Advice on '70 Im interested in buying

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Community Discussion
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First post! Hi All. Looking for some info and advice on a craigslist I am looking at tomorrow. Ran in to this ad on craigslist, and it looked like a good driver, solid ground for a nice cougar. Real fast about me…I have a 1969 Torino Ive rebuilt, mini tubbed, raced and loved for 7 years now. Many cars of mine come and go but this one I will die with!

I found this today, and I personally love the 69/70 cougars. Always have. This car immediately reminded me of my torino, like its little sister, black on torq thrusts as well. Anyway, I havnt seen it yet in person, I plan of offering 3k for it if its sound and driving it home. Its a base 1970 cougar with a claimed 351 ceveland, air, console, new floor pans, new headliner, etc…I plan on going to look at it tomorrow.

My girlfriend of 7 years also and soon to be wife has been looking for a 68/67 cougars. Her dad had a light blue 68 growing up, so I have been looking for one for some time. I expected to spend around 2500-4000 for a car I can put my Torinos warmed up 302 in, paint, and fix up for her and I to use as a cruiser since the torino will be a street/strip car. So this seems to be an OK deal.

I just would like some thoughts and opinions and stuff to look for, I know the usual rust spots, check torque boxes, under headliner rust, etc. But anything else? Are parts super rare and hard to find like my Torino? I saw this ad and jumped on it fast, thinking this car was too nice for the price.

Here is the ad:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/3118899785.html

Here is a photo album of the car with more pics:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/JC316_2006/70%20Cougar/mini-SAM_2322.jpg

And I also stumbled across a thread the owner had started :wink:

http://mustangforums.com/forum/members-other-vehicles/670556-my-driving-project-1970-mercury-cougar.html

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Looks like a pretty good platform at a fair price. As far as the parts availability there are quite a few parts that interchange with Mustang’s and there are several vendors reproducing more Cougar specific parts every day. The car you are looking at has the decor group which gives you the console, steering wheel and seats. Pretty cool.

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Cool. Thanks for the reply. We we’re wondering why it had the XR7 style wheel, buckets and console. I cant tell if the engine is a 351W or 351C…

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  1. That’s a cleveland. Note the radiator hose going into the block, straight down, rather than into the intake manifold. That’s one of the quickest way to tell between windsor and cleveland.
  2. Parts are getting to be harder to find. That car looks pretty complete, but has the usual rust. He seemed to have done a fair job on the floors, but I didn’t see anything about the front frame rails and torque boxes being done too. Just rust and holes replaced. So, consider that.

I think it’s a fair price for a car that runs and drives, especially if you like it. For 3 grand, you can drive it the rest of the summer and then chip away at some of the things you want to fix over the winter.

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With condition of the original floors, I’d be concerned about the cowl.

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Cash in hand I should be heading out there to take a look this evening. I have a list of thing to check out when I get there :slight_smile: Keep you fingers crossed.

I didnt even think about the Water outlet, so goot to know its a cleveland.

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indeed. I’d bet a pound of narwhal bacon that they’re goners.

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I agree, water had to get through somewhere to sit on the floors. How is the best way to check the cowl without removing the dash, good flashlight?? Bummer if so, Im starting to get excited about it. Most external rust I can tackle with my MIG, but cowls will be a nightmare to get to.

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Use a philips head to remove the kick panels and flashlight the cowls through the open vents. You shouldn’t have to look too far to see the rust.
If the inner fender splash shields (black plastic guards) are gone, you can look up through there and see what’s what, tap on the cowl, look for rust, etc.

Untreated and with carpet thrown over them, the floors will just continue to rot. So the patches he did are a serious band-aid, unless I missed a pic or mention of how he used a chemical treatment to slow the corrosion.
Not saying you shouldn’t buy it. Just know what you’re getting into.

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Well I am one happy buyer…I drove out to the boonies 60 miles to look at it. First impression was skeptical. But as I looked in the wheel wells for rust in the trunk…looked great, tapped everywhere for holes…felt solid. I got to the interior, the door seals are are solid and the door opens nice and firm, and shut like my 06 infinity. The interior is suprisingly good…The kid rolled out the original spare with poly glass tire, and drug out a box of parts, with a original AM/FM radio, spare emblems, existing trim, new body lpug kit. The trunk trim is off but in the trunk. Car has a new gas tank, new AC evaporator. I sat in it, and fired it right up. let it warm up, looked for leaks of oil tranny fluid, coolant, etc…I took it for a test ride, brakes felt pretty good, steering a bit loose and carb seemed a little hesitant. i got it our on the road, and man does it run, nice and smooth power, drove sraight as an arrow, and purred down the road. i was suprised of the power. Car has dual glass packs so it has a nice rumble but nice quiet idle.

I stopped down the road to check the lights, horn, an, and interior stuff. AC only blows out of the defrost vents, stereo was aftermarket and falling out…All external lights worked good. Covers flipped up, sequentials worked, and horn blew for us.

I made an offer of 3k and we settled on $3100.00 And drove it on a 60 mile trip home. Man was I white knuckle, had my step daughter with me. I rolled down the road, put in 20 bucks to get it a half a tank of gas. Halfway home drove into a thunder storm. I rolled up the windows and turned on the AC…what a suprise to drive a muscle car with AC, wipers working, and just cruising in comfort, this car made my Torino feel much older. NO LIGHTS on the dash work lol, The belt and oil lights come on with Key on, but no illumination sucked as it got dark. Rode very cozy and smooth.

Before I bought it, I spent a good amount of time looking for rust. I was able to get under the dash and look through the vents with a light and look through the cowl. There looked to be light surface rust. Now, the cowl is clogged (under cowl vents) with leaves and junk, Im sure the cowl is the cause of the rusted floors. The underside looked good too and the torq boxes are not rusted. I will dig in to it come winter time. Until then we are going to drive this car EVERYWHERE and enjoy every minute.

The paint, is flatter on top and shinier on the sides. Looks like an older paint job that has potention to polish out (will try tomorrow). Car looks as good in pics as it does ni person. Overall I feel I got alot of Car for the money.

Video
http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu43/mikedula/1970%20Cougar/?action=view&current=IMG_1707-1.mp4

To do: Clean, polish, and DITCH the wheels. The wheels are the one thing that has to go, Im looking for a driver set of 15x7 argent magnum 500’s for it. I also hope to get the original stereo working.

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Nice one. Looks like a good buy

I like the wheels on the front. It would look good with four of them

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You sound pleased as punch! :slight_smile:
Good for you.

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Spent all morning really checking it out. The I polished a section of the trunk and it shines up real nice, so a polish is sson to come. I cleaned up the windows and interior. As most older cars, you start finding things that need immediate fixing. On my list is,

  1. AC only blows out of defrost, blows pretty cold though. Need to fix vacuume lines / hoses to get it to blow out of vents.
  2. Ditch rear wheels for matching ones. The car came with 15x10 rear whels with bad tires. I love torq thrusts but need matching ones for the rear. I like some 15x7 fronts and move the 15x8 to the rear.
  3. Carb. Transition from idle to go, stumbles. Sticky throttle.
  4. Clean and inspect cowl. Cowl drains into floor :slight_smile: under heavy rain / wash.
    4.Sail panels, Package tray.
  5. Interior Panel lights
  6. Sticky emergency cable release.
  7. Radio. Try to get origianl AM/Fm working.

More Pics to come.

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Awesome find! congrats! Sounds like a great price. Now the fun begins :slight_smile: I love Black on the cougars, I think the darker colors really show off the body lines. Don’t forget to order a Marti report. I just got mine today. http://www.martiauto.com and don’t forget to register it on the registration page.

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Marti will be on the way soon. The door sticker is too hard to read…I may go digging for the build sheet later on :slight_smile:

Here is vid I made of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC8dwL2Cde0

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Idle to go problem could be timing or vacuum connected to manifold pressure rather than ported

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you mean going to the distributor? I was suprised to see two vacuume line connectors on the distributor advance. Im heading on vacation tomorrow till Tuesday. I think when I get back I will snap a photo of the vacuume hoses. There is WAY more vacuume hoses than Im used to so you are probably right. I had to turn out the idle mixture screw to get a decent idle on it, it felt like 3 turns out which seems like a lot. Ive never had a autolite 2100 (that right?) but Ive built up many Holleys, and Im just used to them.

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Looks like a great find, I paid more for mine, all in boxes.Im not complaining, but for the price you got it for and able to drive it right away, that’s cool!

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Looks like a great buy! The vacuum leak that is keeping ht AC from working right might also be causing the hesitation you are feeling.

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Congratulations on you purchase. Looks like you got a good one!