Driving back from boy scout camp with my son, a couple other scouts, and a week’s worth of camping gear somehow packed into my 68, I got to thinking back on the many miles my faithful cat has traversed since 2004-- 83,000 and counting. In addition to daily commutes through wind, rain, ice storms and snow, she’s taken me to Kansas to dance with my daughter on Valentines Day. She rode a ferry to Madeline Island so my wife and I could have an anniversary weekend. She’s been from one end of Wisconsin to the other countless times chasing after parts (did you know that an AOD can fit into the trunk of a 68?) She’s been in parades, car shows, and sat sadly in airport parking lots. She’s hauled groceries, lumber, pets and babies. An accident in 2015 took her off the road for about three or four months, but other than than, she’s been in nearly continuous daily use since 2004. Not sure I would have done that with any other vintage car. I think it’s a testament to the foresight that the designers had back in 68 that their creation would still be stylish and functional 50 years later.
Jody, you 'da man!!!
That’s awesome… I can vividly recall the day I bought that car outside Seattle in 2004. Lin, Neal and I had traveled together with a truck and trailer from Oregon to buy 3 Cougars, Lin trailered the non-runner and I drew the short straw and got the car that was iffy on whether it would make the 4 hr trip back to OR. No problem!
As I recall, it was well after dark when we were heading back too. Not the best time of day for a first long trip in a unknown car.
I chickened out and stayed at a motel, you guys motored on.
Great story, Yorgle. Just picked up my '68 XR7 in June and have plans to put a couple thousand miles per year on her creating some of those same kinda memories. The comments that followed your post reminded me of my first trip in the car after buying at the Mecum auction in Portland. She started and drove okay so I figured it’d be up for the 150 mile trip back to the Seattle area before shipping home to Virginia. My son and I rolled the dice not knowing the history of the car and made it to within 15 miles of our destination before overheating. It was a great first trip with a couple of "thumbs up"s on the way up the interstate. Looking forward to a long and eventful ride over the next few decades with this new addition to our family.
Jody that is quiet impressive. Especially that you drive in the Wisconsin winters. Add some photos of those trips and daily commutes. You know how we like photos.
Steven
Yorgle you probably do more miles than most in their classic cars. What to you has been the best investments you’ve made in the car to keep it enjoyable as a daily driver?
Yorgle’s top 10 recommendations for an enjoyable daily driver classic Cougar:
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Start with a solid car. Daily driver use is brutal and the car is going to start rusting soon enough. It’s a lot easier to deal with new rust than old rust.
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Solid state electronics, like ELFI and Pertronix. 'nuf said. Avoid the repop ignition products (regulators, solenoids, etc.-- they look good but don’t last).
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Skip the performance tires and go for whatever the local grey-beards are running on their Town Cars and Grand Marquis. Think Michelin and Tiger Paws, here. Quiet rollers keep things smooth and comfortable.
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Tell the NAPA guy to put the Flowmaster catalog away. You’re not after noise. Tell the parts guy you want “old man” mufflers.
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Comfy seats. I wasn’t in the mood to drop thousands on repop leather for seats that were uncomfortable to begin with, so I retrofitted Jaguar seats into my 68. Heated seats are a bonus.
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Halogens with Rocketman’s relay kit for the headlights.
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Engine bling. I get asked to pop the hood at just about every gas stop so it’s worth it to have something to show folks. In my case, I get much ooh and ahh from the 3 carbs, oval air cleaner and finned rocker covers.
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Rear anti-sway bar. Adding this to my 68 made a HUGE improvement in ride stability.
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Overdrive. Whether you get it from an AOD, T-5 or GearVendors add-on, keeping RPM’s below 2500 at speed is an absolute must. Even if you can stand the noise churning away at 3500RPM on the interstate, you soon won’t be able to afford it.
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Invest the extra few minutes of time and spare change to keep all the little stuff working. Nothing kills the fun of driving more than an annoying squeak or rattle in the suspension, leaky weatherstrip, or a gauge or light that just sits there, dead on the dashboard. Cars with smoothly operating door locks and working clocks just seem to start better and run smoother.
A few bonus tips:
Keep in mind that working on these old cars is fun in itself, so the extra bit of maintenance required to keep a driver reliable isn’t really work. I usually schedule two or three “car spa” weekends per year to take care of maintenance stuff like oil changes, tune-ups, suspension lube, etc. At least once each fall I spend an hour or so underneath with a wire brush, some goggles and can of chassis black and deal with any emerging rust.
Take care of any body issues the instant they appear-- don’t fall into the trap of waiting until the next total repaint. By then, those small issues will have become major body work.
Keep the shiny side of the car clean, but leave the underside a greasy mess. Nothing preserves metal quite like good old grease and grime. Trust me, all that time spent on cleaning and painting control arms and springs is time wasted-- they will be a rusty mess after a single winter in Wisconsin. But if you leave those same parts coated with grease, come spring, you’ll still have shiny metal underneath.
The sun is your enemy, even more so than snow. Keep your dash covered as much as possible.
Remember that to have an enjoyable driver you have to actually drive it, which means you are NOT going to be restoring it. As soon as you go down the restoration path, you’re daily driving days are numbered. Avoid reading through build threads like ECI Bob and Steven’s convertible conversion. They will just depress you because there’s no way you are going to do anything near that level of quality and still be able to drive your cat to work the next morning. Learn to live with “that’ll do it” and “good enough.”
Most importantly, remember that your wife’s van is NOT your backup vehicle. Anything you do to your car MUST be finished by morning!
Very good points there. We gray beards might know a thing or two… LOL!
That was a very good read!
Good write up. We call our “car spa’s” driveway parties.
Very well said indeed.
Absolutely correct on mufflers too. I had Borla’s on mine at first and hated how loud they were in the cockpit. I cut them off and went with Walker’s which is what was OEM and still is for the Mustangs. I used their Turbo version which still has a rumble but no bad interior loudness or drone.
You might consider a Ford Duraspark distributor and electronic ignition conversion sold by performance distributors. Works great plus they tuned it to my engine specs. Bonus is if any of the components fail you can get a make due replacement at any parts store.
I don’t drive mine everyday, but I drive an hour one way to work in her about every other week and a lot of driving on the weekends. I love every minute of it too!
Jody great points. I laughed at a couple of things as I read through the list. My convertible conversion started off probably in a worse place than yours did, so thanks for the kind words about my quality. “That’ll do”, “good enough” and “be finished by morning” were car phrases that I lived by when I was in High School and a newlywed. Boy how time changes things. 
Hats off to you because you really have a quality build and for most of us you’re living the dream of a daily driver. 
Steven
LOL on my resto thread - but I do drive Isabel quite regularly (choosing my days of course). She has about 10,000 miles on her since the resto completion in 2011. Not a daily driver by any means but not a trailer queen either!
Love your top ten (and bonus tips too) Jody, thanks!
But how much grease and oil is to much?
I need to replace the valve cover gaskets and oil pan gaskets as well on mine. There is to much crud and oil built up in the engine bay Its a fire waiting to happen!