I sold my 67 Standard a couple weeks ago, and am now going through the garage looking to purge items that I just don’t plan (or can’t use) on my 67 XR7. I just pulled this down from a shelf in the garage, and now I’m a bit skeptical. I thought this was an original Shelby item, but there are no part numbers anywhere. I’m guessing the emblem is a pewter XR7-G steering wheel pad replacing the running cat emblem. Is this Oval Air Cleaner a reproduction that John’s Cougar’s was selling years ago? Also, is the 6 pack lower piece a repro as well? Would appreciate any and all comments.
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That emblem on the lid portion doesn’t look correct.
Here is a picture of my original Cougar oval air cleaner. The way to tell the difference between a reproduction is that the reproduction only has a centre attachment for the wing nut. It looks like your’s may be original, except the running cat Cougar emblem was replaced with the steering emblem.
This is an aftermarket part. The fiberglass base is aftermarket as all the original bases were aluminum.
The top is similar to the ones sold by Valley Ford Parts many years ago and uses a casting similar to the 1968 Shelby but with a separate “COUGAR” name bar. Typically, a head light cover chrome running cat was installed.
The original 1967 Group II air cleaner lids had individually machined “COUGAR” letters and an unplated running cat. They also used the 1963 Galaxie style top casting with out the reinforcement rib around the outer edge.
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Thank you Vic for your authentication of my early ‘copy’. I now know to look for the machined Cougar lettering to identify an original. Also thanks to fordnutz for an additional pic of an original. I’m totally bummed, but now know I can’t pass this off as an original Shelby product.
Thanks everyone for the info - What constitutes an original COUGAR oval air cleaner is something I’ve been wanting to nail down.
So - the oval air cleaner in a vintage photo (attached below) looks like the one you have Vick. That is, no raised lip around the edge and no ribs below the COUGAR which you say is made up of individual letters and an unplated “running cat” emblem.
The Shelby American dealer brochure “How To Sharpen A Cougar’s Claws” doesn’t seem to include a COUGAR oval air cleaner. Just a '67 Shelby GT350 style round, chrome, open element air cleaner like in the lower right of the photo.
Scott - are you sure your oval air cleaner is original? What year do you think it was made? Are there any markings on it at all? What differentiates yours from the current reproductions?
- Phillip
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Here is a detail of the COUGAR oval air cleaner from the vintage pic that Mercury supplied to the car magazines back-in-the-day.
- Phillip
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I bought mine from Mr. Benoit, more than ten years ago, and I recall that he said that it was original.
I also have another one that I bought from Royce a few years ago.
I’ll compare them and take some pictures in the next couple of days.
This is a very interesting thread. All of the group II items are something I didn’t know about, but am now actively looking for!!
Thanks for checking Scott. Attached is a photo of a reproduction oval air cleaner that I bought from WCCC and it was in the stash of parts that went to Royce when he bought my X code G in 2015.
- Phillip
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I said that I was going to get back to everyone with pictures in a few days. Sorry, but that turned into almost two years.
I am doing some work on my G, so I have the oval air cleaner off, and took some pictures of the air cleaner on my G, as well as the one I bought from Royce.
First off is the one from my car.
Next the one I bought from Royce.
Next are pictures of my “Cougar” scripted 6 quart oil pan (someone asked for pictures, but I can’t remember who).
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Beautiful. Love the Cougar oil pan.
Thanks so much for posting those Scott -
So, from your pics it appears like the running cat on the one you think is original is a different size (slightly larger) than the one on the air cleaner you got from Royce? Can you confirm this?
Plus the original has a part # and the one from Royce does not?
- Phillip
Is the hood modified from the factory to fit that air cleaner? I hate to think of what the oil pan would sell for-
I don’t believe the factory put an oval air cleaner on a Cougar - they were available in the parts department as an owner add-on. They fit without modifying the hood but I believe the hood blanket needs to be removed.
- Phillip
I’ve got another thread somewhere on the web about this very thing. Someone posted a picture of one of the group II cars, that had a section removed to clear the oval- but I think that set up is taller than mine.
By “group II cars”, do you mean one of the Bud Moore Engineering Trans-Am Cougars? Those cars were highly modified race cars. Any mods to the hood was done by a race shop, not the factory. Quite a few Cougars are running an oval air cleaner, including Scott’s G, without cutting the hood.
- Phillip
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My hood is not modified, however, depending how high the carb sits on the intake, it may not fit. Jim Pinkerton had a fitment issue with one of his GT-Es with an oval air cleaner, and had to figure out how to get the space needed so that it fit with enough space so that the paint on the underside of the hood wasn’t damaged. I don’t know exactly what he did, but it eventualy fit.
As far as how much the Cougar scripted oil pan is worth… I only know how much I got it for.
I don’t have firsthand experience with using one, but I have heard that if you have an export brace it will interfere with it at the back.
My plan was to use mine, on my 69- but it has a ‘fancy’ paint job, and it didn’t occur to me to mock up and trim before hand. I ended up getting rid of the air gap intake on the car, using the Weiand intake and a normal chrome, round unit. It didn’t hit the rear, it was just too tall, even with the lower profile intake. My 68 has a fiberglass hood currently, so it has plenty of room, but that has gone a different direction. I’ve said on here before that I paid a lot for it at the time, and I’m rather annoyed at how it is trying to get it to fit. But since my 67 did JUST get home, it is a LOOOOONG way from paint, and so now will be the time to modify the hood if necessary. I don’t want anything sitting on top of this car, no spoiler, scoop, nothing.
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Fits on my 68 302 G.