Padded interior parts

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Maintenance Restoration and Repair
1

My 68 base model was built in December of 1967… it has the A pillar padded trim and the padded knee pad across the dash board. On WCCCs website they state none of the base models came with the padded A pillars, only painted metal… researching it, im finding thats not the case… apparently the early 68s that were built prior to around February could have had the pads… they were phased out… same as the mustang (lots more info on the mustang out there) due to strikes and cost cutting, etc… and not the same from plant to plant. Marti doesnt show anything about it being optional on my car’s report, so I am led to believe it was produced that way due to production date… (of course, Martis report also states my car was a manual steering car when its a power steering car… so theres that)

So…I just wonder, how many of us here have the padded A pillars and knee pads on the front of the dash? I like the look of them without it, but add a little more uniqueness with them there… AND there’s the damn holes to deal with if you try to omit them.

2

There were two rounds of de-contenting some models of the '68 Cougar. The first round occurred on January 1st 1968. The Knee Pad went away and shoulder belts were added. Then later in the year several other items were deleted to reduce the cost of manufacturing to make up for some of the additional cost of the strike settlement. There was also the substitution of the 289 for the 302 2V in standard Cougars.

3

My 68 has the knee pad and padded a-pillar trim. build date is 1/5/68. Its a standard with the decor group which I figured included those items. A good shape knee pad is hard to come by these days

4

That’s interesting, they actually reverted back to the 289 at some point for 68s?

5

The 302 block was installed in C code 289’s at some point.
Still used 289 crank shafts for 289 cubic inch displacement.