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March 2007
Cougar
Chronicles (Mar 2007)
Notes from North of the Border
My gas tank story goes back about five years, returning from a cruise night
in Burlington, ON. I pulled in for gas about half way home, by the time I made
it to Niagara Falls the Cougar was sputtering and stalling, I stopped to pick
up some milk and the car stalled three times in the two blocks from home. The
next morning the car started and ran just fine. I drove in to see my mechanic
to see if he could find the problem and sure enough the carburetor was full
of dirt. I guess I was too lazy or just overlooked changing the fuel filter.
About a month later after a long highway drive on a real hot day the 302 vaperlocked
and needed to be towed home, and this has never happened before or since. I
started asking other old car owners about their gas tanks’ and most told
me the same thing “after 40 years your gas tank will be full of dirt”.
My mechanic (who I might add passed away last August) told me that “yes,
I would like to see you get a new gas tank”. The more I asked around the
more I felt I needed a new tank.
This past June I did pick up a new tank at the Carlisle All Ford Nationals
and at a really decent price. With the help of a friend with a hoist we swapped
out my gas tank and what a surprise to find the factory tank was spotlessly
clean inside, we did find a unrelated piece of pipe that had been left inside
the tank, maybe at the factory and the filter sock had rotted off the end of
the sending unit. My thinking now is that the old sock filter disintegrated
and the pieces found their way into the carburetor.
Now, with all said and done, the new tank installed and the old sending unit
still in service, I thought all was well, but wait. I got to thinking we have
a sending unit with no filter on it, time to get back to work and install a
filter on the sending unit, with this job done, now the gas gauge does not work.
Now we go to work again and install a filter on the sending unit re install
it and still no gauge on the dash, on the second look we discover the float
has somehow cracked and is full of gas we find a new float from an early 80’s
Ford and install this. Still getting no signal we play with the wires and soon
discover a bad connection at the sending unit.
Now that all is said and done I find some real piece of mind with the fuel
tank, now if I remember to change the gas filter in the spring I may find some
trouble free motoring. I now have a nice clean 68 gas tank sitting out in the
garden shed and not sure weather to sell it or keep it as a spare. PSS. Wanna
buy a gas tank?
The moral of this story, for me at least is change your fuel filter every season
and if you want to drive a forty year old car get to know what is in the gas
tank.
Jim Megannety
President: Great Lakes C.C.
January 07
June 1-3, 2007
In 2007, the Carlisle All-Ford Nat’s will be featuring
the 40th Anniversary of the Mercury Cougar. You won’t want to miss this
exciting display of some of the classiest cars ever to come out of Detroit.
The Carlisle folks are looking for outstanding examples of Cougars for their
Special Display, so please contact
them if you want your vehicle to be admired by thousands of Ford fans! While
you are at it, book your hotel room at the Hotel Carlisle (be sure to ask for
the "Cougar Group" room rate): http://hotelcarlisle.com/
July 20-21, 2007
This is a Cougar Club of
America national event and will be hosted by the Colorado
Cougar Club. You don't want to miss this 40th anniversary special event
! You can email Donna
Lynes the 07 Nationals representative from the Colorado Cougar Club with
any questions you may have.
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Legendary
Ford Magazine celebrates 40
years of Cougar
The May-June issue of Legendary Ford Magazine is dedicated to the 40th anniversary
of the Cougar. 68 XR7 G's to 71 Convertible 429's. This one is a keeper !
For
people with a can opener and way too much time on their hands!
Twelve or so examples of some pretty good looking Cats. Featured is CATVERT.
This drop top acquired several awards last year including:
- Celebrity Pick & Class 2nd Place - Carlisle, PA All-Ford 6/2006
- Best of Show - Buffalo, NY All-Ford Show 6/2006
- Class 1st Place, Nashua, NH All-Ford Show 6/2006
- Class 1st Place, Northbridge, MA American Legion Show, 8/2006
- Class 1st Place - Shrewsbury, MA MCCNE New England Regional All-Ford Show
8/2006 - Top 50 Award - Millbury, MA MII AutoFest 10/2006
CCOA has a wrap up article in their
recent edition of At The Sign Of The Cat on page 22. Congratulations to Team
CatVert !
We are very excited to be able to offer not only one of the rarest and nicest
cougar's in the world, but one with race history as well! ordered new by sandy
elliot LTD for the sole purpose of racing. It was raced by john elliot and tuned
by Barry Poole, "the boarder bandits" , given the nickname because
of all the us race titles they took back to Canada. The"boarder bandits"
won the 1968 stock eliminator class with this car. They were inducted into the
Canadian motor sports hall of fame in 1999. this cougar is fully documented
with everything imaginable, has original owners cards, mar auto report documented
the car as 1 of 1, original invoice, ford authorized reproduction window sticker,
all receipts and photos of restoration plus a photo of the car on the race track
in 1968, an article in ford mustang magazine and was featured on speed vision.
Car was raced until 1974 then parked until the previous owner recently discovered
it. While dirty and dingy, it was very well preserved showing all the ford chalk
markings and stampings. He spent 3 years doing a nut and bolt restoration to
concourse quality. With the limited availability of reproduction parts he restored
the car using almost all nos parts. He even kept track of all the part numbers.
Has every factory marking. Only 34 miles since it was completed. Factory black
with red interior and ordered " bare bones". has heavy duty suspension
package and belted traction tires. Doesn't even have a radio or full wheel covers!
it was the celebrity pick at the 2004 ford nationals. If you want a car with
province, this is it. For the true collector. Muscle cars with documented race
history are in high demand by the big collectors. Comes with torque trust wheels
on polyglas tires like pictured on the drag strip. Click here for restoration
photos and documentation no money down or up to 144 months finance terms available
.
http://ads.seriouswheels.com/listing/949/1968_MERCURY_COUGAR_BOADER_BANDITS_RACE_CAR.html
Rocky
Mountain Insurance Co. Cougar
Here is Ray Harwood’s website www.members.shaw.ca/ViCatz.
He has several good How To Articles and a crazy chicken; I recommend Windshield
Install, Power Steering Overhaul, and Convertible Rocker Repair. The Purple
Cat Article is very good too. It shows Ray’s Rocky Mountain Insurance Co.
Cougar.
Second Chance Garage. "Your car restoration website." "I really
like the styling of the old Cougars," said the Doctor, "and this dark
green color was perfect for the XR7 models." Here's a great popular trouble
shooting site with a bunch of restoration tips that are a must read before undertaking
that big or small project !
Ford
Boss 429 - Engine Rebuild
From a stock 429/460 and a set of NASCAR 429 heads you too can equip you Cat
with a few heavy duty ponys."With less than 1,400 Boss 429 cars ever built,
Wilson knew that this trash was treasure." A great article from Hotrod.com
about a build up of ground pounding Boss 429.
Installing
a (429/460) engine into a 67-70 Cougar
Now that you've built that 429/460, you need to know how to shoe horn that
beast into your Cat. This article explains the parts needed, the do's and don'ts
and some inspirational motivation to get er done !
Ford
Racing Performance Parts Boss 302 Engine
New for 2007. Recently Ford announced at SEMA that they will reintroduce the
BOSS 302 crate engine. We might just start to see some BOSS 302 Cougar recreations
showing up at Barrett Jackson soon. $10,000 - 500 HP - 12 Month Warranty. Do
you think my wife will go for it ? Come on honey, it comes with a warranty !
FARRAH
FAWCETT-MAJORS 1975 FORD AD
Here's a video of a Farrah doing a commercial for a Cougar back in the day.
Who's the Cougar now ?
Videos
of old TV Commercials of Cougars.
Here's a bunch more from Ed's Cougar Page and the Connecticut Cougar club..
Some great old commercials from back in the day. Enjoy !
Keeping with the theme from above, get your 2007 calendar now ! Two GLCC members
cars' made it into the 2007 Cougars and Kittens Calendar. This site lets you
try before you buy.
How John Denver's Cougar ended up in Australia.
A Carcraft featured vehicle a ways back shows this really nice Cougar with
some nice modifications. I like it because for the most part, it looks pretty
much stock.
Traci Bond’s 69 Cougar in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
Here's some posts from the Classic Cougar Forums.
The question: How many cars were used in the filming of this movie?
The answer: There were four of those cars ordered by United Artists for the
film, although it's my understanding that not all four were identically equipped.
One of them was trashed in the ski chase scene in the movie and was
later scrapped out. One is alive and well in England and is currently
owned by Barrie Dixon, who could probably tell you more about the cars
than you ever wanted to know. Barrie also has a lot of the original
paperwork for the car, including the window sticker that says "Special
Delivery -- James Bond," or some such. One is somewhere on the
continent of Europe, I believe; but somebody with more knowledge may
need to correct me. And one is (I believe) currently missing. – Eric Overton
More info came in after Eric’s post;
Hi, yes, as Eric said, one of the Bond Cougars is in Europe, in fact in Sweden,
owned by a lady named Kristina, there is a pic of it on MCN from a carshow
somewhere in Sweden, here's a link to the pic,
http://www.mercurycougar.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/3183/cat/500/ppuser/861/sl/s
Jan Engkrog
By the way – Dianna Rigg played Traci Bond
The Classic Cougar Network
After an eight month "restoration" project, The Classic Cougar Network
(TCCN) is back. It has a new name, TCCN II - The Gold Edition, but you'll find
it at the same web address we've always had: http://www.theclassiccougarnetwork.com/
In 1969 and 1970, the era of flower power, you could order your Plymouth or
Dodge with a Mod Top. I was watching an episode of My Classic Car last year
and Dennis Gage was in Wasaga Beach Ontario interviewing a gentle man with a
great looking Mod Top. The guy actual was able to get NOS material out of California
to complete his restoration. This site goes through the make and models show
production numbers of each.
If your looking for that little something to help make your 1:18 model Cougar
come to life. Than these little beauties will do the job. Hot Rodders and Mechanics
to Babes on the beach.
Cat
from Germany that Alex posted on the GLCC Guestbook
A little tired and faded but solid looking specimin.
A healthy and shiny cat rolling proud around the back streets of rural Germany
for years and years to come. This guy did some serious restoration work and
is one dedicated cat to bring in all these parts for far away places. You have
to like anyone that puts this much effort into ensuring enjoyment of these old
cars for years to come. If you wish to translate the German text to English,
try this web site. http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Now this one is little further from stock than I like but with 450 ponies under
the hood I'd be the first one asking for the keys to help stretch it's legs.
Hey, with an Xbox 360, my kids might even like it.
Barrett-Jackson
Scottsdale 2007 Results
1969
MERCURY COUGAR CONVERTIBLE Lot # 17 Sold for $18,150.00
1969
MERCURY COUGAR XR7 CONVERTIBLE Lot # 358 Sold for $42,350.00
1970
MERCURY COUGAR ELIMINATOR 428 CJ COUPE Lot # 733 Sold for $128,700.00
1968
MERCURY COUGAR COUPE Lot # 1502 Sold for $18,700.00
Barrett-Jackson
Palm Beach MARCH 28 – APRIL 1, 2007
1969
MERCURY COUGAR ELIMINATOR COUPE Lot # 623
1968
MERCURY COUGAR XR7 COUPE Lot # 951
This is how you handle a speed bump in Ottawa, Illinois!
Popular Troubleshooting
by Mark Hassard
Last newsletter Mark showed us how to install a passenger mirror on a 67-68
Cougar. Now West Coast Classic Cougar has all the parts and accessories you'll
need to get the job done. Everything from nuts and washers to complete used
mirrors.
Merchandise:
Don't forget to check out the official GLCC hats.
W. McCarthy - (U.S. Orders) - E-mail: WilCynChr@aol.com - 716-433-1274
Jim Megannety - (Canadian Orders) - E-mail: jmegs@sympatico.ca - 905-358-5967
We not only sell the parts for your Cougar, we own, drive,
and love our own personal Cougars!
http://www.johnsclassiccougars.com/
11522 E. Lakewood Blvd.
Holland, Michigan 49424
Phone: 616-396-0390
8:30 AM—5:00 PM Weekdays
(Eastern Time)
24 Hour FAX Line: 616-396-0366