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69? Cougar - good parts car for a hot rod build, or ?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by rustynewyorker, Oct 3, 2007.

  1. Place I picked up a '40 Nash out of I might be able to get a '69 (I think) Cougar. A probably set up 302, 4-speed, buckets, scoop on the hood that may be factory, or not, who knows.

    So I happened to think, what rearend is in these and would that trans and rear be good for a hot rod? Or is that stuff worth more to the Mustang and Cougar crowds. I'm not much of a Ford guy, will the trans only work with a Ford engine or is it one that was used in other makes too?

    I have no idea and I'm betting the thing is going to be rotted enough to be a parts car, although it doesn't look too awful bad and I'm guessing they make about any panel you need for them. I'm also ***uming it's not an Eliminator or any special performance model - I did look in my Ford book on it, but if I get it I'll have to decode the tags someplace to sort out much more than what motor is correct for it.

    I took a picture and there's so many weeds in front of it I can't even tell for sure if it's a '67, '68 or '69 but I'm leaning towards '69.
     
  2. tomslik
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,161

    tomslik
    Member

    might want to think twice about cutting it up untill you find out what it is for sure...
    btw, a 67 will be a 289. 302's came out in 68...
    the four speed can be adapted to a chevy with a lakewood bellhousing and clutch stuff.

    pics?
     
  3. All you see in the interior pic is my reflection in the gl***, and you can't see enough of the grille to tell anything in the other pic - I was more concerned with getting the Nash home, we'd already had one false start due to a plugged thermostat on my friend's rollback hauler. He knows the car, I don't know if these guys got it from him or what, but that's how I found out it's a 302.

    Just to give an idea, I'm not sure if they used a regular 9-inch in these, or something smaller...
     
  4. Deucecoupe
    Joined: Aug 6, 2006
    Posts: 161

    Deucecoupe
    Member

    Those cars are known to have 9" rear ends in them. You should also
    look at the pig for the large "N" cast into the case (Nodular), BIG plus, there !
     
  5. atomickustom
    Joined: Aug 30, 2005
    Posts: 3,407

    atomickustom
    Member

    Personally I would SAVE a Cougar, not part it, but if it's too far gone then go ahead and cannibalize it. The rear end and drivetrain is probably the only thing you'd be able to use from it. My wife had a '67 and my friend has a '70 - they are totally different body styles but both really sharp.
    For what it's worth, any usable parts would probably do quite well on eBay. (They don't repo nearly as much stuff for Cougars as they do for Mustangs.)
     
  6. k-member
    Joined: May 25, 2002
    Posts: 2,114

    k-member
    Member

    I would almost try and sell as much as you can or the whole car. I know when I was looking for parts for mine they sold fiarly high as not much interchanges with mustang and the whole one year only thing brings good money too. No more blower motor, but I converted most of it back to stock and I am ready to sell it. It's an OK car just too many early projects and I got mine in part trade when I sold my A coupe.
     

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  7. Von Rigg Fink
    Joined: Jun 11, 2007
    Posts: 13,401

    Von Rigg Fink
    Member
    from Garage

    heavy *** cars! for ssure
     
  8. Autoslim
    Joined: Jul 14, 2007
    Posts: 30

    Autoslim
    Member
    from texas

    Lots of good parts...302 or a lot of 69s had 351W. The four speed should be at top loader. Can't do much better trans wise and TLs in good shape are worth pretty good money . The rear might be a 9 inch, but if not it's at least an 8 inch..which is ok. I don't know how wide your Nash is, but it might be close to working. I agree if the car isn't a complete rust bucket, then it's probably more valuble as a complete car. If rusty, ya can't do much better for a parts car.
     
  9. hemi
    Joined: Jul 11, 2001
    Posts: 1,959

    hemi
    Member

    The Cougars have a cult following and are fairly desireable cars.. If it's not too far gone, I'd think about keeping it...
     
  10. Gigantor
    Joined: Jul 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,818

    Gigantor
    Member

    If it is going to be parted out, you might consider doing something nifty with those tail lights ... Always thought that setup was neat.
     
  11. pasadenahotrod
    Joined: Feb 13, 2007
    Posts: 11,772

    pasadenahotrod
    Member
    from Texas

    Cougars were just parts cars for Mustangs around here. Not that there weren't any Cougar fans, but parts for Mercs in junkyards were way cheaper than the same part on a Mustang.
     
  12. fast Ed
    Joined: Aug 12, 2007
    Posts: 207

    fast Ed
    Member

    I'm a 68 Cougar owner, and am involved with a club that covers NY. Once you get some more info on the car, I can try to help with evaluating what you have to work with. There are a few people I know in WNY and PA who may be interested in parts or the whole car. P.M. me if I can ***ist ...


    cheers
    Ed N.
     
  13. Normally I'd just grab it and flip it, I just saw that 4-speed in there and figured the odds are I'd never find another one for what the car's liable to cost me. The way things work with these old boys who have it, it's liable to be spring before I get a hold of it, it took about 3 months to buy this Nash. Sounds like it's worth getting at any rate, get the codes off it and see just what it is.


    The Nash probably isn't buildable unless another one turns up that's sat upside down or a tree fell on it or something.
     
  14. Duration
    Joined: Oct 2, 2006
    Posts: 543

    Duration
    Member
    from Wayne, MI

    pm fathack. he is nuts about 69 and 70 cougars. he knows the cars probly better than anybody. he might want it to!
     
  15. 34Fordtk
    Joined: May 30, 2002
    Posts: 1,690

    34Fordtk
    Member

    1 The 5th digit in the VIN will tell you the engine.
    2 If its a small block car its got a 8" rear,tough enough for most.
    3 The pedals are big money cause they fit Mustangs and the 67/68 are hard to find in complete cond.
    4 The power windows on the XR7's are hard to find to.
    5 Disc brakes will fit Mustangs to also big money
     
  16. I found a Cougar Eliminator in a junkyard once. Too bad it was only about a foot thick when I found it.Bottom of the pile at that......
     
  17. Notorious
    Joined: Jul 18, 2007
    Posts: 393

    Notorious
    Member

    I can't remember, was the Eliminator available as a Boss 302 powered car? I know most of the ones I remember were big blocks. Anyhow, if it's a regular 302 car, it's most likely an 8" rear. But if this isn't necessarily the original engine, it could be either an 8" or a 9" depending.
    These were cool cars and are quite rare compared to Mustangs of the era. I couldn't part out a restorable special model. However, if it was just a standard Cougar that had been upgraded w/ the 4-speed and stuff, I could rob the goodies and then p*** the shell on to an aficionado and still sleep well. :D
     
  18. Nitcat
    Joined: May 21, 2006
    Posts: 63

    Nitcat
    Member

    67 and 68 small block cougars had 8 inch rears, but in 69 the smallest engine was the 351W (except the Boss 302s in Eliminators) and the 9" was the rear end in all of those cats. To ID the car, 67 and 68 grilles were vertical, 69 front grill is horizontal. 67 didn't have side marker lights, 68 did. 4 speed setup is fairly rare in any of those years. Check www.cougarclub.org for more info on cougars, and if you have the VIN, you can decode it there.
     
  19. Krause book comments on '69 Eliminator: "It featured a two-speed street rear axle, blacked out grille, ram-air hood scoop, special side body stripe and front and rear spoilers."

    To which I say, Two-speed axle? they put Columbia banjo rearends in these things?!?

    At least I can decode some of the VIN out of this book.

    Anyways, all I can really see in my pic is the top of the hood and the raised center seems to get wider towards the rear, which is how the 69-70 hood goes. Plus the scoop on it looks like the one in the '69 pix in the book. Hard to tell if it was stuck on there, or came that way, though, from the photo. You can't see the grille at all, the headlights are open and the goldenrod is up high. Was it not 100 miles away, I'd just go look it over again.

    Anyhow, thanks for the info... if I don't strike gold at this weekend's auction, I'll go bug these guys and see if I can't grab this thing.. it sounds like it should be easy to flip it for a few bucks even if I kept the trans or rear out of it.
     
  20. Unkl Ian
    Joined: Mar 29, 2001
    Posts: 13,509

    Unkl Ian

    Worth more to a muscle car purist.


     
  21. Fat Hack
    Joined: Nov 30, 2002
    Posts: 7,709

    Fat Hack
    Member
    from Detroit

    Standard (Windsor) 302 engines were deffinitely available in 69 Cougars...I used to own one and I've seen several others. Three and four speed manual transmissions were also offered, although not the norm, for sure in the standard Cougars.

    The Eliminator model was available with either a Boss 302 or a 428 Cobra-Jet in 1969, and was the top of the heap as far as performance-oriented 69 Cougars go.

    There were many of them built with the two barrel 302 engine in 1969, and some of those had the Top-Loader four speed tranmission in them....that's probably how the one you're looking at was equipped.

    If the car in question is fixable at all, I personally would rather see it saved than parted out...but if it's a total rot case or has been wrecked badly, then it would be a good parts donor and Cougar folks would still be happy to get a hold of lots of the leftover parts!

    Post some pictures of this car already!!!!
     
  22. 6t5frlane
    Joined: Dec 8, 2004
    Posts: 2,403

    6t5frlane
    Member
    from New York

    Fat Hack.You could also get a 351 in an Elimanator in 69. Most were
     
  23. Automotive Stud
    Joined: Sep 26, 2004
    Posts: 4,392

    Automotive Stud
    Member

    no it was sort of a 9" deal as I recall. Really rare today, probably not the most desirable thing in the world, but to the right person it could be golden hen's teeth.
     
  24. A 31 MO FO
    Joined: Nov 3, 2005
    Posts: 1,416

    A 31 MO FO
    Member
    from D/FW

    Thanks for the info
     
  25. If I had pictures that looked like anything more than a hood growing out of the gr***, I'd post em... lol
     

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