[68cougar302-4v]

Hello, I am new to the site!! I was trying to do some research on a white 68 mercury cougar j-code with a 3-speed stick with a maroon interior. I was wondering how many of these were built in a rough estimate. From what I have been reading, this engine combo is what replaced the 289 hipo in 67. This came factory with dual exhaust. any info would be greatly appreciated....thanks, Jason. This car is 8f91J546187. What is odd about this car is the door tag and the vin mismatch on 1 letter for dearborn car. The car came with power steering but manual brakes. No air conditioning. wimbledon white with a maroon interior. Thanks, Jason

 

[68PUMA]

Welcome to the madness. According to Cougar By The Numbers (CBTN), there were a total of 1243 built with the paint/trim code (M/1D) in '68. Also, there were only 396 built with the engine/transmission code of J/1 in '68. I also noticed on the date code on you data tag it shows 292, a date code would have a 2 digit numer and then a letter (example like 23U). According to The Cougar & Mustang tagbook, on the last 6 numbers of your VIN, your car could have been built between Feb '68 to May '68. You should get a "Mart Report" for your car from here: www.martiauto.com/reports2.cfm . John

 

[CougarCJ]

That is a record, you have 3 stamping mistakes on your door tag.

8691J546187
651 M 1D 292 52 5 1

8F91J546187
65A M 1D 29B 52 5 1

More that one car slipped through with that date code error. Over 11 years ago I collected a VIN for Phil Parcells with the "292", it is in close proximity to your car. It is a leap day car, Feb 29, 1968.

8F91C546157
65A I 1A 292 52 2 1

I have been looking for above door tag from my collection, but it is eluding me. I recorded it as an 'odd door tag', which means that it could have been on someones car and did not match the dash VIN, or was spotted at a swap meet on a door.

 

[68XR-7Cat]

The VIN information and photos have been forwarded to Phil Parcells. This is a new one to the database.

 

[Dr.Art]

nice find
good luck

 

[68cougar302-4v]

Wow, that is crazy, I will definitely order a marti report on the car and post when I receive it. Thanks a bunch for the info, it looks like the number corresponds with the letter...like 6 is F. 2 is B and so on, I thought the guy just got lazy with the punch....lol. which marti report should i get? should I go ahead and get the expensive one then? or the middle grade one?

 

[68cougar302-4v]

I will find the buck tag and post pic as soon as possible!!!

 

[Don Rush]

That is a new record in my book... One error is very uncommon, 2 errors almost unheard of but 3!?! Does it still have the smog system?

 

[68cougar302-4v]

I wish it did have the smog system. That is the only thing missin' off this car, its like a time capsule. I even have the original carb in the trunk. It runs and drives great. 77k on the car. I will get buck tag tomorrow (tuesday).

 

[68PUMA]

which marti report should i get? should I go ahead and get the expensive one then? or the middle grade one?

On the website, the Elite report (expensive one) can take from 4-6 months and the Deluxe report (middle grade one) takes from 7-10 days (they do offer a rush service on both reports if you call during regular business hours). I have the Elite report for my car (that was the longest 6 months I had to wait,lol) because I liked the display case and wanted to know how many were built like mine with the options that came with the car from the factory. If you want to, you can order the different documents seperately that are on the Elite report (Data Tag, Statistics Report, Window sticker and Deluxe report) and then put them in your own display case. I think if you buy the documents seperately, the total is around $180 in the U.S. John

 

[68cougar302-4v]

Hello, Yeah I will prolly order marti report tonight the deluxe one. here is a pic of the buck tag. Thanks!!

 

[68PUMA]

View attachment 23661 Hello, Yeah I will prolly order marti report tonight the deluxe one. here is a pic of the buck tag. Thanks!!

Here is the breakdown of the Buck tag: 1st is the VIN to the car (you already know that), 65A-Is the body code for a Standard hardtop with bucket seats, 37-is the line rotation number, 1D-Is the trim code for a standard vinyl bucket seats in dark red (maroon) & PS-Is for Power Steering. John

 

[68cougar302-4v]

I ordered a Marti Report today...I will post when it becomes available....Thanks for all your input....Finally got cougar out of the barn. The engine looks to have never been out of the car, correct J code heads on it, with plugs for the smog system of course.....Does anybody remake smog tubes for these cars? I want to put this one back all original....Does anybody make a complete interior kit for these? I've been on mustangs unlimited website, west coast cougar, any other good sites you can recommend for replacement parts? That would be greatly appreciated....Thanks!!!

 

[WIFD607]

Your car and my car were sisters on the assembly line. 545402 is my ending number on the vin. Date 27B

 

[68cougar302-4v]

Hello, yeah, that is neat, here is the marti report!! The first one is for my father's fairlane, but the second one is the cougar. I wish they separated it when they sent it from Marti. Thanks

 

[CougarCJ]

Very cool. Leap day Cougar. February 29, 1968.

Quite a few GT-E's with that scheduled build date too.

 

[68cougar302-4v]

Do you know if they door plate had stamp errors too with that day scheduled build date? I am wondering if the machine was just messed up that day being leap year. Thanks!!

 

[hawkrod]

Just a quick couple of notes: First, the engine. The J code 302 did not replace the K code HiPo 289 from 67, it replaced the A code 289 4V. There really wasn't a direct replacement for the K code in the product line although they were working on a Tunnel Port 302 in 68 and then of course the Boss 302 in 69 but the HiPo 289 had been a very poor seller in 67 and really wasn't a commercially viable product. The reality is less than 2000 1967 K code Ford and Mercury cars were made in 1967 and about 3/4 of those were Shelby GT350's and almost 500 were Mustangs so there just was no market for a specialty car like that when you consider how many hundreds of thousands of "not so special" cars were sold. High performance cars were great for advertising but sales was another issue and so many prooducts like that tended to be a red headed step child. A lack of sales combined with a high warantee rate made them unbearable to the bean counters. Second, The mistamps on the door tags are not common but I have seen a leap day car that is also the same. I always assumed that the guy stamping those tags was either new or was having some fun. The fact that the numbers used reflect the letters placement in the alphabet suggests that somebody was doing it on purpose but may have misunderstood the direction/training. The reality is there may have been hundreds if not thousands punched that way. Note that the owner temporary ID card is also punched that way on the one that I had. Hawkrod

 

[68cougar302-4v]

Hello, reviving an old thread..... I have been searching for date code correct engine...... what would be the build date for the engine on this car? I seen a Jan 13th, 68 j code engine for sale and was thinking about buying it.......I don't know how big of a gap between engines and date the car was built........I believe the manifolds were feb 14th date code..... any information would be greatly appreciated... thanks.

 

[68PUMA]

Hello, reviving an old thread..... I have been searching for date code correct engine...... what would be the build date for the engine on this car? I seen a Jan 13th, 68 j code engine for sale and was thinking about buying it.......I don't know how big of a gap between engines and date the car was built........I believe the manifolds were feb 14th date code..... any information would be greatly appreciated... thanks.

Hey LTNS (Long time no see). Reading in my High Performance Ford Engine Parts Interchange book on page 21, the CASTING date code of the block on a SMALL block should be 30-60 days before the cars actual build date, so if the Jan 13th date code is the CASTING date of the block(the date code would be on the PS hidden by the starter when installed), the engine would be in range for your cars build date of Feb.29th,1968 (29B) according to your Marti report. Here's another example, my car has a build date of 23U (July 23rd, 1968), it has the original VIN stamped engine and the CASTING date code of the block is 8F22 for 8-1968, F-Month of June & 22-22nd day, 31 days prior to my cars build date. My intake manifold has a date code of 8G9 for 8-1968,G-Month of July & 9-9th day, my heads have date codes of 8G2 & 8G6 (self explanatory) and my exhaust manifolds have date codes of 8F15 & 8G10 (again self explanatory). John