Jason Lewis’ ’70 Cougar led to a life in restoration

Words: Cam Benty; Photos: Jason Lewis

The Mercury Cougar is an often-overlooked part of America’s muscle car heritage. With its luxurious flowing fender lines and focus on comfort, only the specially-tuned brain of a muscle car historian understands this vehicle can be transformed into something any performance fan can appreciate. This was exactly the case for one starry-eyed car builder.

For Jason Lewis of Stevenson Ranch, California, muscle cars have had a truly life-altering effect. A highly accomplished videographer, Lewis longed to get his hands dirty and test his car construction skills. In his youth, he enjoyed building racecars and street cars for various purposes, but to make a buck, it was in running a camera or locked in the editing bay that turned out to be his life’s work.

While this ’70 Cougar originally came with a 351c.i. Cleveland engine, Jason substituted a fully prepped 351c.i. Windsor that is a more than capable replacement.

So, after considerable soul searching, Lewis got together with his wife, quit his day job, took out a line of credit, and opened a muscle car restoration shop. His first project: a $400 1970 Mercury Cougar. As you can imagine, the car was rough but still a very solid vehicle, having spent most of its life in California where rust is slow to grow – but not impossible. This first project would definitely test his creative metal working skills.

“I always loved muscle cars,” says Lewis. “It began when I was in high school and I drove my grandfather’s Ford Maverick. I did a little customization and drove the car to school every day. That car held a special place in my life.”

While Jason’s current shop is well suited for complete and proper restorations, his first project garage was a makeshift tent in Pacoima, California. Using a rotodisc grinder and a lot of hand disassembly, Lewis stripped the car to its base elements. By doing so, he discovered plenty of damage, witness marks that proved the car had actually been airborne at some point in its history before coming back to earth in a most unpleasant manner. No matter. Lewis was learning as he went, and the car began to quickly take shape.

Lewis’ vision for his Cougar was to create a car that looked, smelled, sounded, and performed like a classic muscle car, with late model upgrades. He carefully considered a number of different options.

The 351c.i. engine uses a Windsor block with a Nodular Iron crankshaft that has been deburred and micro polished. The 10:1 compression SRP pistons are covered by Edelbrock Fast Burn aluminum cylinder heads, Edelbrock AIR Gap intake manifold, and 800 cfm 4-barrel carb. A COMP Cams hydraulic camshaft, chromoly pushrods, and Magnum rocker arms keep the valve train in control, while an electronic ignition replaces the original points system.

The modern serpentine belt system is a nice touch and drives not only the alternator and water pump, but a Vintage Air A/C system. A Be Cool radiator keeps Lewis rolling on hot southern California days, and the Hedman headers feed exhaust through the Borla Turbo XL Mufflers. The result is just the right sound when cruising the boulevard or cranking it up at the local road racing/autocross facilities in Buttonwillow or Willow Springs.

For the interior, he redesigned the instrumental panel, engineered new door panels, center mounted the electric window controls, and installed Summit Racing seats with G-Force four-point seat harnesses. In fact, most of the parts used on the car were purchased through mail order, Summit Racing and JEGS both providing a parade of automotive “presents” that arrived at the Lewis home on a regular basis.

Other interior upgrades include AutoMeter Cobalt gauges, TCI Ratchet shifter, Painless Performance 18-circuit wiring harness, and a keyless entry with two remote triggers. For sound, an Eclipse stereo head unit and 600-watt amp drive the five JL Audio speakers. The sound system also features both Sirius radio and iPod connectivity. Finally, the TCI high performance Ford AOD transmission features a TCI torque converter with a 2,800-rpm stall speed.

The Cougar rides on an AirRide ShockWave and Ride Pro 2-way system, which provides adjustability for street or racing environments. New upper and lower control arms have been upgraded with Polygraphite bushings and new ball joints. The Flaming River 16:1 ratio steering box is assisted by their steering valve/slave cylinder and tilt steering column. Cross drilled and slotted disc brake rotors are used all around with the stock disc brake calipers. The rear end features 3.89:1 ratio gearing, 31-spline axles and an Eaton Trac-Loc to insure durability. Master Power rear disc brake calipers and parking brake complete the package.

Lest we forget Jason is a perfectionist, the underside of the Cougar is spectacular. When was the last time you saw a Cougar created with this much attention to detail?

Lewis lovingly applied the Grabber Blue exterior paint in his makeshift paint booth, a two-stage paint process that was color sanded between sprayings. He personally removed each piece of stainless steel, hammered out any dents, and then hand polished them to perfection. The grille insert repairs were a major undertaking, requiring lots of cleaning and polishing and then hand painting to get the final original affect.

The wheels are 17-inch American Racing Torque Thrusts wrapped with Falken P235/45-17 front and P275/40ZR-17 rear tires.

“I found that with ’70 Cougars, new parts weren’t easy to come by,” Lewis says. “If you have a ’67, ’68 or even a ’69 Cougar, there seem to be a lot of part sources. Even the ’71 and later Cougars have ready parts available. Not so with the ’70. I had to spend a lot of time fixing and chasing parts.”

The final effect is an amazingly detailed Cougar with lots of creative touches, the result of Lewis’s own creative vision. While retaining the exterior appearance, Lewis executed a total personalization of the vehicle to his own tastes — a labor of love that took him just nine months to complete.