Cougar Project

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Cougar Project

November 12, 2014, 11:02:27 PM

Hi Folks,

I am buying a 1984 Cougar LS as a project car. It's stock with a 5.0L engine (113K miles) , AOD trans and I am guessing a 7.5 rear. The trans has issues (stuck in first) and I posted that question in the powertrain forum.

My question here regards my grand plan for this car. I eventually want a crate 351 windsor, a Lentech trans and a traction-lock rear. I'd also like to swap the wheels our for disk brake 5-lug wheels. From what i saw on CoolCats.Net this looks doable (albeit pricey). From what I read that is mostly plug and play changes. Is that too optimistic? I may want an 8.8 rear with tra ction lock eventually.

Can anyone comment on that plan? The goal is to have a fast, street running, sleeper of a Cougar.

Thanks,
Gary

Cougar Project

Reply #1 – November 13, 2014, 01:58:22 AM

Welcome to the forum....... just a thought, a 87 or 88 Cougar XR-7 has the 8.8 rear already, might be easier to start from there.......good luck with your plans and build.

Cougar Project

Reply #2 – November 13, 2014, 12:19:43 PM

The '84 looks better than the 87-88's and the mechanicals are all easy to do. Your plans are nothing weird or excessive. Pretty std stuff, really, and the 84 is closer to a Mustang underneath in some areas than the 87-88's are.
If the car is a solid base, go for it.

Cougar Project

Reply #3 – November 14, 2014, 06:57:54 PM

With the proposed engine and tranny upgrades, I think a 8.8 rear end should be mandatory from the get go. Its always fun to buld something other than a Mustang, but nothing wrong with them either, just saying.

Cougar Project

Reply #4 – November 14, 2014, 11:34:41 PM

Nice plans. Lighter than 87-88 body style. Any pics?
V8Demon is getting by with a 7.5. I think he has a lock-right unit. It looks like it will cost the same as an 8.8 but easier to install and no disc brakes. Check this out:

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/spring2008/7_5_lockright.htm

I think the spider gears are the weak link in the 7.5 and the lock-right addresses this. There may be a weight savings and possibly less parasitic drag? Of course I have no experience with this option because I had already swapped in a TC 8.8

Cougar Project

Reply #5 – November 15, 2014, 09:20:24 PM

My 7.5" has Moser axles and a full locker. I'll twist a tube before anything else lets go.

Cougar Project

Reply #6 – November 16, 2014, 11:21:44 AM

I would agree that at 7.5 can take some abuse properly set up but finding the parts to properly set one up versus snagging an 8.8 out of an SN95 Mustang if you want five lug or an 8.8 out of an Fox Mustang if you want four lug and building on that platform is usually easier and cheaper due to the abundance of parts for these rear ends. For me I would not pass up the 8.8 if the cost was that same or even if is was a tad more than building a 7.5 just for the added insurance an 8.8 has over the 7.5 strength wise if I was going to hammer on that rear end pretty hard with some autocross or drag racing with some soft compound tires.

This is one of those discussions where you can also apply the question of running a T-5 or a Tremec 600 behind a 351W. A properly built T-5 will live behind a 351W with no issues unless you are going to hammer on it with high rpm shifts with sticky tires. Something has to give somewhere and it is usually a T-5 behind a 351W unless you get one from the likes of G-Force (http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/tran_gt-5.asp) but you might as well buy a Magnum T-56 for that price and have six gears to row.

Anyhow, you have a great base car to start with but you need to think long and hard on what you are building the car for. I am assuming with the Lentech reference your preference is to drag race so with that I am going to suggest that you ditch the 7.5 and run an 8.8. You want rear disc brakes so my suggestion would be to find a 94-98 V8 Mustang (SN95) and use the rear end out of it as it will be an 8.8 with five lug and disc brakes. Remember that you will need to balance the braking system up front but you can so some searches on here and get that information.

Darren

Cougar Project

Reply #7 – November 18, 2014, 12:44:40 PM

Yes, forgot about the 5-lug swap thing. I always wanted to do that!