91 Cougar LS 5.0 Teardown and Build

[Zep5.0]

The reason I asked because it looks like it was never taken off. But I know you stripped the car down to just the frame, but don't recall a pic of the window being gone. When I had my car painted and I took out the side windows, door trim and all that happy crap, i read that it is a real B to remove the window and if it ain't broke, leave it in. I think one of the reasons was the heated glass. When they did tape up the rear window, it had just a few lines of overspray on the rubber trim, but not that noticeable.

Good luck with that rear window trim creation brain storm. I know you'll share what you find that worked.

I didn't remove it as I trashed the windshield getting it out. I had the body shop remove the rear glass, thus no pictures...

 

[White Lincoln]

Thanks Zep!

 

[Zep5.0]

Trying to decide if I should paint the metal frame of the dash. I think there was always some rust on it, but not sure. I wouldn't think it would ever become a structural issue. Thoughts?

 

[XR7-4.6]

View attachment 8728View attachment 8729

Trying to decide if I should paint the metal frame of the dash. I think there was always some rust on it, but not sure. I wouldn't think it would ever become a structural issue. Thoughts?

They’re all like that, even in the sunbelt. It’s just surface rust, if you took a wire wheel to it there wouldn’t even be any pits so no I certainly wouldn’t worry about any structural issues. I painted mine black just because I was bored and I had the dash completely apart to modify the harness

 

[Zep5.0]

Been slow going on the car the last couple months. Waiting on this or that part, or my indecision. Got some minor stuff done tonight. I'm building a custom sub box and amp rack to go in the spare tire well. In order to have the amp separated from the sub box, but make it look like one cohesive piece, I'm basically covering both with 1/8" mdf. Then also covering the back seat and braces with the same. They turned out decent, and once mounted sub and amp, should look good. I cut the fabric short around the sub hole, so it's much bigger than it looks. I think it's 10 5/8" for a 12"sub.

If anyone can think of a decent mesh to cover the amp, I'd take suggestions. The sub cover looks like this:

 

[White Lincoln]

View attachment 8728

Trying to decide if I should paint the metal frame of the dash. I think there was always some rust on it, but not sure. I wouldn't think it would ever become a structural issue. Thoughts?

Watching another guys rebuild, I noticed how he would clean and spray what he could for rust prevention. You have moisture there. spray it if you can to slow down, stop the rust. I know its inside... but its still rust. IMO

 

[XR7-4.6]

Watching another guys rebuild, I noticed how he would clean and spray what he could for rust prevention. You have moisture there. spray it if you can to slow down, stop the rust. I know its inside... but its still rust. IMO

It’s the moisture in the air in this case, it’s the kind of rust people on the west coast think is worth money when it’s on the exterior as “patina” since it never really advances rapidly beyond that stage. You can paint it, which I did with mine, but in terms of longevity it’s not going to rot out. It most likely attained that layer of surface rust in 1991 and hasn’t advanced since

 

[Grog6]

https://www.onlinemetals.com/en/buy/perforated-sheet

You can get this from mscdirect or mcmaster-carr.

Or amazon

Amazon.com

 

[Zep5.0]

Kind of hi-jacked the stupid question thread, so going further here.
To summarize the conversation, I found the Holley Hi-ram intake that needs a short Holley distributor and they are not compatible with the Ford ECU. So, either spend the money on a Holley sniper or terminator EFI, or switch to an Explorer ECU and harness. This gets rid of the distributor for coils.

@XR7-4.6, I tossed the wiring harness from the parts car, and it was a mess anyway.

If I were to go looking for an Explorer 5.0 harness, would I need a 96-97, or could I go up to 2001? I noticed the later have PATS, which I don't want. It's think I can exclude all of that as I just need the engine harness.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Kind of hi-jacked the stupid question thread, so going further here.
To summarize the conversation, I found the Holley Hi-ram intake that needs a short Holley distributor and they are not compatible with the Ford ECU. So, either spend the money on a Holley sniper or terminator EFI, or switch to an Explorer ECU and harness. This gets rid of the distributor for coils.

@XR7-4.6, I tossed the wiring harness from the parts car, and it was a mess anyway.

If I were to go looking for an Explorer 5.0 harness, would I need a 96-97, or could I go up to 2001? I noticed the later have PATS, which I don't want. It's think I can exclude all of that as I just need the engine harness.

The biggest issue with harnesses is there isn’t really just a harness to throw on and send, they have different bulkhead connectors and conform around the engine compartment differently. You’d need to do a lot of modifying of it. Plus an Explorer EEC is 104 pin, so you’d need the harness that goes to the EEC too which is where a MN12 doner would be an almost drop in. It would actually be easier to modify a 4.6 engine harness to work on the 5.0 than make an Explorer EEC harness work in a MN12

 

[Zep5.0]

The biggest issue with harnesses is there isn’t really just a harness to throw on and send, they have different bulkhead connectors and conform around the engine compartment differently. You’d need to do a lot of modifying of it. Plus an Explorer EEC is 104 pin, so you’d need the harness that goes to the EEC too which is where a MN12 doner would be an almost drop in. It would actually be easier to modify a 4.6 engine harness to work on the 5.0 than make an Explorer EEC harness work in a MN12

Ok, maybe I missed that, are you saying use the 4.6 harness and ECU? Or 4.6 harness with Exp ECU?

 

[XR7-4.6]

Ok, maybe I missed that, are you saying use the 4.6 harness and ECU? Or 4.6 harness with Exp ECU?

You could use either once you tune it, you just to change the cam sensor type in the software. If you can find the EEC and harnesses from a 96-97 4.6 that would be the best

 

[Grog6]

If you have to go find one, I'd recommend a 96 cougar mbe2; I've run 3 of them with no failures; avoid fte1's they fail a bunch.
The code is on a sticker pass side,under the rubber hood seal. And on the eec, but underhood is easier

 

[Zep5.0]

Final test fit done. Box is now sealed, it ended up at right around 1 cubic foot which is perfect for the 12" Alpine sub I choose. Matching amp will be under the square opening, with screen covering that so that nothing falls in. Ordered the amp power wiring tonight for sub amp and 4 main speaker amp.

Does anyone have a great power distribution system they like? Concerned with amount of space in the box. I do plan to do a kill switch so I'm nhra legal as well.