1974 - 1976 Mercury Cougar 460 V8

[LeBaron1973]

Apologies for a non mopar thread, but I'm wondering whether a 74-76 Mercury Cougar with the 460 V8 would be a nice "moderately sized" hobby car for me in NZ in a few years once finances are available?

I fondly remember the 460 in my 78 Lincoln Continental Mark V- so smooth and effortless, would it be good in the Cougar or too big???

Am I right to presume these models are not too expensive to buy and parts are available?

All opinions positive or negative welcome.

 

[Luke Pokrajac]

460 is a very good big block...probably one of the better engines Ford produced. Much better than the FE 352, 390, 427/428 block.

 

[LeBaron1973]

Thanks Luke, loved that engine. I hope good cars will still be available when I can buy one.

 

[Davea Lux]

I had a 460 in a '78 Ford with the C-6 transmission. Car had about 120k when I bought it and it had 370K when my nephew finally got rid of it. Only internal work done was a timing chain and a set of valve seals. That engine and transmission combination was pretty much bullet proof, but the 460 was as puller, big car/truck engine not a racer without a lot of work. The other issue was very poor fuel mileage, low compression smog motor struggled to get 10mpg no matter where you drove it. These cars are still relatively cheap and there are still nice ones around. The LTD and continental are both nice road cruisers.

Dave

 

[LeBaron1973]

Thx Dave,

The Cougar is probably more NZ sized, I recall the crap fuel consumption but as an occasionally driven car it'd likely be ok.

Now to start saving up.

Cheers

 

[LeBaron1973]

What difference (if any) would installing a fuel injection system instead of the carburetor make to fuel consumption?

I guess the cost vs mileage driven is a consideration too?

 

[Davea Lux]

What difference (if any) would installing a fuel injection system instead of the carburetor make to fuel consumption?

I guess the cost vs mileage driven is a consideration too?

I do not know about today's after market injection systems, but in '88 when Ford went to EFI on their 460 pickups, the mileage actually dropped from their carb equipped versions. Most ran about 7-8mpg in city driving and struggled to get 10mpg on the road. They had to run them fat with a big catalyst to keep from frying the valve train and pistons under heavy load. Engine was long gone from passenger cars by then, but the lighter loading in a passenger car would lend itself to better mileage with EFI. That having be said, the 460 is never going to be an economy engine no matter how it is fueled.

Dave

 

[LeBaron1973]

Great, money saved.

 

[commando1]

I'm outta here

 

[marko]

any 74-76 cougar specific stuff will be very hard to get.
nobody wanted them so nobody saved em.
my experience with 2 of them was lazy gas hog and the interiors were cheap especially the dash

 

[LeBaron1973]

any 74-76 cougar specific stuff will be very hard to get.
nobody wanted them so nobody saved em.
my experience with 2 of them was lazy gas hog and the interiors were cheap especially the dash

Thanks for the response, it won't be for several years so I'll have to to consider the right car.

Much appreciated

 

[CBODY67]

Those Cougars were pretty nice cars, when new. A little over 4000 lbs, too. I suspect that most of the Cougars came with the normal 351 2bbl engines or the 400M stroker small block. A 460, in those model years, would be something of a rarity in those cars, I suspect. With a 460 Cougar probably being a higher-optioned car than a similar 351 would be.

Other than external tuning items, re-tuning them to "run right", one other thing that was mentioned years ago was to put a non-retarded timing set in the 460s. Ford, as did Chevy, put a 4 degree retard in their factory timing sets, for emissions purposes. So putting a timing chain set that was "normal" would probably help lower-rpm response.

Back in about '74 or so, I thought I wanted a '70-'71 "Beak" Thunderbird. I dug out my old car magazines to see about performance upgrades. I found one where a NJ dealer was doing just that, except it didn't make as much difference as hoped. Problem was, but not mentioned per se, was Ford's apparent desire to use 2" exhaust pipes as their corporate size fo pipe. Even back to the '63 Galaxie 427 2x4bbl motors. End result, not much chance of incresing performance without a good bit of work to the exhaust system. Or chasing unobtainium Super Cobra Jet items!

I was also reminded how tight the underhood on those cars was, 'birds and 'cats. So putting anmything other than a carb might be much more work than desired for very limited benefits.

I understand the '74 Torino Elite used the Cougar frame under it. Might check into chassis upgrades (sway bars, etc.).

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[bigmoparjeff]

There are still some out there. I saw this one last month up in Connecticut, and I have a photo of a blue one that I saw at a truck stop in West Virginia a few years ago, but that's on my other computer.

Jeff

 

[LeBaron1973]

Those Cougars were pretty nice cars, when new. A little over 4000 lbs, too. I suspect that most of the Cougars came with the normal 351 2bbl engines or the 400M stroker small block. A 460, in those model years, would be something of a rarity in those cars, I suspect. With a 460 Cougar probably being a higher-optioned car than a similar 351 would be.

Other than external tuning items, re-tuning them to "run right", one other thing that was mentioned years ago was to put a non-retarded timing set in the 460s. Ford, as did Chevy, put a 4 degree retard in their factory timing sets, for emissions purposes. So putting a timing chain set that was "normal" would probably help lower-rpm response.

Back in about '74 or so, I thought I wanted a '70-'71 "Beak" Thunderbird. I dug out my old car magazines to see about performance upgrades. I found one where a NJ dealer was doing just that, except it didn't make as much difference as hoped. Problem was, but not mentioned per se, was Ford's apparent desire to use 2" exhaust pipes as their corporate size fo pipe. Even back to the '63 Galaxie 427 2x4bbl motors. End result, not much chance of incresing performance without a good bit of work to the exhaust system. Or chasing unobtainium Super Cobra Jet items!

I was also reminded how tight the underhood on those cars was, 'birds and 'cats. So putting anmything other than a carb might be much more work than desired for very limited benefits.

I understand the '74 Torino Elite used the Cougar frame under it. Might check into chassis upgrades (sway bars, etc.).

Enjoy!
CBODY67

Thanks, I'm sure I will when I eventually get one.

 

[marko]

a 76 460 cougar will weigh in about 4600 lbs base before adding more options.
i think my 75 460 was around 4700.
i regret owning the 2 i had ( and i own an 80 rover 3500 sd1 ! )