I may have some pretty interesting news about this car as early as tomorrow, trying to get it sorted out now. No it doesn’t have to do with it being ready to run, not quite there yet. I don’t want to say much at this point in case it turns out to be nothing. Stay tuned.
Same Bat time, same Bat channel…
Keep it up and you may get a reputation as a tease.
Randy Goodling
CCOA #95
This morning around 10:30 AM I found myself sitting in the B’Ville Diner, about 40 minutes from my house having coffee. Sitting across from me is an older guy with gray scruffy stubble on his cheeks wearing a Marine Corp hat. His name is John Segerlind.
If you’ve read the story of number 33 you’ll recognize Mr. Segerlind as the original owner. On a whim about a month ago I did a search online and it returned a match with the same name. Based on a couple pictures he looked to be the right age. But what are the odds that 50 years later this guy would still be in NY and not living someplace warm? So I sent a message inquiring if this was the same John Segerlind that lived on Salt Springs Rd in Fayetteville, NY. I got no response. Weeks went by and I assumed it was probably not the same guy and rather than respond he just blew me off. Then last week I signed on and saw a message waiting for me. A simple response, “Yeah I lived there back in 1965 I think”. So I replied “Did you happen to own a 1968 Mercury Cougar?” The response came back, “Yeah I owned 2 of them a 390 and a 427.” Bingo.
First let me say that Mr. Segerlind is a gracious and personable guy. He drove as far as I did this morning for no other reason but to talk to me about a car that he owned briefly 50 years ago. That being said, his recollection of some facts was a bit lacking. I can’t say whether intentional or not. For instance, he unequivocally stated that the only alterations he made to the car was to fit it with glass packs and install an under the dash 8 Track player. I know for certain that is not true. He also claimed that although he remembered my father quite well, he didn’t know that he had bought the car. This also doesn’t line up with information I already have. Of course him not corroborating some of my info isn’t that big a deal. I’m not trying to prove anything in a court of law. I saw no need to make mention of the conflicting facts. He did provide me with some interesting information that although raises a few more questions, it may shed light on a part of the history of the car.
First and foremost, Mr. Segerlind did not in fact first view the car at the Syracuse Auto Show. The car was spotted in a side lot of Heritage Lincoln Mercury away from public display. This was some time around early March 1968. That leaves the period between January 15th and March unaccounted for. I’ve tried to track down places that it may have been displayed during this time with no success. It seems unlikely that it would have been on the lot all that time. According to John, no one at Heritage really seemed to know anything about the car. Had it been there for six weeks or so it seems someone would have asked questions. This appears to align with the story of him purchasing the car. In his words, he kept trying to convince them to sell him the car. He was even told at one point they weren’t supposed to sell it. But a salesman finally caved and sold him the car for $500 plus his 390 Cougar that was virtually new at the time. With the GT-E package being a $1300 option, it’s clear that Heritage really didn’t know what they had. In addition, according to John about a month later Heritage tried to bill him an extra $1200 for the car. Needless to say he declined to pay them.
I was also hoping to solve the mystery of the missing headrests. Unfortunately they were already missing when John purchased the car. But interestingly enough, the car was also missing the original air cleaner when he bought it. Heritage wouldn’t provide one for him, they told him the car was sold as is. Guess they really got him on that one. He did purchase an original correct air cleaner at Reynolds Ford. And John did confirm the trade for the 1969 Cobra Jet Torino, though he couldn’t come up with a date. I was hoping to at least narrow it down to the month. But the part of story I didn’t know is my father actually did the repair on his Torino after a main bearing was damaged from him drag racing. Despite the fact that Jack Koerner knew he was racing, they fixed it under warranty. The second time they refused.
That’s fantastic, meeting the first owner some 50 years after he got it. Faulty memory or not…
Starting to become a little more frustrating waiting for the big laundry list of parts to arrive. At a virtual standstill until they start showing up. No ones fault but my own, I should have been planning farther ahead. Here’s where we stand right now.
I’m remembering what it was like as a kid waiting for Christmas morning.
cool 
Wish I could meet the original owners to all of my cars.
Great detective work, such a cool story! Too bad his memory was a bit fuzzy, but that’ll happen. Engine is looking gooooood.
Finally after an agonizing couple of weeks without much progress UPS dropped off a box at my house this morning.
I got the phosphate to restore the coil bracket the other day. It cost me an extra $40 for a stainless steel pot to boil parts in, which my wife quickly scarfed up. But to be fair the one I bought was pretty nice. And she does put up with me. Anyone know if the screw that tightens the bracket is phosphate and oil too or is it a different finish?
The bolt that holds the coil bracket and the engine ID tag to the block is P+O finish. It has an integral lock washer.
Great story Al Bundy!
Best I’ve ever read here. That car and it’s history touches the heart. Good luck with the restoration, I’m gonna read more now.
Thanks I appreciate the interest.
Al Bundy, I haven’t been back on this site for a while. Great to read that you are restoring your Father’s Cougar. I look forward to reading more about it in the future. Hope all is well in Syracuse.
Jerry/ 1st Owner 1968 Cougar GT-E XR-7 428 Cobra Jet, Red, Red Leather, Auto (now owned by Chris in SEA)
Glad to see you back. I hope to have more to post fairly soon.
More goodies from the UPS guy today.
My first experience with WCCC chrome service and first experience with these types of parts. A few things to note;
- The date codes on the valve covers were lost in the process. They weren’t correct anyway, so no big deal to me, but it would be nice to have something there.
- The bottom of the breather cap was chromed, which I knew they would do ahead of time. Not 100% correct, but expect the same if you have one done. I don’t think there is any other way.
- They chromed the actual dipstick which I didn’t expect. Debating whether to try and remove it or just let it go. It’s not like it’s visible.
The quality of the work was right on based on the pricing and the turnaround time. I’m sure these parts are every bit as nice as anything that came out of the factory, maybe better. Given the fact that I’m restoring a car, not over restoring one I’m very pleased with them.
So how much?
$440 all in.
It is exciting to see all of the pieces come together. Keep up the great work. Every step forward is a step closer to going for a drive.
A future ATSOTC story in the making as you finish the journey.
Quite a lapse in any updates to this story. I was a bit stymied by the timing and process of having the carb restored. Since I also own a service replacement, my original plan was to rebuild that and use it to fire up the 427 when it was ready. But when I sent the carb to Joe Bunetic, he estimated only a couple weeks to complete it. So my thought was to be patient and just wait for it to be done. Well 2 weeks turned into 4 and 4 into 6, you get the picture. I’m not throwing Joe under the bus here, there was an issue with the finish and he had to send it back to have it redone. Kudos to him for ensuring he’s doing quality restorations. It’s hopefully on it’s way back to me as I type this.
I haven’t been totally lapse in accomplishing anything. The water pump is rebuilt and I rebuilt the Carter X fuel pump. Not as daunting a task as I had feared. The one source of minor irritation is you apparently cant help but break off the tab holding the plug down. I discovered a trick to replacing the spring, which overall makes this a fairly simple rebuild.
The purists would notice an incorrect date code, which is why I didn’t picture it. I had to settle for what I could find if I really wanted OEM. Maybe someday I’ll run across a correctly dated one.
Sad that my old carb from the R Code won’t sit atop your mighty 427, but it’s probably for the best, as it hasn’t seen fuel through it since 1987 I bet.