So I spent the better part of the morning cleaning the Cougar up for a Mustang show I am going to tomorrow (not entering, just showing the Moostang guys what a real car is all about). I have been neglecting the old girl for some time while I mess with some wood working projects in the garage and working on some minor remodeling and repairs around the house. As many know, I dont have a hood on the car at the moment (seems like a really long moment), so all the dust created from my projects just settled onto the car. I have barely even driven the car in the last year and a half that I have had it on the road again (I just rolled 500 miles on the clock yesterday). I was just so happy with how well it cleaned up, I had to take some pics. I know many have seen the engine before, but I just couldn’t resist posting them.
Also, I wanted to thank everyone that has helped with issues I have had with the build and tuning. I know it was on the other site, but just about everyone that was helpful on the other site are here as well. Andy, Bob, Milo, Bill B., Don, and anyone else I am forgeting, have all being tremendouly helpful to me and everyone else. And a really big thanks to Bill for this awesome site.
I drove the car for about 30 miles yesterday (plus I finally got an alignment after getting the new wheels) and it seems all my tuning issues are just about fixed. The only problem I am having now is that once it is good and hot, it will idle down just a little bit, but not enough to cause it to die like before. Other than that, she is running great, and still scares the crap out of me.
I need to get back to the build and do some more metal work. I may start another thread here for it, just wish I could somehow save my original thread. Anyone know how I could do that? I have tried copy and paste, but that just turns it into a jumble of crap amongst the text.
I generally do just a wet towel wipedown of mine every other wash or so. I used some simple green on mine last year and liked the results. I’m afraid to get too crazy with cleaners underhood though, with all the aluminum bits on mine. With my luck I’ll spray something and it will turn it all funky colors :-/
Wow Mike! That is beautiful. You are most welcome on the site thing, and really this is one of my favorite builds, hate to admit it, but reading about your problems makes most of my little issues seem like cake. You have been to engines what Bob is to rust.
Thanks Bill. Looking back, some of the problems were unavoidable, like the cracked block, or the fault of others, like the metal shot in the heads, but on others I shouldn’t have tried to be such a cheapskate. Mostly the carb, I should have just gotten a new one to begine with instead of trying to rebuild a worn out 20 some odd year old carb. If I haden’t gone to the extreme with so much of it, it may have been easier, but I learned alot. After pitching 2 v-belts I now know that you must have a serp belt on a 3g alternatator, especially spinning it high. I spun it up to the rev limiter the other day, at 7500, and oil didn’t splatter the windshield, so the rings are definately doing much better.
They are actually ProComp valve covers with decals that I got from Brian Aust. The valve cover are poor quality fit and casting, so I don’t recommend buying them. It took me 4 or 5 hours of working on them to get them to look as good as they do. They were the only thing I got from ProComp, and I regret it.
The only thing I use is a wash mitt and car wash soap and simple green if it is extra nasty. I had some oil splatter on the firewall once and sprayed it with purple power, what a mistake. took me forever to get the discoloration to go away. Pretty much anything else with stain or discolor aluminum.
That car would just be a pile of parts and pipe dreams without your drive and determination, willingness to find the real answers to your problems and not just throw parts at it, and your discipline with sticking to the plan.
It’s all you, man. A lot of people across the hobby could learn a lot from you.
Just the time you spent on the Cleveland forum alone learning about the engine is probably more than most people want to commit to a whole project without waving their checkbook and asking someone to take it away and bring it back finished.
Thanks guys. And that means a lot Andy, especially coming from you, thank you.
She sure was the ugliest car at the show I went to today, but every mustang guy there was breaking their necks to look every time I fired it up. They tried to get me to enter, but when I heard them talking about points, I knew it would be pointless.
Mike, very fine job indeed! I love the clean look of how well things have been smoothed off. I really like the Monte carlo and export brace setup. Did you weld in the flanges and clean up the welds on the shock towers?
Would having the two single Monte Carlo bars be just as good as the solid one piece unit?
Cougar2, I welded 5/16 plate to the shock towers and shaped them to what I wanted them to look like, then ground the welds a little and smoothed them over with body filler. Same thing for the firewall bracket, but I used 5/16 angle and welded the entire perimeter to give it plenty of strength since it is only supported by sheetmetal. I think this setup is stronger than the factory setup since I made the bars adjustable. Once bolted in, I tighten them down a little to put some tension one everything and it keeps it locked in place real well. As long as the strut braces are sinched down and pushing against the shock towers, it would be stonger than the factory setup. If they are just bolted in without tension then they would be weaker, so they have to have a reverse thread rod end on one end.
