|
| Quick Facts: 1999 Mercury Cougar |
|
|
|
|
Craig purchased his 1999 Mercury Cougar in March of '99 new from Clearfield Lincoln Mercury in Clearfield PA. He didn't waste much time getting started on the modifications. The first night of ownership Craig drove it back to the shop where he was working where he tinted the windows and installed an Eclipse CD player.
|
|
|
A week later the car had a Wings West spoiler, a relocated battery in the trunk, a custom fabricated cold air intake, as well as a custom cat back exhaust and Eibach lowering springs.
That summer Craig also added 18" wheels and it's first stereo with sponsorship help from JL Audio and Eclipse. In October, he decided to put it away for the winter and get started on his plans for the next season.
|
Craig removed most of the interior and took it to his body shop to be painted as well as adding white face gauges and a custom fabricated "a-pilar" gauge pod. He also took advantage of this downtime to send the intake manifold out to Extrude Hone for port and polish.
Once the ground thawed and spring had started the car was reassembled and the new body-kit was ready for install. Craig was able to land a partial sponsorship with Andy's Autosport to debut their first Dragon Z front bumper. For side-skirts, he went with Razzi, and called on Wings West for the rear valance.
|
|
|
After the new kit was on the car, Craig went to McCracken's Garage in Bellwood PA for the installation of the Zex Nitrous kit and new Arospeed Exhaust. He also added an under-drive pulley courtesy of ASP.
|
|
Also early in the 2000 season, Craig installed a 7002 fold out video monitor from Eclipse as well as a Santeca VCR and Sony Playstation. In order to accommodate the fold out monitor, he had to cut the shifter down significantly. Craig removed the reverse lockout feature and added a MOMO race aluminum shift knob.
The shifter now has a very short throw and decreases time in between shifts.
|
|
|
Later in the summer, Craig installed Z3 fenders from Aerogear and new "euro" clear side marker lights. Throughout the summer, he had made some additional changes with suspension when he upgraded to a coil over kit from Ground Control thanks to a sponsorship for prototyping their new kit and marketing their new kit to the Cougar/Contour Community. This kit gave him the ride height adjustment he was looking for as well as increased handling and stiffer overall suspension. The last thing Craig did for 2000 was shave all the badging and replace the grille out for the European Ford Grille and a carbon fiber GT touring spoiler from A&A Specialties.
|
Over the winter of 00/01, Craig was able to land some sponsors and really pushed to take the car to the next level. He had refinished a set of side-skirts from the Cougar Eliminator Concept produced by Inform Design as well as refinishing the gas door in real carbon fiber. The car then went to Van Pelt Collision of Wellsville NY for a custom paint job as well as some custom body modifications. The body modifications made included:
|
- Moulded the front bumper to the fenders
- Shaved mirror trim piece on the fender
- Molded door handle cup
- Shaved the keyholes
- Molded the rear valance to the bumper
|
The car was then shot in silver base with fine blue PPG pearl.
|
When the car came back from paint Craig was on the phone with his new sponsors from Axis Wheels, and Nitto Tire. He picked out 19" Axis Se7en's in gunmetal finish and some 235/35 Nitto 555 rubber to wrap them with.
|
|
|
He decided it was time to add some power to the car so Craig upgraded the entire intake system with a new polished cold air kit from South County Autosports, a 75 MM Mass Air Flow Meter from Pro Flow, and a 60 MM throttle body from SVT.
|
After a few more shows Craig signed on with a full sponsorship from Aerogear and changed the hood to their new Cougar Predator hood.
|
|
He has recently upgraded the audio system with a complete custom install featuring a carbon fiber sub enclosure with a painted molded fiberglass top panel. The trunk is accented in purple neon and compliments the painted fiberglass nicely. Craig has also recently added a DVD player in place of the old VCR and Playstation. Some interior upgrades were made with the addition of diamond plate floor-mats, and Tenzo R touring seats.
The car has been a wonderful project as Craig does most of his own work and spends all his free time working on his car, as well as some cars in his club. He loves to see what can be done with a good imagination and some skill. The car has been a learning project and every time he changes something, it gets a little better. Next season he will have his girlfriend's Contour along side his Cougar at shows in the North East US. Look out for a full custom interior with roll cage and some serious go fast modifications under the hood for 2002.
See more of Craig's Cougar at http://www.street-concepts.net
|
|
If you think your ride has what it takes to be the Ride of the Month, contact admin@ridejudge.com
March 10, 2010
Copyright © 2010 Choice Media Group. All Rights Reserved.
RideJudge ® is a registered trademark of Choice Media Group
|
|
