Congratulations! She purrs like a big cat!
Looks and sounds beautiful!
- Phillip
You need to remember that Mustang is the opposite of Cougar. Why the alternator harnesses are labeled this way is a mystery to me as the alternator has nothing to do with a tachometer. Nonetheless, the harness in your picture is for an alternator that does not use an ammeter - it uses an idiot lamp.
Saturday was a great day with the car firing right up. I put it through a couple of heat cycles to get all of the fluids topped off as well as cycling the transmission through the gears.
Monday evening though was a little frustrating, a quick look under the car and I noticed a quarter size puddle of coolant under the engine. After putting the pressure tester on the radiator I found a small seep at the top of the water pump back gasket. So tonight I tore the water pump back off, cleaned and inspected, then replaced the gaskets. I also replaced the bypass hose and clamps just in case. Topped the coolant off and retested, no more leaks.
Correct, Ford should have labeled the alternator harnesses as ‘with’ or ‘without’ ammeter.
Did you remove the power steering pump for the engine run video?
Scott, yes I removed the power steering for the initial startup to minimize areas of focus on initial startup. Also, I realized the hose alignment bracket had been left off so I just left it off for the initial startup. Now that the brakes, engine, and transmission are complete the power steering is next on the list.
Sounds great Kerry very nice smooth idle your making very good progress.
That is a new one for me. What exactly is it? Is it an FE thing?
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
It’s an indexing bracket on the back of the pump which I believe is designed to keep the hose away from the manifold. Don shows them on the WCCC site for small and big block cars. This is the first Cougar I have had with one.
Randy they came on every engine originally. They often got discarded. The one for the FE is reproduced. The others are not.
AAHHHHH, ok. When I saw the word “hose” my thoughts went to radiator hose. That is what had me confused. I never thought about the power steering hose. Yes, I have seen the bracket on the back of the pump many times. I have quite a few of them sitting here on the pumps in my pile. At least we got this all cleared up now.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
While I’m waiting on a few parts to arrive to finish the power steering I moved back to the interior. The shifter bezel was in great condition however the textured black finish was a little sun faded. Instead of repainting, since the texture was all intact I opted to clean it thoroughly and coat it with satin clear. After masking all of the chrome areas except the thin bars I hit it with some satin clear. Using Acetone on a cloth I wiped the thin bars clean of the clearcoat.
Carpeting is set in the car to allow it to relax a little from the packaging. It is supposed to hit close to the 90’s tomorrow here in the Carolinas so I thought I could use Mother Natures help with the carpet and headliner.
After watching Royce’s build thread performing the headliner install and watching the WCCC video I thought I would give it a shot.
The original insulation was is good condition so I decided to reuse instead of replace.
Based on the glue patterns on the roof insulation spray adhesive must have been the adhesive of choice in 1968. I reapplied spray adhesive using 3M super trim adhesive to the backs of the panels, let it sit for a couple of minutes to get tacky, then installed the insulation.
The headliner has been unpackaged for several days now to allow some of the wrinkles to settle out. Using Royce’s advice I installed bolts in the should belt holes and screws in the shoulder belt clip holes to assist in finding the holes after the headliner installation. I used a 3/8" round allen bolt in the shoulder belt attaching holes to minimize the hole size when removing.
Each headliner bow has a specific location and is color coded. Beginning at the rear; Brown, White, Red, then no color for the front bow. The bows are installed in the upper of the two holes at each bow location. I started by installing the rear first then working forward. I was advised though when doing the final stretching start at the front then work backward.
The center of the headliner front and back and the glass openings front and back were marked prior to the installation to ensure alignment of the entire headliner. I started stretching and clamping the front windshield area first then worked down the sides. On the sides I used old pinch molding to temporarily secure the headliner.
Finishing up in the rear I again clamped the headliner to the rear glass opening. Prior to that I installed the rear bow clips which prevent the bows from rolling forward when you start stretching. If yours are missing Don has the dimensions on the WCCC headliner install video.
Since I have time I’ll use tomorrows heat to hopefully relax some of the wrinkles out then re-stretch.
Test fitting the dash pad today as well. For the 1968 model you have to make a small notch in the front of the dash pad to clear the dash Vin plate otherwise it pushes the Vin plate into the windshield.
