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Chris's car when he first found it four years ago (above) and his completed restoration (below)!

The Story of Chris Long's 429 CJ Cougar GT

When I was in 6th grade, my Dad had a Boss 351 that needed two front rotors. He looked in the local ads in the paper for parts and found a guy that was parting out Mustangs and Cougars. He called the guy, "Daryl", who told him to just bring the old rotors to put back on the car to keep it a roller. So we went over and saw lots of cars in his yard. One was this 71 Cougar GT. This was in 1982-3. The guy said this car has 24,000 original miles on it so it should have good rotors. He also said it was a strange car - a Cougar GT with a 429 and a 4 speed. Back then who cared?
So Daryl became a "Ford" friend with me and my Dad. Daryl had a collection of about 30 restored cars, so over the years Daryl has become a good friend. He comes down every January for the Barrett-Jackson Auction and also goes to Reno for Hot August Nights. So about 4 years ago, I was on the Boss 351 website and saw under their Favorite Links a link to the the 429 Megasite. So I checked it out and saw the "Statistics" section. I really had no idea a 429 came in a Cougar in 71, so I called Daryl and asked about that old junk Cougar. He said it was a GT and a 4 speed but didn't know if it was a C or J code. After he got me the VIN, I learned it was 1 of 4 GT's ever made and the only one in Yellow. So, I asked what he wanted for it. He said that it is funny that I was asking because a guy from the WA State Cougar Club was just here looking at it the other day and he thought $500.00 was a good price for the car. He said, "Hell, I took the scoop off in '83 and put it in the car in case a branch or tree fell on it. I bet the scoop is worth that". So I sent him the money and went to go get it. I got there and asked about the motor and trans, but he said he was keeping it, so I left with the car. I collected all the parts needed for the next 3 years. Then Daryl came down in January for the Barrett-Jackson Auction and saw that I was serious about restoring the car and had all the parts needed to start the restoration but the motor and transmission. He said, "Do you want to buy the motor and trans??".  I said, "HELL YA!".  $2,500 later, I get the numbers matching motor and trans.
We had our house for sale for about a year and the car had been sitting at my parents house in the desert for about 3-4 years. We finally moved to our new house and started a garage (40' x 50', 2,000 square feet) in the back yard. We moved in 2 weeks before Christmas. I still didn't have a place to build a car, our a car to take to Reno this year, so my friend Rob said "LET'S DO THE CAR!!". So I stripped it at my house in the driveway and then took it to Media Blasters. When I got it back, I  took it to Rob's Garage to start the project. Crunch time was on - the August 3 Hot August Nights was approaching very soon. We replaced the whole floor pan, drilled ALL the spot welds out, and took a floor out of a parts car and then took the roof skin off. My buddy owns a junk yard 20 miles from here, so I have been collecting parts for years! We replaced  parts of the quarter panels also. The car didn't have any "salt" rust, just Seattle rain and sitting rust. So Rob and I did ALL the work. The only thing we didn't do was rechrome the front bumper and set a  windshield in. We cut the time really close. We were just so burned out on the car that we were doing work for 3 days in Reno just to finish it up. Then I just said that's it! I'm done!! And then enjoyed the rest of the week in Reno. There are still little things I will need to re-do later, but the important thing is that we got it done in time for Reno! And Daryl got to drive "The Yellow Bomb" as he always called it. His health is not too good, so I was just glad he got to drive it. Seven months to do a car restoration is crazy and I will not rush things again!!
The car did great there. Lots of people were saying," I never knew there was something like this built!". Muscle Machines "Hemmings" wants to do a restoration profile on the car in November! My Red Mach 1 in the March issue this year. Well, thanks again for all the help over the years and with all the great info on the Megasite! I just picked a Competition Blue XR7 J code 4 speed, but it is going to be a while before I start the resto with BILLS and a new place, but it will be on the list!!

Chris Long, AZ

(Check out the slideshow below showing photos of Chris's restoration start to finish)