1970 Mercury Cougar 428 CJ Ram Air Project/Basket case

The Good
This is an original 428 CJ Ram air cougar Very low production car.
Marti shows 243 produced with the Cobra jet and it would be a lot less with the ram air.
Still has original engine mounts, power steering cooler, fender aprons with vin stamp.

The Bad
Car was smashed in the front and rear years ago. Missing engine, trans, rear springs and original diff, hood, seats, grill, pass door, glass, etc, etc, etc.
The dash vin has been lost. Someone told me you can get a reproduction with proper documentation. Door sticker is there but unreadable (easy to get reproduction).

Roof is damaged, floors rusted badly as well as rails. This would be a major project, but it is what it is.
I have the Marti report as well as ford documentation.
If you are still interested after reading the above, send me an email and we can go from there.
Looking to get $1000

The car is in Manitoba Canada
Ph 204-623-4506



Wow. Now there’s a challenge. I think the ECI should step up on this one.

Yup. Does the trailer come with it for the 1k price of admission?

Surely you jest Al! I do like the remnants of the big Ford oval on the quarter though!

Welcome to the site!

I thought I saw an ad for this car over on the WCCC swap board. Glad you made it over here to share some details, harsh though they might be (yikes, that poor car).

I take it from your production numbers it was an automatic transmission?

More pictures would help. The one picture shows a lot but you described a lot of problem areas where pictures are worth 1000 words. A picture of the Marti report would be good also.
Steven

Oh my! :eek2:

Could this be the WCCC giveaway candidate we’ve been looking for? It’s a special car that needs absolutely everything… sound familiar? We’d have to somehow provide sheet metal to the winner at a discount or something… Manitoba is kinda far though. What chew think Don? Would this push the definition of the term “prize” too far?

It does need a lot. Whew, now this is a project. Andrew I thought the next WCCC giveaway car was going to be a GTE, but this car would be a labor of love for a winner if it made that “giveaway” role.
Steven

So contrary to the thread title, the car is not Ram Air per the Marti, correct?

IMHO, this one needs to be put out of it’s misery.

Ram air is listed on the report Bob. It’s under the options. You need to buy this and get started. CCC needs it own epic build thread.

Ok , I seen this last night which seemed odd to me. The Cougar is built as a Q code, but has ram air as an option. Wouldn’t that make it an R code? I thought the only real differance between the R and Q code was ram air. Also, on the Marti report is was for retail sale. I take it that means it wasn’t special ordered that way. Waiting to hear your take on this Scott :problem:

Q CJ/SCJ 428 4V
(335@5200 RPM) Optional engine. In 1969 this would be the Cobra Jet 428 engine without ram-air induction.

R CJ/SCJ 428 4V
(335@5200 RPM) Optional engine. In 1969 this would be the Cobra Jet 428 engine with ram-air induction.

:doh: For some reason I was think this was a 69 :doh: Q code in 70 could be ram air or non ram air…

That’ll teach me to skim read and then post!

If we have learned anything about Cougars it is that you can’t assume that things were the same from one year to another. There sure is an awful lot of stuff to remember.

That was just Don blowing smoke… we don’t actually have a GT-E project laying around, but it sure would be cool if we did! (Anyone got one to donate??)

This car needs an absurd amount of work, but it does have potential. Can you honestly imagine anyone entering a contest to “win” it though? I dunno… maybe we should look at it more like an adoption program than a contest. Can anyone out there save this kitty?

Maybe KTL should buy it and restore it, then auction it off for charity. Meanwhile, I’ll fly over there and be their resident videographer throughout the project and document how they do things, then put together a YouTube series on how to completely restore a Cougar.

Ok I’ll shut up… letting my imagination run wild…

Anyone who restores this car will do it for the love of the car and what it represents. There is no way to restore it properly and ever be right-side up again unless you already have all the missing pieces. It could be rebodied, but the lower market value still would probably leave the owner upside down.

I’d love to make another run at a CobraJet car. My Q-code '69 Mach 1 ended up not being a satisfactory experience but I’ve learned some things since then and wouldn’t mind doing it again. I’d just need a much better starting point than this car.

Sounds like a good plan Andrew.

Bill you’re right, a person could be upside down with this car when done. So it would have to be for the love of the car. I hope someone has the faith and heart to step up and keep it out of the crusher.
Steven