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Topic: My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction (Read 3572 times) previous topic - next topic

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Hey all, new to the forum so I thought I'd just make my first post about my Cougar. That is why we are here correct? Yes you read the title right JDM style on an American car. I know I'll probably get a million and one haters over this but I really don't care. :flip: This car was a cheap white beater so I had to make it interesting somehow. (I hate plain white cars and love building stuff that offends people) I picked it up 3 blocks from my house for $400 and drove it home. It had 206,000 miles when the odometer stopped working (God only knows how long it's been broken) but it runs great. It has typical Indiana rust, it has many drywall screws holding interior pieces back together, but it's clean and doesn't look too horrible... inside anyway. Oh and it has BOLTS holding the trunk down from a rear end collision (Like that when I bought it) so with JDM style repairs already in place I decided to go full JDM style and make it look like a drift car. Still under construction but making it reliable and roadworthy ate up most of my already slim budget. It already had some decent aftermarket rims, a cd player with USB port and SD card reader, and tinted windows so for $400 I really can't go wrong.

It started out as a plain white neglected and clapped out 1992 Mercury Cougar LS.



Inside was clean for a 1992


I went to the local flea market and scored a HUGE lot of stickers (like 6 boxes stuffed full) for $10 so I decided since the trunk looked horrible I'd poke fun at just how bad it looked and sticker-bomb the trunk lid since it will be replaced anyway.


The bumper was split open so I did some JDM style drift stitches with zip ties.


Then the hood got treated to balance out the trunk, I trimmed the stickers along the body lines to give it a JDM meets Mach One vibe. The roof also got sticker-bombed between the black trims so it matched.



Even the faded out fake wood grain door trims got some sticker action


And to get ready for the supercharger I plan to get for the 3.8L V6 I installed a boost gauge. :burnout:
 

So that's my $400 Cougar project so far. Let the hating begin. :evilgrin:

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #1 –
actually not bad of an idea. different ha

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #2 –
Thanks, It gets lots of looks everywhere I go. Some love it, Some hate it. Either way it gets a response. In the end I am going to fix it up a bit and swap the engine out for an '01-'04 Mustang V6 block (thicker main caps), F-150 4.2L V6 crank (longer stroke), split port '99 Mustang heads, and a few other bits to pump up the little V6 to around 400HP. Then put an XR7 V8 trans in it, a limited slip rear diff, rear disk brakes from an XR7, an aluminum "Ricer" wing on the trunk, and either a 12 runner intake from a Ford Windstar or a supercharger from an XR7 Cougar.

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #3 –
Lol nice. so i take it this one is a 3.8? you supercharge this mofookie and ull have a badass car... id suggest going ahead and getting forged internals with the supercharger, might as well build the whole engine if your going this route. keep us posted on the build sounds cool. planning on getting at least 350hp out of my 5.0 this summer. Idk if ill go forced induction or not, i want to see how much horsepower and torque i can squeeze out of it n/a.. ive been suggested to get forged pistons and rods then do a gt40 build, build the trans, 3:73 gears, full exhaust, cam, and see where we are at after its all said and done... maybe a little boost if all that isnt enough! haha

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #4 –
Yep, 3.8L V6, I plan to swap all the internals as well. I found an article about a V6 fox body Mustang that runs 10's in the 1/4 mile and has around 400HP so I am thinking of doing the same kind of engine build on my Cougar (but without the NOS), Just kinda slow going with limited cash at the moment.

Here's a link to the article if you want to check it out. After all the V6 is 100lbs lighter than the V8 and easier on gas.
http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/mmfp-0510-v-6-powered-mustang/?cx_navSource=related-bottom

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #5 –
Just found this picture surfing the net... I'm loving that rear spoiler.





Does anyone know if this Thunderbird front end will fit on a '92 Cougar???


Completely unrelated but this made me laugh...

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #7 –
Not trying to be a douche, all are welcome here, and I am certainly not a moderator, BUT: This forum is geared toward the fox-body thunderbirds and cougars, years 1980-1988. What you have is an MN-12 chassis. There are many other forums that could answer your questions on that chassis a little better. I know many people like http://forums.tccoa.com/. Just figured I'd let you know why you might not be getting much response to your posts. Speaking for myself, I don't know anything about MN-12s, heh...
CoogarXR : 1985 Cougar XR-7

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #8 –
Yeah, I noticed, I figured there are lots of Cougar enthusiasts here in general though and the MN12 is not all that different from the fox platform. Just a little longer and they changed the sheet metal slightly. It's still front engine rear wheel drive up till the 8th generation. Then they ruined the Cougar name with front wheel drive.

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #9 –
I'm not trying to be a richard-cranium...... but the mn-12 platform has nothing in common with the fox platform other that you use a couple of the fox brake components and, until they switched to the mod engines, the engines could be swapped.  Just sayin.................. After saying that, Welcome to the site :D It's full of great people with lots of knowledge and skills and not all with Fords ........


86' T/C 4.6L DOHC
16' Chebby Cruze 1.4L Turbo
17’ Peterbilt 389 600hp 1850ftlb Trq 18spd

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

“Heavy Metal Mistress”
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #10 –
Quote from: outskirtscustoms;437712
Yep, 3.8L V6, I plan to swap all the internals as well. I found an article about a V6 fox body Mustang that runs 10's in the 1/4 mile and has around 400HP so I am thinking of doing the same kind of engine build on my Cougar (but without the NOS), Just kinda slow going with limited cash at the moment.

Here's a link to the article if you want to check it out. After all the V6 is 100lbs lighter than the V8 and easier on gas.
http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/mmfp-0510-v-6-powered-mustang/?cx_navSource=related-bottom

Check out this site for V-6 power.  http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/ 


86' T/C 4.6L DOHC
16' Chebby Cruze 1.4L Turbo
17’ Peterbilt 389 600hp 1850ftlb Trq 18spd

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

“Heavy Metal Mistress”
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #11 –
don't believe the bumper from that model t bird will fit but you never know. don't worry about the body and go ahead and save for the engine! make it look like it won't run with any of the big boys then take them by suprise. that 300 dollar bumper or 100 dollar wing could set you back on getting a nice set of eagle rods or a cam.
 

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #12 –
@1badbird did you put a 4.6 mod engine in the 86 bird you have?

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #13 –
Ya, but it's not finished yet. It's currently in storage in Indiana :(


86' T/C 4.6L DOHC
16' Chebby Cruze 1.4L Turbo
17’ Peterbilt 389 600hp 1850ftlb Trq 18spd

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

“Heavy Metal Mistress”
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

My JDM style 1992 Mercury Cougar under construction

Reply #14 –
I'm talking about the whole front end, hood, fenders, core support, bumper, lights, all of it. They are built on the same platform so it should fit right? I just like the shape of the lights and grill better, it's less boxy and the newer Cougar's grill looks like a chrome Hitler mustache. As far as price goes I'd wait till the local pull a part has their annual "pull-a-thon" sale ($50 per person all the parts you can carry) or I'd buy a complete non running parts car for around $500 and sell the parts I don't use and s the rest and break even so I'd get the parts I want for free.