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Topic: Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic) (Read 1382 times) previous topic - next topic

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

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EDIT: Can't seem to get any good picks of the car yet.  Maybe I should wash it.

Skip to the next section if you don't what to hear my life story.

My first car was a black with red interior 86 cougar.  I can honestly say that was true love.  I replaced everything on that.  Main bearings, timing chain, engine mounts, fuel pump and whatever else.  The only problem was the rust.  I decided to get rid of it because my father got a new mustang and his old cougar was kept in a garage longer.  I hate body work.  I think appearance is important but I don't have the passion to learn that skill. 

I'm not sure I love this cougar.  I always found the gray color frustrating.  The reason this car was purchased was because someone rear ended the 86 and jacked it.    Then, without asking the dealer decides to improperly install a sun roof.  This car was really a mess from the start.  It's still a free cougar:D .
(There is a track by Naughty by Nature  called Dirt all by my Lonely about a stolen black cougar)

I wanted to put a five speed in it however due to time, cash, and legal issues:punchballs: I've decided to buy this cheap beat up crown Vic  and steal it's tyranny for the time being. 

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do.  I'm told I should buy a more economical car, which seems like a good idea.  But i would hate the have to work on and drive a FWD piece of .  As far as I'm concerned I'll choose one extreme or the other.

I have been thinking about getting a crown vic though.  When I was younger I used to hate the old farty boxy body stile.  But now I love it.  After driving that busted one it's really pimping.  They are really sturdy cars.  I think they may be the last cars made with a full frame.  I find now that they are a bitch to work on especially compared to the cougar.

The previous owner of the crown vic was a stupid kid.  He beat the shiznit out of that thing.  The only good thing he did for that car was the racing stripe.  Which was done poorly.  But I do think the idea is good.  Anyone agree or disagree?

------

I have decided that since I hate body work my cars from now on are rats.  I'm wondering What I should do with the cougar's color. I have ripped out the interior because the roof was caving in due to the leaking sunroof.  I bought some red plastic vinyl paint before the tranny blew.  I was going to paint all of the plastic panels two tones of red. It depends what I'm going to do on the out side.

The only part that is in excellent condition is the hood.  I was thinking about maybe leaving the center section of the hood gray or putting two stripes that expand towards the back.

This is it now:
| \  / |
This is after:
| \||/ |

I don't know.  I may just leave it.  Like I said I'm not to concerned about appearance.  However I believe that what color you are looking at plays an important role in your mood.  I've seen fabric paint.  That sounds too good to be true.  I'm thinking about leaving the seats and carpet gray.  There is no roof.  I was going to wire brush as much glue off it as I can then paint it metallic maroon.

the glue is transparent and the current dark gray color isn't to bad.

I was thinking semigloss black.  Maybe I could paint the top half glossy and the bottom rusty arias semi gloss black .  If done right, there is probably something really cool I could do with the original paint.  What do you think? 

I'll have to get better picks of the cougar.

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #1 –
Seal the sunroof, deal with the paint color for now and do whatever it takes to keep the Cougar drivable.

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #2 –
yeah,  I realize now that the cougar is the only car for me.  But the crown vic is still bitching.  Plus I do have lots of gear that needs to be carted around.

I realize what I don't like about the 88.  The 86 had finer lines.  In the 88 they smoothed out the body making it look rounder.  I think it makes it look fat and bloated.

EDIT:
Quote from: 86XR7project;261339
Seal the sunroof, deal with the paint color for now and do whatever it takes to keep the Cougar drivable.

When I was pulling the tyranny out of the cougar your post was just hitting me.  I then came to the realization that you sound just like my father.  What's the harm in doing a little planing? 

BTW I realize that that other stuff is more important.

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #3 –
I strongly disagree with your opinion about 88 Cougar's Dead Pilot. In 87, to be exact, I think Ford made the cougar smoother looking which to me made it look shagier & more aerodynamic. I mostly like how the side windows look with the wider cab & the rear end change with less of a down drop with a sportier look. The only things I like better about 86's are the front chrome grill, front bumper, chrome, & being able to say that your car was the first year for EFI. Don't get me wrong, I love the way 86 cougar\thunderbirds look to, but i'd prefer an 87 or 88. Anyways, good luck with your restoration. You'll be able to find about any part you need for it on here.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]1988 Cougar XR-7. My parents specially ordered this car with every option accept leather seats in 1988. I bought it from them in 1998 & since then have installed American Racing wheels (still have factory mag wheels in boxes), ceramic coated headers into dual Flowmaster 50 series lers with single into dual stainless tips, 4 row radiator, B&M Transpak, converted to Mass Air with cold air intake, etc..

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #4 –
Quote from: 88cougar;261706
Don't get me wrong, I love the way 86 cougar\thunderbirds look to, but i'd prefer an 87 or 88.


I have to agree sort of, I have an 85 and I love it but I want an 87-88 Cougar bad.

Dead Pilot: You really need to worry less about the color of your car and swapping in manual transmissions if you are short on cash. I know I sound like your dad and it sucks to hear this when you want to hear the opposite but trust me, take your time and fix what you can for now. The money will come at some point, until then a new transmission and a sunroof that doesn't leak would do wonders for you, right?

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #5 –
Thanks for the input.  I'm glad to see differing views.  By no means am I saying that the 87 / 88 cougars are bad looking.  What it comes down to for me is the finer lines are a more retro look.  I have an old car, I want it to look old.  I feel that the pointer body style would suggest it was older than the car was.  And the rounder newer look may suggest that it is newer. 

It's funny 88cougar I actually like the 88 grill better.  Maybe it's because the chrome fell off of my plastic 86 grill.  I think the 88 grill is actually made of mettle.  Perhaps there are different grills.

Edit: nope the grill is plastic. :(

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #6 –
The cougar white on bottom and black on top.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]


http://www.cardomain.com/id/Carpimp1987
1987 T-Bird AEROBIRD-GT had many many mods but is now totaled and is the car that made me want to start customizing everything all over again.
1988 T-Bird 5.0 HO DD/Sleeper/next project car :birdsmily:
1988 Cougar XR7 5.0 HO Vortech Supercharged being bulit right now :cougarsmily:

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #7 –
So how are things coming with your cougar? Haven't heard back from you in a while on what you've decided & what, if anything, you've done so far. If your still trying to decide on paint, that is when you can afford to, i'd paint it the original color. In the long run the car will be worth more. That is unless you don't like the original color. Anyways, good luck man & keep us updated!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]1988 Cougar XR-7. My parents specially ordered this car with every option accept leather seats in 1988. I bought it from them in 1998 & since then have installed American Racing wheels (still have factory mag wheels in boxes), ceramic coated headers into dual Flowmaster 50 series lers with single into dual stainless tips, 4 row radiator, B&M Transpak, converted to Mass Air with cold air intake, etc..
 

Dead Pilots 88 cougar. Color Sugestions? (and 87 crown Vic)

Reply #8 –
I'm always Thinking about the color.  In the winter I went ahead and lightly painted over the wood grain dash.  I could only get the garage up to 50 degrees F.  So you could imagine how that went out.  I used Dark red plastic paint.  I don't think it's that dark though.  It's a little spotty but you could say it's a texture.  I'm not sure if it is worth lightly sanding and re painting or not.  I have installed the dash paneling along with the crown vic's stereo.  (which was older and better sounding)  And I get a warm retro feel.

Later in the spring I removed all of the plastic paneling and painted some pieces.  For the most part I think it came out good.  I took the door panel apart and painted some parts red and left other parts.  I also painted the back seat arm rests.  So now I have my High School colors Red And Gray.  Yay!  My only concern is that the red is to bright.

I am quite confused as what to do with it.  I like seeing color.  Some Ideas I've had are painting it darker gray or black.  Maybe accenting parts with "dark red".  The next think I'm going to be doing is the roof.  I'd like to have something soft up there so i don't go deaf when I'm parked under a tree in the rain with my girlfriend.  Ive considered gluing dampening material like they use in recording studios.  I've also considered leaving it bare and painting it with a dark matalic red I have laying around.  It's darker than the "Dark red" with less color.  I'm not sure how that would look when the plastic is in though.  There might be strange holes where the roof was supposed to be.  Plus i would have to sand/wire brush all of the glue off from when my father tried to glue the roof back on.