I gave my vin # 8R91F508454 in the master registry and got to thinking I really don’t know much about my car. Since it came to Canada, there isn’t any record to where the car came from except from the guy I got it from here in my town. He got the car from somebody that brought it up from California.
Im not sure of the body color, or door tag. I know it had an 8 inch rear end and a 302 2v that had been changed. The vin # on the motor showed that it was from 1970 but the heads and intake were stock. The car only has 33000K on it and clearly has not been over that for the condition the car is in. I could be wrong since I have never seen a California car before this. Even the “U” bolt threads were shiny under the nuts that held them in place for the rear end. When I got the car, it was already striped and epoxied. There are areas that look like Saxony yellow and other spots that are white, but that could be just faded. The top had a vinyl top on it, but I think it was added from the dealer or other since the trim that go’s around the vinyl at the back and top of the quarter were not factory. They were some kind of trim with a rubber trim that popped over that. The area where the door tag was, has been body filled over, which does not make sense since the rest of the car is rust free. It looks like the door tag was pried off and did damage to the area where the tag was, then the body fill over that. I mean it looks like a crowbar was used, a deep gouge/hole.
I don’t know how to get any other info from the car. since it is a standard cougar I have been converting it over to an XR7 and also converting it over to a tribute XR7-G much like Bills. I will be getting a Marty report, but Im sure he can’t do too much without a door tag. since Im not leaving it stock, I don’t think I need the big package since Im not keeping the car stock, changing it to a “G”, color change and 351C in place of the 302 2v. Wiring and all will be converted and have most of the “G” parts, still in the process of making/ fabricating a “Console”.
I guess the question is, how far would you go to find out the history of the car, or how much do you really think I can get from the vin alone and what marty package would you get?
The list of what I know about the car.
68 cougar
Ivy gold interior,
no console, just the chrome bezel
302 2v
8 inch rear I think was 300 gears
Saxony or white paint
hub caps
AC
power steering
standard brakes
4 wheel drums
no door tag
You don’t need a door tag to get all the info from a Marti report. In fact, they can tell you exactly what would have been on your door tag, and even make a door tag for you if I remember right. If you want to know all about how your car was originally built and left the factory, just go for the Marti report. It’s worth the money, if you want to know.
Oh and I didn’t get the most detailed Marti report and sometimes wish I had, and my car also had no door tag since it was removed when the car was resto-modded about 15 years.
Well it would be different from non-Cali DSO cars in that it would have come with the mandatory smog package, right? Other than that, probably nothing in particular?
California actually has two DSO’s Los Angeles and Oakland.
Technically your statement for smog would apply to the 1967 cars only. 1968 cars with manual transmissions or Holley carburetors all got the thermactor smog system in 1968, US - non-export cars only.
Hmmm, my 68 with manual trans didn’t have it…no mention of it on my window sticker, etc…was that a mid-year thing, or do I have a red-headed step child car?(No offense intended to any red headed step children that may read this.)
My 68 was a Cali DSO and there’s no mention of smog stuff on the Marti report. I don’t know if it came with it, stock, and it was removed by the previous owner when it was resto-modded 15 years ago or if it never came with it in the first place. Is there a way to tell?
Is your engine the original one? If so, is there an engine tag on there, perhaps held on by one of the bolts on top of the intake manifold. If you find one, post the info and someone will decode it for you. John
I’m having trouble putting in the link, but if you go to Marti’s website and after clicking on “Marti Rports”, scroll down to where it says “Report Upgrades” and you can upgrade for an additional fee. John
It’s cool that they do that. The thing holding me back is that it’s really freakin expensive. Lol. Other than the frame (which I couldn’t care less about) it doesn’t cost them any extra time or money to generate the more detailed report data. Still just a simple database query that is already pre-written. Hard to justify spending so much cash on some interesting trivia about my car. Tempting. But I can think of way better ways to dump $160 into my Cougar right now.
Doesn’t the Deluxe report give you everything except the framed documents, less the door tag?
I put in an order for the deluxe report and a door tag and rivets. I know my color of the car, rear end and interior is going to be completely different from the final product, but Just to have it would be nice. To bad you can’t make up your own to match the final product, but if we did this, it would be hard to know what is real.
No, deluxe doesn’t go into as much detail about how many other cars were ordered with the exact same options as yours, and it doesn’t have the window sticker info.
There is a way to build your own “Elite Report” at your own pace. 1st, if you buy the Deluxe Report, that’s $40. 2nd, depending what '68 model you have the Door Tag is either $25 for the regular one or $40 for the Special Performance Vehicle (ie:some of the XR7-G’s I believe). 3rd, the Personalized Stat sheet is $60. And 4th, the Window Sticker is either $55 or $40 from copy. John
I got my Marti Report and some things that I didn’t know about the car came out. I don’t know how to post it since it is a PDF and even photo bucket can’t upload it.
Anyway It says it has a tinted windshield and I don’t think the side windows are tinted. On Don’s site, WCCC says that if the car came with AC then it had tinted windows. since mine has a tinted windshield and no tint on the side windows, is this right?
Even on the Window sticker app that Bill made it gives you the choice of one or the other, not both. Couldn’t you get all tinted windows?
After 67 a Marti report will not show an emission system (maybe 72 H code cars for calif - classic Cougars) since they were not an option and standardized across the country.