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Dallas's

1968 Mercury Cougar

XR-7 302/5.0L V8

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Build Points

33

  • Color: Fawn/Black
  • Horsepower: 230
  • Drivetrain: RWD
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    • Vehicle Overview

    Missed an opportunity at 16yrs old to buy a '67 Cougar from my oldest sister's boyfriend (he restored cars as a hobby). I heard stories of them doing 140mph in that car and when she told me he was selling it ($1500 in 1986) I wanted it bad. Not enough cash saved up and he wasn't willing to take payments so that was that and it became the one that got away. Fast forward about 30yrs...had a chance to take my son on a work trip with me and catch a few days of vacation on the side where we went to our first classic car auction in Oregon. Didn't know what all they'd have there, but when I dug into the auction list and laid eyes on this fairly plain original and unrestored '68 Cougar XR-7 in good shape, I was looking for ways to justify to the wife why I needed this car (if the price didn't get ridiculous). Long story short, price was good, not a lot of interest to drive the price up and we drove her away (that's my son in the profile pic waiting in the car at the airport while I'm turning in the rental car...still had the auction plates on it). Shipped it home to Virginia...thought about what an adventure we would have had driving it all the way back from the west coast but turns out she had a bit of an overheating issue 180 miles into our 200 mile drive up to my work location. Anyway, shipped it home (wife was NOT happy) and after driving it around town here and there for a couple of months and dealing with occasional overheating and one no-start, it was time to learn how to rebuild a 98,000 mile motor. Fast forward a couple of years (and way too much time working and commuting instead of rebuilding) and I've completed: teardown, engine bay cleanup and paint, block machining/boring .030 over, head/valve work, re-assembly, re-installation...now working on getting the "little things" installed and connected to be able to try an engine break-in.

    Future Plans

    Brake and suspension refresh, front seats re-upholstered.

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