Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #15 – July 09, 2010, 11:59:13 PM You ever think about a turbo instead? Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #16 – July 10, 2010, 12:07:06 AM Yeah but not seriously cos i just dont wanna screw with fabricating custom headers for one. Plus, ive always been a fan of blowers anyway :D Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #17 – July 10, 2010, 02:01:19 AM Well, made some "progress" lately.While I haven't actually done anything to the car yet, I have been doing some hardcore planning and research.I figured out some things that will help me with the tranny conversion. First thing, I found out exactly what kind of trans I will be putting in it. I looked it up and found out that the 94-95 at least mustangs still ran a T5 on their v6's. So, went to autozone, they were able to come up with a rebuilt trans, a new clutch kit, and the fabled v6 flywheel for the engine. This seemed to be a big deal on Eric's write up about the T5 swap b/c no one was sure what flywheel to use. So...I just asked for one from the 94-95 V6 mustang, and sure enough, a balanced flywheel, ready to bolt on.Looking at $300 for the tranny, $161.99 for the clutch kit, and $77.99 for the flywheel.Now I just gotta find a 5.0 something to ravage the pedal set from.:DAlso, I decided to go with a completely custom guage set. I'm going to go with the Sunpro Super III set, all the way. P/N CP7125 for the speedo, CP7915 for the tach, and CP7101 for the OP guage, WT, VM, Fuel, V/B, and AFR all are similar to the OP guage. All in all, w/o the V/B and AFT guages, it's gonna run me a little more than $400. I'm going to make a custom cluster backing from our existing stock cluster. Here is a template I came up with last year when I was considering this before. The first picture was my original idea back then, but the second two are what I have decided to change it to. There are still a couple of things missing that you cannot see in the picture.You can see how in the two different designs I changed the position of the small guages to match our own anlalog clusters, and I got rid of all the useless lights that my car doesn't even have. It still needs a little tweaking, and I have a custom LED setup in mind for things such as TS and HB indicators. Its going to be mind blowing:eek:I was hoping for a test fit today, but ran out of time. I will try to fit it tomorrow or on sunday, that will really help me with guage placement once I see the template in-dash. Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #18 – July 11, 2010, 06:39:00 PM Ok, well I have tweaked out and testfitted the custom gauge panel. I decided to make a change to the gauge set I am using too. I decided to go with Auto Meter's Sport Comp I set, 3-3.8" tach and speedo and 2-1/16" instrument set.Here is the new design I am going with. It's basically the same, only I had to make the gauge holes the right size, which caused some moving around. Its a reaaaaally tight fit. The only lights I am going to be including on this are the High beam indicator, and the Turn signal indicators. This is in part because my other lights don't work anyway... These are each going to be custom LED strips, white for the HB, and green for the TS's. The gauges themselves are going to be backlit red.Here are some test fit pics.This one is from eye level in the carHere are two close ups...in the first one you can kinda see the "RH" for the RH TS strip on the bottom corner on the black part Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #19 – July 12, 2010, 05:13:29 PM Well here's a neat idea I had. I had this trunk emblem laying around forever and decided not to put int on the trunk because I have another idea. So.....Longing for the style of the 83/84 interior what placed the logo on the dash, I had an idea!I just measured, centered, and leveled. Then I marked and drilled 1/16" holes and stuck it right in. It sticks in there pretty good. No glue required. Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #20 – July 12, 2010, 05:49:43 PM I like it :D Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #21 – July 22, 2010, 07:41:25 PM Well, I went out a started the car up for the first time in about a week and half, and it obviously needed to be, judging from the 7 or 8 cranks it took to get it started. (normally its about 3)I'm so disappointed that its just sitting there and there's really nothing I can do about it right now. Don't get me wrong, I love my bird, and it is a much nicer car on the inside, but the cat is just sooooo much more fun to drive.Its weird, I sat in it when I started it up and everything just felt so alien to me. After driving the 96 around for a month the 88 just feels so old and out of date. The lack of options, the small thin *everything*, and just the general age decayed poor interior feels so different to me, but I still miss it.The one thing that I always loved about my cougar was that it is the most fun car I've ever driven. (now thats not against too many cars though) I love the handling in it, the speed, the sound, and just the general feel.I can't wait to get the tranny in it and get it back on the road. Its just so hard right now to come up with funds when I can hardly even pay my bills on time. :(On another note, I think I have come up with a solution for how to fix the massive dent under my window. Link to the thread I just started:http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?p=329186#post329186 Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #22 – July 22, 2010, 08:26:58 PM On the 4.2L note, they make 200hp in the freestar and are great on torque, so I wouldn't count it out. It would be an easy drop in replacement.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/04-FREESTAR-ENGINE-4-2L-VIN-2-8TH-DIGIT-6-256-/170514086252?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27b36e796c Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #23 – August 24, 2010, 07:15:39 PM Well, I had all day to go junkyarding today, and came up with some good finds. I found $13!!! in a car today...just sitting there!... I found a 86 TC that I may be able to get some susp parts from, but it looked like I'm already as upgraded as it wasI also found blue 88 cougar that I can possibly get a transmission fromAnd I finally was able to find a sable with the piece that I have been looking for for a long time to do a special secret project I've been planning for a year now...I'm thinking about just buying a pos AOD and throwing it in there for now. What I want more that anything is just to be able to drive my car from time to time. If I wait out all the time and money it's going to take to get all the pieces and parts and get the T5 installed, it will be a long time before the cat is out prowling the streets again. I think I am going to go get the AOd from the 88 cougar and just slap it in there and get it done for now, while I take my time and get everything I need for the T5 install.I also today finally got around to removing/hackingall the AC components, since I have now decided to just ditch it instead of getting it fixed. If this was going to be a DD or stock rebuild, I would keep it, but as for what I plan on doing with it, since it doesn't work anyway, I just ripped it all out. (which really wasn't as easy as it might sound)I also got all the smog pump bs tubing out of there all the way back to the metal tube which I capped offFound out the wire I ran from my alt to power my fan has some sort of problem and is draining my battery and/or causing my alternator not to charge correctly which is what keeps causing my battery to die... I need to do this properly and run it straight from the battery and get a relay attached to the ignition to power it.So, here are a couple of picts after a quick purple power bath:D Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #24 – August 24, 2010, 09:24:11 PM Jeez man, got enough clearance for that fan?! This winter I'll be re-installing my AC, but I plan on DD/road-tripping it. Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #25 – August 24, 2010, 09:59:29 PM Quote from: jrad235;333305Jeez man, got enough clearance for that fan?!:rollin:Yeah thats what everybody says; I can actually stand in there:D Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #26 – August 26, 2010, 07:44:19 PM Well, here is the big secret revealed.my super secret but not as impressive as I thought ideaI also got the ac tensioner off and out of the way... only thing left to do about that is remove the evaporator... I guess I'll do that when I fix the heater Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #27 – September 01, 2010, 10:59:16 PM Well, I found a tranny!There is an 88 v6 car in the JY nearby, the guy said he wants $200 and he'll pull and deliver the tranny to me! Sweet!I'm pretty sure it works cause the car was plainly in there due to a wreck and getting totaled, but it shouldn't have damaged the trans at all. But, just to be safe, I'm going to take it apart and clean it when it gets home, and then I will be adding a fan assisted trans cooler after it goes in too.I'm not really looking for something badass, since I still plan on going T5, but now at least I will be able to move it by means other than pushing it! Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #28 – September 03, 2010, 08:06:06 PM Quote from: sarjxxx;334431Well, I found a tranny!I don't think I would be bragging if I found a tranny Quote Selected
Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS Reply #29 – September 03, 2010, 08:26:08 PM Scott!:flip: Quote Selected
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