First parts are installed back on the car.
Wow. Floor plugs.
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Got to love the little Victories! My '69 is about two years away from the body plugs installation. Thanks for the inspiration. 
You’re welcome. This has been a long time coming for me.
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It’s such a shock when you turn that corner and start putting things back on the car. Congratulations!
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Thanks. It has been quite a ride so far.
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A couple of quarts of Raptor liner later.
Not only as a protective coating but it is a great equalizer for new metal, old metal, and 60 years of various bumps and bruises. Plus even a little sound deadening.
I still have some touch-up to do but I will also do parts of the trunk drop-offs and the wheelhouses but must get them prepped first so as not to waste the coating.
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I love what you did with the quarter windows- I was going to try that back when I did my conversion but got lazy and just made some plexiglass to fit the Cougar window frames. Does the modification mess with how well the top frame folds down?
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So far no issues with the top frame mods and keeping the Cougar quarter window glass. I just finished all of the welding and contouring of the region where the chrome trim fits the well. I still need to change some holes for the trim and then I fit up the trim, the quarter glass and the top frame again. The frame still needs some work to better fit the glass contour as I shifted the frame back-to-front a little when I finally welded the seat/frame support in place.
Overall nothing interferes and I do not see any issues with the top folding. I have to admit I remain a little nervous about the tension in the canvas and the proper folding but I so far so good.
I do believe that no one else has tried to mod the top and reuse the Cougar glass.
More pics this weekend. Stay tuned.
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My top has some rips and is due for a replacement soon so I may use that as an excuse to do the frame mod for stock windows like yours. This pic was taken after a recent accident repair job and the top trim (which follows the original vinyl top trim line) was not installed yet.
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Thanks for the continued interest and support from years ago when I first started this project.
Stay tuned for more window stuff. I need to revisit this in detail from where I left off 1967 Convertible Conversion - #64 by martel in July 2023 yikes.
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Amazing. Thank you for documenting and sharing.
Thanks for the feedback. It helps me to keep momentum. Also documenting this project often makes me stop, think, and plan a little better.
Refocused upon the well trim again over the weekend.
To mount the trim, I’ve had to enlarge most of the slots in the gutter. Both are “supposed” to be the same year Mustang parts but no way do the bolts align to the holes. The holes/slots are way oversize now but I will weld the unneeded portions solid once I have everything properly positioned.
Across the back and around the corner everything fit up pretty good. Nothing a little hammer and dolly couldn’t fix.
The section of the side closest to the quarter window is causing some grief. I rolled the top of the quarter a little too tightly and I have an inconsistent gap. Generally impossible to re-roll the quarter without a ton of cutting, reworking, and re-welding. I’m not doing to do that. By reworking/thinning the very tip of the trim (it’s a little thicker), this will shrink that gap. Also when tightened, the trim wants to twist CCW (looking at the tip of the trim and back towards the rear of the car). This also increases the gap. Not sure how to fix this yet but possibly welding in a little lip to stop the trim from twisting.
I’m confident that I will avoid the issue seen on other verts like the one that Don Rush used to have.
There is a lot of work to avoid the screw through the trim, notching the trim, and having inconsistent trim/contour locating but I’m close. I suspect (but can in no way verify) that the well/gutter in that car is slightly out-of-alignment. When I measured the gutter in my vert, the distances are based upon the rear of the door jamb to keep everything visually symmetric. When measured from the rear of the body, the gutter is slightly askew ~1/4"-1/2" but it is ~1/32" when measured off the jamb.
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It’s the little details that seem to make the biggest visual impact so I think you are on the right track spending extra time and work to get the trim ends lined up with the edge of the window and kick-up on the quarter panel. Here’s how that looks with the custom trim on my conversion. (Please ignore the ratty top)
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Every one of these cars is a little different. I guess that is what “custom” means 
I’m content with my decision although there is more work. From my earlier mock-ups, I like the original Cougar quarter window/top profile much better.
I agree, the Mustang quarter window shape doesn’t jive with the Cougar’s more formal, Lincoln-esq lines. I’m excited to see how yours looks finished. Have you found someone to stitch together a top yet?
No, I have not even starting considering the actual top fabric. However, I have been studying the Mustang “convertible top bible” by Richard Smykay and collecting tack strips and other materials.
Some more trim fitup. This is looking very close. I still need to control the twist but that will wait a bit until I get the windows back in and check clearances.
The side view looks great. This seam will need a little fillers and that can be contoured to get the gap even better.
The tip is where the clearance and twist can be controlled. I’m thinking that a welded “boss/ridge/stop” will be perfect. I may have to narrow-up the tip to clear the top when it retracts. It is about 1/2" too wide. We’ll see.
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For better or for worse, it is off of the rotisserie. It has been a long time coming.
Recapping a few things.
The rear is a Mustang 8.8 (1986?) with a 3.73 LS center from a Ford Exploder and new Summit axles. it is very close in width (~1/4"). All new springs, perches, bushings, etc. I will be using a Mustang style shackle setup w/o wedges. I will set the rotation of the pumpkin and do final welding of the perches when I get the motor back in and get the weight and stance where it needs to be.
New task is to get the aprons and shock towers cleaned and prepped for reassembly.
Gratuitous dog picture… I wish I was that happy.
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It’s interesting that you are making a 1967 Cougar Convertible. A member of our club here in Tulsa is doing the same thing. He started with a 1967 Cougar convertible that was made by a fellow who is now dead. The car he started with is a rust bucket. He’s going with a Coyote engine. James Brown is doing most of the work.