I’d be interested in a convex mirror for the passenger side mirror on my G as well. Keep us posted.
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I am also interested in a passenger side base.
I’ll email the guy I bought it from and see if he has any remaining passenger side bases. I think I bought the last one he had on hand and would have to cast more.
Brake lights were not functioning, so I went ahead and ordered an NOS brake light switch C9VY-13480-A (SW-862) off of eBay per Royce’s suggestion from one of his past posts.
It’s a pain getting your hand up in there to remove / replace the switch.
Brake lights now function.
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Many thanks. Let me know what he says.
Installed the Lucas fog light H3 bulbs from halogen to LEDs to reduce the load on wiring and switch. They won’t be as bright as the halogens, but won’t be driving in poor weather anyways.
I was surprised to see the cardboard wire separator has survived.
Need to take it out some night to see they perform, along with the Octane LED headlights.
Cheeser- Are you aware of the Shelby Collection in Boulder? I don’t recall seeing anything about that from you, but I’m old and forget. If you’ve never been, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Plus, they still have the Group II car there on display. I follow them on FB, and they do have the occasional cars and coffee event. I’m sure yours will go over very well!
Woodsnake,
Yes, I’ve visited the Shelby Museum a few times. It’s an amazing collection of Cobras, GT40, and other original Shelbys. I need to make a trip back up there to see the Cougar as it wasnt there last fall.
I’d like to get the G up there sometime.
Jeff
Been through Boulder many times and never knew this place existed. Anxious to stop by - hopefully this summer!
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Be careful making these changes. You paid a significant amount of money for these original unmolested parts. The changes you are making can severely decrease the value. I completely understand the desire to have a project. You might be better off acquiring a project car where you can build it your way.
if you want a real world example look into the 4 speed 428 CJ GTE that Dr Joe acquired and how he meticulously reinstalled the original born with parts. There are threads here that outline the journey and how much the car increased in value. Joe was lucky that so many parts were saved.
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By the way I am not suggesting that you sell this one, one Cougar just isn’t enough
Bill,
Fully agree with you on limiting the mods, so I’ve stuck to a few things (LED lights, passenger side mirror) that shouldnt detract from the car / value. Otherwise, I’ve kept to replacing minor incorrect items (clutch rod spring, vacuum hoses, etc.) I’ve found with correct parts.
Ironically, you’ve touched on something I’ve been considering….do I keep the G and enjoy as is, or do I sell and find a different car that I don’t have to worry about as much. I was originally looking for a nice clean XR-7, but jumped into the G due to its overall condition, low miles, and history….it’s difficult to find that combination.
I have some time today, and that will probably involve changing out the spark plugs and trying to check/set the timing….the smog equipment / tall valve covers make it a challenge.
With that being said, I may look at selling as i reevaluate things for when I retire this summer.
Jeff
^^^ That is a psychological aspect of this hobby that I find fascinating. If someone hasn’t researched and written an article on it already, they should.
And that is…. starting off with an aspiration for some far off gaol. We come in at an entry level and work our way up.
Then when we finally get there we kinda can’t believe it and the anxiety of something happening to it can impede the enjoyment!
- Phillip
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Changed the spark plugs today…that was a 4 hour job due to the air pump tubes and tall valve covers. I removed the valve covers and shock tower braces as I didn’t see any other way. After tackling plugs 1 - 4, 5 - 8 went much faster after relearning a few tricks.
I’m curious how old these plugs are…probably back to the original owner.
It was nice seeing the Shelby American stamping within the valve covers.
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What’s the history on the carb? Just noticing that it has a dashpot and I thought manual cars didn’t have that? With this car being so original, if that is the original 3795-1 I may have to reassess mine.
I wondered the same thing when I spotted that dash pot, and can’t say for sure as some of that history is with original owner. I verified carb has correct metering blocks and date code.
I may just remove as it doesn’t appear to provide any value (mechanically or financial) unless I find otherwise.
This is really not the car to arbitrarily take parts off of. Most likely that was placed by the factory or perhaps a mechanic at a dealer used it to solve a drop throttle stalling issue. It might be out of adjustment or perhaps no longer working but it’s a part of the cars history.
When I bought my GT-E it was not running. The original owner had allowed his ex son in law to “restore “ it. It was said to have a terrible vapor lock problem and the SIL had spent a ton of money trying to “fix” it. He had removed the stock fan clutch and shroud and replaced it with a new aluminum flex fan. The Holley was replaced with an Edelbrock carb. Neither helped. He replaced the original air cleaner with a much larger Edelbrock cleaner. He added an electric fuel pump and ran a rubber hose from the tank all the way to the pump and then the carb. Not only did it fail to help it would now only go about 8 miles before stalling. At this point JEGS and Summit had no additional ideas.
Since it was effectively no longer drivable it sat in the garage until the owner decided it was time to sell. He was convinced that the car was just not compatible with modern gas after all they tried everything
The first thing I discovered was that the electric fuel pump was wired with tiny solid conductor phone wire that ran over 10 feet around the dog house The wire was dropping voltage so much the electrical pump barely functioned when the pump got warm it would still make a buzzing sound but it couldn’t pump gas the pump was also located at the top of the inner fender Electric pumps don’t like to suck gas uphill And the new rubber line was zip tied about every foot those ties were super tight pinching the line in probably 15 places So a new tank mechanical pump and steel fuel line replaced the mess while the Edelbrock carb was probably okay a Holley with the correct fuel line orientation straightened out the fuel line fit
Once I removed the band aid fixes and failures it ran perfectly and could be driven in Phoenix heat without issues
The point is that many “improvements “ are not improvements There are no unnecessary parts The engineers did not add cost and complexity without a significant reason when you make modifications you are now the engineer
One last thing I had an opportunity to absolutely steal a car from the very frustrated owner He had done a tune up with new plugs wires cap points and condenser It ran far worse and it was barely driving He had swapped out the points and condenser and even the cap and wires and nothing helped Face Book told him that the timing chain and gears must be the problem So he happened to have the receipt for the parts. He had bought the best plugs they had. Platinum even. It couldn’t be the plugs a set of Motorcraft plugs gapped to factory specs had it running perfectly. This is not to say that mods are bad, just that you really need to understand what you are doing
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I would think of that car like a time capsule to be preserved. Even those spark plugs could be original. If I were buying it, I would much prefer the original incandescent bulbs in sockets that hadn’t been opened up. Yeah, the LED’s perform better, but that car’s value is in its originality. Be sure you hang onto everything that you take off it!
Yes…all of the removed bulbs are in a baggy, and FoMoCo headlights in a box. One good thing in swapping bulbs was ability to clean any corroded contacts…that was mainly for the exterior.
I’ve learned over the years to keep original items.
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You have such an awesome car! Congratulations!
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