Might be picking this up next week. 100k miles and at a first glance no rust

It kind of looks like they drove though road salt just to take the picture, are they in a rush to sell it? Beside the rockers, wheres a good place to check for rust?

Vinyl top or not you'll have fun driving it
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
I once removed one in the junkyard. Just for the fun of it. It was a combination of screws and glue. Plus the condition of the paint underneath was fairly bad.
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@97 30th could shed further light on it as he’s the only person I’m aware of who successfully removed one, but the TL;DR is it took a full blown repaint to accomplish it. Also the tops do do a fantastic job at preserving the quarter window trim from decay, but unfortunately they all seem to have tech screws reamed through them to secure the top 😆

Another person I know who attempted to remove one actually said his roof skin was wavy from it and it was just easier to put the top back on than redo it
Kenz said:
Agreed with others that the vinyl top is kind of a turn off. I have only seen it done well once and it was on the Batmobile. (y)
M

Thread 'Not a newbie but new here. Blast from the past. I started TCCoA with Bill Wheeler wayy back in 1997. Yes the Batmobile still lives.'

It's been a longggg time.
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Either way these days if you can find a clean rust free MN12 for a good price, it's worth buying IMO!
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They can look okay if they’re body color. Mask off the car pull the tops trim and fog on a few cans of white vinyl and fabric paint and it might work out pretty nicely.

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KevinVarnes said:
Looks nice. Hopefully it truly is rust free. How many searches have you done on how to remove the vinyl top yet? ;)
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Might be on the list of things to do when i get it. i kinda like the top though.

Vicinity said:
It kind of looks like they drove though road salt just to take the picture, are they in a rush to sell it? Beside the rockers, wheres a good place to check for rust?

Vinyl top or not you'll have fun driving it
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I might ask for some underbody pics. Id also be curious what it looks like under the rear seats/ in trunk

XR7-4.6 said:
@97 30th could shed further light on it as he’s the only person I’m aware of who successfully removed one, but the TL;DR is it took a full blown repaint to accomplish it. Also the tops do do a fantastic job at preserving the quarter window trim from decay, but unfortunately they all seem to have tech screws reamed through them to secure the top 😆

Another person I know who attempted to remove one actually said his roof skin was wavy from it and it was just easier to put the top back on than redo it


They can look okay if they’re body color. Mask off the car pull the tops trim and fog on a few cans of white vinyl and fabric paint and it might work out pretty nicely.

View attachment 10789
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That does look nice but the interior has some tan accents that i like with the cloth. Still something id consider i like the white on white look
 
What do you plan to do with it? New wheels? New paint? New engine? Race car? Or leave it alone and hope it lasts as long as most of our's have?
 
LukesCougar said:
Might be on the list of things to do when i get it. i kinda like the top though.

I might ask for some underbody pics. Id also be curious what it looks like under the rear seats/ in trunk

That does look nice but the interior has some tan accents that i like with the cloth. Still something id consider i like the white on white look
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Where is the car located? Has it lived there its entire life? Rockers in front of the rear wheels are probably one of the first places to start to go. Pinch weld pictures from front to back would be telling, but you can usually see the rockers bubbling in the view you posted and they aren't. Another place to look is under the hood around the shock towers. People can sometimes doctor the rust prone areas to cover it up, but nobody will ever bother cleaning this area under the hood up.

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A good rust free MN12 is hard to find these days. Those vinyl tops just aren't my cup of tea though.
 
White Lincoln said:
What do you plan to do with it? New wheels? New paint? New engine? Race car? Or leave it alone and hope it lasts as long as most of our's have?
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Mostly leave it alone. If it has the crappy doorman intake ill probably throw a genuine pi intake on. Also jmod/ trans cooler if the 4r70w is still in good shape.

KevinVarnes said:
Where is the car located? Has it lived there its entire life? Rockers in front of the rear wheels are probably one of the first places to start to go. Pinch weld pictures from front to back would be telling, but you can usually see the rockers bubbling in the view you posted and they aren't. Another place to look is under the hood around the shock towers. People can sometimes doctor the rust prone areas to cover it up, but nobody will ever bother cleaning this area under the hood up.

View attachment 10790


A good rust free MN12 is hard to find these days. Those vinyl tops just aren't my cup of tea though.
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Its been up near chicago for 3 years. Not sure where it was prior. Garage kept since hes had it supposedly
 
LukesCougar said:
Mostly leave it alone. If it has the crappy doorman intake ill probably throw a genuine pi intake on. Also jmod/ trans cooler if the 4r70w is still in good shape.
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FYI, genuine PI intakes are pretty hard to find these days. A good used one might be the best you can do. Ford stopped producing the real PI intake a year or two ago. They sell a new "PI" intake, but it looks to be a copy of the Dorman intake.
 
KevinVarnes said:
FYI, genuine PI intakes are pretty hard to find these days. A good used one might be the best you can do. Ford stopped producing the real PI intake a year or two ago. They sell a new "PI" intake, but it looks to be a copy of the Dorman intake.
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I have one on my 96. Things a rustbox so it might just get ripped out and replaced with a doorman
 
The Bostonian Cougars always have reminded me a bit of the Pimpmobile from Live and Let Die...

Be a fun project making a Cougar into a Superfly Pimpmobile :rofl:

1741545577568.png
 
Kenz said:
The Bostonian Cougars always have reminded me a bit of the Pimpmobile from Live and Let Die...

Be a fun project making a Cougar into a Superfly Pimpmobile :rofl:

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some vogtland springs, whitewalls, and the white vinyl spray as mentioned earlier would get me in that direction :unsure:
 
97 30th said:
Shame they did that to a 30th anny
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At lease it escaped the gaudy chrome wheel well trim :sick:... My cougar still has three small holes in the lip of each fender where those were mounted.
Those things were typical dealer add-ons to new cars. Especially in the older demographics which would be Mercury buyers. They probably pumped up the purchase price at least a few grand over MSRP.
The typical older Mercury buyers is probably why so many are still around; the first couple owners took good care of them.
 
Change of heart. I think you guys will like this more anyways. 95k miles, minimal rust (none on the pinchwelds or rockers) and everything works. It does need a tune-up cause it doesnt like it when i get on it but the motor sounds fine.1000001736.jpg
 

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LukesCougar said:
Change of heart. I think you guys will like this more anyways. 95k miles, minimal rust (none on the pinchwelds or rockers) and everything works. It does need a tune-up cause it doesnt like it when i get on it but the motor sounds fine.View attachment 10940
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Much, much better!!
 
Sure sits pretty. The coolant probably needs a refresh. I talk because Im due for mine. Gotta find someone who will pick up the old gunk. I think churches do that around these parts
 
If it doesn't have throttle response, it probably hasn't been taken care of well. New plugs and wires will fix the performance issue. New coolant, new trans fluid& filter, looking for the toy in the pan, and adding a pan with a drain plug. That and an oil change with good synthetic oil, Clean the maf,and it should rock. I use castrol edge oil from walmart ($25) and the fl820s filters there are as cheap as RA. Castrol mercon V is synthetic too.I buy fram airfilters at RA.

Nice find!
 
Vicinity said:
Sure sits pretty. The coolant probably needs a refresh. I talk because Im due for mine. Gotta find someone who will pick up the old gunk. I think churches do that around these parts
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Yeah i might do it just for closure. The res isnt even very stained though and the coolant looks fine
 
Nice looking Tbird! Looks like it even has the hole in the roof option! Wish mine had that

Is it a V8? I has those same 15" wheels on my old Tbird and it would roast them. Besides being a bit small they are good looking wheels
 
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