My Dads 1967 Cougar that's been sitting for about 25 years (Photos Attached)

Phizzy · January 20, 2018, 6:05pm

I may be new to Cougars but I’ve been in love with my dads '67 and his stories about it since I can remember, and it’s been sitting in dirt and mud out back behind my grandpas barn for about 25 years on his property in the mountains east of Sacramento. The car was moved up there to leave it with my grandpa for storage in his barn, but he stored it in the back temporarily and passed away before he got the chance to move it.

That being said, I’m based in the SF Bay Area, so the property is a 3 hour drive away, and due to fallen trees, leaks, and storms, there’s nowhere to spend the night up there where you won’t freeze. My friend and I are trying to find out as much as we can before our next trip up in a couple weeks so we can be better prepared and get as much work done as we can. That’s where we were hoping that this community could help us with feedback on some of the questions we have and some of the situations that we’re dealing with, any information or feedback that you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Moving the car.
Right now, our main objective is to find a way to move the car backwards so we can push it into the barn and protect it from any further wear and tear or damage from sitting outside, but due to time, the weight of the car, the dirt, and the weather, the tires are flat and it’s sunken into the ground a small bit over the years, pinning down and burying the bumpers which were left underneath the car. Luckily the last time we were up there we dug out the tires a little bit, jacked the car up, and managed to free the bumpers, so we won’t have to worry about damaging them moving the car. The brakes are locked though and I doubt that any of the tires can hold air anymore, not to mention it’s sunk down to the point where its extremely difficult to get a car jack underneath in a position where it won’t damage anything, last time it started to bend a small lip of steel that goes around underneath the car.
Integrity of the engine.
According to my dad, the car is a '67 cougar but it was manufactured before October of '66 meaning that instead of a '67 cougar engine, it instead has a '66 mustang engine, which he rebuilt not too long before they moved it up there. What sort of issues should I be concerned about with the engine? Also the car was non-opped and I know that, at least in California, cars before '75 are exempt from being smogged, but are smog devices still required to be functional in order to re-register the car?
Body integrity.
One of my biggest fears about the car is the chance that there could be rust damage to the body, but if that ends up being the case is it at least fixable? If so, would it be possible to get a rough estimate on what that could cost? Also the back passenger side quarter panel is very clearly covered in Bondo because of an old accident, when I eventually get the car re painted will it cover up the bondo or will it always be visible?

Again, any feedback or information you can give us would be greatly appreciated, it kills me knowing that the car is just sitting up there and I at least want to get it out of the elements as soon as possible. My friend took some photos of very vital sections of the car (i.e. the motor, hood, tires, quarter panel, etc), which I plan to attach to this thread as soon as he sends them to me so you can actually see the car and the situation it’s in, but until then I’ll do my best to answer any questions and I hope to be able come back with updates about the cougars situation in the future, thanks!

UPDATE: Thanks for all the replies! I’ve Attached the photos that we took the last time we went up there but we plan on heading back up in about a week or two, so we’ll take more (and better) photos this time.

pellets4fuel · January 20, 2018, 7:08pm

Hey Phizzy welcome aboard. You have come to a great resource for Cougars! Read your story. I hope you have something to save there. It obviously has sentimental value, and that can’t be bought, although sometimes needs to be let go. I recall a 1964 GMC that my dad and I fixed as a kid. He sold it to someone, and it sat in a cow pasture for years and I went and bought it back. Shouldn’t have as it was too much of a project at that point.
Anyway…get the photos up when you can, so we can all see what you got. One piece of advice…you mention bending a small lip of steel under the car. I am only guessing, but if you try to jack on the pinch seam where the rockers meet the floor pans with just a plain hydraulic jack that’s going to happen. The lip will just roll. Make a hardwood block a good couple inches long with a saw kerf down the middle of it about the depth of that lip, or get the right scissors jack for cougars that has this similar notch in it, and jack at the notched portions of that lip (should be a couple of them) one in front of the rear wheel, and one behind the front wheel. If that scissors jack is still in the car and functional use it, they collapse down to just a few inches (lot less than hydraulic jack) and when placed right don’t damage rocker area. Not to many places you can jack on the body of those cars.

Leroy_R · January 20, 2018, 11:04pm

#1 is your first concern. After you get it in the barn, if you can get it in the barn then you can worry about the other 2. If you can’t get air in the tires and get the wheels turning, you are going to have a nearly impossible time moving the car at all let alone into the barn. If the tires will hold air, then you only need them to hold long enough to roll it into the barn. If the quarter only has bondo in it, it’s possible a good bodyman could do a better job of repairing it. If the damage is too extensive a good bodyman could cut out the old quarter and weld in a good one. I think your biggest concern is going to be rust damage to the subframe and rockers as it sounds like it has been sitting close to or on wet ground for a long time. Once you get it in the barn, you might want to jack it up enough to get the tires off the ground and put blocks under the axle and some sturdy frame section until you can get some new tires. I wouldn’t do much if any crawling around under there while it is blocked up though as it may not be stable and we’d hate for the car to tip off the blocking and fall on you.

fordnutz · January 21, 2018, 3:40am

Depending on how much room you have you could use a winch or tow strap and drag the cat into the barn with a truck, or some other equipment. Once you have it in the barn, get the car on a solid surface (concrete, pavement, or some solid sheets of plywood) so the car will not sink again. Jack the car up and secure it onto jack stands. Once you have done that, then you can start to figure out what is going on with the car. Hopefully you can get a hose and clean all the mud away so you can examine the undercarriage and floor boards for damage, especially rust. If the car is really rusty, you may want to look for a cleaner example. If it is one of the rare or very desirable models, rust may be something that can be overlooked to a certain point.
If it is a 67 model year and built before January 67, then it will certainly have parts with part numbers pointing to build dates in 1966.
Good luck with your project.

fastmerc · January 23, 2018, 1:19am

Phizzy,

Good info here from the gang! Great car if it hasn’t succumbed to the tin worms!!! Anything can be fixed…depends on how deep your wallet is!!! …and your fortitude for a major project…

Shopping list for you:
4 spare tires- see below
Floor jack or LARGE bottle jack
A good number of 4x4x16-18" blocks to support the car…
BIG hammer
Hand tools
Brake adjuster tool

Some suggestions: Since you are in the Bay Area…if you have the time, hit the self serve wreckers (Newark, or Fairfield. Sac’to, or San Jose) and pick up 4 spare tires from 98+ Crown Vic’s, Grand Marquis, or TOWN CAR’s. These will be 16" steel wheels most likely, 4.5" wide, with a T145 sized tire of some sort. Price is about $10 per wheel and tire for spares!!! It’s either this, or deal with needing to potentially replace rotted and such tires which will not hold air…while in the midst of trying to move the car. The more advance work you can do…the better! Four wheels for $40-ish is a good deal.

Lifting the car…TOTAL PITA when they’ve sunk! Best bet might be to dig a hole in the front of the car to get a floor jack (or huge bottle jack) under the front frame section just behind the front valance. Lift the car, support with 4x4 pieces. Put 4x4 in hole under jack…lift car some more…SAFELY repeat this until front wheels are off the ground. Replace funky tires… Make sure car is BLOCKED UP so that it will not fall on you! Do not try and use jack stands in the dirt…

If this is a disc brake car, you may be able to tap on the calipers to pop them loose from the rotors…if not, consider removing the two large caliper mounting bolts and prying/tapping on the caliper to unfreeze it from the rotor. Cut the rubber hoses (I doubt that they are safe or good after 25 years and should be replaced!) and put the calipers in the trunk! Front wheel should now rotate…

IF THEY ARE DRUMS, use your BIG hammer and rap on the drum outer edge front (of car) of drum, rear (of car) of drum. This will be difficult as there won’t be much clearance to get to the rear of the drum as the wheel well can get in the way! If this works, great! If not, you will likely need to remove the little rubber plug on the backing plate and using the brake cylinder adjusting tool, you need to back off the self adjuster mechanism for the brake shoes. More malletizing with the big hammer may be needed along with trying to rotate the drum by putting the wheel back on and trying to use the leverage of the larger wheel to turn… Repeat for other side…

Once you have the front off the ground and on good tires, now it’s time to hit the rears!!!

Again, dig a hole for your jack under the car just in front of the rear wheel well opening. You are going to try and get to the rear frame rail to lift the rear of the car (one side at a time). Raise car, add 4" blocks. Again, safely please! Go to other side of car, repeat… Once you get the car up fairly level and can work on the rear brakes, lift, remove one wheel, release parking brake and trans in neutral…and get your hammer out…alternate between front and rear of rotor (not front and back!) and see if you can get any movement… if not…get your brake adjusting wrench out and see if you can back off the self adjusters… to get the wheels to move.

If none of this works, get a tractor and drag the danged thing out of the mud…into the barn…wouldn’t be the first car to have been done this way…

Can you spin the motor over by any chance… ? IF car was stored without an air cleaner…chances are slim. With an air cleaner…chances are still slim. If it doesn’t budge using a 15/16" socket and breaker bar on the crank shaft balancer nut, you can try pulling the plugs and squirting ATF down in the bores and letting it sit for a while…hopefully the ATF will have some magical effect on the now bonded rings and cylinder walls. Evap-O-Rust would be a good option…fill cylinders with 1-2 cups each and put plugs back in…let sit for a couple of days, pull plugs and try to turn it over. AT this point you might try a new battery and see if you can shock it loose with the starter. If it is a manual trans car, you can put it in final gear (3rd or 4th depending) and try pulling it with the tractor…
Body work is body work…see what you have left of floor pans when you get it out of the dirt! Go from there… Bondo is only as good as the guy putting it on…sometimes fantastic? Other times…much less than… Your mileage may vary!

Good luck!!!
Steve

69XRRR7 · January 24, 2018, 2:44am

Phizzy,
Welcome to the forum. This sounds like a chore, but a fun chore. If I was still in the San Jose area, I would offer my help. I, like many others on here, am dying to see the pictures. I am also intrigued by this whole project. Do you have the VIN number and door tag info? I am anxious to hear more about this endeavor and I wish you good luck, keep us all informed. Let’s hope the car is still in good shape. Please be careful!!

69XRRR7 · January 24, 2018, 2:54am

I forgot to mention…I wish, wish, wish I had my Dads old '67 XR7 DGS that we had. LOVED that car!!!

Sir_Ed · January 24, 2018, 4:58am

If it’s a base 67 what’s it worth to restore?

How far off of I80 is it?

I go up the hill at least once a month.

I won’t have much time to spend on it. But an eyeball and pics from point of view could help on the board here.

Phizzy · January 29, 2018, 12:03pm

Thanks for the interest! I just uploaded what pictures we took but as I mentioned we definitely plan on taking more the next time we go up. I don’t have the VIN or the door tag info written down (I’ll be sure to write it down next time) but my dad said he’s checked it out, and based on his memory from the 80’s it was “manufactured on a Thursday in… July of '66 I think? It was sometime before October of '66, and its production number was around 3,000 if I remember”. If you want a bit of backstory on the car, my grandpa bought it for $1,000 through a friend at a police auction in the summer of 1981, when my dad was only 17, because no one had claimed the car from impound after being stolen in San Mateo. My dad continued to drive the car daily up until 1989, through one parking lot T-bone accident in about '87 which only damaged the very front-center of the car, and a telephone pole in ‘82 which caused the damage to the quarter panel that I mentioned, which he had to cut off of a (what he said was limited edition, and blue) 1968 cougar. He also rebuilt (and re-bored) the engine before he brought it up to my grandpas and said it should be under 30,000 miles. I know that the car’s been sitting for a long time and that there are definitely things to be replaced and fixed, but honestly the most important thing to me is that there’s a chance the ol’ cat can still be brought back to life.