1987stangman
Member
- Jul 12, 2006
- 684
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I am also a Cougar/Thunderbird fan and I am familiar with these cars. I do see a couple of "problems" with the plans.
While the 4.6 modular motor in the Cougar is very similar to the Mustang, but there are differences. The exhaust is actually closer to a truck style exhaust in that the headers are in a Y configuration which flow into a single pipe through the drive tunnel. Then into another Y pipe dual muffler configuration.
Bottom line, a Mustang exhaust will not work.
To me, one important difference between the cars for the home shade tree mechanic is the 4.6 Cougar/Thunderbird motor can not be removed from above with a crane. The car's craddle design means that the body is "lifted" off of the K-member/motor/transmission. This places a motor swap in the shop league as special lift equipment is needed.
A PI head swap can not be done "in car" because the oil pan can not be dropped "in car". So, while something like a PI head swap could be done, the motor removal makes the job harder than first glance.
The suspension is totally different between Cougar/Mustang. Nothing will interchange.
Even the wheels/rims will not interchange. The bolt pattern is 1/4" smaller on the Cougar.
I sure that you have noted how much softer the transmission has been set up on the Cougar. This can changed with a shift kit and tune.
A Mustang's underdrive pulleys should fit the Cougar.
I had a 97 Cougar that I really liked. It was originally purchased to be a "sleeper". After owning it for a while, I discovered that the job was going to require much more than what I could do in my driveway.
Beside, the car drove GREAT, got good gas mileage (20 city), and was a very smooth ride. So in the end, I decided to just drive it.
Good luck.
PS, recommend to not posting threads about street racing. Trouble!
Good info, a family member was trying to dump off a 95' Cougar on me. I just assumed it was the same NPI 4.6 like the 96's came with. I guess it's a lot like the 5.0L vrs crown vic Non-ho 5.0.