[murdock_2112]

So, I bought a 1968 J code XR7 Cougar 7 days before moving from Washington to Ohio. I think to myself "Hey this is a solid car Im going to drive it" and it is a solid car but, lets face it Its 43 years old. In prep i do the norm. trans filter, oil change, belts, timing check adjust the points. From that i determine that the front brakes need changed along with rotors, also put on a new Summit 650 vac secondary carb w/elec choke (which by the way is an awesome carb my third one on cougars) while installing the belts I find that the tensioner bolt is broke off in the water pump so, new pump. I also installed some 2008 Mustang bullet wheels which look great.

And Im off need to stop by Portland, Or on my way out for some VooDoo donuts and thats where it all starts. Leaving portland i get a call from my wife saying that smoke is coming from under the car. Pull over to find trans fluid pouring out of the inspection plate area well, i get it into a hotel in Gresham, Or and start messing with the car I figure that its the input shaft seal from being old and dry I put in some Lucas trans fix which im sure that im going to hear about however its doing a good job. Now normaly I would replace the seal but time is not on my side. After dealing with that im doing my nightly fluid checks and im alittle low on oil no big deal but ive only gone 400 miles and just changed the oil.

Fast forward acouple days and extremely slow progress im checking the car over at a gas stop and find that my front 150 dollar a piece tires are almost bald!!!!!! Got an alignment today and everything seems to be driving well. Ive made it all the way to Illinois and tomorrow Ohio. Car is running great besides what i assume is a belt squeal every time that i start up. Anyway after all the trouble Im getting 21 miles to the gallon at 65mph people ask about it everywhere that we stop. I would do this all again if I need to.

 

[Harvey]

That is cool,,when I bought mine I thought about driving it home but new that the exhaust was shot and didn't want to chance the engine and tranny, ran good and shifted fine but I new the seals were bad in the engine and tranny. I had it trucked home and then drove like four miles to the barn where I commenced to take it apart. After looking in the fuel tank car never would have made it out of the south! Gas inside it was like gel. Next year I hope to have mine driveable. Then it will be a riot to go show everyone.

 

[murdock_2112]

Trucking probably would have been the smarter and faster choice but, its been alot of fun. Forgot about the collapsed passenger brake hose that almost pulled me off the road near Wall, South Dakota. That was fun at midnight just happened to have a set of hoses that i ment to replace before i left somebody was watching out for me there.

 

[cougarshaman]

When you drive a classic farther than the local Sonic, you learn to expect some trouble and to maintain it fastidiously.
There's no reason why you can't drive one across the country. I made a couple of laps around North America in mine, lo many years ago.

 

[74Xr7302]

well before i moved up north from alabama, i drove my 74 XR-7 as my daily driver, my grandfather decided it would be best to haul it up with his chevy truck, well long story short his truck made it 300 of the 750 miles before his trans went so we just put the hitch on the cougar, loaded the chevy and i towed the truck the rest of the way, on stock 74 460. just a bit of irony for the chevy guys

 

[GavinS]

Great story, with a happy ending. I'm glad you were able to make it safely.

 

[.:BLitZ:.]

I recently drove my unrestored '68 Cougar about 1000 miles from SoCal to Oregon, without a single problem. I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly the trip went and was extremely proud of the old cat.

 

[murdock_2112]

Just had to give me one last problem before we are done. The driver side wheel bearing decided it had enough of the abuse and gave out. No damage to the spindle but the bearing and race where shot. Anyway I'm done and it was a great trip. Time to get in the shop and get the car ready to go to pensacola. I will update about that trip. Should be fun.

 

[Local Hero]

Congrats on the trip. You'll always be able to tell the story.

What part of Ohio are you/will you be in?

Anxious to hear about the Pensacola trip as well.

 

[johnboy]

a long trip sure feels good, doesn't it?

when one thing goes wrong, you "expect" all the rest (Murphy's law) to cascade down the tubes as you go along, but, in the end, you get there, and you realize it went well after all, and you just got yourself great long lasting memories.

Jean

 

[mmmeat]

So, I bought a 1968 J code XR7 Cougar 7 days before moving from Washington to Ohio. I think to myself "Hey this is a solid car Im going to drive it" and it is a solid car but, lets face it Its 43 years old. In prep i do the norm. trans filter, oil change, belts, timing check adjust the points. From that i determine that the front brakes need changed along with rotors, also put on a new Summit 650 vac secondary carb w/elec choke (which by the way is an awesome carb my third one on cougars) while installing the belts I find that the tensioner bolt is broke off in the water pump so, new pump. I also installed some 2008 Mustang bullet wheels which look great.

And Im off need to stop by Portland, Or on my way out for some VooDoo donuts and thats where it all starts. Leaving portland i get a call from my wife saying that smoke is coming from under the car. Pull over to find trans fluid pouring out of the inspection plate area well, i get it into a hotel in Gresham, Or and start messing with the car I figure that its the input shaft seal from being old and dry I put in some Lucas trans fix which im sure that im going to hear about however its doing a good job. Now normaly I would replace the seal but time is not on my side. After dealing with that im doing my nightly fluid checks and im alittle low on oil no big deal but ive only gone 400 miles and just changed the oil.

Fast forward acouple days and extremely slow progress im checking the car over at a gas stop and find that my front 150 dollar a piece tires are almost bald!!!!!! Got an alignment today and everything seems to be driving well. Ive made it all the way to Illinois and tomorrow Ohio. Car is running great besides what i assume is a belt squeal every time that i start up. Anyway after all the trouble Im getting 21 miles to the gallon at 65mph people ask about it everywhere that we stop. I would do this all again if I need to.

I'm jealous!

You have the guts to do it..

You had the time to do it..

You had the car to do it in..


Very cool. That's what life is all about-making memories. Nice MPGs too, wow!

 

[murdock_2112]

Local hero I'm in the navy and am doing a tour as a recruiter in Columbus but, I'm from Lancaster. I've got to b leave for pensacola on Friday for a six week school down there. I just took the trans out and replaced the front and rear seals. No more leaks from the trans. Alittle bit of a ping under heavy acceleration so I may back the timing off a bit. It's at 10 deg advance any suggestions? Brake light switch went bad as well so I need to get one of those tomorrow.

 

[CougarRon]

Back in 95 I drove from Atlanta to Seattle in a 1972 Chevy C10 I had built when i was a teenager. It took the miles like a champ, all 3680 each way. I drove that truck for 11 years and had found it abandoned in a Winn Dixie parking lot in Roswell, GA in 1992. I found the owner and he gave me the title. I towed it off for $45.00 and it was my first shot at building an old car/truck. It never let me down. I sold it in 2004 at the request of my former fiancee. Needless the say I should have kept the truck. I still have a photo of it on my desk in my office pulling an old 15 foor boat I got in 2001 when i moved to FL.

 

[Bad69cat]

21 MPG! Dang, you may want to forget buying that eco-friendly Al Gore car after all!! ;>) Sounds like fun! Just proves 43 is the new 23! he he I doubt my 98 F150 will make it anywhere near that!

 

[murdock_2112]

Well, got the cat all the way down to Alabama and as i was pulling into the hotel i could hear a low whining noise as the car moved. I figured that it was the other wheel bearing as ive already had to replace the drivers side. So, i replaced the passenger side in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn there was a little wiggle to the wheel so im sure that was the problem. Got it all back togeather and went to get something to eat and the noise is still there. Its coming from the wheels somewhere but, i have no idea. Oh well it will give me something to do for the next 6 weeks.

 

[murdock_2112]

the first pic is one that my wife took as we where heading into south dakota and the second two are from the day we left.