Back on the road again. Cutting 1/2 turn of of the coil springs yielded about 1 inch drop and the car now sits nearly level- only about 1/4" higher than the rear measured from the ground to the rocker panel pinch weld. It’s amazing how much the body lines give the impression of a negative rake.
Looking good. 
Gotta love it when all that work actually produces the correct result! Looking good!
As stated in the previous posts, your Cougar is looking good. 
Steven
Thanks, but the pics hide a lot. Eighteen years of daily-driving in Wisconsin have not been kind to this poor cat and she’s at the point of needing some minor rust repair and a re-spray.
Hi folks. It’s been a while since I’ve frequented these boards so I thought I’d better check in. I have some sorry news to report regarding CopyCatVert. Last spring, a 93 year-old lady in her Buick stopped on the wrong side of a 55mph 2-lane highway to get mail from her mailbox and without looking, made a u-turn directly in front of me and my poor cat. It was either the Buick or the ditch so I hit the brakes, braced myself and slid. Fortunately, no one was sitting in the passenger side of her car and I managed to scrub off a fair amount of speed before the collision. Neither the elderly lady nor I was badly hurt, but the I can’t say the same about the cars. I’m afraid the poor Buick received its death wound in the encounter, and CopyCatVert looked a frightful mess.
Although the Buick absorbed a great deal of the impact, the collision momentarily banged the fenders into the doors and the doors into the quarters, causing at least some damage to every panel except the trunk lid. Fortunately, the drivetrain was not damaged and the frame was not badly bent so the car was deemed repairable by the old lady’s insurance company. A local shop is handling the repairs. It’s been a slow process of gathering parts, but my poor cat now has an entirely new front end and is just about ready for a full re-paint.
It’s not been all bad; the nearly year-and-a-half hiatus from the Cougar scene has given me time/incentive to finish a 3400 swap into my daughter’s Fiero and to make some much needed non-accident related mods/repairs to CopyCatVert. It’s amazing how many cobbled up roadside repairs can accumulate over nearly 24 years of daily driving! I’ve cleaned up a lot of questionable wiring, swapped out the t5 for an AODE, and once it’s painted, I plan to replace the top with a higher quality canvas one in chocolate brown to match the carpet.
Sure glad that nobody was hurt (imagine if you had rolled it in the ditch). But heartbreaking to see the damage. Good luck on the repairs - sounds like it’s being done right!
Yeah, this car and I have been through a lot together- almost 24 years continuous daily driving, including a number of overland trips to visit kids at college in Kansas and back. Lots of memories. I’m really looking forward to getting it back on the road. New hood arrived today! That means the next step is paint!
