Restoration of my 73 cougar

[zx2guy]

im 18, and i just bought a 73 cougar xr 7 convertable (with a 2v 351 cleveland) off of my uncle(for $1200)... and well... it is in serious need of restoration... it runs... and drives... but mostly it sits. i work in a garage and im thinking of taking it there to tune up the motor and doing any maintainance i can do... the body needs work, the motor, the interior, well it needs all around work... ive also been looking up how much it is to buy restoration parts ( have the dash send away to be redone etc.) and it is severl of houndreds of dollars. i am going to go to an auto college known as wyotech and they allow project cars... with conditions. but i dont know if i want to take the cougar there if i dont have the chance to work on it... or worse i get half way into something and i have to stop. ive already photo documented most of the car, in video and in picture. so im leaving it up to you where should i start? and why. i just dont want to screw this up, parts are expensive, and rare... so a completely factory restoration wont be the goal.

[MagicRat]

IMO don't bother taking it to Wyotech.
It will be expensive to ship it, the technology in a '73 Cougar is old, and may not be relevant to lots of things you will learn there; the project may distract from your studies, and the car might get ripped-off/damaged.

[zx2guy]

you have a good point but what should i do with it then until im done with college? my family moves alot because of my dad's job, and the last thing i need is to have that thing totted from place to place. plus i want to be able to do at least some work on it. (i dont want it to just sit... the motor and tranny are already in crappy condition... both needs to be rebuilt, baddly)

[MagicRat]

That's a tough decision. Do you have any relatives/friends with a barn/garage available for long term storage?

[zx2guy]

well my uncle has a garage and my grandfather has a ranch and it can stay out there... but the work of the devils known as mice have laid waste to my tail light wiring already, i can understand holes, that just means reconecting but im talking FEET missing. it is insane. i figured with it with me or my parents it might actually get ran and that will keep critters out. plus i can work on it little at a time... like an hour or so on the week days and make it a marathon during the weekend (with friends,> especially those that work for beer and chips, its amazing what you can get done)

[infantfinite86]

Hey, I sent you a PM about your post in my thread, and now I found your thread.
Awesome project car, I actually ran into a guy the other day at Kragens (I was visiting my Father, he works there) who pulled up in a fully restored Cougar, with the same engine (same engine that I have as well).
Those Clevelands have lots of potential, but they're just not as popular since they aren't anywhere near as common as Windsors (Clevelands were only made for 4 years in the US).
Good luck with your car!

[zx2guy]

thanks for the message man the info really helped. as for my project it is far... far.... far from being fully restored. right now most of it is maintainance. mostly running reliably. but i figure one of the first things ill do is actually body work. i want to get the thing sand blasted cuz there is no point to me building the motor without having a decent body to bolt it into( but 1st i need cash). which you might be running into with your ranchero too. nothing like 30 years of rust to piss you off. but whats your over all plan for the car? i sat down and wrote like a page front and back of just things i need to do, without breaking it down into sub catergories either. do you only have the 2 bbl or 4? if you got the 2, you and i are in the same boat and can bounce things like different cams off each other. the funny thing though is in 70 those cars were pushing 300 ponies, ours> 168 hp. but you rev her up to 5 grand and oohh you know that car wants to scream power... but hey get me some of pics of that ranchero of yours. i think that would be pretty cool to see.