Saturday Morning in the Garage

I was up early yesterday to work on the Cougar. I woke up about 6:45 a.m. excited to get to work and got myself and Elsie ready to go to my parents house for the morning. I took the Cougar to my dad's house since he has a lift in his garage and we can get the car completely in the air!

When I arrived my dad already had the garage open and ready to go and so I got Elsie in the house. My dad guided me into the garage so I was lined up to put the Cougar on the lift. The hydraulics started to lift the Cougar into the air and we were ready to start.

We started by assessing what tools we would need for this project. I got the new idler arm out of the package and held it up to the existing one on the car. The new idler arm by Scott Drake Enterprises is an enclosed system and contains two zerk fittings for grease whereas the old one is two separate pieces and has no zerk fittings. We installed the zerk fittings to the new idler arm and it was ready to install.

Above: The new idler arm installed

To start the idler arm replacement I took off the passenger side front tire to get better access to the bolts that attach the idler arm to the sub-frame. My dad used the impact wrench while I held pressure with a box end wrench on the nuts on the inside of the frame. The nuts came off rather easily even though it seems as if the old idler arm had been on the car for quite some time. My dad pried the cotter key from the castle nut and we took off the castle nut and removed the old idler arm. We reversed this process to install the new idler arm and I greased the zerk fittings on the idler arm and the fittings on the ball joints. After we were done with this replacement, I advised that I thought this was one of the easiest projects I had ever performed on a car!

My dad was less sure of replacing the export brace as he was about the idler arm. My dad is a longtime Chevrolet enthusiast and these Ford, Lincoln, Mercury cars are a bit different than what he is used to seeing. I advised that the export brace is the other crucial piece to get on the car before I get an alignment because it keeps the shock towers from moving and will keep the front end tight and the car will have a truer alignment.

Above: Middle of the export brace at the firewall

If I was just replacing the existing two piece braces this project would be a snap. Four bolts on each one - two bolts at the firewall and two bolts on the shock towers - on and off and you're done. However, the one piece export brace requires that the bolts for the shocks be removed and the shock caps be removed so you can get the export brace over the bolts and then replace the shock caps and tighten all the nuts back down. As these older Fords age the shock towers can sag inward toward the middle of the car.

I called and spoke to Shawn Harville at Mustang Corral again. He has been very nice about giving advice on working on this project when I was researching what I needed and prices. They also work on vehicles at Mustang Corral and he doesn't have to be as forthcoming about giving out free advice and information on projects, but I'm glad that he is this helpful. Shawn reminded me about getting the car up in the air and then putting jack stand under the control arms to help spread the shock towers apart to get the export brace on the nuts. He also said that loosening the fender bolts would help get the brace on if I was having trouble getting it over the bolts.

Above: The shock cap on top of the new export brace

I recounted this conversation with Shawn to my dad and he asked me what I wanted to do next. I advised that if we got into the replacement and something was not going right then we could put it back the way it was before. He agreed and we went to work. Again this installation was no problem. The jack stands did their job by spreading the shock towers. We had to use some screwdrivers and a pry bar to get the brace into place, but after some pushing and pulling it was no big issue. We put all the nuts and bolts back on and the export brace project was finished too!

Above: the engine compartment with the new export brace

After we were done, my dad and I put all of the tools away. We spent a little while bench racing about some of the things I want to do to the car and he tested a spot with wax on the rear fender. Finally, I was ready to head back home with Elsie so we could have a late lunch with Mary.

Now the Cougar is ready to get an alignment!

Getting the Cat back on the road

Today, I had an unexpected day off.

Mary came home sick from work yesterday and stayed home from work today too. Elsie had a fever last night and sort of had a rough night, but seems better today besides a runny nose. However, I'm sure that not many people are reading this wondering about the health of my family so back to my point.

With the sale of the 1968 Cougar over the weekend I had some money burning a hole in my pocket and the 1967 Cougar was begging for some attention and repairs to get her on the road again. If I wanted to hit any car shows this Fall I had better start working. So, last night and this morning I was refining my to-do list and doing some parts price comparing on-line.

This afternoon, I headed to Mustang Corral and purchased the Idler Arm, Export Brace, a set of four KYB Gas-A-Just Shocks and two Ford key blanks. In an earlier post I mentioned that I had priced these two pieces at Mustang Corral in Edwardsville and they quoted me $69.99 for an idler arm replacement (PN C7ZZ-3350-BR) from Scott Drake Enterprises and the export brace (PN C5ZZ-16A052-E is $49.99 for a one piece replacement painted black. I had also noted that Mustang Corral was selling the set of four KYB shocks were $169.99. However, while price comparing I had found that Mustangs Unlimited was selling the same shocks for $129.99. While I was buying the other items I casually asked if they matched prices from other vendors. The co-owner, Tim, asked me the details of what I needed and the vendor. I told him and he checked the book and advised that they could match the Mustangs Unlimited price. This quick exchange saved me $40.00 and shipping and handling charges! I had him throw in the key blankss so I can get a second set cut just in case.




This weekend I plan to take the Cougar to my dad's house and put her on the lift to install the parts. Then I can get an alignment done so I can get her out of the garage again. I plan to take document the process with pictures and words here when I am done.


Four (4) items checked off the parts list - many more to go.

Caged Cougar

Currently, the Cougar is confined to it's cage - or the garage. No, it's not being cagey, in a cage match to the death, or even honing it's basketball skills; I should just say that it's parked. I'll explain -- When I had the tires replaced two weeks ago at Patterson Tire and Service the technician took me in the garage to show me why the tires were wearing in the first place. The technician showed me that there was a considerable amount of play in the idler arm causing the alignment to be off and thereby causing the inside edges of both front tires to wear badly. The rubber gasket on the idler arm was worn down to the size of a flat washer! He jerked the idler arm up and down and it had a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch worth of movement up and down instead of being tight.

I did some research (if you know me you're probably really surprised here) and the plan is to replace the idler arm and the export brace on the Cougar to tighten up the front end and make sure the alignment true. The idler arm replacement is obviously a must, but you may be asking why the export brace. If you weren't asking I'm going to tell you anyway. Originally, Ford made braces in two pieces and they extend from the shock towers on both sides of the engine compartment diagonally to the firewall. However, on Shelby Mustangs and vehicles that Ford produced for export from the United States the braces were one piece instead of two. This kept the shock towers from flexing as much. See picture below for the one piece brace:

I priced these two pieces at Mustang Corral in Edwardsville and they quoted me $69.99 for an idler arm replacement (PN C7ZZ-3350-BR) from Scott Drake Enterprises and the export brace (PN C5ZZ-16A052-E) is $49.99 for a one piece replacement painted black. They also have a chromed version of the export brace, but I like the look of the black engine compartment with chrome on the engine only. I think that the engine pops more while surrounded by the all black engine compartment.

So, until I have time to buy these parts and replace them the Cougar sits so I don't wear out a new set of front tires too fast.

*SIGH*