time) some GT badging and some of the XR7 package options as well, like the tach dash which was not available on the standard cougar. I'd also add an upgraded interior (there were 3 different interior options for the cougar, standard, decor' and XR7 with leather seats) i'd use the decor' interior with some elements of the 70 cougar like the houndstooth upholstery.

 

i just need to come up with some sort of GT badging and striping to really pull off how i think it should have been, probably do a version of the eliminator stripe but with one wide stripe surrounded by 2 narrow stripes (similar to a mustang GT stripe) instead of the one wide and one narrow like the eliminator and some GT badges on the hood scoop and fuel door, maybe. i'm also going to add a front spoiler but no rear spoiler, unless i can figure out how to make some kind of lip spoiler for it. oh, and of course i'd have to make sure it had the opening for the hood scoop cut out like a mustang GT too :biggrin:, i couldn't call it a GT unless i did that, huh? LOL

 

if it all comes together like i have it in my head it would look totally stock from the outside and pretty much stock on the interior as well, especially if i can pull of the molded decor' door panel idea. i've heard that ford also had plans to build a 400hp version of the 351w using the C90X intake and GT-40 cam among other things as kind of a crate motor deal like the 427 SOHC or something similar and of course i'd do my best to recreate that as well, but with more modern technology inside. basically the engine compartment of the cougar will look similar to the one in my mustang now, with a ram air style air cleaner and aluminum 4v intake but with stock (looking) exhaust manifolds and cougar valve covers and possibly air cleaner lid as well, still working on that one too.

 

my biggest hang up with this plan is what color to paint the top and whether or not to do the modified eliminator style GT stripe. i could do it very similar to this idea with the light aqua paint and they even have a houndstooth cloth that will match it too. one would be more of a sleeper and the other would be more "in your face" flashy. of course acapulco blue version would look pretty much like the mustang does now, which i love, but in cougar form instead.

 

damn i have a lot of ideas in my head, just glad i can type them out instead of having to actually write them........:whistling:

[rks pilot 10]

Hey B, I like your idea of Aqua blue. I think either paint the top the Aqua blue or black vinyl the problem with vinyl is rust damage but the black vinyl would look cool. anyway I would do a paint job that turns you on not something that you won't be happy with if you plan on keeping the car

[bnickel 10,004]

yeah i love vinyl tops but i'm really leaning toward painting the top since it was painted from the factory anyway. even though the black painted top wasn't available with acapulco blue, only white painted top was, i'm still leaning that way. in the end i think it will look pretty good that way. but then again a white painted top would look pretty good too and it was available with acapulco blue, the original white paint is in good enough shape i could probably leave it and just repaint where they stripped it on the passenger side but if i'm going to go all out i may as well just repaint the whole thing.

[Stang69 11]

Ok, curiousity got the best of me and I had some spare time on my hands. Don't know if anybody has tackled this yet, but I really wanted to know what Bnickels Couger would look all done up with what he has in mind, keeping the stock colors...I guess I'm kinda a purist when it comes to rare original color combo's...so here they are:

[Mace 10]

Wher do you buy those tires with the backward letters?

[bnickel 10,004]

hey i like that a lot!!!!!, don't know if it's enough to dissuade me from changing colors but it's something to keep in mind. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

[Stang69 11]

No worries, anything else I can do to convince you, let me know ;)

 

As for the tires with the backwards letters, I believe they are available in Australia...I hear everything is backwards there, even their toilets flush in reverse :P

[cphsonic 11]

bnickel, I'd go for the granny-style sleeper restomod with a car as nice as that. Keep the color and vinyl top, 15" "balloons" on steel wheels but with R888 or M/T Drag Radials, mean smallblock with a Paxton, all original interior. Underneath go with whatever suits your style, but I'd go Opentracker front upgrades, rear leafs with torque arm or Slide-a-Links, all adj. gas shocks, 2" lowering etc.

Nothing like the joy of blowing the doors of a brand new stage 3 Rousch with a car like that. :shuriken:

[bnickel 10,004]

bnickel, I'd go for the granny-style sleeper restomod with a car as nice as that. Keep the color and vinyl top, 15" "balloons" on steel wheels but with R888 or M/T Drag Radials, mean smallblock with a Paxton, all original interior. Underneath go with whatever suits your style, but I'd go Opentracker front upgrades, rear leafs with torque arm or Slide-a-Links, all adj. gas shocks, 2" lowering etc.

Nothing like the joy of blowing the doors of a brand new stage 3 Rousch with a car like that. :shuriken:

 

 

my car's not as nice as the one in Stang69's chops. it's going to need a total repaint and probably a complete passenger door as well some bodywork on the left rear 1/4. the plan is to keep it looking pretty sleepy whatever color i paint it. acapulco blue with a black top will still look docile enough, especially if i were to put a luggage rack on the back.......:biggrin: