Hello Cougar Build/Maintenance Thread

[Sable23]

I did also post this on NECO and I know some of you are over there, so sorry if you have to see it twice haha

As some of you know I bought Luke's (Spridget) Cougar a few months back, I have since changed a couple of things, nothing major. But I have some new plans for the car, mostly just fixing things up a bit and catching up on some maintenance. Luke did a great job of building the car and I am very grateful for the opportunity to own it.

Mod list from the for sale post:

The Basics:

Originally a Sport model. Sliding powered sunroof (Webasto) and leather seats installed by the dealer when new. 2.5L V6 grenaded around 70k miles.
Black exterior, black leather interior
6 disc CD changer
Currently @ 99k miles. 3.0L drivetrain has ~30k miles.
4 wheel disc brakes, no ABS (standard)

The Mods:

2001 Taurus Duratec 3L short block
1998 SVT Contour heads, mildly polished combustion chambers (11.2 : 1 compression ratio)
1998 SVT Contour cams
1998 SVT Contour lower intake manifold
engine wiring harness rebuilt using parts from 2002 Cougar, 1998 SVT Contour, and 1997 Contour V6 ATX
SVT Contour airbox with K&N filter
SVT Contour radiator (2 cores, versus standard 1 core)
SVT Contour oil to water oil cooler
Mondeo ST220 throttle body
2.5L V6 Cougar upper intake manifold, extrude honed (flows more air than SVT intake)
1996 Taurus Duratec 3L 24# injectors (rebuilt)
MSDS headers, wrapped
TruBendz single outlet 2.5" stainless mandrel bent cat-back exhaust
MagnaFlow oval body muffler in place of stock resonator
MagnaFlow round body muffler in place of stock muffler
2002 Cougar alternator
1997 Contour 2.5L V6 engine front cover
1997 Contour radiator fan shroud, modified to fit SVT radiator
1997 Contour engine and transmission mounts, filled with 94A
SVT Contour front and rear roll restrictors, filled with 94A
pre-98 Contour rod shift transmission, updated internals (floor pan modified to fit)
Quaife torque biasing differential
3.8 : 1 final drive
1998 SVT Contour flywheel (lighter than stock)
Sachs SuperSet clutch kit
Braided stainless steel brake lines (4 wheel)
1999 SVT Contour E1 wheels
BAT Euro Suspension (shortened struts and springs)
Jaged rear strut tower brace
Pioneer 6x8 speakers
MTX 421D mono amplifier
Polk Audio C4 monitor isobaric dual reflex bandpass subwoofer (uses 4 6x9 subs)
Scosche LOC80 line out converter
1999 Cougar headlamps
aftermarket foglights
SCT tuner, tuned by Torrie McPhail of FastPartsNetwork / Unleashed Tuning
Hello Kitty exhaust tip

The only thing I have really added to that is a few set of rims, a set of 18's a set of ZN rims and a set of SVT Focus 5 spokes. Have yet to really try the 17's so I'm not sure which set is going to stay with the car. Also added a VooDoo shift knob and an SVT Contour aluminum spare.

Some pics:

Day I got it, it got well over 30MPG on the way home

Don't hate, Hello Kitty is there to stay

With MN plates

18's

I have done some repairs to it, but not many. It's a pretty solid car. I put in a new cup holder insert, a new upper console lid, front strut mounts, a couple of dash vents, and an oil change. Right now I have the front bumper cover, radiator, and headlights removed for repair or replacement. Once that is done I have a set of spare axles I need to throw in, need to change the trans fluid, and have a few mods I would like to do. I do have correct fog lamps coming too.

Some more random pics:

Traded my stock Cougar knob straight up, couldn't pass up that deal since I have a spare stocker.

These may or may not get recovered and used in this car

Pulled apart to swap out the vents and the climate controls

SVT spare

As it sits right now. Radiator probably going back in tomorrow, then I get to start welding the bumper up.

I will update this as I go, thanks for looking!

 

[CSVT1214]

Coming along well!

As nice as the XR leather seats are, the quality is just not there. All of them end up looking like the ones you have. I've been looking for those seats for a long time now and everything is damaged. I'll probably just stick to the factory cloth seats in mine.

 

[Sable23]

I do have a set of perf leather from a ZN (in much better shape) as well, but I really prefer the red. I plan to open them up and replace the inserts, we will see how well that works.

 

[CSVT1214]

The Zn seats are the same but all black, right? I can't remember how those looked.

 

[Sable23]

Yup same but all black and have a bright yellow cougar head embroidered into the back.

 

[B3NN3TT]

I have Zn seats in my Roush.

The 35th Anniversary seats are the same style as well, only they have silver inserts and a 35th badge embroidered on them.

 

[Sable23]

Quick update. Got me some new lights.

This is what they looked like when I got them (well the driver side)

Have 2 sets of fog lamps now, and two more headlights on the way. Going to choose the best of all and modify them.

 

[Sable23]

Well things are moving faster in the shop than I expected.

Cougar got dropped off yesterday and I brought the Outback home. Cougar needs a battery for sure, even after the 30 mile drive it couldn't hold a charge.. Now waiting for parts on the Cougar so it can get done.

 

[SVOFANATIC]

So I have to ask is that a 1st gen SHO I see in those first pix?

 

[Sable23]

Yup that's my 89. Has a plus hood, plus spoiler is coming, and a police grille. Otherwise stock and rusty.

 

[SVOFANATIC]

I had a 91 till I took out a telephone pole :/

 

[Sable23]

So... Long time since an update. The car looks a good bit different now. Put new axles up front and got rid of my clunking at take off. Plus got a good part of the exterior fixed up. Fixed all the cracks and missing slats in the bumper, painted the rock chipped hood, painted the roof due to some paint cracking and paint peal in the hatch area, replaced the hatch for one without a spoiler and shaved everything off of it except the wiper. The hood got a little custom touch, and I added tail light covers as well. I noticed on other cougars with the covers though that the red still shows between the hatch and the tail light so I painted the sides as well. Anyway on to some pics. I still need to fasten the mesh better in the bumper and wet sand and buff more on the hood and bumper but its getting there and I don't think it turned out flashy at all.

The colors on the hood are both newer FOMOCO colors, I forget the gray but the other is Dark Amethyst. I also brought the black and the amethyst into the engine bay on this:

And I already have the gray thanks to the upper intake. I have already relocated the imrc not I just have to figure out a color for my 95 valve covers so I can get them on there.

That's it for now, until I get a chance to finish up the front and clean the car decent to get some nice shots

 

[Sable23]

Not much going on with this car really. Put a new IMRC box in it, a used battery from another car of mine, and stole the rims for my Contour. Being very reliable and driven everyday.