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Reply #180 –
Bummer.... if 1Bad might be willing to bring that dash the 3 hours it takes to get it to Frederick, MD, then I can bring it to Raleigh, NC when I go to visit my parents. Then you could drive the 3 hours from Gastonia to Raleigh.

Of course, if we had thought of this earlier, I could have done this tomorrow as we are heading there for the New Year's weekend.

Merry Christmas!
Bill
"as if 'religion' were something God invented, and not His statement to us of certain quite unalterable facts about His own nature." -C.S. Lewis

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Reply #181 –
I appreciate the gratuitous thoughts guys! Ya'll are great!

Cougar Nose!

Reply #182 –
Here is the Cougar nose with a real metal grille! 1981 Tbird hood ornament coming soon!

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Reply #183 –
More Cougar nose...

Making The New Dash Pad

Reply #184 –
Contructed of birch wood for the base...

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Reply #185 –
And the final result! I was thrilled to find charcoal vinyl that matched the original dash pad prefectly! Also is my new working buttstuffog clock that I painted the hands blue-green to match the gauge needles I modified earlier. The new pad is deeper and extended more over the original to appear similar to mid-60's Tbirds which have my favorite dash design.

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Reply #186 –
And a pic from the outside through the windshield...
 

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Reply #187 –
Great job with the dash! I'm glad it turned out so good for you. I know you've put alot of thought into it.

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Reply #188 –
Man I was pretty skeptical when I saw the wood, but that looks great!
1986 Mercury Cougar - 2.3T/T5 swap, TC brakes and suspension and rearend, 3" exhaust, 255 lph fuel pump, Stinger BOV, Gillis MBC @ 18 psi
2003 Chevy Suburban Z71 - Daily driver
2015 Chevy Volt - Wife's daily driver

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Reply #189 –
Thanks for the compliments guys! Ya know I really enjoy this forum because it makes a project like restoring this car fun and meaningful. I also enjoy the commoradery.

I am no skilled upholsterer but I think I did pretty good considering I do not have a sewing machine to do custom patterns and seams that could make it look even better.

Yeah the wood frame is scary and homemade looking but when you put the 1/2 foam on it and the charcoal vinyl is softens the hard edges and looks fairly decent. Ya know I was inspired to attempt this project because of an expensive Ethan Allen recliner. One of my cats decided to chew the footrest. I studied the footrest which is nothing but plywood with foam and fabric stapled on top. I was able to buy yardage of the original fabric from Ethan Allen and I fixed it myself. It was a repair project so simple to do by myself that I did not need to take it to an upholsterer. Doing things like this makes me wish I got into something like upholstry a long time ago which would have been a great skill to learn that could have provided a nice income.

Anyway, the newly constructed dash pad is padded just enough that it had the same thickness as the original dash pad that was in it. My original plan was to recover the original dash pad. However the foam was like toasted bread and the vinyl padding was cracking just looking at it.

 I know If I had got a hold of that gray dash pad in that Pull-A-Part Continental before they removed the car from that salavge yard that would have been ideal.

 As well as I had done with this homemade pad, I still think about how some details I could have done better.  I would really like to have had a nice french seam along the front and side edges. I am sure I will be busy tweaking details if I stay with this homemade pad. I know for sure though if I had settled for black vinyl it would not seem as nice. Finding the charcoal vinyl was a nice surprise. I was all set to accept regular black vinyl. Matter of fact where I went to get the material they did not even have any standard black vinyl in stock. It was all these designer patterns including an ostrich skin look that was just hideous.

Despite the decent job I did on making a dash pad,  I am having serious issues with the entire plastic dash shell which is so brittle it cracks like peanut brittle. I have never seen a dash disinigrate so badly. Just tighting screws to hold dash trim and the clock in place was a disaster. It's cracking everywhere. It seems impossible to find 1983-84 Tbirds I could use for donor dash shells. I have found good dash shells in one piece in a 1980 Tbird and a 1986 midsize LTD. Thats always an option if I had to. I also considered doing a 85-88 style dash but I am having a hard time finding one that is not cracked, warped or broken from salvage yard scavangers. Who knows where the direction of the dash issue will go as time passes. When you have an ongoing project like this there is no telling what I may change my mind to doing. I know it seems crazy that I keep entertaining so many options, including the attempt I made earlier trying to fit a 95 Mustang dash into the Bird. I still have that Mustang dash shell stored away.


I did discover one drawback during the test fit of the wooden dash pad base. I cannot swing open the door vent windows without opening the doors. I thought about it and proceeded to complete the project anyway since I really like the deeper hooded top. The hooded dash top was never an issue on the 1982-86 Continentals because they never had swing open door vent windows.

I like the dark charcoal vinyl so much that I think I want to buy matching carpet to give the interior a nice contrast to the lighter gray lower dash pads, seats, console and door panels. This would also include replacing the carpet on the lower doors for a unified look.

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Reply #190 –
I forgot to ask... What do you all think of the Cougar nose?  Be honest with your opinions. I am keeping on for a while to see if I will still like it later before I get to the stage of having the exterior refinished. One big plus is the real metal grille and the ability to use a 1977-82 Tbird hood ornament on it.

There are a few options for noses that I keep entertaining. I mean it would be so easy to snag a 1987-88 Tbird nose and use it but certainly I would miss being part of the four eye mystique. I could go even more creative and use a 1987-88 Cougar nose minus the waterfall grille and create one Ford appropriate with a Tbird emblem in the center. I wish I had several cars to play with. When I was younger and building a lot of model cars I liked mixing up the Tbird and Cougar parts on the early 90's Monogram model kits and I enjoyed the variations I could create. With those model kits I took the Tbird nose and hood and attached it to the Cougar body while I put the Cougar nose, hood and wheels on a Tbird body.

I never intended my Tbird to be an authentic restoration simply because of the budget and resources I am working with. Honestly if I had the money to do it right, I would have just bought a car in much better original condition with lower miles and been bored with it.

I know I tend to obsesses on details that I can change or swap out simply because of the interchangability of parts between different years and models. The nose, dash and wheels seem to be the things that I focus on the most.

Tomorrow I will be putting on the chrome door mirrors.

I really need to get the engine and mechanical rennovations underway. Engine rebuild vs. a remanufactured engine is on my mind. In my ideal world I would put in a new H.O. Ford crate motor and modern engine management. With that I would of course have to do chassis and drivetrain upgrades and install a dual exhaust. That is such a big picture considering where I am at with this project at the moment. Right now I would be happy to have it run decent and reliably without smoking and stalling.  I am too scared right now to drive it anywhere too far from home. Last night I figured out the fuel tank may possibly have been getting too low in fuel which may have contributed to the stalling. I got a two gallon can of gas and dumped it in then took the car for a trip a mile away to a gas station to put a considerable amount of fuel in the tank. I will check out tomorrow how it runs when it is nice outside on my day off. I will also take some daylight pictures of the dash as well.

With the colder weather, doing the interior projects seems more bearable to deal with right now.

Tbird Hood Ornament

Reply #191 –
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The crowing touch is on the way. I had a perfect NOS one on my former 1985 Tbird and I loved it. With this Cougar nose I am using, it already has the correct openings for the mounting holes and small locator pins. Ford used the same mounting base on a number of hood ornaments throughout the years.

I find it interesting that when the Cougar went from the stand-up hood ornaments of the early Aero Cat years that they created a flat ornament that used the same mounting holes in the header panel...

I wish I could splurge for the classic Tbird ornament with the turquoise inset. They are way too pricey on eBay!

I just noticed the ornament is facing the wrong way in this picture... The beak is supposed to face to the right side of the car.

Below is the picture of the ornament on my old 1985 Tbird. I still get sick when I see the pictures and realize I should have kept this car.

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Reply #192 –
Found this picture which inspired me to try the Cougar nose...

Chrome Mirrors!

Reply #193 –
Good working mirrors... Chrome not showroom perfect but I could not believe I found some that did not have chrome peeling off.