October 2011 Ride of the Month: The Local Hero

[Local_Hero]

EDIT: Congratulations to Mark and The Local Hero for becoming the very first Ride of the Month!

(To kick off the Ride of the Month this thread has been moved here. Thanks Mark, for the great write up.)

How many cars are still owned by the family of the original purchaser?

How many guys still own their first car?

The answer to both questions is not many. This is the story of one of those cars, and how it has changed over the years. Enjoy!

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The Local Hero

Many here know a bit about my history with my car. But I don’t think I ever posted a full inclusive history of my life with this thing. I’m going to try to do that here.

My grandfather bought the car new. He needed a car, ANY car to take himself and my grandmother cross-country from Ohio to visit my uncle in Idaho. The only prerequisite was that it had to have AC. He walked into the dealership and saw the glacier blue 68 XR-7 and immediately unrolled the cash for it. Rumor has it, he didn’t even test drive it first.

Whenever he would go on road trips, he would always stash money in the car somewhere in the event he got robbed and still needed to make it home. He drove the car as a daily driver for 10 years through all the worst weather Cleveland, Ohio can offer. In 1978 he purchased the Cougar’s replacement via a 78 Mercury Zephyr Wagon. My grandmother insisted that he get rid of the cat. But dad had other ideas. He persuaded grandpa to hang onto the car, parking it in the other half of his garage until I was old enough to start working on it. I was 12 at the time.

Now this was no cream puff at this point. Every body panel had some sort of damage, the interior was filthy because he would haul his german shepherd around with him everywhere and the heater core was blown. But it only had 52,000 miles on the 302 and surprisingly next to zero rust. Dad had the foresight to order NOS pieces that we would need at that time. A new driver’s rear quarter and corner cap, rear bumper, turn signal and back-up light buckets and all four wheel lip molding were brought home and stashed.

Dad wasn’t the greatest picture taker at the time. He still isn’t. But the worst damage, the driver’s quarter is not shown.

[Local_Hero]

When I turned 15 we started tearing into it in our two-car garage at home. The first plan was to just restore it. But I wanted a “Hot Rod” and dad is an old school “custom” guy. We ended up meeting somewhere in the middle. We never used any of the trim pieces dad purchased earlier, only the rear bumper, quarter panel and corner cap. The rest of the pieces were sold to a family friend for a grand total of $50!!! Yes, INCLUDING the NOS wheel lip moldings still in the wrappers.

While tearing it apart I found an envelope with $300 cash in it. My grandpa would come over regularly and sit in a lawn chair and watch our progress. When I showed him my discovery, he let me keep the cash toward the project.

Dad wouldn’t let me do anything to the motor figuring I would get in enough trouble with the law just looking like it did anyway. So the 302-2V was left alone except for a clean up and new timing chain, the C4 was rebuilt, and we made up a "custom dual exhaust system using pieces from three different stock systems. Glass packs were the order of the day as well as Cragar SS wheels, Lakewood chrome traction bars and air shocks. We converted the front drum brakes to power discs with junkyard spindles and calipers.

On the body, all the emblems were shaved, Cyclone mirrors were added on custom mounts on the doors, a fiberglass front spoiler from JC Whitney was cut apart and molded in, and a rear spoiler from a Mustang was used because it had shorter stands and was cheaper than an authentic Eliminator one. The side marker lights and reflectors were shaved as well as the back-up lights and turn signals. The hood that generates the most questions started life as a fiberglass Camaro cowl induction piece that was modified to blend better off the Cougar nose. Last to be done was flaring the rear quarters since the Cragar SS wheels stuck out too far. Back then I had no idea about backspacing or wheel offsets.

When it came time to paint, dad was already an accomplished bodyman. But he had never painted. He shot the car with GM (gasp) Hugger Orange Laquer with a clearcoat as his first attempt right in our house garage. The interior was in good enough shape that we just cleaned it up and reinstalled everything. I did upgrade the stereo and swapped to a different steering wheel.

All of this was accomplished over a 14 month period and was completed during the summer of 1982, just in time for me to drive it to high school for my Junior year. Unfortunately, Grandpa passed away before we were able to get it all done and back on the road. And for this reason alone, it will never be for sale.

The car served basically as my daily driver through two years of high school and all four years commuting to college except in the winter when it got parked and cleaned. Two of those winters I towed it to indoor ISCA World of Wheels shows where it placed both times with a 2nd in class the first time and a 1st in class the other. It was responsible for my first speeding ticket and also my first escort to the local police station only to get released back to my parents. LOL! Other firsts are best left unsaid other than I got to know how much room was in the back seat.

[Local_Hero]

By 1989, I was done with college and making some money but still living at home. Dad had built a 2700 sq. ft. shop at home since the previous build. The 302 was REALLY getting tired, the C4 developed a terminal leak due to a cracked case, and many of the suspension components that were never replaced were in dire need of attention. It’s last outing was to the dragstrip when it clocked a “blazing” 17.1 at 80 MPH. It didn’t even get into 3rd gear on it’s own.

So I tore it completely apart. All the suspension came off, motor and trans came out and the interior was gutted. Basically I planned to upgrade almost everything EXCEPT the paint.

I gave away the motor, trans and rearend to make room in the garage. I had just started ordering parts…

… when I lost my job when the company I worked for was sold and later closed. I was out of work for a year, and then it took me another year to recover and get back on my feet.

The car sat in the corner of the shop. I think at one point 18 months went by and I didn’t even lift the cover. I was secretly hoping that the shop would burn down so I could collect the insurance money and then go and buy another car.

Then I got going on it again. My daily driver at the time was a 74 Torino Elite that I just wadded up in an ice storm. I bought a parts car to fix it that had a 351W and a small-block C6 bolted to it. I planned to rebuild THAT engine and trans and I found a 69 9" rear drum to drum for $100. I rebuilt all the suspension while also swapping to a 78 Toyota integral power steering box. That was a by-chance discovery while cruising through my local junkyard one day. Gone were the air shocks and load-leveler coil sprung front shocks too.

I added Competition Engineering subframe connectors and ladder bars. I had a 4:11 ring and pinon set-up for the rear and had the trans rebuilt. Then after running some numbers and comparing them to the latest crate engines to come out of Ford, I decided to go with the crate 351W. I retained the reverse water pump and configured a serpentine belt system based on an 88 T-Bird. Hedman Headers fed first generation 3 chamber Flowmasters and the whole package rolled on Billet Specialties Manta Ray directional wheels which were considered the “cat’s ass” at that time in the Street Rod world.

I got it back on the road in early 1994 and the 4:11 gears were quickly gone in favor of 3:50s. LOL! Much better for the road. In this configuration, it rolled on two Power Tours. It’s been all over the eastern half of the United States. I drove it from Cleveland, straight to Boston (750 miles) only stopping for gas. I also drove it from Cleveland to Springfield, Illinois through hurricane like weather, again only stopping for gas. It’s been to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the GoodGuys show there twice and even burried the speedometer on the backstretch during their annual track “cruise.” It was photographed as the feature car in the Summit Racing Catalog and also for another feature in Super Ford that went under and then eventually appeared in the “old” Mustangs and Fords.

[Local_Hero]

The car rode in this configuration from 1994 until 2001. My "plan"was really just to sort all of the "mechanical gremlins"out of it and then repaint it within a year or two. That didn’t happen. I bought my own house in 1996 and then got married in 2000. I told my wife that “the only thing I didn’t accomplish beforehand, was to go through the car again and repaint it.” By then dad’s laquer paint job was 20 years old. God love her and so do I. She was in agreement and for the most part very supportive.

In the Fall of 2001 we took it to the dragstrip again. This time it ran a little better at a 14 flat and right at 100 mph. My wife even put it through its paces while at the track… her first time EVER at a dragstrip. Then I took it back to dad’s shop and ripped it completely a part. Motor, trans and interior all came back out.

Most of the 1981 bodywork had held up very well. But I wanted to shave the door handles this time. Also the glass hood scoop was starting to separate from the steel hood. Dad hammered a piece of steel over the glass scoop to get the rough basic shape, then I cut off the glass scoop and he remade it out of steel. We also molded in the corner caps, removed the radio antenna, and I was really on the fence about the bulky sideview mirrors once the rest of the side was smoothed off. Those got the heave-ho as well and I installed a larger interior rearview mirror.

When it came time to pick the paint, I wanted to stick with orange since it’s become the car’s signature color. But I wanted to change it up a bit. I saw House of Kolor’s Tangelo Orange Pearl on a 41 Willys at the Street Rod Nationals that blew me away. I knew that would look good but I was also considering Mercedes silver as recently as the drive to the paint store to buy the materials. HOK won out when I learned that the pearl was already mixed with the color and it wasn’t a three-step system…

… because… when it came time to shoot the paint, dad told me: “This last paint job lasted 20 years. 20 years from now, I’m not going to be around anymore. LOL! So you better learn how to do it yourself NOW!” So that was how this paint job became my first.

When I did the engine swap in 1994, I never reconfigured the AC system. It wasn’t working all that great either. So I popped for a full blown Vintage Air Generation II AC, Heat and Defrost system and installed that as I went along. All of the interior sound and heat barier products were upgraded with space age components from Insulshield Technology. I liked the look of the white faced gauges on the Mercury Marauder and found a kit to convert mine. That was cool but didn’t look right against the woodgrain dash, so that got stripped and painted too. I upgraded to a CD and Ipod head unit on the stereo with two amps and six speakers. All of the weatherstripping and seals were replaced as well.

The wheels and tires took a ton of careful measuring and ended up being 17X7 in the front and 18X10 in the rear. I chose American Racing TTIIs because they’ll have a lot of staying power and won’t look outdated as quickly as the directional wheels did. I could also order them in pretty much any backspacing I wanted.

However, in order to allow the 295 series rear tires to clear, without “jacking” the rear back up permanently, dad and I have gotten a lot of experience with Air-Ride systems over the years and went ahead with one on this. It currently only controls the rear, but I can easily convert to Shockwaves for the front while retaining much of the system I already have. Oh and the ladder bars went into the scrap metal bin but the subframe connectors stayed.

As the re-assemby process was in full swing, we learned that Jr. was on his way so NOW I even had a deadline. So after 18 months of weekends commuting back and forth 30 minutes each way from my house to dad’s place I got the car done in June of 2003… 4 weeks before Jr. was born, and 8 weeks before we moved into our current house.

Yes, I didn’t mention that throughout this last rebuild, we were also house shopping. I told my wife that if we could survive that summer, we could survive ANYTHING!!

In the last 8 years or so, it’s been mostly family life. So I haven’t been able to venture out too far. We also now have a 2nd boy who is currently 5. They both love riding in the car. With the climate control system and all the insulation, it’s comfortable enough that they can easily fall asleep on a medium length jaunt. We’ve also built a 1200 sq. ft. shop at our house and then I even recently finished the restoration of a 75 Olds Delta 88 Vert for my wife. The car is an almost twin of what she drove in high school.

Still the Hero gets out and about. In this configuration it was featured in a magazine put out by Photo Trader called Kustoms and Hot Rods, and more recently in the May 2009 issue of Modified Mustangs and Fords.

It truely is a part of me and our family. Whenever the car gets accolades for something, dad always tells me that “Grandpa would be proud of what you’ve done with his car.” Thanks for reading my novel. LOL!

[Local_Hero]

A few more…

[Local_Hero]

Some statistics:

Including some original stuff, the car is on it’s

3rd paint job
4th set of wheels and tires
2nd engine
2nd trans (although I have an AOD to swap in someday)
2nd rear end
3rd steering wheel
3rd shifter
4th set of pedals
4th stereo system
3rd exhaust system

and LOL… 2nd set of wiper blades.

The vinyl top is still the original, and so are the door panels, headliner and back seat. The front seats were recovered and the carpet was replaced once. All glass is original except the rear quarter glass. The door glass and front and rear windshields have NEVER been out. Wing windows have.

[1967_S_Code]

Great story and photos. Great car also. My first Cougar was also my Grandfathers. I wish I still had it. I found the plates for it when I went home to Florida to attend my Moms funeral. The plate was hanging in the garage where I hung it. Hindsight is 20-20 even though the car was in rough shape when the engine gave up I wish I had kept it. Thanks for sharing your story here.
Steven

[MercuryDon]

Certainly a labor of love !

[johnboy]

now THAT is quite a story. Very nice read, and, of course, a great car!

Thanks for sharing.

Jean

[mo2872]

When I hit the progressive jackpot in Vegas this week, you’ll re-think that “never be for sale” line…The Hero would be a nice daily driver, whereas The Allowance is more of a show car……

[Local_Hero]

Does anybody remember being back in school and there was always that “one guy”…? You know the guy…the one who ALWAYS had something to say because he liked to hear himself talk… and it was usually not a very nice thing to say…



…just seeing if you remember…

[xr7g428]

I had heard bits and pieces of the story before; thanks for putting that all together. What a great story. I hope that you do keep it forever. I also like the fact that it has morphed into different forms over the years. What would you change next, given the time and money to do so.

[mo2872]

@Local Hero

Does anybody remember being back in school and there was always that “one guy”…? You know the guy…the one who ALWAYS had something to say because he liked to hear himself talk… and it was usually not a very nice thing to say…



…just seeing if you remember…

Yeah, I know that guy…he’s busy on another site, collecting awards. LMAO

[mo2872]

@xr7g428

I had heard bits and pieces of the story before; thanks for putting that all together. What a great story. I hope that you do keep it forever. I also like the fact that it has morphed into different forms over the years. What would you change next, given the time and money to do so.

He’d make a Cou-chero out of it.

[Local_Hero]

@xr7g428

What would you change next, given the time and money to do so.

Thanks everybody for the nice words.

I think my next mod would be to get that AOD set up and going. I’ve had the core in my possession for about 7 years or more. But like I mentioned earlier, I’ve been involved with other things. Plus, it’s not the cheapest mod and it would require the car to be down for a bit while I do that. Even though the car is parked for the winter, the Mrs. has a list of house improvements that I need to tend to every winter. So I don’t touch the car during that time.

I think following the AOD, I’d like to add a set of those Cal-Tracks bars. With the air-ride on the rear, I get a good deal of wheel-hop on a hard launch. I rarely launch it hard. But it would be nice to lose the hop.

At some point I’m going to upgrade the brakes to bigger rotors on the front and probably discs on the rear. Dad gives me grief about not needing discs on the rear. So that is something I’m not in a hurry for. Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it.

On the front I’d add the shockwaves as part of the air-ride system and be able to control all four corners.

Oh and my vacuum headlight motors have been working fine. But I know they’re not going to work forever. Eventually I’ll upgrade to the electric motors. I’m kind of waiting on whatever Rocketman comes up with for that when he gets around to it.

Those things would be on the short list.

Looking ahead to the next rebuild, figuring around that time one of the boys might be taking the car over, I’d probably paint it again the same color. I’ve gotten more comments on the color that it is now than anything else. The last time around I even toyed with losing the vinyl top even though it’s in mint condition considering its age. But years ago when Crazy-Cat asked me for the color code and then did his whole car in the orange, I felt like it was too much. So with that said, I might yank the vinyl top and do a two-tone treatment with the hood, roof and trunk black.

On the interior, the chrome on the gauge cluster really needs to be redone. I think I would also update all the gauges to aftermarket at that point. But who knows … The boys will weight in on what they want by that point.

My 5 year old wants me to paint flames on it NOW! LOL!

[mo2872]

I thought you’d changed your mind to making it have three pedals, instead of that AOD…??

Two tone…:y:…I’d second that paint scheme!

Discs on the back…sometimes it’s not about “need”, sometimes it’s just about WANT…plus, the Crown Vic swap actually ended up cheaper than new drums back there, anyway…:y:

[Local_Hero]

3 pedals… add that to a want vs. need list as well.

If I did discs on the rear, it would likely be something like Baer or Wilwood or SSBC. It wouldn’t be a factory retrofit this time around.

[mo2872]

Well, in that case, I highly recommend a 6 speed, and, oh, might as well go Baer…LOL, I can spend your money EASY!!!

BTW, I don’t think I’d ever seen the di-rectionals picture before…STYLIN’!!!

[xr7g428]

All good mods… I like the idea of the two tone. I wonder if that will look dated in a few years? You can always paint it again.

If the boys are going to do much learning to drive in the car you might want to keep thinking automatic for a while…

[Local_Hero]

@mo2872

BTW, I don’t think I’d ever seen the di-rectionals picture before…STYLIN’!!!

Those wheels have been rolling on my '77 Grand Prix daily driver since I got that car. It turns out that I think they actually look better on THAT car.


You’re always the bearer of good advice Bill. I agree on the keeping it auto for their sake. But I also have other stuff that they can learn to drive on like my 88 T-Bird with an auto. My Father in Law is also supposed to be passing down his 54 F250 project to them as well. That’s a stick with “creeper gear.” They can learn double foot action on that. LOL!