Project Domes shonky autos - Manta progress!

[andy18s]

Check the secondary inlets are opening up,you should get a Vtec style shove at around 3.5k iirc

If they don't get regular exercise then they can gum up....

Most Mondy ST200 bits will bolt on engine wise

There used to be a fairly active forum at UKCougar.org,but was incredibly clichey

One of the members had a totally over the top car that had been on Barry Island Boys,Piston heads SOTW ect. They did their best to defend him but it was an awfull thing to look at....

May be interested in the Mercury grille and rear badge if cheap.....

[Supernaut]

Shit the bed!

 

I was looking at that on gumtree / ebay (can't remember which) the other day, thinking "hmm, tempting!"

 

 

 

Good work!

 

I'm guessing it's an alternative to the 406 coupe you didn't win (and nor did I, boo).

[John F]

I've driven a V6 Cougar... it was EXACTLY the same as my V6 Calibra, i.e. long-legged rather than sporty with lazy, wide-spaced ratios in the gearbox. This doesn't suit the engine particularly well imo.

 

When I get round to it I'll swap the box in my Calibra for the close-ratio f28 6-speed I acquired from a Calibra Turbo a while ago, this appears to be the approved mod. Not sure what box would fit the Cougar if you choose to go down that route though.

 

Plenty of car for the money though, Cougars are sheep as ships nowadays.

[Vince70]

I've had two 2.5 Manual Cougars and can honestly say they are the best built Ford from the 90s after I sold my first one I regretted it so much that I spent another year finding the best that money could buy so bought a fully loaded minter which had done hardly any miles but redundancy forced me to sell it..

 

The thing is I still see both of them driving about locally years later still looking good I think Silver though is the only colour they come in.

The holy grail in Cougar ownership is owning a metallic red one as a few made it to our shores in that colour by mistake as it wasn't a colour available in Britain also some managed to be smuggled in via Southern Ireland.

 

Also check the front wishbones as these can only be bought through Ford and are quite expensive as the things aren't shared with any other ford and both mine ended up needing new ones and if you buy them from America cheap you still end up with import tax.

 

Also the V6 is a gem of an engine and is so smooth that you can balance a pound coin on top when it's running and I found that if I filled the car up I could get 99.9 miles to the gallon on the fuel computer if I rolled it at 70 down a very steep hill out of gear on the A21 so who needs a Hibrid when you can have a V6 lol.

[andy18s]

Wishbones are shared with the Mondeo ST200 but aren't cheap anywhere

Front leather seats are allegedly done by the same company who did Lear jet seats

You do seem to sit On them and not In them but comfy enough for me

Front subframe is supposed to get dropped to change them as the bolts drop in from above

Rear subframe are starting to rot out,as are the back of the sills

Rear calipers sieze up

Ect

Ect

 

Ford priced them right up with BMW'S,hence not many got sold

[AMC Rebel]

Flip! you need to drop the front subrame to change the seats?

[dome]

Well, let's see what we have then?

 

The back end was not right. There was a rattle the seller thought was a shock bush and the RHS rear didn't feel right at all.

 

So, up we go.

 

 

Not pictured but the bush going from the bottom of the hub onto the trailing arm was gubbed and the cause of our knock. 

 

Next, can anyone spot the problem?

 

 

 

Yep, the second pic is the RHS transverse arm. It has been fucked somehow and has dragged the rear end out of alignment. This in turn has fucked the bush under the hub. Yet someone has been driving it like this for ages. Makes you wonder...

 

Incidentally the seller waxed lyrical in his advert about this having a zinc coated rear subframe. It's safe to say he was talking shit. Not that we actually care. 

 

A new arm is on the way and a bush will be sourced as soon as I can work out what the fuck it is called. The local factors list two in different sizes at a whopping £5 each. Might just buy both.

 

 

 

[andy18s]

that exhaust looks well done....cough

[RoadworkUK]

These were fairly savaged in the press, and I think rather cruelly so. Hacks kept whining about over-the-top styling - which by today's standards is anything but. Apparently they weren't quite as sharp to drive as a Fiat Coupe. But what is? If ever a car was damned with faint praise, this was it.

 

 

If you get really attached to yours there's a very good 1:18 scale model out there which can be achieved fairly unspendily.

 

FWIW, the Mercury Cougar was also sold in the UK as the Ford Cougar. Contour was the US Mondeo, Mystique was the Mercury Mondeo.

[dome]

Got the transverse arm off tonight and compared it to the new one.

 

 

 

Yep, that's fucked.

 

Still got the trailing arm bush to do. Going to be a pain as I don't have a press. Things may get ugly.

 

Talking about ugly, I posted up on a cougar forum a thread about this. The thread needs to be approved which still hasn't happened 24hrs later. However, within minutes one of the moderators has commented on the previous owners project thread(which never got off the ground) about him selling it. I was open about tracking it, I suspect they've taken the huff and deleted it. Good old one make forums eh?

[Pete-M]

I had one of those Cougar V6s. It was quite a nice drive.

 

The only car I've ever known a scrap yard to turn down. Eventually sold it to a mechanic mate who ran it for a couple of years after spending about £200 on it.

[dome]

I had one of those Cougar V6s. It was quite a nice drive.

 

The only car I've ever known a scrap yard to turn down. Eventually sold it to a mechanic mate who ran it for a couple of years after spending about £200 on it.

 

There goes our exit strategy then!

 

Desperately needing wheels/tyres for the Cougar for track antics but am being tight as two coats of paint about it. Ideally OEM Ford 16" or 17" withlegal non shonky tyres. Anyone got anything?

[Pete-M]

The chap who bought it may still have the set of Konis he fitted to it. I'll ask.

[Stanky]

I can offer up some 17" tyres from well known manufacturers but which might* be a bit elderly. Yours for the cost of postage if interested?

[dome]

Ah, so where were we?

 

The S4 vibration was getting worse-it was really noticeable on acceleration, getting to the stage it was undriveable. 

 

Googling revealed a few options with the worst case being clutch/flywheel. Mine has had all of his done to cure a vibration in the past. My fettling Mojo was low so the S4 sat for a week or two while I smoked about in the Cougar. One front arm was worn and while I suspected it wasn't the cause I replaced that which made no difference. My Mojo sank further.

 

I eventually got back underneath it and started with the CV joints-these can go and give similar symptoms allegedly.

 

Well, what do we have here?

 

https://youtu.be/05kfFVZmUnE

 

 

That was the drivers side inner CV. The vid should show me holding the shaft with one hand (Steady...) while showing the play in the CV with the other. Safe to say that one is fucked.

 

A bit of Google Fu revealed the same inner CV used across all A4s this shape. I ventured off to my local scrappy to liberate a driveshaft from a breaker. This wasn't as easy as you'd think... The inner CVs are held on to the transmission by 6 bolts. If the cars in one piece then a screwdriver in a vent on the disc will stop the shaft rotating when removing them, of course in the scrappy they were all missing hubs which made things a challenge. I eventually got one removed and headed home. 

 

Old shaft out and dismantled the CV. It shouldn't look like this...

 

 

 

 

"New" one was stripped down, cleaned up and assembled and then it was time for a roadtest.

 

Result! The vibration was gone so I could actually drive the S4 again. Thank fuck for that!

 

I'll check the passenger side CV again and may end up replacing them both to be on the safe side.

 

I've still got transmission and rear axle fluids to change and cruise control to fit. Oh and the RS4 rear roll bar is in my garage needing fitted. I did say my mojo has been low...

 

Anyone experienced with VCDS? I think I can reprogram it with my version but am not sure. I have the stalk, just need the lower cowling with the cutout for the stalk.

 

Time for the Cougar to get a bit of attention. More to follow...

 

[tooSavvy]

Suspension made out of lolly sticks?Is that what modern cars look like underneath?I've said this before and I'll say it again, what is the fucking world coming to?Ben

ToMM© is all lollysticks >> kwalitee lollysticks, mind

 

TS

[Dave_Q]

Ah, so where were we?

 

The S4 vibration was getting worse-it was really noticeable on acceleration, getting to the stage it was undriveable.

 

Googling revealed a few options with the worst case being clutch/flywheel. Mine has had all of his done to cure a vibration in the past. My fettling Mojo was low so the S4 sat for a week or two while I smoked about in the Cougar. One front arm was worn and while I suspected it wasn't the cause I replaced that which made no difference. My Mojo sank further.

 

I eventually got back underneath it and started with the CV joints-these can go and give similar symptoms allegedly.

 

Well, what do we have here?

 

https://youtu.be/05kfFVZmUnE

 

 

That was the drivers side inner CV. The vid should show me holding the shaft with one hand (Steady...) while showing the play in the CV with the other. Safe to say that one is fucked.

 

A bit of Google Fu revealed the same inner CV used across all A4s this shape. I ventured off to my local scrappy to liberate a driveshaft from a breaker. This wasn't as easy as you'd think... The inner CVs are held on to the transmission by 6 bolts. If the cars in one piece then a screwdriver in a vent on the disc will stop the shaft rotating when removing them, of course in the scrappy they were all missing hubs which made things a challenge. I eventually got one removed and headed home.

 

Old shaft out and dismantled the CV. It shouldn't look like this...

 

IMG_20170625_180808914.jpg

 

IMG_20170625_180812610.jpg

 

 

"New" one was stripped down, cleaned up and assembled and then it was time for a roadtest.

 

Result! The vibration was gone so I could actually drive the S4 again. Thank fuck for that!

 

I'll check the passenger side CV again and may end up replacing them both to be on the safe side.

 

I've still got transmission and rear axle fluids to change and cruise control to fit. Oh and the RS4 rear roll bar is in my garage needing fitted. I did say my mojo has been low...

 

Anyone experienced with VCDS? I think I can reprogram it with my version but am not sure. I have the stalk, just need the lower cowling with the cutout for the stalk.

 

Time for the Cougar to get a bit of attention. More to follow...

If you have VCDS issues, let me know, I've got an activated* version of VCDS lite somewhere which will let you code in the CC.

 

I think you can do it with the trial version though.

[SiC]

Genuine VCDS? If not, then I'd heavily suggest getting one. I used my friends genuine VCDS and it's 1000x more stable than the knock offs. They have reasonable resale value too, so you should get most of your money back. Alternatively get a second hand one.

[cort16]

VCDS sounds something you need to sort with dose of antbiotics after a trip to Magaluf.

[dome]

I have a cracked version of VCDS lite. It reads codes from the S4 fine and gives me various options which I have no idea about. I'll do some homework...

[SiC]

If I'm doing any coding, programming, etc of any ECUs I've learnt that using a genuine tool is a lot less frightful. Remember if it fucks up half way through doing what it's doing when programming/coding it can leave things in a bad state. Sometimes unrecoverable so.

 

£300 for a genuine one becomes cheap when you've fucked up a module.

[dome]

Right, back to this fine track weapon(s grade piece of shite)

 

So the rear arm has been replaced, that left the bush on the rear and trying to make the brakes work.

 

So, naturally, we chose to strip it out. Beer may* have been involved.

 

The interiors still in the car.

 

 

And now it's not.

 

 

Stopped off at a local classic car show afterwards. 

 

A classic ford with racing pedigree, and an old Cortina

 

 

And this was on display. Truly the choice of winners.

 

 

 

[dome]

The tyres on this thing were treacherous on the road, let alone the track. After much classified searching these were purchased and fitted.

 

Toyo T1Rs

 

 

Attention turned to the brakes-new pads were fitted, bleeding was next. Despite my best efforts with heat, plusgas and a modicum of swearing the drivers side nipple sheared off.

 

 

Luckily* someone had taken the trouble to shear off the passengers side one to save me having to do it myself.

 

In a fit of ingenuity I decided to try and drill them out, tap them and fit new nipples.

 

 

 

This failed.

 

We're waiting for new calipers to arrive.

 

In the meantime I replaced the knackered rear bush.

 

 

Insert Cougar bush joke here.

 

 

 

 

[dome]

Behold the shiny!

 

 

That's tonight's mission decided. This should be fun

[Tickman]

Behold the shiny!

 

IMG_20170711_132859821.jpg

 

That's tonight's mission decided. This should be easy with no issues.

Fixed that for you!

Fingers crossed.

[Bren]

Do you have a mig welder? I have welded pozidrive bits to the stub then wound it out - the heat usually frees it up.

[dome]

Sigh. 

 

So, where were we with this fucking millstone fine piece of automotive engineering?

 

The astute amongst you might spot a slight difference between the two calipers above. Yes, you've guessed it, one was wrong.

 

A week passed whilst I got a replacement and then got a refund for the old one. 

 

Eventually got them both on and started to bleed them up. I left the bleed nipples open once connected up until fluid started to flow and initially the brakes felt good with any air bubbles rapidly disappearing with a bit of bleeding. My tame mate who was in the drivers seat reported the pedal still felt shite though. Swapping places confirmed this, even though there was no air coming out of the nipples.

 

Tea was brewed and head scratching ensued to work out what was going on. Sometime later we noticed a pool of fluid under the car behind the wheel arch.

 

Yep, brake fluid.

 

Bastard.

 

Ford, in there wisdom, had decided instead of running the pipes parallel along the car that there should be a small section where they run one above the other. Years of vibration and corrosion had caused the pipe to weaken. Our bleeding efforts had caused it to fail.

 

Bastard.

 

Our anger at this was tempered by the fact that it was better happening on my driveway than if it happened approaching the hairpin at Knockhill at 100mph.

 

Where the joint had failed was in a postition where it would be near impossible to cut, flare and put in a union. The only option would be to replace the entire line.

 

Luckily* the pipes over the axle had been replaced so there were unions on both lines in front of the rear wheels(more on these later) Routing the pipes into the engine bay and into the ABS pump (down the back of the dirty big V6) looked interesting*

 

A combination of lack of motivation, real life and shit weather meant the Cougar was ignored for a couple of weeks.  

 

 

More to follow...

[dome]

So, I eventually decided I'd better do something with this damn thing. It was up on ramps outside the garage and preventing me from gettting the Locost out if nothing else. I was not looking forward to this though.

 

The lovely Tickman on here loaned me a brake pipe flaring tool. Halfords provided some pipe and the necessary unions. Coffee provided the motivation. Briefly.

 

First thing I did was make up 4 of these so I could cap off the unions on the car to prevent excess fluid coming out whilst I made up the new pipes.

 

 

The unions at the back end had been soaking for a while in penetrating fluid so came off fairly easily and got capped. I then chopped them near where they follow the bulkhead up into the engine bay.

 

Someone though that this was an appropriate way to fit new pipes at some point....

 

 

Moving the MAF out of the way allowed me to just about access the unions coming out of the ABS pump. Just. These got capped too and the old pipes removed. 

 

 

Then there was nothing for it but to start feeding the new pipe in.

 

 

This, as you can imagine was a pain in the as but I eventually managed o get the first pipe following the route of the originals. I cut off the excess and flared it on the car.

 

Before joining the unions i did my best to fill the pipe with brake fluid, again to try and make bleeding easier.

 

Access was, er, interesting...

 

 

Feel free to insert Cougar joke here.

 

Steak and beer stopped play.

 

One pipe on and tight, one more to do tonight then I need to bleed the fecker. Gulp.

 

 

[Supernaut]

Top marks for dedication, mr dome!

[cort16]

Fwd v6 cars are horrible to work on. Top marks for persistence .