Felix

1996

Mercury

Cougar

Black

XR7, V8

My daughter bought this car back in 2006 for her first car. She owned it till 2009 and sold it to a friend of mine that was looking for a cheap late 90's Mustang. I redirected him to consider a Cougar, same motor and trans, similar IRS as a Cobra Mustang, for $500 how could he go wrong. He bit and few years later he found that 1999 Cobra 'stang with only 15k miles and sold me this Cougar. I knew quite well the amount of work we put into it to get it this level. Of course, I had to finish to my specs.

The engine is 4.6 DOHC from a 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII, topped off with a Cobra intake. We had also installed COP's and valve covers from a 1999 Continental. I recently put in new valve cover gaskets to seal the oil out of the plug ports. I found my plug boots oil soaked and ordered new ones.
9/12/16 Well, it is time to gear up to make some performance mods. Guess I will start with another 4.6 DOHC Mark VIII engine, that I acquired during the spring, and drop some Cobra cams, springs with new gears and guides. The plan is to also degree the cams to pic up a few more ponies.
11/24/16 Update. Come to find out, if you have a 96 Mark VIII DOHC they come with beehive springs,"Go Ford !!!", I don't have to change out the springs. The cams are degreed and that took about eight hours one Saturday, that was intense. The motor is near ready to drop in.
2/15/17 The engine is in and runs out great. She has a bit more power with the Cobra cams.
1/16/18 Update. I drop in a new KKS radiator and Motorcraft RT1110 190 degree thermostat to resolve cooling issues over last summer.

Complete interior from a 1995 Cougar after "Cash for Clunkers" came about and renewed the interior. Put in a center console with cup holder. Recently installed a fold down rear seat from a Super Coupe.
While Stanley Steamer was here to clean the house carpet, I asked if they would clean auto carpet. I installed Hexomats on the floor and cargo area.

Shaved plastic cladding, welded mounting holes and repainted in Jan. 2011. Cobra grille and fender badges reveal something sinister is under the hood. Needed a hood scoop to clear the Cobra intake so a Roush scoop from a Ford Ranger fit the bill.
3/3/17 I recently had the muffles tucked, the hood repainted and rocker stripes installed. American Muscle supplied the shorty antenna.

Ousted the factory AM/FM cassette and put in a JVC receiver. With the 3.55 gears installed the right pedal lot a little more fun.
02/13/18 I put the car on the dyno and achieved 266HP at the rear wheels. I am prepping another short block and Lord willing have some even better numbers, stay tuned

Mark VIII front disc brakes have been installed. Many new suspension parts have been installed and Felix gives a firm and quiet ride.

New for 2017, I saw these 18x8 BBS copies on Ebay and thought of the 15x6.5 factory snowflakes. Painted the centers and wrapped the in 225/50/18 Dunlop tires.