9F93M535027 1969 Cougar XR-7 project.
This is my son’s Cougar project. When he got this about 20 years ago it was totally dissembled sitting on a cart. This Cougar has been sitting in my shop since 2009 shortly after I moved here. It has been in the background of most all of my projects I have documented here. Usually under a cover. He had a 1969 Cougar Convertible project that a dead Hemlock tree fall on and totaled. We put it partly together using parts from that Cougar the 1970 parts were on it from a Cougar Eliminator clone that some of you will remember, it was named Badcatt. Badcatt went through a bad rear end collision totaling it.
He had procured a 351W that we put in here. The new front suspension from the convertible went on. The manual steering from Badcatt went on. The XR-7 wiring and dash from Badcatt also went on. Those parts are from my first Cougar I had from back in the 70’s and have a long history in building Eliminator clones. The locking steering column from Badcatt also went in. Including a mid 70’s Ford Sport steering wheel with a 71 XR-7 medallion mounted in the center. The 9 inch rear axle from the Convertible went on. The brakes were rebuilt and work. Note I am unsure if the rear were done, but I think they were(it was close to 20 years ago). The doors got close to aligned close to how they belong and the hood and front fenders were just placed on the car with a few bolts, but not aligned.
Things changed with his life. He got married and move on with life. We have kept this Cougar garaged and dry. For the most part it is rust free, but the trunk floor will need to be replaced. The passengers cabin floor is solid. It has bondo in many places. The paint has a lot of chips and scrapes. The trunk lid is solid, the hood is also solid, but has a small dent on t he top.
We have nearly all the trim for this Cougar. Notable missing are the C pillar XR-7 ornaments and rocker trim. It has the complete Grill, including all the vacuum actuator and linkage. hood lip trim (has a dent, but very restorable) and hard to find eye brow trim. The front valance is in good condition including a set of 1970 turn signal light housings and bezels. A decent trunk lip trim is also included. It has a set of 1970 tail lights. My son liked them better. The back up light bezels are pitted, but has decent original lenses. also we have are the drip rail trim, front window and rear window trims. Belt line trim.
The interior was totally gutted out. As I mentioned earlier it has a complete 1970 dash, That is a XR-7, but we deleted the XR-7 clock using a standard dash bezel on that side, The instrument bezel as also a modified standard one that has the Black XR-7 rings mounted to it. We have a set of 1969 Decor door trim and quarter trims. The rear seat is from Badcatt, a 1970 Decor interior and the front seats are from a 1996 Mustang GT with cloth upholstery.
You will note the Marti report shows this to have been a well optioned Cougar. But none of them are present with the car. We did not get them. Some history on the car. West Coast Classic Cougar bought this car in maybe 2003 or 4, Don decided to strip it and sold the body to a guy who was going to use it for a project he had. I helped take it apart while I was working for WCCC. I left WCCC in late 2005 to return to work at Boeing. November 2006 we had a bad wind story that bork off the upper 35 feet of a dead Hemlock in the neighbors yard. It landed on the convertible totaling it and another car.
A couple months later, I was pursing the internet looking for a replacement body for his car. When I spotted this for sale. We had it delivered and started putting it back together. As I said, his life changed. He recently asked me to help him put this project together. I have been bolting parts on to make it as complete as I can.
This was Badcatt. It was so much fun.
Inside Badcatt. Someplace I have pictures after she got hit.
As his Cougar sits this evening, I have been working on it as I wait for some more parts for the Q code Cougar,
I’ll be posting more on this project as I have things to show.