I am going to try to restore my husbands 67 Cougar. I met my husband 5 years ago and he has always talked about his first car. A 1967 Cougar. It had broken down back in the early nineties and was sitting at a garage. The garage owners ended up towing it away and my husband could never get any info or answers to where it went. About 2 years ago someone told him he knew where it was. apparently it has been sitting in a cow pasture for the past almost 30 years. He ended up paying the people to get it back. Even though he still held the title and his original license plate was still on it, they would not just give it back. Well my husband sent a friend to go get it and when it pulled up out front of our house my husband was devastated. The back end had been sunk in the ground and the whole underside is rotted. the interior is shot. the motor and trans is missing. He parked it at a friends house temporarily. We talked about getting another cougar to restore and possibly using anything salvageable off of his but unfortunately June of 2021, 2 months after we got married, He was killed in an auto accident that almost took my sons life as well. They hit a tree doing 80 MPH. A few weeks ago I decided to bring his cougar home. A coworker of my husbands asked to buy it. I couldn’t let it go. I told him I wanted to use it like my husband said and restore another car. He begged me not to tear the car up telling me its a rare 65C bench seat model. I dont know much about cougars, my husband was the car guy. He was actually the designer for DynaTech headers. So I have decided that since I can’t let the car go I am going to attempt to restore it to honor my husband. Im not sure where to even start and feeling alittle overwhelmed. My son keeps telling me its gonna take a lot of money that we dont have and many years but Im determined to see this car drive again. First thing I need to do is learn how to weld. I have a motor that my husband had built so im planning on putting that in it. I pray I can do this.
You might want to let us know where(generally) your at. And if you can post some pictures. I am sorry about the loss of your husband, you do have a big dream. I would love to see you make it happen.
I hope you now have it in a garage or barn. Keeping it dry while you get things in order will keep the rust from spreading much further.
Keep us updated with your project.
Sorry, I didn’t know how to post pictures. And Im in Southern Indiana The last 2 pictures are from just before the car was towed away. And yes, I have the car parked inside my husbands old shop
So sorry for your tragic loss. Seems like your husband probably had the right idea in wanting to restore another Cougar using any salvageable parts from this car. You’ll spend alot less getting a driveable less rusted car than restoring this one. Can you get pictures of the shock towers under the hood, floor pans, and undercarriage to see how bad the structure has rusted?
I say go for it. I am sure that he will speak to you from time to time and let you know what to do.
It’s not at all the same but when I am working on a car and I get stumped for a fastener If I open up the little nuts and bolts assortment that my dad left me, I seem to always find exactly the right thing or get a idea about some other way to do something. I can feel his hands on the wrenches he used, to some people they would feel worn out but to me they feel well broken in.
I don’t think the usual rules apply to projects like this. However the procedures are going to be the same. Start by cleaning it out an then accessing what you have. Anything you take off needs to be bagged and tagged and I would take lots of pictures. This is going to take along time.
My condolences on the loss of your husband.
While the bench seat is unusual I think that you will find that it does not really add any value to a car.
Before you get in too deep on this car I think that you need to know more of what you are up against. Since you admit that you know little about the car I would suggest that you check out the Cougar Club Of America website, www.cougarclub.org, and look at the list of regional clubs. Find the one(s) that are close to you and contact them. Hopefully they will have a member close by to you who would be willing to visit you and look the car over. They could point out to you the good and the bad of the car, what needs to be repaired, what needs to be replaced. With that information you could then do a little online shopping to get an idea of what this project will cost you. Then double, or triple, that number. Knowing this may help you decide whether or not you want to proceed with the project.
Another thing that you can do would be to look through the project threads on this forum. That may help give you an idea of what lays ahead if you decide to proceed with this project. Good luck with this no matter what you decide.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
Welcome to the Club and the forum. I see that your 67’ Cougar is going to be a very sentimental operation. My deepest condolences for your loss. Have you any experience with mechanics or automotive restoration? If not, it may seem an overwhelming venture. This is a great community and advice is just a question away. So, don’t be hesitant to ask. Some things that will be advantageous when embarking on this journey is to keep organized, take lots of pictures and document everything. Doing so will prove to be an invaluable resource during the assembly process. Clean the car as much as humanly possible prior to disassembly for it will be more of an enjoyable experience and will provide a more intimate familiarity with how everything goes. Also, get a factory service manual and any reference guides. Venders, such as ‘West Coast Classic Cougar’ should have these available as books and there are even downloadable schematics available through their site. Again, welcome and all the best.
Thank you everyone. I understand this is a big project and may not seem worth it to some people but it means alot to me. I don’t know a whole lot about restoring cars but mt husband was teaching me. We had opened an automotive shop a year before he passed away where he did everything from building custom exhaust and headers to welding in body panels on restore projects. unfortunately I had to close the shop because for the past year I shut myself down, but I still have the shop with lifts and all his tools and welder. I also have people that are willing to come in sometimes and help out. My son is just finishing his first year of schooling to be a mechanic and my daughter was taught how to weld. She builds demolition derby cars with her fiancé. Someone had mentioned to me about getting a rotisserie to make fixing the underside easier. So I’m going to look into that. Right now I’m just doing research, pricing parts and watching videos. We are trying to finish up another vehicle that my husband and son were working on. I’m hoping to have that done by next month. June 3 is the one year anniversary of his death and I’m putting together a car meet in his memory for all the locals that have cars my husband worked on. My husband and son pulled a 1976 F150 from his grandpops barn a few years ago and completely flipped it. They did all the work themselves. He had it running but the carb had a leak and the engine caught fire. He worked on it some since then but opening the shop took up most of his time so it sat. My son and nephew just pulled the motor and are in the middle of rebuilding it so hopefully it will be ready to go back in shortly. My husband was so proud of this truck. Anyway, I know this is a big dream but I just have to try.
Wow, you have the car, the determination, the shop, and people to help and teach you the skills to succeed! You can do this, and in the process will build such great memories for you and your son. We will all enjoy watching the progress.