My first Cougar (68 Std. 4 speed)

Finally got some pics up of my recently purchased cat. I completely forgot to take pics of the engine bay. Nothing special to see there anyway.

I miss my J Code… That looks like a nice example.

Nice J code 4 speed !

Nice car. But you need to fix those mirrors unless you’re going to use it as a tow vehicle. :poke:

J code 4 speed Augusta Green w/saddle interior -

That is a VERY nice combination, thanks for posting pics.

  • Phillip

Yeah, the mirrors are pretty much useless lol. Until I get the money to redo the paint and body, they’re probably staying put.

You have what every Cougar fan wants in his stable, solid CA car, best year, best color combo and all the right options! Very nice… Make sure you have it insured for about $20k, you could look long and hard before you found another just like it.

Oh wow, I was only planning on insuring for 11k

Thanks for the kind words and advice!

Nice '68.

You could sell it on ebay without much elbow grease for $15k right now, insurance replacement value at $20k based on how hard it would be to find one just like it the day you lose it.

Copy, Thank you.

Your Cougar looks great. As everyone else has stated it has a great color combo. I like the fact that it’s a J code, 4 speed and has factory AC.
Steven

Very nice! I’ve always wished mine was an original 4-speed car. Have fun with it!

“Fun” so far has been dumping a bunch of money just to get it running reliably lol. I definitely overpaid. Much more wrong with the car than i thought when i bought it. Its been fun, just a bigger expense than i had thought when i bought it

These car are not hard to work on, and even if you have never done automotive repair before they are a good place to learn. Before you drop cash on repairs post what you are doing and see if you can’t possibly do it yourself or save some money by getting good advice here. You have a car that lots of guys would very sincerely love to have… J code 4 speed disc brakes and AC is a super desirable combination.

What all have you had to do to it to get it running reliably? If it’s basic tune up and maintenance stuff, then a Factory Service Manual and a little bit of time will go a long way to saving you money. That and the fact that when you do the work yourself, you’ll find that you will take more care in doing it than a guy who is trying to make rate on a job.

Basic maint, had to track down tons of vacuum leaks, rebuilt the carb, ended up buying a Holley after that, the intake manifold had leaks near the heads so i had to re gasket that, installed a pertronix II and changed out the plug wires changed out the thermostat and put in a 3 row brass/copper rad, when doing that, i found out the passages in the engine were blocked with gunk and corrosion and that was a pain to clean, installed rebuild kit on the shifter, color-sanded and buffed the exterior, got new tires, and should be getting some steel styled wheels tomorrow. I still need to change out the strut rod bushings, along with rebuilding the steering control valve, and replacing some various bushings and tie rods. Seems like the rear is sagging too so im gonna have to get some leaf springs.

That’s quite a bit of work. Yeah, a gunked block can be a pain. I hope you do get to more of the “fun stuff”. Did you go with a relay kit for the ignition, or chase back to a full 12v source to power it? God, I hope I didn’t just open another can of worms on that one. Anyhow, just look at it this way: It’s been a lot of work, but you’ve also made a lot of progress. That’s a pretty big to do list you tackled.