New project. Rare 70 cougar overhaul!!

[freakshow12]

i got this kit from a friend as a rebuilder.  It's hard to find and expensive.  He started adding the better 73 cougar engine bay.  I thought there had to be a better option.  I cut up a revell 69 Mach 1 and used a 69 shelby as a donor.  I will be doing a grabber green 70 eliminator.  This is an easy great upgrade that is easy to do. I have the 67,68 and 69 Cougars as well and now they will all be getting this treatment.  Follow along. I will let the pics do the talking.  Happy to hear any comments or questions

[freakshow12]

[madhorseman]

That is going to look really good Fred!

[cobraman]

I agree with Roy.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice start.

[louie]

Really, Really nice job adding the engine bay area to the cougar. Nice to see you saving a rare kit like this. Please keep us updated on your build and I definitely will be following. 

Thank you.      Jeff 

[kelson]

Never would've thought to use the 69'Shelby and Mach1 for the engine bay parts,i've got 67-70 cougars as well including the 70'ragtop that I will try to copy what you've done,looking forward to seeing your progress on this one.

[Mopeyguy]

Loving this project.

Friend of mine had a yellow one back in the late 90's that he restored, boss 302 in it,,, and wanted to sell his unrestored 351 Clevland  Grabber Green one.

Very nice rides...

[Foxer]

A lot of good work going on there ... it's looking great!

[CometMan]

Nice job Fred! You can definitely see how many kits gave up their parts for this one with all those different colors!!

[Belugawrx]

Very nice Fred

And you're going to put ??/engine,in it ?

Cheers bro

[James2]

Great start. 

[Davewilly]

looks pretty cool.  Nice work on the chassis/engine bay bash!

[espo]

Interesting and very creative conversion. Could you share the reason for the floor boards being changed ? Also the Yellow Chassis looks like the rear wheel base is just a little short. I have not built this model, but wonder what the short comings are on the engine bay ?  

[Deathgoblin]

Very nice conversion!    

[freakshow12]

Very nice Fred

And you're going to put ??/engine,in it ?

Cheers bro

it's going to be a 428 scj 4 speed car.  The big daddy eliminator?

[freakshow12]

Interesting and very creative conversion. Could you share the reason for the floor boards being changed ? Also the Yellow Chassis looks like the rear wheel base is just a little short. I have not built this model, but wonder what the short comings are on the engine bay ?  

I had to stretch the chassis about 3mm to set the wheel base.  The kit comes with a very generic plate chassis and the engine bay is not even close to correct.  I figured if I were going to cut up a rare model I might as well use the best parts to make a nice factory stock car that is seldom seen on the contest tables.  To my knowledge in the first to do this conversion ?

[espo]

I had to stretch the chassis about 3mm to set the wheel base.  The kit comes with a very generic plate chassis and the engine bay is not even close to correct.  I figured if I were going to cut up a rare model I might as well use the best parts to make a nice factory stock car that is seldom seen on the contest tables.  To my knowledge in the first to do this conversion ?

Thank you for the info. I have one of these Cougar kits but just never got around to building it.

[freakshow12]

No problem.   They build up as nice shelf models as is but I wanted a bit more out of it?

[Maindrian Pace]

 Nice. I've got one too, and was also planning Grabber Green. Just waiting for time... 

[EliminatorMike]

it's going to be a 428 scj 4 speed car.  The big daddy eliminator?

Very cool!  But then again I'm biased :-)

Good choice on the floor pans.  Those look to be pretty correct, as far as ribbing and drain plugs go.

Don't forget, all Eliminators have a "slop gray" underside paint color.  This was typical for Cougars and Mustangs built in Dearborn, MI at the time.  For those who are unaware, "slop gray" was basically a slate / black-ish paint Ford used on various parts and major unseen areas of the cars.  Actual color varied because it was made up from all the waste-paint put into one vat.  So some cars will show metallic flake, others have a greenish tinge to the "gray".

I've attached a pic of the original underside of a competition orange '70 Boss Eliminator.  You clearly see the factory orange overspray (no, it's not rust), as well as the "slop gray" / black underside paint.
The slop gray extends up to the firewall and basically ends at the end of the transmission tunnel.  Slop gray was also used on the shock tower support struts (connect between the shock tower and firewall).
Engine compartment is semi-gloss black (which over time tends to flatten out with heat / age).  Shock tower caps are "natural" - a dark steel color.

Another thing to mention is that they blacked out the pinch weld area at the bottom of the rockers (blue pic below).

Difficult to tell on your model, but the side marker lights are different between a '69 & '70 as well. '69 style was sort of flush mounted with the sheet metal, while the '70 side markers were recessed ('70 pics attached).

Also the transmission cross member on your model is styled to resemble the one used on an automatic transmission.  Attached a pic of the 4-speed cross member for '69 / '70.

Hmm... one more quick tip: Mercury referred to it as Competition Green, while Ford used the name Grabber Green.  Otherwise they are the same color :-)

Good luck Sir!  Can't wait to see how you progress, and what the interior will look like!  If you need pics for detail items feel free to message me.

Edited March 1, 2016 by EliminatorMike

[freakshow12]

Very cool!  But then again I'm biased :-)

Good choice on the floor pans.  Those look to be pretty correct, as far as ribbing and drain plugs go.

Don't forget, all Eliminators have a "slop gray" underside paint color.  This was typical for Cougars and Mustangs built in Dearborn, MI at the time.  For those who are unaware, "slop gray" was basically a slate / black-ish paint Ford used on various parts and major unseen areas of the cars.  Actual color varied because it was made up from all the waste-paint put into one vat.  So some cars will show metallic flake, others have a greenish tinge to the "gray".

I've attached a pic of the original underside of a competition orange '70 Boss Eliminator.  You clearly see the factory orange overspray (no, it's not rust), as well as the "slop gray" / black underside paint.
The slop gray extends up to the firewall and basically ends at the end of the transmission tunnel.  Slop gray was also used on the shock tower support struts (connect between the shock tower and firewall).
Engine compartment is semi-gloss black (which over time tends to flatten out with heat / age).  Shock tower caps are "natural" - a dark steel color.

Another thing to mention is that they blacked out the pinch weld area at the bottom of the rockers (blue pic below).

Difficult to tell on your model, but the side marker lights are different between a '69 & '70 as well. '69 style was sort of flush mounted with the sheet metal, while the '70 side markers were recessed ('70 pics attached).

Also the transmission cross member on your model is styled to resemble the one used on an automatic transmission.  Attached a pic of the 4-speed cross member for '69 / '70.

Hmm... one more quick tip: Mercury referred to it as Competition Green, while Ford used the name Grabber Green.  Otherwise they are the same color :-)

Good luck Sir!  Can't wait to see how you progress, and what the interior will look like!  If you need pics for detail items feel free to message me.

thanks! The kit has the xr7 interior so I don't know how far I will go with it.  Some pics would help.  I grew up with mustangs and torinos.  Dad had one cougar, a 69 xr7 390.  Done a couple restos as well. I've also seen red oxide on some Cougars I think it depended on what was on hand. Here is a mach 1 chassis I did.   I tend to stick to the factory stock fords as that's what I grew up with so, like you I know silly things like casting numbers etc lol

[EliminatorMike]

thanks! The kit has the xr7 interior so I don't know how far I will go with it.  Some pics would help.  I grew up with mustangs and torinos.  Dad had one cougar, a 69 xr7 390.  Done a couple restos as well. I've also seen red oxide on some Cougars I think it depended on what was on hand. Here is a mach 1 chassis I did.   I tend to stick to the factory stock fords as that's what I grew up with so, like you I know silly things like casting numbers etc lol

Great detail on the undercarriage!  Very cool!  So it sounds like you're an old hand at restoration details - that probably makes it easy scaling everything down :-)

As for the red oxide on the Cougars, they were built at several plants, and they all used different practices.  Eliminators were all built at Dearborn and should have had a slop gray underside.  But... there are plenty of them out there that have been restored with red oxide.  I doubt anyone will question it :-)

Here is a picture of a '70 Cougar SCJ / 4-speed driveshaft, for reference.  Transmission yoke ends had purple markings, driveshaft end yokes were a red-orange.  The white stripe went toward the front and an orange stripe toward the rear.  The three in the middle are correct colors, but in the wrong order - they should be blue / red / green, front to back (oops).

I'll get some interior sample pics posted for you tomorrow.  In the mean time, does the interior you have use the high back buckets?  In '70 all of the Cougar interiors included high back buckets, so those would be fine for a '70 Eliminator.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by EliminatorMike
*moving pics to new post

[slusher]

Fred your builds are always impressive and interesting....

[DumpyDan]

Wow dude that's awesome