Hey guys, I got a free cougar and a bunch of questions. (Pics)

[Finn]

Hey there,

I just picked up a 99 cougar 2.5 auto. My GF's dad had bought this car from his nephew with a blown engine. His intent was to fix it and use it as a commuter. He bought a salvage motor with 80,000 miles and swapped it with the blown motor...and by swap I mean he got it in the engine bay...and connected to the trans...by one bolt...and that's where he stopped.

Several years went by and the car sat unfinished. Come this past xmas, I was at his house and he turns to me and says "hey you want that car? I'm just going to junk it if you don't want it". At the time, I thought he was talking about his 69 chevelle SS project so I said yes in about .05 seconds, haha. Anyhow, I got the Cougar and I'm pretty excited about it since it will be the first car I have owned to get above 14 mpgs!

I decided to re-pull the engine, just so I know what I'm working with. I'm completely new to ford/mercury but luckily Ive found this awesome forum. Here are some pictures and a list of questions lol:

TL/DR:: Got a free cougar project, have some questions listed below the pics.





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Questions (question number corresponds to numbered pictures)

1) Slight damage to the flywheel teeth, I think its still ok but wanted a second opinion.

2) The bushing for my rear trans mount is busted, the first parts store I went to wanted 90 bucks JUST for the bushing. I had them order it since I need it asap and they could get it later today, but I thought that price was ridiculous. Went home and found the same bushing (for an auto trans) on rockauto.com (part number 2888) for $7.92. Called the store back to cancel my order and they said that Part #2888 came up as the bushing for a manual trans?? But they could get today for 19 bucks so I went ahead and switched my order. I haven't picked it up yet but are these bushings interchangeable and why the big price difference?

3) This plastic ?vacuum? line is broken, but I have no idea what it was going to so I can't get a new one. Any ideas?

4) Any idea where the bracket above the A/C compressor goes?

5) I have two of these, I have no idea what they are or where they go. They're both greasy dirty like they were by the trans or somewhere on the bottom of the engine bay and the threaded stud sticking up can slide back and forth a bit...That's all I have to go off of.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Oh and big thanks to wadespencer99 for his thread:
2.5 MTX removal guide
It helped a ton.

[wadespencer99]

Welcome to NECO. I'm glad my how-to helped. I'll answer what I can.

2. I'm almost positive they are different between ATX and MTX, but I've never worked on an ATX, so hopefully someone else will chime in.

3. It actually isn't broken, I don't think. It presses into the vacuum tree that will sit behind the upper intake manifold once the engine is reassembled.

4. That is the support bracket for the jackshaft carrier bearing on the passenger's side axle. It bolts the rear of the block, just to the left of the alternator.

5. That holds up the Y-pipe. It slides over two of the oil pan studs on the back side (just below that jackshaft bracket) and is held on with nuts that clamp it on the studs. The tab in the middle of the Y-pipe slides over it and is held on with one nut.

Hope that helps.

[rooster210]

The bracket with the AC compressor looks like the one that bolts to the back to hold the intermediate shaft. It hooks to the bearing in the drive axle on the passenger side.

The bracket by itself bolts to the bottom of the motor where the y pipe meets on the exhaust.

Not a bad deal you got on the car. And welcome to neco

[rooster210]

Ugh too late

[Finn]

Hey thanks for the speedy replies. I think I found where you two say the brackets go, woohoo.
I just picked up the bushing that was supposedly for the manual trans, it looks different but size and fit wise it seems it be fine.

Couple other questions I thought of:
Can I drop the engine in with the exhaust manifolds?
Should I check anything while it's out?

I've been creeping the topics a bit and I see that the alternator is a common problem part??

[docfeelgood111]

You can drop the motor back in with the exhaust manifolds already attached. I'd look around the motor to see if you see any signs of where oil was leaking out of the new motor and go ahead and change the gaskets out. Another thing to check is make sure the motor you got has the same fuel rail system your car needs. There are two types return and returnless. But this can also be changed with the motor in the car so no big worries.Also some motors have differnt style pcv systems.

[docfeelgood111]

Contact Tousley Ford. Call 1-800-328-9552 and ask for Steve or Mike M. to receive 10% over cost on any ford part. I guess they still do that. Its been a while since I ordered somthing through them. If you can't get what you need from there try ARP-bolts.com | The Official Site of Automotive Racing Products, Inc.

[B3NN3TT]

I just ordered from Steve this week.

[Black Tilly]

I dont think anyone has answered question number one so ill go ahead. From what i can see in the picture, since you have it out. replace the flexplate. Otherwise when you go to start your car the starter will just grind and grind till it finally reaches a tooth that it can grab onto and finally start. eventually you will need to replace it because your starter will eat away the teeth that has been already damaged. Flywheel is a term used for manual transmissions. Flexplate is for Automatics which is what that is.

[Finn]

Thanks for the contact info, I'll be calling for a price on the flexplate tomorrow.
The more I research, the more I'm excited about this new project. Didn't realize it had such a following. Ive been looking at the European ones, different suspensions, different exhausts (thoughts on borla's?), etc. Once I finish some of the other cars I'm working on there's going to be some fun modifications done.