Hi, folks! I’m new to the community and have been searching for a 67 or 68 Cougar to restore. I’m not planning on a concours restoration, more of a mild restomod. Anyway, I went to look at a 68 Cougar and found it to be anything but “as described” to me over the phone. The asking price was $6000. It is an XR-7 and is far from original, including a non-original motor. The original motor was a 302, but this one has some unidentified big block. I believe it was a 390. Also, the car is not road worthy and, though the motor started up, it struggled to stay running and sounded like it was running on about 6 cylinders. The mounts were worn out and the engine seemed to be tilted slightly forward and leaked oil badly. The intake manifold had also given up the ghost and passed into the great beyond. A questionable 5 speed had been put in the car, also. Clutch felt good, but the gears didn’t shift well (car off and shifting into each gear).
The entire car was coated with about an eighth of an inch of bondo which was starting to peel off all over the car, but I couldn’t find significant rust anywhere but the floor pans. (Floorpans were rusted out and someoen had put a new pan in, but screwed it to the old floorpan with metal screws…about 3 dozen of them!) Torque boxes, frame rails, wheel wells, trunk, shock towers, door corners, etc. all looked solid. But who knows what the bondo was covering? The car would have to be ground back down to the metal. Media blasting wouldn’t get all the bondo off it.
The suspension was not original and looked completely shot, particularly the front suspension. Basically, there was no functional front suspension in the car. It was there, but not working as it should. The rear suspension still had leaf springs in it and the whole car was almost sitting on the ground.
The exhaust system was totally rusted out. Someone had put on full length headers that weren’t made for the car and the exhaust was underneath the frame. Mufflers were all dented up and bashed in and from the headers back would drag on the slightest irregularity in the road.
Disc brakes all around, but the master cylinder was done and brake fluid was leaking everywhere. Needless to say, the car was in no way roadworthy.
Interior was decent. Most gauges seemed to work, though not the speedo. The levers for the AC were there, but the AC had been removed from the engine compartment. Split in the passenger’s seat and the PS floorboard was totally wet due to a sunroof that had no seals. Headlights and tail lights worked as they should. Power windows didn’t work. PS door only opened by using key.
From my inspection, the car is a category 5 vehicle. It was all there and could be restored, but certainly not a driver in its current condition.
As I said, the car was not as described to me by the owner and I was very disappointed in the condition. However, I would still be willing to purchase the car if he took a fair price. That being said, what would be a fair price for this vehicle? According to collectorcarmarket.com, the car is worth about 1100-1200, but I would like your educated opinions on it.
Thanks, guys!