1967 Mercury Cougar XR7 - Project Green Kitty

[SeanP]

3/16 rod attempt was not successful. Managed to auger out a few more tiny pieces with the sneaky pete. Also tried cramming rope seal in, but it just fell apart and figured a mass of compressed loose fiber wasn't the seal I was looking for. So, I'm going to pull the engine.

[SeanP]

Ok. So, I'm going to try one more thing. I bought a coil of 9 gauge wire. I'm going to see if I can get anywhere with that. If not... THEN I'll pull the engine. I'm going to dig into it tomorrow. If that fails, I'll drain the coolant and start taking things out to prep for the extraction. I'm so excited.

[sly]

Good luck. Things like this are what keep me from actually being a classic car guy.

[SeanP]

Good luck. Things like this are what keep me from actually being a classic car guy.

It's a labour of love lol.

Update, the 9 gauge did not seem to work, so I'm going to start winging stuff out of the engine bay this week and into Saturday. Bought an engine stand and leveler for the extraction. If anyone in South Western Ontario has an engine hoist they wouldn't mind lending out, lemme know!

[jaywish]

Oh Darn,

Sorry the Sneaky Pete did not do it for you.

[SeanP]

Sneaky Pete was not the answer this time, sadly. Worth a shot though!

Have a couple of other projects I have to get out of the way before I can dive deep into the car again. Did not have the time to extract everything I wanted to last week. Driveshaft is off and lots of looking around seeing what needs to come off / be disconnected to remove the engine. Still debating on whether I drop the transmission before or after I pull the engine. Likely try to remove it all as a unit, since I don't have a lot of clearance to take it out by itself. If I had a hoist and a transmission jack I'd probably go that route just to make my life easier, but it is what it is!

[Tiggie]

Pulled and installed the engine and trans in the 68 as a single unit. No regrets! Good luck with your project.

[SeanP]

Pulled and installed the engine and trans in the 68 as a single unit. No regrets! Good luck with your project.

Good to know! Watched lots of videos of guys pulling both together so figure that is probably the best route. Likely makes getting the transmission on and off a whole bunch easier when it's out of the car!

[SeanP]

It's official. Going to go rebuild. Spoke with the machine shop yesterday and they're ready to go whenever I drop the motor off. Advised it would be a 6 week turnaround. Good enough for me to clean up some underneath stuff that the engine, transmission and exhaust was obstructing (minor surface rust on the floor that I'm just going to clean and paint... maybe address some of the pinholes with glazing putty).

I feel better now that I have a way forward and passing the engine off to the pros to look after for me is going to free up a lot of my time from having to bargain hunt and figure things out on my own. Plus the work will be done professionally and with a warranty. Peace of mind is a real thing after all. I know it takes more dough, but I think in this case it's well worth it and should improve the car's value too.

[DerekTheGreat]

I've had great luck with used engines, just recently the 351 my wife and I had dropped in our F-150. $350 USD, no blow-by and runs great. A warranty won't do any good if the shop goes belly up when you need it and "rebuilt" isn't a unilateral term. However, I understand if you're trying to keep you car numbers matching and all that. But if it was my rig, I'd probably go with a 351 EFI truck engine converted to Holley's Sniper EFI or some other equivalent.

[SeanP]

I've had great luck with used engines, just recently the 351 my wife and I had dropped in our F-150. $350 USD, no blow-by and runs great. A warranty won't do any good if the shop goes belly up when you need it and "rebuilt" isn't a unilateral term. However, I understand if you're trying to keep you car numbers matching and all that. But if it was my rig, I'd probably go with a 351 EFI truck engine converted to Holley's Sniper EFI or some other equivalent.

This is a fair point. Over here in Canadaland good used engines for a good price are hard to come by. Most of the pull-it-yourself places within a reasonable distance from me have been picked clean of good ol' V8s and everyone on Marketplace and Kijiji are asking crazy prices for used stuff.

And yes, the appeal of bringing that original engine back to life is pushing me along this path as well (plus the wife wants that too... which has a lot of sway!). The shop I'm going to use is well established and has a great reputation among family and friends who have used their services in the past. In fact a random guy I was sitting next to at my kids swimming lessons also happens to be in the hobby and had been a customer of theirs. Had nothing but good things to say. It's not a certainty, but nothing is in life and I feel comfortable with this move.

That being said, if there's an opportunity to do better for cheaper, I'll probably take it!