Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Topic: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable? (Read 3306 times) previous topic - next topic

Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

December 19, 2004, 08:49:52 PM

I was at my local junkyard today, god they have over 30 cougars and tbirds from 86-90. One thing that really caught my eye was a thunder turbo coupe. It sucked though, the engine was nearly gutted, no turbo charger, just the block and some wiring. The hood had the turbo coupe vents. I thought, , this would look hot on my cougar. I could remove the plastic air duct and put in mesh grills in the holes, or cut metal with the word cougar or even the cougar logo and plexi glass with a led to make it shine.
The hood was in good condition, just needs to be cleaned and sanded for a repaint. I think it was an 88 tbird TC.
So the question is, will it fit onto my cougar with not cutting? drilling is ok.

PS. They made an 87-88 3.8 EFI?

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #1 – December 19, 2004, 09:59:59 PM

Yes all '83 - '88 Cougar/T-Bird hoods interchange, some people need to clearance the A/C bracket a bit with the Turbocoupe hood however. On another note, are the Mark VII hoods the same as well?

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #2 – December 19, 2004, 10:06:35 PM

the 88 3.8l got EFI

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #3 – December 20, 2004, 03:23:47 AM

yeah on my 88 5.0 the scoopshiznit the a/c bracket, just took a cutoff wheel to it and all was well.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #4 – January 06, 2005, 09:43:44 AM

The Mark VII hood is different.You can install the wholr front clip,just not the hood alone.The lines of the hood won't match up to the Cougar and T-Bird header panel.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #5 – January 13, 2005, 10:47:56 PM

I put an 88 TC hood on my 85 T-Bird and it worked fine. I drilled about 10 small wholes in the top portion of the AC bracket then hit it with a hammer until it bent down far enough to allow the hood to close.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #6 – January 13, 2005, 11:42:48 PM

I thought I say a tc hood on a lincoln some where. I may have to try that I have both laying around.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #7 – January 14, 2005, 04:26:53 PM

Quote from: Orange Crush

Yes all '83 - '88 Cougar/T-Bird hoods interchange.......

Not quite. I found out there is a slight difference between the '83 hoods and the rest. When I tried to use an '83 Cougar hood on my '85, the mounting holes in the hood are WAY off from that of the '85's hinge holes. for the '83 hoods you will need to use the hinges too. Or re-drill the hood for the proper bolt patern.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #8 – January 14, 2005, 06:13:44 PM

Quote from: 1WLD BRD

Not quite. I found out there is a slight difference between the '83 hoods and the rest. When I tried to use an '83 Cougar hood on my '85, the mounting holes in the hood are WAY off from that of the '85's hinge holes. for the '83 hoods you will need to use the hinges too. Or re-drill the hood for the proper bolt patern.

Yep, had the same problem. 83's are different. :ies:

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #9 – September 02, 2005, 08:47:09 AM

Ok, so all 84-88 hoods interchange. Can you swap the spring-loaded hinges for hinges that require a prop-rod for all 84-88 cars? I just want to make sure as there is nothing worse than removing the wrong part from a salvage yard, driving 100 miles, then finding out the part doesn't fit.

My brother has been borrowing my '85 Cougar for an extended period and accidentally popped the hood instead of releasing the emergency brake. A few minutes later, the hood flew up on the interstate. Luckily he didn't crash, but the hinges were destroyed.

[rant] There is no emergency hood latch on the car. At some point ('88?) the car washiznit on the front passenger side. Whoever repaired the car did a grade F job. Vapor canister wasn't there and the canister-tank line was sealed. This caused my fuel pump to fail from the resulting vacuum created in the tank every time I drove. The hood/cowl weather-stripping is missing, along with countless other niggling items. If I ever meet the guy who fixed the car after the wreck, I will do horrible things to him. :mad: [/rant]

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #10 – September 02, 2005, 08:59:18 AM

Yes you can...or, you can remove the spring-loaded section from a Mark VII hinge and bolt it onto yours. The Mark VII's seem to have used the same hinges as 1983-86 Cougars/T-Birds, except it has a bolted-on part with the spring coil to keep the hood up. If you pop that section off and put it on yours, bam! Don't have to even change the hinges. They have a positive lock stop which is really handy, and also the coils look to be a standard (read: GM) size for replacement options in the future. Can't go wrong with 'em.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #11 – September 02, 2005, 12:30:05 PM

Quote from: 1WLD BRD

Not quite. I found out there is a slight difference between the '83 hoods and the rest. When I tried to use an '83 Cougar hood on my '85, the mounting holes in the hood are WAY off from that of the '85's hinge holes. for the '83 hoods you will need to use the hinges too. Or re-drill the hood for the proper bolt patern.

I bolted an '87 Turbo hood to my '83 hinges without a problem.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #12 – September 02, 2005, 01:32:50 PM

you will never ever find a turbo coupe in a junk yard with any of the turbo stuff still on the engine, that has to be a HUGE money maker for the junkyards, as those resell in shiznitty condition for an arm and leg let alone in good shape, hell half the time your lucky you can get the rear end at a decent price.

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #13 – September 02, 2005, 03:15:32 PM

As Everyone Has Said It Will Work Fine Here Is A Pic Of Mine
You Had Better Get It Before It's Gone As They Hare Very Desirable

Re: Are the hoods from a tbird and cougar interchangable?

Reply #14 – September 03, 2005, 10:07:48 PM

I replaced the hinges this afternoon. I ended up having to elongate the lower holes on the hinges about half an inch. The original hinges looked dremeled. Due to the wreck, I'm not sure what year any of the body fenders/hood came from.

Do all of these cars have the weather-strip pieces that use 2 sheet-metal screws that go into the fender? All of the cars at the junkyard did. The Cougar didn't have the fenders drilled for the screws.