I"ve had my '68 cougar XR7 since my dad bought it for me in rough used condition almost exactly 30 years ago. Since then the car has seen some daily use (think teenager), and experienced the benefits and insults of a young to not-so-young cougar enthusiast learning as he goes. Although my dad bought me the car, working on it and learning how to wrench on things was left entirely to me. When I first became interested in this and other cars, my resources were limited to magazines and talking with other car enthusiasts. I stand awe of how much help and info is now available through the internet and YouTube.
The car came to me at 16 with a factory 3024v with smog equipment, a 3-speed manual, and a really bad new paint job. Thru the years the work Iv’e done to the car has focused on mechanical maintenance and some upgrade, with little attention to cosmetics. Since the car had already been somewhat abused, and because the original drivetrain was pathetic with a 3-speed and 2.70 gears, I decided as a teenager that it would be a restomod (although at the time I didn’t even know that word). I’ve since put in a rebuilt 351W, a 5-speed manual trans (T-5 or T-10… cant remember which/what it’s called), a new gas tank, electronic sequentials from Vic Y., and lots of regular maintenance stuff including re-arcing the leaf springs. The work has been spotty admittedly. What I have never tackled and is in bad need of repair is the front suspension, which brings me to the other part of my post:
Is there a complete front-end rebuild kit out there that is a good compromise between quality and expense? I am looking for comfort more than performance at this time.
My biggest problem with the car up to now is having it sit for long intervals and having rubber and seals dry up in the New Mexico climate.
Thanks,
Brian
P.S. I just noticed that the shock towers were reinforced before I got the car - they may even be factory original…?
Brian,welcome to the forum. '68 Cougars that came from the factory with the reinforced shock towers had 428CJ’s. You should look at the VIN (there are 3 locations and should all have the same VIN on the drivers side front fender apron, the door tag on the drivers door & on a metal tag on the passengers side of the dashpad) on the car and see if the 5th character is the letter “R” (8F91R, 8R91R,8F93R or 8R93R). BTW, we like seeing pics of Cats. John
Must be an FE only thing. I have a couple of 390 cars with the reinforcement. I do know that 6 cylinder Mustangs, built on the same line, did not get the reinforcement.
Welcome to the site, You need to post some door data plate # so we can help you.You said the car was built in Dec., if that is true, it was Dec,1967, because Dec 68 would have been a early 69 Cougar. we can also help with parts info.
If you want standard replacement parts, just about anyone that sell Mustang and Cougar parts will have what you are looking for, it’s just about money. If you are looking for competition parts you should look at Total Control .
Yes there are kits around, but beware if you buy trough a Mustang vendor you might find out that the fit and quality is not as good as the price, i learned the hard way.
I bought a kit from Laurel Mountain Mustangs, service and price was very good, but the 1" lowering front coils where very soft and actually lower than my original worn springs, the A-arms i still have on it, seems to be okay quality on those, the rear leafsprings i ordered was standard height and rating, but they too where too soft and too low, the centerpin on them was not positioned correctly, so the axle did not get on straight, the wheel was about 1" further back on one side compared to the other side, and as i understand from reading on different Mustang forums, this is a general problem with leafsprings from Mustang vendors, one Mustang guy i know went trough 3 or 4 sets before he got one that the centrepins where at the same spot on both leafs, and as with the front, they where worse than what i took off.
My fix was to order leafsprings from ESPO a bit higher and stiffer with 5 leafs, then put in some lowering blocks that i milled to my preference, i got the 620 1" lowering front coils from WCCC and im very happy with those .
I did not use the Grab-A-Track gas shocks from LMM, since i previously had put in adjustable Spax gas shoocks on it, they work very good, and have plenty of stiffness adjustment for you to find your style.
So the bottom line, put toghether a kit yourself, or get from a vendor that really knows Cougar, as my experience is that MU, LMM and other Mustang vendors do not know Cougar, they just think that they do
