Grand Marquis headlights for my Cougar

[White Lincoln]

Installing my new headlights... Had to make a few mods and cut out some plastic to get the new ones to fit.



I am working on the passenger side now, but here is the finished drives side:




The thing I can recommend is... NEVER take of the plastic covering of the headlight until you are DONE. My plastic is still on the both of mine until I have the grill on and I am ready to drive it for a test.

The side light looks a bit out of place now.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Installing my new headlights... Had to make a few mods and cut out some plastic to get the new ones to fit.

View attachment 14002

I am working on the passenger side now, but here is the finished drives side:


View attachment 14001

The thing I can recommend is... NEVER take of the plastic covering of the headlight until you are DONE. My plastic is still on the both of mine until I have the grill on and I am ready to drive it for a test.

The side light looks a bit out of place now.

You didn’t need to cut the header panel under the bulb sockets, where you needed to cut the header panel is here circled in green…




Here’s how mine fit,I did have to trim a few of the spots you highlighted but not the lower section below the bulbs, my lens sits flush with the corner light and grille just like the stock Cougar housings



The side light may not match but that’s actually how Ford handled it on cars with where the clear lens was part of a special package(eg 94-98 Cobra or 1995 Taurus LX/SE)

 

[White Lincoln]

You didn’t need to cut the header panel under the bulb sockets, where you needed to cut the header panel is here circled in green…

View attachment 14005


Here’s how mine fit,I did have to trim a few of the spots you highlighted but not the lower section below the bulbs, my lens sits flush with the corner light and grille just like the stock Cougar housings

View attachment 14006View attachment 14007

The side light may not match but that’s actually how Ford handled it on cars with where the clear lens was part of a special package(eg 94-98 Cobra or 1995 Taurus LX/SE)

View attachment 14003
View attachment 14004

Interesting. I did not notice that that type of corner / side light was the same for other cars.

As for the hole on the bottom of header panel, it is so the light's connector would fit. I tried to fit the head light in, but the connector was hitting the lower part of the panel. It required that part to be removed so it would slide in place. Trying to put the bulb on after mounting the headlight is "out of scope" for me and my hands, which I did try. As I had mentioned to you earlier, this header panel is a POS so I don't mind cutting it up. Next time I am at the junk yard, I will get another one that is in much better shape. The clowns that fixed this car after it was wrecked should have just replaced the panel.

Thanks XR!

PS: I noticed your headlight has 3 adjustors. On both the OEM and the new lights, I only have two, up / down, side to side. Your panel looks different too.... hmmm.... and MUCH cleaner... darn you. How did you get it sooooo clean?!

 

[XR7-4.6]

Interesting. I did not notice that that type of corner / side light was the same for other cars.

As for the hole on the bottom of header panel, it is so the light's connector would fit. I tried to fit the head light in, but the connector was hitting the lower part of the panel. It required that part to be removed so it would slide in place. Trying to put the bulb on after mounting the headlight is "out of scope" for me and my hands, which I did try. As I had mentioned to you earlier, this header panel is a POS so I don't mind cutting it up. Next time I am at the junk yard, I will get another one that is in much better shape. The clowns that fixed this car after it was wrecked should have just replaced the panel.

Thanks XR!

PS: I noticed your headlight has 3 adjustors. On both the OEM and the new lights, I only have two, up / down, side to side. Your panel looks different too.... hmmm.... and MUCH cleaner... darn you. How did you get it sooooo clean?!

The third adjuster is what I PM’d you about earlier, adding that (salvaged from an old light assembly) allows you to get it more tucked into the header panel than would otherwise be allowed.

There’s actually another spot to cut for clearance I just remembered from looking at mine.



Some of the top of the header could probably stand to be clearanced as well, the lens is right up against mine but they fit and they’re in adjustment so I haven’t bothered.

 

[White Lincoln]

The passenger side cuts are different than the drivers side. They follow the same pattern in that the light bulb mounts point to the left for both headlights. This causes different cuts on both sides. And the cuts I made, are ones that I had to make for clearance, and are correct for me to mount this properly. You said that the one in green (below) is also another one? I do not recall seeing an abstraction in that area, but will look tomorrow. Now, I did make the cut you suggested in the bend where the center of the headlight and adjuster holes are. And sure as schitz the headlight went in flush and I could see space between the headlight and the panel.

The side light may not match but that’s actually how Ford handled it on cars with where the clear lens was part of a special package(eg 94-98 Cobra or 1995 Taurus LX/SE)


View attachment 14004

I took a look at my Town Car and sure enough, the side lamps have the same reflective pattern as the Cougar, even though it has the clear lens headlights, like the new ones on the Cougar.



Anyway, more to come. I will need to pull the drivers side to make that cut I made as mentioned above so the headlight will sit in flush'r.




Notice how the headlight now follows the bumper line? Nice. I doubt I can get much more flush than that. I still have to adjust the headlights, which will through the synchronicity out the window...

More to come.

PS: Sorry for hogging up this thread, I only wanted to show I took pics of my headlights I am putting in... geez, some members. Should this go to its own thread?

 

[White Lincoln]

I finished installing and hooking up power to the headlights last night. I adjusted them compared to my Town Car, both same distance from the garage doors. Cougar is a bit lower than the Town Car, but I said "F'it" and left it at that. I drove around my neighborhood last night since it is pretty dark there and found the high beam was killing it! The low beam, not so much. Better for oncoming traffic I guess. I am waiting on the replacement connectors for the OEM female connector and may look into running some 14 awg from a battery source to the headlights and use relays as XR did. All I can really say is I am glad I did this because I have been wanting to replace these headlights for a long time and finally did it better than the OEM style.

Turning on the driving lamp and the brights is a nice combo. I just thought of something too.. I can update the power to the driving lamp relays and I have an extra pair of relays from my other Hella set I can use on the headlights! Nice.