Cat Bites Man! A Novice and His SCJ Eliminator

Cougar Community The Project Forum
61

Yeah, I don’t think I’m doing any real restoration yet. More like pulling things apart, cleaning them, assessing what needs to be done in the future, put it back together. Get my feet wet, build up some confidence and a good comfort level with the car before I dive in too deep :slight_smile:

I’ve pulled off the front valance, which is also dented a bit. I’m planning on tapping the dents out of it, and I might as well do the rear valance while I’m at it. Looks like I"ll need to invest in one of those basic hammer and dolly sets. I’ll be off shopping for Carb cleaner and solvent tomorrow, so I might as well check out the body tools while I"m there.

I know the car was hit in the front and the rear, but I don’t know if that was the same accident or 2 seperate ones. There are dated tags on all the front panels, from the dealership. They are all dated early 1970, but I don’t know if they would have been sent there as normal dealer stock for the model year, or if those would be the dates they were ordered for this specific car repair.
This is the tag on the front valance, but all the panels and many other front end parts have these tags. Fender and hood date codes are all from summer of '69 though.




Thanks again for the tips, I appreciate them. Have a good weekend!

62

Just take your time, don’t pound them into shape, Massage them. :slight_smile:

63

Mike, that rear valance is not supposed to be welded. It is screwed in at the top and the ends have a bolt and nut setup. I would send you a picture, but both of my cars are in the shop so I’ll post when I get one back. SalD

64

Mike, enjoying your posts, keep up the good work. I have done much of the same type of work to my unrestored 1970 428CJ XR7 recently to get it back on the road after 10 years of being parked. The paper tags on the front end components indicate that those are over the counter Ford service replacement parts, and at some point (early in the car’s life obviously) they were replaced by new dealer supplied parts. My XR7 is similar, in that one front fender has a made in Mexico stamp on it, indicating it is a replacement from early in the day. The studs on the intake manifold are correct, since the same engine was used in Mustangs. One of the studs is used for the Mustang Shaker bracket hold down, so in case you wanted to add a shaker to your Cougar, you would be good to do that!

65

Good to know, thanks!

I was checking date codes on the sheet metal the other day, and all the panels are dated summer of '69, and had a “W” factory code. My trunk lid is (unfortunately) from a '69 and appears to have a painted-over jack / tire instruction sticker. So maybe the rear-end damage was a seperate accident from the front end.

66

Hello.

Great story and congrats for the find of your dream car. :ylsuper:
Love the car, keep posting.

/Tommy.

67

Thanks Tommy! I’m working on it, and trying to get my posts up-to-date. Hard to balance out “work on car” / “write in journal” / “post on forum” sometimes :slight_smile:

:beerchug:

68

Feb 4th – Received my carb rebuild kit today! Also did a little bit of wet-sanding on the hood – just a small area on the passenger side where the hood scoop covered.

Feb 5th – Researching;

  • Connections to the Ignition Coil: Dist / Batt connections should go to what items? Should seem obvious, but my distributor is connected to the BATT post on the coil…
  • Charge Gauge on dash: not sure if mine is operating or not. Read that if they aren’t connected properly they can get damaged.

** Figured out that my Amp guage is working - at least a little bit. It fluctuates when I turn on the headlights with the car off.


Feb 6th – Finished preliminary wet-sanding on the hood and top of the fenders. Still a lot of orange peel in it, but at least it doesn’t look “dirty” now. Ended up rubbing 2 small thin spots on the hood contours – damn! Was even being careful not to do that :-/ I know it doesn’t make a difference, what with all the nicks, dings and chips it has, but it is the principle of the matter.
Will have to inspect the rest of my work before I move on to rubbing compound and polishing.




Feb 7th – Disassembled and washed off the rear license plate lamp. Sprayed it down the Simple Green and scrubbed it good with an old tooth brush. Yeah, it is still dingy and dull, but at least it isn’t dirty, dingy and dull! Also noticed that it is really beat up and bent all to hell. No wonder it was missing the glass lens. Hrm… looking at it now, I think it would have been better to order a “driver grade” replacement for a few bucks instead of just the glass lens for $9. Ah well.
Also noticed that the repro glass lens doesn’t have the Ford logo on it. Understandable, but I guess it isn’t “100% correct”.
So I taped up the teeth on some pliers (need to dig out my “toothless” pliers) and set to work “reforming” the lamp assembly. Got it mostly back to the right shape, except for a few bad spots. I’ll try to tap those spots into shape with a hammer this weekend. Then I can reassemble it and stick it back on!

Feb 8th – Wrote a letter to send to the original owner today. Figure it couldn’t hurt to try and make contact with him. Maybe he’ll give me a call and share some car stories.

Also posted a question about something that has been bugging me for a while. When I was replacing the engine gauge harness I noticed that the connection on the ignition coil was labeled “DIST”. The other connection was labeled “BAT”, and was connected to the distributor. This seemed wrong, but I wasn’t able to google up a clear answer, so I posted on the Cougar forums. My car was connected backwards, so I went out tonight and swapped the leads to be correct: DIST to the distributor, BAT to the wiring harness.
http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2190

69

Feb 9th – Finished with the back license plate lamp. Scrubbed it with a wire brush and did some fine-tweaking on my removal of the bends and twists. Put it all back together, then removed back bumper and reinstalled the lamp assembly.

Took a closer look at the rear spoiler and mounts. Trunk lid is definitely a ’69 (*no “D” cutouts, which are found on the '70 trunk lid), so of course the spoiler mounting brackets are missing. Also noted that they put prop rod hole in the end of the quarter panel through a bunch of bondo (instead of in the end cap), which is odd since it doesn’t have a prop rod installed anyhow. Also found that the rear-most bolt is missing from the driver’s side pedestal…which is also odd because they drilled that hole in the wrong spot and then filled it in, then drilled the hole in the correct spot… then didn’t put a bolt in? Odd.

Removed the front valance. This will allow me to massage out the dents, as well as try to massage closed the front spoiler holes that are a bit hogged out. Looks like the front turn lamps need cleaned up and repainted too. Tried out my new pan head screws on some of the holes that aren’t hogged out (they look like well drilled holes for mounting spoiler). My screws are a touch small for the holes. Tried one of the correct / original style pan heads that I have (removed when I installed the hood / cowl bumpers), and they are too small as well (about same size as my new ones though). So someone drilled the holes too big :-/

Removed the passenger side mirror. Rear-most screw is good and came out fine, although the mirror base is cracked at that spot. Front screw didn’t want to come out ~ the riv-nut in the door was spinning. Mirror base is totally broken out around that screw head too. Used some needle nose pliers to hold the spinning riv-nut and was able to get the screw out. Someone had tried to repair the mirror base with bondo/body filler, so all that stuff was crumbling around the screw. I plan to make some repairs to the mirror base with JB Weld and sand it smooth. Also need a new riv-nut. Need to pull the driver’s side and see if it needs work too so I can order them all at once.

**I saw that Don and WCCC are looking for a procedure for passenger side mirror installation, and installing the riv-nuts (as well as using thier riv-nut tool). I think I’ll take them up on this after I evaluate my driver’s side mirror.

Dropped my letter to original owner in the mail, including a pic of the car sitting in my garage and asked him to give me a call or shoot me an email.

70

Feb 10th – Wrote down and snapped some pics of various date code stamps on the sheet metal. I know the hood and front fenders were replaced, but still doesn’t hurt to know. Also got the codes from under the rockers. Found out my driver’s floor pan rusty spot is dropping crud on the garage floor – probably from when I was monkeying with the carpet last. Also spotted a drip coming from the transmission crossmember area. Light oil, so I’ll have to get under there and see where it’s coming from.

While poking around, I noticed that I could see the top of the transmission where it connects to the bell housing. So I reached through and wiped off the gunk and was able to see some of the VIN stamp! Could only see the last three digits (the others were behind a bellhousing mount)… looked like “786”, which matches the last three of the car’s VIN! Woot! When I inspected the car for purchase I wasn’t able to find the VIN stamp, but the tag on the trans showed it was at least correct type (*I don’t recall the numbers right now, but google says it should be RUG-AZ). I admit I was wondering if it would actually be the original transmission since the date code on the trans is sometime in JUNE (seems very early to me).

Next time I get a chance, I’ll try to stuff the camera down there and snap a pic if possible. Stamp was pretty much top center of the trans where it connects to the bellhousing.

Car Build Date: October 6th, 1969

Drv Fender 6 24 W2 (also a second stamp: 7 29 W2) - June 24, 1969, Woodhaven, shift 2
Pass Fender 7 12 W2 - July 12, 1969, Woodhaven, shift 2
Hood 8 13 W2 - August 13, 1969, Woodhaven, shift 2
Rocker Panels

  • Drv 9 24 D2 D0WB (small stamp, Sept 24th, 1969, Dearborn, shift 2) 65 W4 (large stamp)
  • Pass 8 26 D2 D0WB (small stamp, Aug 26th, 1969, Dearborn, shift 2, “D” is stamped backwards) 65 W4 (large stamp)
    Block 9H28 - August 28th, 1969
    Drv Head 9H2 - August 2nd, 1969
    Pass Head - VIN stamp on front of Pass head (*I neglected to record the date code when I had the valve cover off)
    Intake 9G29 - July 29, 1969 (PN: C8OE-9425-C)
    Carburetor 964 - 1969, June, 4th week (PN: D0ZF-9510-AB / List 4514-1 *not original or correct)
    Distributor 9J22 - 1969, September 22nd (PN: D0ZF-12127-C)
    Vacuum Advance Unit stamped X6
    Alternator 15V 55A D0ZF 10300 C NEC

I noticed that my driver’s fender has TWO date stamps that are about a month apart (if I’m decoding them properly). Not sure how or why this would happen, but it seems odd. Not that it really matters, since it is a replacement fender (paper dealer stock tag is still on the underside), but it does seem strange.

I also noticed that the letter “D” on the passenger side rocker is backwards.

71

Feb 11th – Took a closer look at the driver’s mirror. Need to pull it so I can remove paint from the gasket and tighten up the head of the mirror. Also need to inspect the riv-nuts and see if they need replaced. Looks like that area of the door has had some repairs made to it at one time.
*It appears that when the front end was hit it may have pushed the fenders into the top front corner of the doors. Repairs to the doors look like they were done with part welding and part bondo. This might have been what cause the passenger mirror front mount to crack off as well, as it was repaired with filler too.

Started rubbing out the hood / top of fenders with rubbing compound. Buffed up nicely, about ¼ done so far. Snapped some after-sanding / before-rubbing pics as well.




Feb 12th – More hood rubbing (using rubbing compound). I’m a little over half way done. Tried to remove the front nose-grille to buff around it, but was not able to get it out. May need to pull the grille support pieces to remove it. Looks like I’m missing the grille support bar too.

Also posted on the Cougar Forums with some questions that I came up with while fiddling around;

http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2215
http://www.mercurycougar.net/forums/showthread.php?62200-A-Few-Cougar-Questions…

a) Manuals / Books: what manual(s) will show me what screws and fasteners should be used where?
Answer: AMK Fastener manual would be a good start.

b) For 1970, which direction should the headlight actuator unit be mounted? Mine has the nipples toward the passenger side of the car, but my vac hoses are stretched pretty tight, which doesn’t seem right.
Answer: Yes Mike, your actuator is installed backwards.

b - part 2) What, if anything, should be used on the actuator nipples to prevent vac leaks from the hose connection there?
Answer: Nothing - the hoses should seal properly. If necessary, cut them back a half-inch or so to provide a “fresh” hose connection.

c) Can anyone provide pictures of;

  • Proper mounting for SCJ horn set? My radiator mount was replaced, and the second horn is just kinda hung where it would fit. What size bolts / bolt holes should be used, and where?
  • Proper routing of the SCJ oil cooler lines? My lower line is rubbing on the frame, which can’t be normal. Also, can / should these lines be bent for proper routing?
    Answer: Found this one over at the Boss302 site; http://www.boss302.com/holes.htm
    Because the radiator support was replaced on my car it is missing the cutout for the lower oil cooler line. So the repair guy “made it work” by stuffing it through the hole for the wiring and vac lines. This put the hose against the frame, as well as forcing them to install the cooler at a slight angle: not a good job, IMO.
    The Boss site has the measurements for the cutout, so I’ll eventually be able to replicate it and reroute my hoses properly. Yay!

d) Should the bottom mount for the SCJ oil cooler be welded in? I don’t think it should be but mine is, which I’m sure is related to the front end repairs from way back when. If possible, could someone provide pics of thier lower oil cooler mount location, please?
Answer: Apparently it should be mounted with screws and possibly riv-nuts in the frame / support.

72

Feb 16th - Daughter (Molly, 10) and I pulled the headlight actuator out tonight and cleaned it up with a little simple green. Then we shot some lithium grease into the shaft accordion seal, cycled it a bunch and then reinstalled it. We also tested the diaphragm by putting a finger over one nipple or the other while cycling it. It doesn’t seem to be leaking, so hopefully this will help keep our “eyelids” closed after the car is turned off.

I checked out the Ford manual pictures and it looks like the rest of the headlight assembly was installed correctly, as near as I can tell. Turns out the driver’s side support bracket is bent near the bottom, most likely due to putting the oil cooler in at an angle (*which is because they didn’t cut the correct hole for the lower cooler line).

I also rerouted my headlight wiring and vacuum hoses, which were run along the front of the framework / right behind the front valance. Judging from the other pics I’ve found they are supposed to be between the radiator and grille supports. Looks like I’ll have to pick up some new mounting clips too ~ I only have one good one left. Funny, I went from not having enough vacuum line, and now I almost have too much! I had to pull some of it back into the engine compartment to take up the slack.


Feb 17th – Finished compounding the hood and upper fenders tonight. Can still see a color difference where the hood scoop was, and a bit where the stains were sanded out on the driver’s side. Passenger spots are blended pretty well though. I’m not a pro, and I’m doing it all by hand so I don’t want to take off too much paint. I think it looks a lot better than when I started!


Feb 18th – Disassembled carburetor and started cleaning it. Need to dip again / longer and scrub on the gasket material some more. A lot of hype about rebuilding, but seems fairly easy / straight forward ~ not that many screws or parts, compared to a Scanner (photolithography equipment that I work on)!


Feb 21st – Posted up my “Carburetor Rebuild” procedure. So far it is just the removal portion.

http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=2242


Feb 22nd – Got my secondary fuel bowl back from repairs. I thought they were going to drill the threads and sleeve it, but they just installed a helicoil. :-/
So I started rebuilding the fuel bowls. Got the floats hung and dry adjustment done.

Also posted a request for pics of a correct 1970 front license plate bracket. Mine is all twisted up, so I need a reference to help put it back in shape.
*Thanks Steve!

http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2247

73

Here’s a pic of the horns for ya. Sorry I don’t have measurements or anything. This is in a SCJ Mustang so it should be the same. Hope this is somewhat useful!

74

Thanks Andy!

75

No problem on the license plate pictures and you’re welcome. Been enjoying following your posts thus far so keep em rolling. I’m happy for you to finally get your hands on a Cougar Eliminator. You have one hell of a cat Mike. Cheers.

76

Thanks Steve, and I must say that your restoration threads are an inspiration. I was re-reading your headlight resto threads and thinking “yeah, I can do that!”

So once I get it running reliably, then I’ll be able to move on to bigger things to make it look purdy again :slight_smile:

77

Feb 24th – Soaked the metering blocks again and scrubbed the snot out of them. Reassembled the carburetor and started doing the off-car adjustments.
Did some reading about the Idle Mixture screws and the Power Valve. Not sure what size power valve my kit came with. It is stamped “1 G 8”. Valve for my carb should be a 6.5, and should be stamped with a 6 and a 5. Also, my idle fuel mixture screws are a bit grooved, and one is blunted! Need to get a new set, and pick up the correct power valve as well, just to be safe.

Feb 26th – got an email back from Walker, the carb kit manufacturer. They said that the power valve in my rebuild kit is rated 8.5” Hg. Since it should be a 6.5” Hg unit, I’ll have to buy a replacement.
Shopping List;

  • Power Valve (6.5” Hg)
  • Idle Mixture Screws
  • Carb Spacer-to-Intake Gasket

After thinking about it a bit, I need to pull off the Primary Metering Block and make sure that the tip from the blunted Idle Mixture Screw is not loose / stuck in the metering block anywhere.

Also researched my carb-to-spacer-to-intake gasket options. Stock / factory for both carb mount gaskets are four-hole style with a tab for the pcv port on the spacer. Mansfield Mustangs has them. My spacer is non-factory, so it doesn’t have the four-hole style, it is a “two kidney-beans” kinda shape. Which means there would be unsupported gasket hanging out in there, which could result in gasket bits eventually falling off into the intake. I also found a Fel-Pro gasket that has the proper tab, and 2 pinches in the middle (PN: 60068-1).

Posted on the forums to get some input and see if it really matters what I use.
http://www.classiccougarcommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2264

Went into the garage tonight after the family went to bed. Pulled apart the carb primary side, removed the power valve and idle mix screws and checked all the associated ports for the needle tip. All the ports are clear, so it was probably lost / broken off at some other time.
I also adjusted the secondary throttle stop position, setting it to “just touch” plus a smidge over ½ turn. Removed the dashpot and backed off the main idle screw, then set the main idle to “just touch” plus 1 ½ turns, per the Ford manual.

I also started to remove the driver’s side mirror. Found the rear-most riv-nut was packed with Bondo, and the front nut spun when loosening. Got one screw out and was able to get the front one loose enough to swivel the mirror base a bit. Looks like a good coat of filler under there! At the very least I need 2 riv-nuts on this side. Put it all back together for now…

Driver’s mirror base and gasket (who paints gaskets??)

Front lip of the door below the mirror, you can see some form of repair work…

Ah, the magic of body filler! What can it NOT do??

78

I hope the Mrs is buying you a set of hammers and dollies for your birthday Mike.

79

LOL! Yeah, those have been on my wish list along with a floor jack and a set of jack stands… and a good air compressor… a dremmel tool… bench grinder / polisher…

Does the list ever get shorter? It seems like for every one tool I buy I find 2 more that I “need”!

Like that sweet little trim hammer / anvil kit for the chrome trim. That looks like it would pay for itself the first weekend you have it out of the box!

80

Feb 27th – Stopped at Napa this morning and ordered the Idle Mix screws, purchased the power valve and a tap for some poor threads on the carb body – lower driver’s side primary fuel bowl threads.

Had no luck at Napa or O’Reilly’s with carb mounting gaskets (I need one with the little tab for the pcv connection on the spacer). They could order them, but wanted too much for shipping, plus more than a week for delivery! I found some on eBay, one with free shipping for $7, so I bought it. Coming from CA, so might be here in time for the weekend (fingers crossed).

This evening I installed the new power valve and idle needles, and cleaned up the bowl screw threads. Then re-installed the primary bowl and metering block and re-gapped the accelerator pump arm. Carb is ready to install, just need to clean the intake surface and get the mounting gaskets.

Spent some time polishing up the hood where the scoop will sit so that I can remount it and not worry about polishing around the edge of it. I used the polishing compound on it twice, went over it with scratch & swirl remover twice, then topped it off with wax. It’s not perfect, but a heck of alot better than it was!

Took a look at my hood scoop too, and it needs cleaned up / washed off. Might be worthwhile to sand it down and repaint it the correct matte black before I put it back on. One thing at a time though…


Feb 28th – Ordered some small goodies from WCCC;

  • Seat Belt Button - Aluminum Insert Decal (mine are missing on the front belts)
  • Sun Visor Tips (mine are crumbling into bits)
  • Spark-Plug Wire Separator (one of mine is broken and half melted)
  • Tail Light Nut (to replace the missing nut for my hood scoop)
  • Vacuum Hose / Headlight Harness Plastic Clip x2 (2 of mine have broken nubbins so they don’t stay in place)
  • Riv-Nut Installation Kit (yep!)
  • Side Mirror Mounting Kit x2 (both mirrors are gonna need help)
  • Small Wire Plastic Clip x2 (for various wiring)
  • Rear Valance Mounting Kit (I’d like all the screws in mine to match, and for it to be mounted properly instead of welded on!)

Polished the top of the passenger fender tonight and also cleaned up the carb/intake spacer and pcv-to-spacer hose. Got all the greasy gunk off the hose and found the original Autolite stamping on it near the pcv fitting. Still need to soak and clean the pcv valve.