Skip to main content
Topic: 1986 Cougar (Read 4899 times) previous topic - next topic

1986 Cougar

Hello again. I havent posted much on here the past few years. I check in often and read allot of threads but havent had my car in my hands. Well all thats changed because I finally got my 86 cougar to Arizona! I've lived here the past five years while the cougars been stored in my hometown state of WI. In the last 5 years its went to cat Jam twice(05 and 06) but thats the extent of its roadtime. 

This past summer my brother Matt who still lives in WI got the car into his shop and started the drivetrain upgrades. I bought an 85 t-bird as a parts car. The t-bird engine and trans were in great shape, but the body was a rust bucket. He replaced the C4 in my car for the AOD out of the Bird and installed a TransGo shiftkit. I'm really happy with that shiftkit, it really gives the AOD some much needed power. You can floor the gas and it will shift at 5500rpm for you instead of manually going through the gears. I had bought an 8.8 rear end years ago, that was installed along with new Ford 4:11 gears. From there we had to find a slightly shorter driveshaft. Once all that was finsihed we swaped the rack and pinion from the bird into the cougar. It made a world of difference! I can stear with my pinky now;) The engine block was originally out of an early 70's mustang. Thats never been gone through on our end because it had been overhauled shortly before I bought it. Its a strong runner with less than 50,000. However the AC was left off from the previous owners during the swap. I had to buy some new lines but the T-bird provided the guts of the AC conversion. So now the car has AC and a serpentine setup!

From the outside all that looks different are the Cobra R's but the drivetrain is completely overhauled. The cougar has allot more power with the 4:11's and with the AOD the engine isnt screaming at high speeds. Its really the best of both worlds.

My brother delivered the car to me over thanksgiving weekend. He drove it nearly 2000 miles from WI to Tucson AZ. Last weekend the dragstrip held a carshow/test and tune day. I posted a few pictures from that below.




This is a few years ago, with the older rims


Pictures from the drive to Tucson
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

1986 Cougar

Reply #1
Not a bad looking car, man
If worms had daggers, birds wouldn't f**k with 'em

1986 Cougar

Reply #2
That is a nice lookin cougar. love the scoop and flame job
1974 Cougar XR7, 351 C, stock. white leather.
1983 Coug' LS-XR7-1/ A/c Delete, Edlebrock Intake, Holley 600 4bbl, Custom Badging, True dual Glasspacks
1989 Pontiac Bonneville SSE, 3.8L bone stock winter beater, in Gold

1986 Cougar

Reply #3
i love it
the cobra 's eally give it that look i love

1986 Cougar

Reply #4
Dennis , Glad to see you are back and enjoying your purdy black cat it looks great man. :headbang:


Dan & Paula ;)

1986 Cougar

Reply #5
are you running 8inch or 9 inch wide rims up front
some have complained the 9 in rub against the schock

1986 Cougar

Reply #6
That car looks amazing!
-'88 Tbird 3.8
-2012 Altima 2.5 BASE. 
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Future: Budget 5.0 300 HP.

1986 Cougar

Reply #7
Very nice.
Matt
1984 Thunderbird - 89 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and 600 cfm 4bbl, Mustang headers, Jegs o/r H pipe, Dynomax lers, Mustang AOD and shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, 3G alternator, Mustang front and rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 Turbo Coupe shocks and struts, and 11" front brakes.

1988 Mustang GT - GT40 heads, Explorer intake, 70mm throttle body, 70mm MAF, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 deluxe handle, aluminum clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster, o/r h pipe, Dynomax lers, 3G alternator, aluminum radiator, and 3.27 gears.
 
1986 Cougar 5.0, 1989 Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 1980 Mercury Zephyr 4 door (sold)

1986 Cougar

Reply #8
I like the deleted lock on the trunk. I had thought about that,but I worry the electric lock would fail,then I'd be screwed.LOL. Great looking car. The wheels look perfect with the black.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

1986 Cougar

Reply #9
Ya, It sucks that our rear seats dont fold down.
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.

1986 Cougar

Reply #10
Thanks everyone

Quote from: 1986Élan;345427
are you running 8inch or 9 inch wide rims up front
some have complained the 9 in rub against the schock

 
They are 8inch all around. I havent had any rubbing issues yet. It handles better than I thought it would with these larger wheels. When I had these on the XR-7 the car felt totally different. Not so with this cougar.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

1986 Cougar

Reply #11
car looks great.. but i think something is missing.. underhood pics :D

1986 Cougar

Reply #12
I now remember why I like the lines of my car so much. Looks great man.
1986 Cougar LS

1986 Cougar

Reply #13
Awesome and beautiful car.  The chrome R's look really good on there too.
'88 'bird, 10.9:1 306 w/TFS top end, forged rods/pistons, T-5 swap & bunch of other stuff, 1-family owned, had it since ‘98, 5.0tbrd88 on Instagram and YouTube