Just bought 1969 Mecury Cougar Covnt. XR7

[Junk_in_Trunk]

I would appreciate a little guidance in what I should do to the car. I know its not a mustang but back then they were just as good if not a little cooler b/c they were more rare. Any who my question - I have this 69 which had its motor swapped out for an '84 5.0 mustang motor. It currently has 2 1/4 in pipes running off the '84's original manifold with a 2 chamber flowmaster exhaust set up. I want a meaner set up. What should I do?


I was thinking about a cam, but I don't want the hassle even though it would be nice.

So should I put headers in? I was also thinking about doing dump exhaust?

If I should put headers in do you guys recommend anything? And what about single chamber exhaust vs 2 chamber. And is magnaflow better than flowmaster? :shrug:

Also the motor has been bored over 30 and has edelbrock heads.

I live in California but I don't have to worry about smogging since the car is so old but I know cops out here can give tickets for loud exhausts.

Any help would be great! :bowdown:

 

[Dusten]

they put edelbrock heads on it, bored its .030 and did cam it? i find that hard to believe...
get a set of long tubes for it, there are 100000 different brands that will all work.

 

[Junk_in_Trunk]

The guy I bought the car from didn't seem all that together when it came to car stuff.

Are long tubes gonna give me the best performance and sound?

 

[ford_racer]

So they swapped a 69 Cougar motor, for an 84 Mustang motor?


Why? I cannot think of any possible benefit to this, unless the stock motor was some goofy ass 289, but I doubt that's the case.

Get yourself a Windsor.

 

[THE_STIG]

Get a 428CJ for starters, thats a much meaner set up than a dinky 302 from the early 80's.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

Find out what engine is supposed to be in there, get one and put it in.

Then JFDI....
Or sell it, and buy a Fox coupe to hot rod.

If it was supposed to be a 351W, you can do a 408 and it will still look the same on the outside.

A well built stroker 351W will break all the driveline parts you could ever want. LOL :-D

Torque rules the streets. If you can hook it.:beer:

 

[ElGato]

C4? or the FMX trans. I doubt it has a 4 speed... if it does that's a little more rare, 85% of all Cougars were autos.


In 69 the base motor was the 315W 2bbl (no Clevelands of any sort until 70).

There was a 351W 4bbl option.
A 390, and a 428 Cobra Jet.

I severely doubt the later two were in the car. If there were you have a fairly rare car... if not, do what you makes you happy and be done with it because you won't hurt the value. 69 XR7 verts aren't that rare.

 

[Junk_in_Trunk]

I'm not gonna fool with the motor. I just wanna know if I should put headers on and if so what type, and if dump exhaust would be a good choice. I already know all about the motor options for the Cougars, I spent a lot of time researching them.

 

[Don Juan]

Pics or ban.

 

[ElGato]

With your attitude I'll resist telling you what I really think, however you asked for help:

It doesn't matter what brand of headers you get-the cheaper the better-the amount of hp difference is negligable for the price, or even if you get headers. But if you want more specific answers you'd better clarify "a meaner setup." Hell, just hack off the mufflers and be done with it.

And before you say anything else realize I had a '70 as my DD for 5 years. I still have the car. I have put multiple motors, exhausts, and misc go fast parts on it. If you start down this path and are serious about it, the path will never end.

 

[97WHITEVENOM]

69 XR7 verts aren't that rare.

... I know I see at least 10 a day

 

[Junk_in_Trunk]

... I know I see at least 10 a day

Yeah about 70% of all the cougars I looked at were located somewhere in Northeast if not in New York state. I am however in Southern California :shrug:


I appreciate the help. I don't see my attitude. I'm just a kid who bought his father's dream car. I'm trying not as of yet to blow all my money on it. Hence why I am not eager about finding a 351w and putting it into the car. I just put a rebuilt AOD trany in - which was costly as an trany job is for certain systems. The car is nice. Its not an A+. But once I get her cleaned up I'll post pics so don't worry about banning me.

All I was trying to do was to get some insightful exhaust opinions from some guys who most definitely know a lot more about cars than I do.


Thanks again for any help. :beer:

 

[01yellercobra]

If you're on a budget look into a set of headers from Summit or Jegs. Anything is going to be better then the stock manifolds. Double check to make sure they'll clear the AOD though. I ran turbo mufflers with turn downs on my 70 Mustang and it sounded pretty good. It resonated a bit, but it didn't bother me. I wouldn't do 1 chamber mufflers. My buddy has 2 chamber mufflers on his 89 GT and those are loud enough.

 

[5.0 Ford Power]

I have the summit headers for my 69, its a 351c though. I have it running through a magnaflow x-pipe and borla sportsman muffs with dumps before the axle. It sounds killer.

 

[94_Vert]

the only bad thing about dumps is you could get some exhaust in the cabin, other than that i think older muscle cars look good with them. just get some cheap headers and stick with the mufflers that you have.

 

[97WHITEVENOM]

Yeah about 70% of all the cougars I looked at were located somewhere in Northeast if not in New York state. I am however in Southern California :shrug:


I appreciate the help. I don't see my attitude. I'm just a kid who bought his father's dream car. I'm trying not as of yet to blow all my money on it. Hence why I am not eager about finding a 351w and putting it into the car. I just put a rebuilt AOD trany in - which was costly as an trany job is for certain systems. The car is nice. Its not an A+. But once I get her cleaned up I'll post pics so don't worry about banning me.

All I was trying to do was to get some insightful exhaust opinions from some guys who most definitely know a lot more about cars than I do.


Thanks again for any help. :beer:

Being sarcastic! Rare is relative term... but I cant remember the last time Ive run across a xr7 vert... I think they are rare.:shrug: I am partial to the 67-68 thought :rockon:

Tranny was costly job?

 

[tdo]

Good luck with it no matter what you do. I had a 69 Vert (non-XR7), 351w, 2bbl, 3spd Manual a couple of years back. Really loved the Cougars. I wanted a vert, but none in 67 (fav year), so I got a 69.

Nice is you can still get them "relatively" cheap compared to a comparable Mustang. And a GT or GT-E will scorch the road.

Nice cars, ride better and nicer than a comparable Mustang.

PICS!

 

[Junk_in_Trunk]

Yeah the tranny was completely shot nothing was usable on it - the guy I took it to did a good job and I got a 2 yr warranty out of it so I'm to bummed but it wasn't a $700 job like I was originally quoted.

A member pm me and told me that this exhaust setup - Headman full length headers, Hooker Aerochamber mufflers might be a good choice.

I like the idea of getting a decent set of headers and then leaving the 2 1/4 pipes with the two chamber flowmaster mufflers on, but cutting and turning down the tips before the rear axle.

What do you guys think about that?

 

[01yellercobra]

That'll work just fine. For my last exhaust set up on the 70 I just picked up a pair of turn downs at Autozone.

 

[ford_racer]

I think leaving an early/mid 80s Fox 5.0 in a 69 Cougar is sacriligious, but at least it'll sound good.