FREE Ford Cougar Track Project Build Thread

[TheLurker]

As some of you may know, I was recently given a Ford Cougar by Junglie. It was in immaculate condidion both inside and out with FSH and 101K miles. The only slight dowmside is there's a problem with the clutch. The original thread is here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I would like to say a massive thanks to Junglie (who is a top bloke) and the rest of the PH members who have offered help. It realy is much appreciated, and has made somthing I've wanted to do for years (even though I'm only 21) a reality.

Anyway, after a few teathing problems, the car is now in a barn at my grandmothers house, awaiting work. The plan is to turn it into a track car, but keep it road legal so I can have some fun at the weekends ect. My plan is to build it in such a way that it can easily be turned back to the standard car as I like the idea of using it when I finish Uni.

I discussed the idea of turning it into a trackday car with the previous owner who said I could do whatever I wanted with it, with three conditions;

1) To keep him informed of progress
2) If I turn it into a track car, invite him along.
3) NO chav mods to be made

All sounded fair, and I agreed,although I am a little disapointed at no.3, as I now have some pink neons going spare

Having never done a project as big as this, it may take a little while to complete, especialy with Uni work aswell. I will try to keep the thread updated regularly but cant promise to make it as interesting as other build threads. I guess it'll be a steap learning curve, but thats part of the fun and there are lots of knowledgeable people on here who can hopefully point me in the right direction at times of need!

Thanks again to everyone who has helped, and especialy Mr. Junglie for the excelent car!

[TheLurker]

Went over yesterday to have a better look at the car and get some pics in daylight. Unfortunatly I went too late and it was dark by the time I got there. I've still got some pics though, although they are pretty poor even by my standard. It is tight in the barn as there is annother car and a dingy, so it is difficult to get a good picture of the whole car, but this is what I have managed. It looks far better in the flesh.





Bonus points for what the white car is (not mine BTW)

The bodywork has a few minor scratches in the clearcoat, but for a 100K mile car it is in increadible condition. The alloys are also in very good nick, with a small amount of corrosion starting to bubble through but only noticable if you are realy looking closly. With a clean they would look brand new. Sorry, no pics, but you can take my word.

The car had been standing for a couple of months before I got it, and there was a lot of condensation inside. I had a look round and found that the boot floor carpet was damp. Upon looking into the spare wheel well there was about 1/2 inch of water sitting there. I took the carpet, tools and wheel out so I could dry it. My guess is it has been leaking for a little while as it has started to rust;



Its not too bad, but is starting to bubble and blister the paint. I'm going to sand it down, treat it and repaint it so it doesnt get any worse. I cant see any obvious leak, but havent looked very hard yet (its in the dry).

There was also a wet patch behind the passenger seat by the B piller. This was quite wet and after using an entire kitchen roll it was still soaking. Its at the bottom right of the pic;



Hopefully it hasnt started rusting the floor. When I have time I'll take the carpet out and check. Also, with the amount of sound proofing it will be difficult to get it to dry out in place. I think this might be there might be a problem with a seal on the rear window allowing water to run behind the B piller and pool in the floor well;





I dont want moisture in the car as I'm afraid it will go moldy and its not good for electrics. I also want to try and dry the carpet out somehow. I have placed a moisture absorber in the car so that should keep the humidity down.

The headlights also had a lot of condensation when it came, although its not as bad now;



When I have the time I will take them off and dry them out so they dont start to corrode.

I also need to put the battery on charge, as it was dead when the previous owner went to start it the morning I got it. He kindly charged it up for me, but I dont want it to go flat again as it damages the battery. Although I might have a spare one kicking around somewhere that will fit.

From what I have read the clutch is not a nice job on these cars, and probably not a good car for a beginer to have a go at. Luckily I'm in no rush so can take my time to research first.

Also, a big thanks to DickyC who is sending a haynes manual for the cougar.

[rsstman]

good luck with it and it has the potential to be a great project.

looks in good nick, but immaculate inside and out? well i can see it got rust in the boot and dirty wet carpets and you say corroded alloys, its great for free but i just hate how the word immaculate is banded about

definition of immaculate is absolutely flawless.

i just hate it when you go to see a car advertised as 100% immaculate and then you get there and think why have i even wasted my time when this is far from immaculate hence not what im looking for.

good condition, great condition, fantastic condition, super condition etc, the list goes on. just anything but bloody immaculate condition. rant over, hope you have lots of fun with it.

[TheLurker]

rsstman said:

good luck with it and it has the potential to be a great project.

looks in good nick, but immaculate inside and out? well i can see it got rust in the boot and dirty wet carpets and you say corroded alloys, its great for free but i just hate how the word immaculate is banded about

definition of immaculate is absolutely flawless.

i just hate it when you go to see a car advertised as 100% immaculate and then you get there and think why have i even wasted my time when this is far from immaculate hence not what im looking for.

good condition, great condition, fantastic condition, super condition etc, the list goes on. just anything but bloody immaculate condition. rant over, hope you have lots of fun with it.

Fair point about the boot rust. However the corrosion on the alloys realy is minute. There are no marks (that I have seen) on the seats/carpets/dash/door cards. Once dry you wouldn't know that the carpet was wet.

I do, however, take your point, although it is in very good condition considering age/milage.

[rsstman]

TheLurker said:

Fair point about the boot rust. However the corrosion on the alloys realy is minute. There are no marks (that I have seen) on the seats/carpets/dash/door cards. Once dry you wouldn't know that the carpet was wet.

I do, however, take your point, although it is in very good condition considering age/milage.

sorry about the rant, i have just been to view a lot of cars in the last year, soo many advertised as immaculate, it is a word that really should be reserved for concours examples but is massively over used and people put in in the description for any old dog when there are many other words/phrases that could be used instead and would make for a much more acccurate desciption.

[Angry Sheep]

Can't complain for free! Will be watching this with interest

[JayPee]

This could be a good fun track car I would imagine, If it's very similar to a Mondeo underneath then it should handle well, especially if you strip out all the kit and insulation something like this probably has. I imagine many uprated parts will be available from the Ford Parts bin like brakes etc. Maybe be worth looking for a better clutch if it is going on track, save you the hassle of changing it again in the future! And good luck, it's great having a free car with a V6 so make the most of it

[TheLurker]

JayPee said:

This could be a good fun track car I would imagine, If it's very similar to a Mondeo underneath then it should handle well, especially if you strip out all the kit and insulation something like this probably has. I imagine many uprated parts will be available from the Ford Parts bin like brakes etc. Maybe be worth looking for a better clutch if it is going on track, save you the hassle of changing it again in the future! And good luck, it's great having a free car with a V6 so make the most of it

I'm intending to completley strip the interiour except for dash and front seats. From having a quick prod at the carpet I'd have said there was a couple of inches of carpet and insulation/sound proofing. Just the boot carpet weighed a ton. Even the recovery guy commented about how heavy it was. Hopefully I can strip about 300KG from the car without too much dificulty.

And yes, it is great having a V6. Sounds a bit better than my VW 1.9TDi

[bennyboydurham]

Nice one. I had two Cougars, a silver 2.0 T-plate that was only 6 months old and then later an X-plate V6 that was two years old at the time. I remember they felt 'heavy' to drive but were solidly built and were a bit different to anything else on sale at that time. I think the hope was that the Cougar would drive like a big Puma but sadly it didn't. The bulk of the thing meant that the sublime ease with which the Puma connected with its driver was absent and the Cougar didn't last long.

Good luck with your project.

Edited by bennyboydurham on Saturday 2nd January 10:34

[dfen5]

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

[rsstman]

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

[TheLurker]

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

I've got time to do it - so why not? As said above, it can make a massive difference in terms of BHP/ton and will also affect handling ans stopping.

I will give it a full service and upgrade pads/disks/brake fluid as well. I also want to get a second set of wheels to get some better tyres on. I have the time and I want it to be a fun project. It can always be put back to standard later on. It will be road legal so will be driven to and from a track and used for some weekend fun aswell.

[BarnatosGhost]

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

[joshc]

I like the Cougar, shame it didn't catch on. Perhaps most people thought it was too American in terms of its styling and handling (weight).

[TheLurker]

BarnatosGhost said:

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

I am a little afraid of that happening, but the only way to tell is to do it I suppose. I could always mount the battery in the boot ect. to try and help weight distribution.

[rsstman]

TheLurker said:

BarnatosGhost said:

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

I am a little afraid of that happening, but the only way to tell is to do it I suppose. I could always mount the battery in the boot ect. to try and help weight distribution.

im sure doing it on a fwd car will have a much less drastic effect than taking the weight away from the driven wheels. it could even make the rear end a bit more playful and reduce the cars tendency to understeer so much.

[TheLurker]

rsstman said:

TheLurker said:

BarnatosGhost said:

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

I am a little afraid of that happening, but the only way to tell is to do it I suppose. I could always mount the battery in the boot ect. to try and help weight distribution.

im sure doing it on a fwd car will have a much less drastic effect than taking the weight away from the driven wheels. it could even make the rear end a bit more playful and reduce the cars tendency to understeer so much.

Thats what I was thinking. I just dont want it to go too far the other way though (overstear). I have done a similar thing to a feild car before, and when the back end went (without being prompted) it was very difficult to catch, which is fine in a feild/farm yard but not so good on a track with other cars. But as said before, i'm going to try it and see how it feels. I dont think it will be too bad and I can always put stickier tyres on the back. There will still be a large amount of weight over the back from fuel tank ect.

Edited by TheLurker on Sunday 3rd January 18:27

[Waynester]

Anything free is a bonus!

I had a V6 Cougar a few years back which i liked, but it was more a GT motorway cruiser...than a sports car.

My kids loved the rear bucket seats..


Edit:
My old V6 Cougar

Edited by Waynester on Wednesday 6th January 04:50

[RobCrezz]

TheLurker said:

rsstman said:

TheLurker said:

BarnatosGhost said:

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

I am a little afraid of that happening, but the only way to tell is to do it I suppose. I could always mount the battery in the boot ect. to try and help weight distribution.

im sure doing it on a fwd car will have a much less drastic effect than taking the weight away from the driven wheels. it could even make the rear end a bit more playful and reduce the cars tendency to understeer so much.

Thats what I was thinking. I just dont want it to go too far the other way though (overstear). I have done a similar thing to a feild car before, and when the back end went (without being prompted) it was very difficult to catch, which is fine in a feild/farm yard but not so good on a track with other cars. But as said before, i'm going to try it and see how it feels. I dont think it will be too bad and I can always put stickier tyres on the back. There will still be a large amount of weight over the back from fuel tank ect.

Edited by TheLurker on Sunday 3rd January 18:27

When the weight is gone from the rear im sure there is lots you can do to adjust how the car behaves - adjustable ARBs, adjustable suspension etc.

I think its worth removing some weight - and you may be about to remove some from the front too (air con?)

[TheLurker]

RobCrezz said:

TheLurker said:

rsstman said:

TheLurker said:

BarnatosGhost said:

rsstman said:

dfen5 said:

Might be a daft question but as it's not exactly the typical track weapon - it's never going to be a Westfield or a 900kg 205, why bother stripping it all out? Drive it to the track in comfort, have some fun, drive it back again. Not like you'll be trying to set fastest lap or anything? Spend the time giving it a service, sorting the brakes/fluids/clutch and so on.

i get your point about driving to and from a track in comfort, but stripping the weight out is a massive free mod which makes it go faster, handle better, brake better and all the while being less punishing on brakes and tyres.

i would say it is the best mod you can make and all free, just time consuming.

80% of the weight you lose will be from over the rear wheels. I doubt it will improve the handling. Having done the same thing to a 325i it now feels like a hammer with all the weight at one end.

I am a little afraid of that happening, but the only way to tell is to do it I suppose. I could always mount the battery in the boot ect. to try and help weight distribution.

im sure doing it on a fwd car will have a much less drastic effect than taking the weight away from the driven wheels. it could even make the rear end a bit more playful and reduce the cars tendency to understeer so much.

Thats what I was thinking. I just dont want it to go too far the other way though (overstear). I have done a similar thing to a feild car before, and when the back end went (without being prompted) it was very difficult to catch, which is fine in a feild/farm yard but not so good on a track with other cars. But as said before, i'm going to try it and see how it feels. I dont think it will be too bad and I can always put stickier tyres on the back. There will still be a large amount of weight over the back from fuel tank ect.

Edited by TheLurker on Sunday 3rd January 18:27

When the weight is gone from the rear im sure there is lots you can do to adjust how the car behaves - adjustable ARBs, adjustable suspension etc.

I think its worth removing some weight - and you may be about to remove some from the front too (air con?)

I dont intend to touch the suspension at the moment, but have plans to in the future. I hope to remove the aircon if its not too difficult, but at least the compressor which must be a few Kg. Things like the head unit will come out and front speakers which will all help I suppose.