It’s ALIVE! ‘68 XR7 4 speed is back on the road

In between rebuilding fuel senders and developing new Cougar reproduction parts I have been rebuilding this Cougar

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It arrived minus the drive line, and in about 20 cartons. It had been parked for decades and then disassembled by the previous owner. He was unable to complete it.

It had many problems and ended up taking far longer than I expected. But it runs very strong with Sniper EFI and Edelbrock E street aluminum heads.

Still not fully broken in but I have been able to drive it and put it through the gears.

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Well how about some details? 289, 390? What is the actual color? Is it just faded white, or super light blue? Does it have a locker in it? What rear gear? And, since I am still planning my 67 ‘fake’, what trans does it have? The top loader, or theT10? Does it have a round shift lever with the reverse lock out, or is it a flat Hurst? I don’t know which transmission would have been more accurate as an option for my 67.

Looking good!

Dang I really need to get my sniper system on too!

And, are those 15 inch wheels?

It started out as a 302 C code (2V). The engine was rebuilt by a local Chevy shop and they did not know about rail style rocker arms and used the wrong short stem valves with rail rockers. That did not work. The heads were cut for the valves so it was a real dilemma. The cam was also way to big for this engine. SO I ended up going with a new cam lifters heads and intake. I decided to switch to 289 HiPo exhaust manifolds that required a different Z bar and H pipe. The Sniper seemed like a better idea than a carb.

The original color was Springtime Yellow, a pale yellow. At some time in the past it was changed poorly to Wimbledon White and it is heavily oxidized and generally failing.

Open rear axle I think it is a 3.0. Transmission is a top loader that has also been rebuilt. I rebuilt the factory shifter. It has the round reverse lock out that you have to pull up to get it into reverse. All but very early '67s got the top loader.

These are 15" wheels with chrome rims, no trim rings.

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The audio is not great but here it is running.

'68 XR7 Running

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Very nice! its always great to see another one back on the road!

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Engine sounds NICE! Love to hear that throaty roar when the throttle opens up. What exhaust do you have on it?

289 HiPo exhaust manifolds and h pipe. Then 2” duals with turbo mufflers. Street sweeper turn downs on the end. Sounds great but may be a little loud.

Lol, I’ve also realized that as much as I love that sound, I like being able to hear the passengers while driving it even more.