1979 Mercury Cougar XR7 (Video in Comments!)

1979 Mercury Cougar Description

https://youtu.be/EKK9XA6J210

I highly recommend watching it to get an idea of how the car runs!

I picked it up a couple years ago – since then, I’ve been slowly making repairs & driving it around town! However, I have too many other projects & don’t have any more time to devote on this one! Since I’ve had it, I’ve put about 2,500mi. on it. Odometer currently shows 26,985 but it’s definitely rolled over (maxes out at 99,999). When I picked it up, the entire front end was covered in oil from the leaking seals at the top of the block & could barely turn over due to due airflow issues. Since that time, the gaskets and valve covers were replaced. New PCV valve & air filtration system, carb jets cleaned. New terminal cables for the battery. Plugged up air leaks (mostly vac advance) & redundant systems associated w/ the air pump (if you need this car to pass an emissions test, pls note this will need to rectified). Oil & filter changed less than 250 miles ago. Aftermarket CD Player!

Here’s what I know needs to be attended to :

U-Joint. Definitely worn, makes an audible noise when you transfer power from the transmission (ie., shifting). It will likely have to be replaced within the next 10,000 miles.

Switches. Two issues : one is a faulty oil pressure switch. This car has only a light indicator (no read-out gauge) which flickers / stays on sporadically. The other is the switch for the headlights. It’s the kind you pull to activate – the knob is disconnected from the housing so it does not currently slide out smoothly (ie., you currently have the fiddle w/ it a bit to get the lights on).

Brakes. About 25% life remaining; will likely have to be replaced within the next 7,000 miles.

Interior. Its seen much better days. The driver seat will need to be completely replaced or reupholstered. The driver side seat belt is damaged & will need to be replaced. Carpet is coming up on the driver side.

Exterior. Same story as the interior. Clear coat is coming off, various dings & bumps but overall – the body is fairly straight. One of the trim pieces is not attached to the frame but I do have it to provide!

As a consequence of the aforementioned oil leak, the block / hood / bay were heavily caked in oil when I got the car. The hood & sides have been extensively scrubbed & I began working to clean to block, starting from the driver side & working my way over to the passenger side (will be evident from the pictures). This is fairly tedious process & I stopped at about the distributor – there’s quite a bit more remaining! Due to the amount still present on / around the manifold, it starts to burn off when the car gets to operating temp (this is light, white smoke you see coming off the block in the video).

You get all the spare parts in the trunk (includes two tires, one w/ a rim) + a Chilton’s manual!