Tips for checking out an old Cougar before you hand over cash

I went through almost the same checklist on my 69 a couple years back, and the torque boxes were exactly where it got me. The quarters looked solid from inside the trunk, but once the interior came out I found the driver side box was basially rust lace held togehter by undercoat. Ended up cutting patches and welding them in myself, which took way longer than I planned because the spot welds on the brace were a pain to drill out. If I buy another one I'm bringing a screwdriver to poke everything under the carpet before money changes hands.

The headlight doors on mine worked when I bought it and quit a year later. Turned out to be a cracked vacuum tee that only leaked when things got warm, so I second the advice about cycling it with the engine hot. I eventually just put electric actuators on mine because I got tired of chasing it.

On the motor, one thing I'd add is to look at the oil filter and drain plug before you even try to spin it. Mine had a cheap filter and no sign of an oil change in years, which told me the 'rebuilt last year' story was loose with the truth. A borescope down a spark plug hole costs next to nothing to rent and saved me from buying a boat anchor.

Good call on the paperwork too, learned that one the dumb way. Grabbed a Fairlane project a while back that turned out to have a lien still showing from two owners ago. Took months of phone calls to get it sorted, and the seller went quiet on me partway through. Now I won't hand over cash till I've run the VIN and seen the title in person. Also, don't let a seller talk you into 'it ran when parked' as a selling point. Ran when parked ten years ago means nothing if it sat outside.

That wiring warning is dead on. Mine sat in a barn for a few years and mice got into the harness behind the gauge cluster, chewed the insulation clean off a handful of wires. Took me a whole weekend of continuity testing with a test light to find every break, and I still get a random short now and then. Now I toss a few mothballs under the dash whenever it's parked for the winter and I haven't had a repeat since. Also second whoever said check under the mats, my floor pans looked perfect till the carpet came up and there was surface rust all along the driver side seam.

One more thing I'd add for a 67 specifically, since the trim situation is diffrent from the later cars. The grille pieces and those headlamp door frames are reproductions now but the fit on the repro stuff is mediocre at best, so any original trim that's missing or busted is going to cost real money or alot of hunting at swap meets. I priced out a complete front end for my XR7 clone project and the trim alone rivaled what I paid for the roller. Before you negotiate, write down every piece that's not there, because sellers always call a car complete til you start pointing at holes.

Update: went back for a second look with the interior pulled. The guy who mentioned the torque boxes being worse than the quarters nailed it, mine were patched with what looked like leftover roofing flashing and body filler. Walked away from that one. Also ran the headlamp vacuum cycles a few times like I said to, and it hissed like a tire. Still hunting.