I recently purchased a 1967 Cougar at auction with hopes of making a project out of it. The previous owner had converted it into an electric vehicle and unfortunately the batteries got too hot and started a fire which caught the interior. At some point I’m sure it must’ve sounded like a good idea, but there were obvious major flaws. I don’t understand how the previous owner didn’t think the least about the temperatures the batteries would reach under load, let alone the ventilation required to exhaust any hazardous fumes.
In any case, I have to deal with it. I haven’t had much time to rip into it, just managed to take out the passenger seat. Let me know what you think.
Neat concept. What are your plans for the car? It seems like it’s going to take a lot of know how plus money to put this Cougar back on the road.
Steven
@1967SCode, Well, I’m gonna have to rip out the interior and see what’s salvageable. The good thing is that it’s mostly contained to the back and passenger side. Then I’ll get out the bucket water and rag and go to town and see how bad the damage is to the dash. The interior door panel on the driver side is still good.
As far as the electric engine, I’m definitely gonna get rid of that. I’m just not sure yet on what to replace it with. 429? 302? 289 if I get lucky and find one for a good price since it was a 289 car. I’ll have time to think about that while I clean her up.
@Cougars_R_Grr8, I think the previous owner was trying to stick to the original color code the car came with. I’m actually fond of the painted bumpers. I don’t mind leaving them the way they are for now.
Welcome! Wow, what a project! Did you consider sticking with the electric motor and installing better batteries? I think it would be a one-of-a-kind Cougar, all original outside and electric under the hood.
Hopefully you can sell the batteries and electrical components for scrap. As for the interior, it looks like the original dash was replaced with an XR7 dash and I don’t know where the seats came from.
@Messenger, Truth is I can’t find any information about the electric motor so I don’t know any of the specs of it. The tranny is a 01 Crown Vic, it’s got the tag on the side. The rear end looks like an 8.8", don’t know what it came out of. The vin says it should have a C6, 2.73 non-locking, and a 289 2V. I think I’m gonna go with a 429 out of a pre-73 thunderbird. I’ll try and get pics of it sometime soon, and get some better pics of the Cougar and the electric motor. Didn’t mean the engine pic to be sideways.
Right now I just want to get this thing going, I’ll probably get whatever seats will bolt in from the junkyard. I have a dash out of a 65 mustang I might throw in there if I can’t find anything for the cougar for a reasonable price. Throw on some better wheels, good drive-train, clean interior and take her out for a spin.