1969 XR7 convertible, 390, AT, emerald green and white
I parked, actually pushed, my Cougar into the shed in 1986. Except for an occasional peak or to replace the car cover, I never did a thing with it until recently. Here is the story.
In 1973 we moved to Virginia. The man my parents bought their house from was the original owner of the Cougar. He was a retired army officer and one of those rare characters you meet in life. We all ended up being lifelong friends and back in 1976 he encouraged my parents to buy the car for my brother. The Colonel's name is typed in the owners manual and the manual signed by the owner of the Lincoln-Mercury dealer, dated 2/7/69.
My brother being the academic type didn't even want a car, but it was given to him anyway (poor guy, my first car was a VW bug!). He drove the car until around 1985. In 1986, he didn't want the car anymore and gave it to me as a birthday present. By then I was into cars, having driven a 429 Montego for years, and was thrilled. My brother never abused the car (he became a college professor), but it was well used. When I got it, the car ran and drove fine, didn't burn oil, but the top needed replacing, the paint was fading, the driver's seat was torn, typical age related stuff for a car with 126,000 miles on it. The only repairs I remember ever being made were the rear leaf springs were replaced and the upper control arm bushings were replaced with greasable ones because of horrible squeeking.
Anyway, I decided I would restore the car and started by removing the engine and transmission. Like a forensic mechanic, I carefully removed the exterior engine parts and then removed the intake, heads and oil pan. I think I was hoping to just do a head job, but unfortunately found a small piece of piston skirt in the oil pan. I didn't see any damage and have no idea how long it had been like that, but because of this discovery I temporarily put the project on hold. Unfortunately, temporary turned into a long, long, long time.
Let us now travel in time to the fall of 2010. I am standing ouside my office one day when a beautifully restored 68 Cougar drives up. I get to talking to the guy and he tells me about how he restored it and he really seemed to know his stuff. I told him about mine and asked if he would look it over. He crawled all over and under it and told me what he found and thought of the car. He said it was basically a good solid car and would not be a difficult restoration. He also told me what he spent on his, which was shocking, but he really went over the top on some stuff.
It is now springtime in Virginia, which is a wonderous time, and life is renewing. After twenty-five years the Cougar got uncovered and saw the light of day. One day it will be restored to its former glory and that 390 will be smoking the right rear tire again (why would a big block have an open rear? shame on Ford!). However, it isn't going to be me. I really don't have the desire anymore to work on old cars. So I am going to clean it up, push it out of the shed, put the motor and tranny back in and I'll put it up for sale. It deserves and I know it will get a good home...
I parked, actually pushed, my Cougar into the shed in 1986. Except for an occasional peak or to replace the car cover, I never did a thing with it until recently. Here is the story.
In 1973 we moved to Virginia. The man my parents bought their house from was the original owner of the Cougar. He was a retired army officer and one of those rare characters you meet in life. We all ended up being lifelong friends and back in 1976 he encouraged my parents to buy the car for my brother. The Colonel's name is typed in the owners manual and the manual signed by the owner of the Lincoln-Mercury dealer, dated 2/7/69.
My brother being the academic type didn't even want a car, but it was given to him anyway (poor guy, my first car was a VW bug!). He drove the car until around 1985. In 1986, he didn't want the car anymore and gave it to me as a birthday present. By then I was into cars, having driven a 429 Montego for years, and was thrilled. My brother never abused the car (he became a college professor), but it was well used. When I got it, the car ran and drove fine, didn't burn oil, but the top needed replacing, the paint was fading, the driver's seat was torn, typical age related stuff for a car with 126,000 miles on it. The only repairs I remember ever being made were the rear leaf springs were replaced and the upper control arm bushings were replaced with greasable ones because of horrible squeeking.
Anyway, I decided I would restore the car and started by removing the engine and transmission. Like a forensic mechanic, I carefully removed the exterior engine parts and then removed the intake, heads and oil pan. I think I was hoping to just do a head job, but unfortunately found a small piece of piston skirt in the oil pan. I didn't see any damage and have no idea how long it had been like that, but because of this discovery I temporarily put the project on hold. Unfortunately, temporary turned into a long, long, long time.
Let us now travel in time to the fall of 2010. I am standing ouside my office one day when a beautifully restored 68 Cougar drives up. I get to talking to the guy and he tells me about how he restored it and he really seemed to know his stuff. I told him about mine and asked if he would look it over. He crawled all over and under it and told me what he found and thought of the car. He said it was basically a good solid car and would not be a difficult restoration. He also told me what he spent on his, which was shocking, but he really went over the top on some stuff.
It is now springtime in Virginia, which is a wonderous time, and life is renewing. After twenty-five years the Cougar got uncovered and saw the light of day. One day it will be restored to its former glory and that 390 will be smoking the right rear tire again (why would a big block have an open rear? shame on Ford!). However, it isn't going to be me. I really don't have the desire anymore to work on old cars. So I am going to clean it up, push it out of the shed, put the motor and tranny back in and I'll put it up for sale. It deserves and I know it will get a good home...
