1968 Mercury Cougar 302 4V "J Code" 4 Speed

Mercury Cougar 1968 Description

I am listing my 1968 Mercury Cougar for sale. It is an original J Code 4 Speed, console, power steering, A/C vehicle. I have owned it for the last 13 years. I bought it from a local guy near Greeley, CO and it has been here in Colorado since at least 1977 (have a copy of the 1977 Colorado title that I received when I purchased the vehicle). I have hundreds of pictures of the restoration of this cougar and will provide the new owner with a copy of the pictures on a cd. The body has been restored inside and out including underneath at an expense of $18,000. Even the headlights and taillights were restored as per oem! The engine was completely rebuilt when the restoration was started. The transmission was in good condition and just cleaned, repainted and fresh fluid installed. This is a low mileage vehicle that was off the road for many years. I received two instrument clusters with the vehicle, one with 73,000 miles and the other with 99,000 miles. I believe the 99,000 mile cluster to be original to the vehicle but it was in worse shape than the other one so I installed the 73,000 mile cluster. The speedometer is not working and I have not diagnosed it. Seems to be on the transmission end, I believe the gear needs changed (currently too small to engage and read right). This should correct the speed and it will work properly at that time. This is one of the nicest and most completely restored Cougars I have seen. You would be hard pressed to find a nicer one, especially with the rarity of the options this vehicle has. The Marti Report says it is one of 534 with this engine and transmission combination and one of 167 with this paint and trim combination. I am sure the full report would tell that it is a one of one vehicle, but I have not confirmed that. The details of the vehicle are as follows:

ENGINE, TRANSMISSION & REAR END:

1968 Mercury 302 4V “J Code” engine and correct 1968 J code heads

Rebuilt around 4000 miles ago

10.5:1 Speed Pro Hyperutectic pistons 0.40” over

Comp Cams valve train “K” kit 268 magnum cam, Hydraulic lifters, Valve springs, Roller timing set, Roller rockers, Pushrods.

New stainless valves

Flow Tech Ceramic Headers with 2.5” exhaust with turbo mufflers

Edelbrock Carburetor on car currently, but I have the rebuil, never run, correct 4300 motorcraft that goes with vehicle

Fel pro gaskets, federal mogul bearings, ARP rod and head bolts

New Water pump, oil pump, plugs, wires, points

4 speed transmission, New Ram 11" clutch with engine, resurfaced flywheel, Hurst competition shifter and linkage

8 inch rear axle 3.50 gears, freshly rebuilt 6 months ago, new carrier, pinion and axle bearings with fresh fluid

CHASSIS:

Front power disc brakes (Granada conversion with new master cylinder and booster, new pads when car restored with turned rotors)

Rear drum brakes, good shoes and drums, complete and functional parking brake system

Power Steering, new control valve, pump, ram, tie rods, idler arm and lines

1” drop coil springs front, KYB Shocks, Shelby under ride traction bars rear

INTERIOR:

New parchment headliner, New blue carpet and floormats, All original trim and rear seat

Custom made brushed stainless dash insert

New paint on dash and floors under the carpet

New heater core, rebuilt and resealed heater box with good A/C evaporator coil in box

4 Speed console

OEM Dashpad

Auto Meter tachometer installed discretely in clock pod in instrument cluster

Custom Autosound AM/FM radio with input, Stereo speaker in dash, Infinity Kappa 6X9 rear

EXTERIOR:

Original “X Code” Wellington Blue Poly color, sprayed with PPG basecoat & clearcoat

All rust cut out and replaced with metal, all sheet metal straightened before primer

Hundreds of pictures detailing the restoration of the exterior, interior and undercarriage

New vinyl top (Installed with headliner before glass was installed)

All trim, markers and lights installed and in good condition

Flip up headlights functional and sequential taillights work on OEM parts

Headlights and taillights disassembled and repainted as per OEM

Front valance still has oem red oxide primer and part number on inside

Complete firewall, engine compartment, undercarriage and wheel wells repainted semi gloss black

I am serious about selling this vehicle, have a clear title and am ready to help load it and ship it off with a new owner. Please do not bid if you do not intend to buy this vehicle, if you do not have the funds available at the time you bid, or do not have permission from your wife, etc... I do not want to relist this due to a non paying buyer. I will charge you the listing fees if you do bid and do not buy this vehicle. Please ask any questions before bidding, I would be happy to send pics of something for you or answer any questions you may have. NO PAYPAL on this item except the deposit when you win the auction. Cash in hand is best upon pickup of the vehicle.

I have had a number of questions about the air conditioning on this Cougar. This is a factory air conditioned car, however when I purchased it, it had none of the a/c stuff with it except the heat/ac box. I purchased an evaporator for it and had it tested to ensure it was good. It was installed in the heater/ac box when that system was installed in the vehicle. I also have two hoses that are a/c hoses that will go with the vehicle. I do NOT have any brackets, compressor, condenser, drier or the shorter hose. These will need to be purchased by the new owner and installed. The Sanden conversion kit is $500 and the parts to hook up the under hood factory correct will cost no more than $1000. I was not sure if someone would want it original or convert to a Sanden style compressor. The hard part of installing the evaporator in the box is done and ready to hook up under the hood. Also reserve is set at $14,000 and I will not take less than that. This is one of the nicest Cougars I have seen go through Ebay in years. The inside, outside and undercarriage are all restored and even the headlights and taillights are restored as per original. I cannot stress enough what a nice clean Cougar this is and that you would be hard pressed to find one nicer!