My '92 Cougar: Starting the paint process

[outskirtscustoms]

you can buy a junkyard cab and mount it on that chassis
i think you will be good then
that weber carb will get you a couple hundred easily
its a good lookin lil truck ashame to part it away
can also use ford ranger parts i believe i think they are the same truck just badged differently
either way good luck with the truck
sean

Actually it's the same as the Ford Courier like a pre- Ford Ranger.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

yeah that's the one i was thinking of .
i know alot of fords are Mazda with ford badges escape= Mazda tribute explorer Mazda Navaho ranger=Mazda b series pickup ford probe=Mazda millennia ect.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Yeah, they've done it for years. Not just Ford and Mazda, Buick Century = Pontiac 6000, Dodge Omni = Plymouth Horizon

 

[MonoxideChild]

The Ford/Mazda swappage started after this model.

For finding stuff for these, your best bet is actually the 88-92 Mazda MX6's and 626's, along with the 89-92 Probes. They also had the 2.2, but one tuned a bit better. Along with a 12v head, instead of the 8v it looks like your truck has from that valve cover. You can even do a F2T swap, which is a factory 2.2 turbo found in the 88-92 GT's with a little fab work. Otherwise a DOHC 2.0 FE3 out of a 1st gen Kia Sportage is also a sweet swap that physically is a bolt in job.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

The Ford/Mazda swappage started after this model.

For finding stuff for these, your best bet is actually the 88-92 Mazda MX6's and 626's, along with the 89-92 Probes. They also had the 2.2, but one tuned a bit better. Along with a 12v head, instead of the 8v it looks like your truck has from that valve cover. You can even do a F2T swap, which is a factory 2.2 turbo found in the 88-92 GT's with a little fab work. Otherwise a DOHC 2.0 FE3 out of a 1st gen Kia Sportage is also a sweet swap that physically is a bolt in job.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Rustinkerer]

My passenger belt works fine but I did the same thing to the driver's side, it didn't move just made noise and drove me nuts. I just keep it latched and after sitting down I just throw it over my head to put it on. So far it seems pretty reliable. Still in that phase of testing and not driving too far till I get to know the car a bit better. So far I know it has a power steering leak but I put a bottle of Lucas stop leak stuff in it and it hasn't leaked a drop since. Still learning it's little quirks and such. Needless to say I keep tools and fluids in the back just in case.

Now the XR-7 had a supercharger didn't it? I read on wikipedia that some had a 3.8 with supercharger. I'd love to get one for mine.

XR-7 was just a trim package. I know the T-bird had the 'SC' supercharged model. I'm not aware of a Cougar version, but who knows? ...I always wanted to graft a 53 Studebaker front & rear sheetmetal on a Cougar, thought they would blend a lot better than the 49 Ford/Merc.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

XR-7 was just a trim package. I know the T-bird had the 'SC' supercharged model. I'm not aware of a Cougar version, but who knows? ...I always wanted to graft a 53 Studebaker front & rear sheetmetal on a Cougar, thought they would blend a lot better than the 49 Ford/Merc.

From Wikipedia:
"The Cougar entered its seventh generation with a completely new body and chassis. Nothing carried over from the previous Cougar except for badging and the engine. In fact, only six parts were carried over from 1988. The biggest change was the switch to the larger MN12 chassis, which was shared with the Ford Thunderbird. The chassis featured a fully independent rear suspension, a first for the Cougar. It was also nine inches (229 mm) longer (104.2 vs. 113 inches) for better rear leg room. The flowing lines and extreme notchback roofline were still there, but this generation integrated the two much more successfully. To the surprise of fans, the car had no V8 engine available when introduced. Instead, the base LS had a naturally aspirated 140 hp (104 kW) 3.8-L V6, backed by a four-speed automatic transmission, which had a hard time moving the nearly 3,800 lb (1,700 kg) Cougar."

"The XR-7 had a 210 hp supercharged version of the same engine the car could be equipped with a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic with overdrive. Mercury spared no expense in equipping its XR-7 performance model. Standard features included four-wheel antilock disc brakes, an electronically adjustable, sport-tuned suspension, monochromatic paint scheme in red, white, or black, and 16-inch alloy wheels. The base LS's more luxury-oriented features included a fully digital instrument cluster and exterior chrome trim."

The 3.8 supercharged was replaced in 1991 by the 5.0 V8 so it was only used for 3 years. 1989, 1990, and early 1991 models.

 

[Rustinkerer]

Now I know "the rest of the story." Good day!

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Also found this doing a search for '53 studebakers

 

[outskirtscustoms]

One thing I love about my Cougar is unlike almost every other similar car of the time that was a step below the "sport model" (by sport model I mean Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, exc.) the Mercury Cougar is one of very few front engine rear wheel drive cars made in that time. So the engine sits front to back and not side to side like front wheel drive cars making it much easier to work on and it's more fun drifting in snow with RWD.

Few examples:
(Chevy Beretta, Monte Carlo, Cavalier, Pontiac Grand Am, Grand Prix, Sunfire, Olds Tornado, Cutlass, Chrysler Lebaron, Dodge Daytona, Plymouth Sundance, Dodge Stealth, Ford Probe) ALL FRONT WHEEL DRIVE

Why is this a big deal for me? Have you ever changed spark plugs in a FWD V6? Ever change a serpentine belt in a FWD V6? Ever change a water pump in a FWD V6? Timing belt / chain? Needless to say it is a pain and requires tearing apart half the car to get to it.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Just an update, I tore into the engine in the Mazda truck and the head was cracked on the number 2 and 3 cylinders right between the valves so I started tearing it apart. Scrapped the aluminum valve cover, head, intake, scrapped the cat converter, then sold the exhaust header, carb, driver's side tail light and driver's side mirror for $175 so the truck has already paid for itself. Now I'm trying to sell what's left of the truck so I can finish out my Cougar but if the Mazda doesn't sell here soon I'm going to make a drag truck out of it and put something cheap, fast, and fun like a 289 or 302 in it. Maybe make a drift toy out of it.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Well I got my interior in the Cougar all shined up and put back together and I stopped in Harbor freight tools to pick up a few things and found a cool boost gauge on the cheap so seeing as I'm wanting to eventually do a supercharger mod on it I went ahead and picked it up. It also lights up in different colors! I'm going to get a 3 gauge pod for that spot to fill it in better later. Also installed my shielded toggle switch next to the headlight switch just to make people wonder. Not bad for a $400 car. Also got my Ruff Cycles stickers yesterday so I'll be putting those on today when I get around to messing with it.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Finally sold the Mazda and got some decent used tires for the Cougar.

Also went to the flea market and scored a sub box for my sub. Now need to get a second 12 and I'm ready to rock.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Starting to look good, It got a good cleaning and a few stickers to make it different from all the other cougars out there.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Well after some long hours of research I found that the 3.8L Essex V-6 in my '92 Cougar has many cousins under the hoods of many different Ford vehicles, some having slightly different parts than others... making it possible to build a decently powerful motor using many parts right from other Ford production vehicles (a few cheap pick-a-part adventures)

For example the Ford 4.2L V-6 found in the '97-'08 F-150 is the same motor with a longer stroke crankshaft. The '95-'03 Ford Windstar minivan has the same engine with a 12 runner intake. The '99-up Mustang has the same 3.8 but with split port heads, The XR-7 V6 Cougar and Thunderbird Super-coupe had an Eaton M90 supercharger. And the '01-'04 Mustang had the same 3.8 but with thicker main bearing caps, factory windage tray, and was zero-balanced, meaning the crankshaft does not rely on any external weight offset, making it perfect to build up and drop right in my little Cougar street sleeper.

Add to that the trans of a Cougar XR-7 with 5.0 V-8 has the same bell housing bolt pattern so the added power will be no problem, The XR-7 had factory disk brakes in the rear, and some had a factory limited slip rear diff, and the '92 Cougar has fully independent suspension so it handles like it's on rails. Then after the engine and trans are sorted I want to get the Easyrods kit not only because I can make it look like a '49 Ford or old Merc but because it is fiberglass and eliminates the steel hood, trunk, fenders, and heavy front and back end making it lighter. Then a set of newer Mustang bullet or Cobra wheels and true dual exhaust and I might call it finished.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

That is quite the list of upgrades!

Luke.

 

[TexasDart]

not sure about the easyrod kit being an upgrade. I really don't think it 'flows' very well. Looks like some stick on fenders on a 92 Cougar.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

not sure about the easyrod kit being an upgrade. I really don't think it 'flows' very well. Looks like some stick on fenders on a 92 Cougar.

I agree but I got a trick up my sleeve to draw your attention away from the car itself. I wouldn't be painting mine as nice, I'd do a fake patina and make it look right.

 

[TexasDart]

oh no...fake patina on a fake 49 Ford....run away...yikes....
I think you should appreciate what you have. 92 Cougars are cool in their own right. RWD...some where V8 powered. I'd replace some of the messed up pieces on the rear and drive the heck out of it.
That or fix it up and sell it to buy you a cool old car. A lot of the old 4 door 49 fords don't really go for that bad of money. Patina is already there. But it's your ride do what you wanna do. I bet those conversion kits go for quite a bit of money.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

The kit runs $3,600 bucks so it's actually not that bad. Thing is the older cars are awesome but they are hard on gas, Heavy, don't have all the modern amenities like AC, tilt wheel, power windows, locks, mirrors, Overdrive transmissions, and such, and around here in Indiana it is hard enough to find a 1992 that's not rotted out let alone a 1949 with no rust. I'm not going to try to pass it off for something it's not, to me it is like any other rat rod, you choose pieces from 20 different cars and put it all together to make something cool and they don't make many good body kits for a Mercury Cougar. Only cool piece I found was a mach one style hood but it's like $500 just for the hood.