I have the car scheduled for the collision repair the first week of Feb. At least that will be fixed to start the spring.

I'm ordering some stuff for the car and have a question. Keep the current scoop, or swap out for a Cougar "correct" GTE or XR7G scoop? I've measured and thankfully the hole in the hood won't interfere with a different scoop.

Swap in the correct scoop.

I ordered the GTE scoop to go with the car. Should be a vast improvement on the hood, as I don't care for the cheap scoop at all.

That should look good. I assume you plan to have it painted at the same time.

Yes, it'll get painted next month with the rest of the front end. It'll be color matched, not flat black.

The new scoop arrived on Saturday. I'm getting excited to get rolling on the car again. The scoop will look nice. Probably the first thing I'll do when I get it back from the shop will be to install the electric headlight door conversion kit. I've got it, it's been sitting around, and I need to get that done. Plus, it's free, since I already have it.

Here are my definite plans for this year:

- Front end collision repair/paint
- Headlight Door actuator replacement
- Headlight upgrade
- Finish suspension (new rear leaf springs, adjust front ride height, which will mean cutting some portion of the coil)
- Fix exhaust leak

More tentatively, I'd like to work on the interior, floor pan, gauges, clutch, whatever oil leak I have. I'm not as concerned with the last two, as they should last me until next year, which is when I hope to have enough saved up for the engine/transmission build. I'll be honest, I'm unsure if full body/color change is in the future. I'd like it to be, but that's when the cost would most likely exceed the value of the car. Who knows, it may become a "keeper" car, and if it does, at that point, I'd be willing to spend to pay for the bodywork. When it comes to the interior, I could reasonably get away with just doing front seats so I can be a bit more comfortable driving it this year, while I determine what path I want to ultimately take.

Did you ever get it running good?

It's running strong right now, if a bit rich. No stuttering, no shakes, solid overall.

Huzer wrote:cutting some portion of the coil

Could you not get shorter springs? I've always heard that cutting springs is a terrible idea because it hoses ride quality. But that might just be for modern cars with progressive spring rates.

I've heard the same thing year after year about cutting the coils. Researching these springs, talking to other folks that have them, it's not uncommon for these to have to cut. In fact, it's pretty normal to have to do so. These are already 1" drop springs, I'm not sure if anything else is made that provides more drop. From what I've heard/read, about 1/2 coil is common on these to get them to the desired height. Even going back to the manufacturer, it was actually what they recommended as well.

Where are you having the paint done and what color are you doing? I assume a color change is happening.

No color change at this time. I'm simply replacing the front fender and getting that collision damage repair. Also swapping on a different hood scoop. I just don't have the budget right now for a full color change, quoted as $8-10k

Guess it would make more sense to tow it into the paint shop once you pull it all apart for the coyote swap.

Shadowden wrote:Guess it would make more sense to tow it into the paint shop once you pull it all apart for the coyote swap.

Exactly my thought. Don't forget full modern independent suspension.