Not much progress the last couple of months. I was hoping to be ready for paint by the 1st of September. Still have some more mock up work to do. Got the rear suspension installed after having to switch to a different shock style to work with the TCI rear setup. Got the brake system a couple weeks ago and have that all installed except for the master cyl. Currently working on the clutch/brake pedal setup to get that all figured out. Next step will be some math and try to figure out how big of a tire I can get to fit in the wheel wells.
Looks amazing!
Very very nice!! 
Been making some good progress the last couple of weeks. Did some measuring to see what wheels will fit. On the rear I can
fit a 17x 9 1/2 with 6" back spacing and a 275x40x17 tire. On the front 17x8 with 4 1/2 back spacing and a 245x40x17 tire. Would like a little bigger on front, but I think I’m pushing it with that tire size. After completing that task we went to town diss assembly everything to prepare for paint. have it stripped back down to a bare body shell.
Cleaned up the body shell and sprayed two heavy coats of high build primer. About half done block sanding that out and adding some filler to the low areas. keep repeating to myself “this isn’t a show car it doesn’t have to be perfect”. pretty happy how the body is turning out other then the wheel flares. That will have to be an upgrade project at some later point after the car is finished.
Really hit the Cougar project hard this last week. Completed all the sanding on the main body shell. We have had real nice weather for painting the last couple of weeks so, we went full on to get the color on it. Got a color picked and decided to go with Ford Performance White. We wanted a nice solid bright white and this color is just what we were looking for. Same color Ford used on the newer Mustang Shelby, California special and the Boss. Sprayed the interior last Tuesday and the underside on Saturday. Yesterday afternoon finish the outside, trunk and door jams. Turned out pretty good with no major issues other than a little bit of orange peel in a couple of spots. Next will be paint on the hood, fenders and trunk lid.
paint the engine bay body colour - looks so much better than semi gloss black
Cougar is turning out great. That is many hours of work you have just completed over the last couple weeks. The black engine bay with a base/clear ford blue motor will look killer against the white paint job. Any plans for pin stripes?
The bumpers, engine bay, suspension parts and trim will be painted silver. Front core support will be black and the engine Ford corporate blue. No pin stripes, but a couple of decals and removalable car numbers. Going to keep it simple and not busy it up.
We offically have been working on this project for a year now. Actually right on track where I thought we would be after a years worth of work. Ok, after three weeks of doing nothing but sand prep and paint I’m glad to have that part done. All the major parts are painted now with just a few little parts remaining. Finished up the white parts and changed up the mix ratio on the paint and got some better results. Laid down flatter , but got a couple of runs. Mixed it up a little as we went with 2013 national fleet grey in the engine bay and suspension parts. Real nice color grey with a tint of a blue hue to it. Sprayed really nice and almost wishing I would have painted the body this color. Sprayed both bumpers a 2013 Ford silver color. Next step is to start some assembly.
Pictures of the suspension parts painted. Also painted the steering column and roll cage this same color grey.
Got the ball rolling on the 408w engine build. I have the build plan finalized and got 90% of the engine parts purchased. Just need to get the engine block stripped down and to the machine shop. Below is the engine spec’s and should be in the 550 to 600 hp range.
Block 4.030 bore target 10:3 compression ratio
RPM forged crank internal balanced by Ford strokers and arp main studs.
Scat I beam 6.200" rods
Pistons 22cc dish Wiesco
Wiseco GFX Ring Pacakge
Clevite 77 H Main Bearings MS1432H
Clevite 77 H Rod Bearings CB663HN
Heads AFR 205 58cc chamber
PAC Solid Roller 1225 Springs
Comp cam mechincal roller Intake lift .715 Exhaust lift .688 duration @ .050 Intake 264 Exhaust 272
Intake: EZ-EFI 2.0 Ford Windsor Multi Port EFI Kit- Self Tuning EZ-EFI 2.0 - EFI Systems.
long tube headers
Powerbond SFI Internal Balancer
SA Gear Billet Timing Chain w/Torrington Bearing
Aviaid road race oil pan
Gotd the wheels on order and should have then some time next week.
![20597[1].jpg](https://forum.classiccougarcommunity.com/uploads/db3333/original/2X/f/fa64c1e3e2b045151662b6aae4bb0aa4a0b21b7e.jpeg)
We got the 351w engine block stripped down last weekend and sent off to the machine shop for line hone and cyl boring. Might have to deck it as well, but will have to wait and see on that. Hopefully, we will have all the parts together and the block ready for assembly by the first of December. In the meantime, we got all the painted suspension parts and roll cage assembled back on the Cougar. Just going to work at getting some of the assembly work done while we wait on the engine.
Over the last month we have been doing some assembly work. Have the fuel tank & fuel system installed up to the engine bay. Hard plumbed 3/8 line and return with a filter in the trunk area. Ran all the brake lines and installed the master cylinder. With that done we moved on to the windows. Got both side windows and vent windows installed. Along with the door hardware. Received the rims finally last Saturday as they got held up in long beach in a shipping container for a few weeks. Guess my math was correct as they fit and appears as they will clear everything once the tires are mounted. The rims are a little more bling then I wanted, but couldn’t pass up the price and Mitchell thinks their cool.
Got the engine block back from Dale all line honed and bored. Did a mock assembly to measure deck height and all cylinders were within a .001" to .002" of each other and relative to the center line of the crankshaft. Decided not to deck it and leave it alone with those numbers. Filed the piston ring gaps and got the bottom end assembled.
