Have you ever wondered why your Cougar is Metric?

[Mako]

Maybe you have and maybe you haven't. But if you've ever turned a spanner on a Cougar you will probably know that your metric kit covers it, even though it was built in Flat Rock, Michigan. And the USA prefers AF/Imperial instead of our damned commie units.

It turns out that for the sake of making the global supply chain easier, American car manufacturers have been using metric since the mid/late 1980s. An American Cougar is no different from a British one - including the occasional bolt that actually is AF/Imperial. From a US mechanic's perspective this isn't a problem; they have to have metric tools to work on Toyotas, BMWs, etc. so already have them.

Not wildly interesting, but it's a question I know a few of us have wondered about.

 

[Franspeed]

were all cougars built in the USA Chris?

 

[lazybones]

i started as a mechanic many moons ago, when most of the kit was AF with whitworth and bsf, then had to get metric, still got my orignal Draper 1/4" socket set which has af, metric amd ba sockets although ratchet and extensions etc have been replaced
a lot of the sizes do cross over and some of the other sizes are handy if you got a worn/rusted 13mm then you can tap a 1/2"af on as it's just slightly smaller but there are a number of other sizes that will cross over ie 15/16" is 24mm is 1/2" whit so more flexible use but mostly the older mechanic's have a lot of "old kit" not all will cross over to all 3 but a lot of af will go to metric

 

[Mako]

were all cougars built in the USA Chris?

There's been some debate about whether region-specific stuff was installed at the destination (lights, windows) but I've spoken to a Ford constructor who tells me that they were all completed at Flat Rock with parts from Mexico or Europe.

Which is to say your car started its life in Michigan, but your lights started their life in Mexico and the whole thing came to you complete via Germany.

a lot of the sizes do cross over and some of the other sizes are handy if you got a worn/rusted 13mm then you can tap a 1/2"af on as it's just slightly smaller but there are a number of other sizes that will cross over ie 15/16" is 24mm is 1/2"

LOL - I have definitely done this! What else are you supposed to do with a 13mm bolt rusted down to 12.5MM?

 

[Pid_16V]

i started as a mechanic many moons ago, when most of the kit was AF with whitworth and bsf, then had to get metric, still got my orignal Draper 1/4" socket set which has af, metric amd ba sockets although ratchet and extensions etc have been replaced
a lot of the sizes do cross over and some of the other sizes are handy if you got a worn/rusted 13mm then you can tap a 1/2"af on as it's just slightly smaller but there are a number of other sizes that will cross over ie 15/16" is 24mm is 1/2" whit so more flexible use but mostly the older mechanic's have a lot of "old kit" not all will cross over to all 3 but a lot of af will go to metric

Pretty much the same scenario with me Tony. In 1971 when i started my apprenticeship the company i was with were just starting to work in metric but the majority was still imperial stuff. As i started to get my tool cabinet together i was advised to buy metric micrometers etc and the most valuable thing in that toolbox eventually was the almighty ZEUS book.

 

[TopCat1127]

I still have to work in both Metric and Imperial lol luckily the aircraft industry has fought tooth and nail to stay imperial, tho i believe Airbus and a few others are now in the process of converting

- - - Updated - - -

ps i'm on my third Zeus book lmfao

 

[lazybones]

Pretty much the same scenario with me Tony. In 1971 when i started my apprenticeship the company i was with were just starting to work in metric but the majority was still imperial stuff. As i started to get my tool cabinet together i was advised to buy metric micrometers etc and the most valuable thing in that toolbox eventually was the almighty ZEUS book.

I still have to work in both Metric and Imperial lol luckily the aircraft industry has fought tooth and nail to stay imperial, tho i believe Airbus and a few others are now in the process of converting

- - - Updated - - -

ps i'm on my third Zeus book lmfao

most of my experence was on heavy commericals/coaches certain makes favoured AF, whilst others went for Whit/bsf so you got use to which sizes crossed over then metric came to add to it all and became second nature, use to have a laugh when some friends would change the plugs on there cars (just getting into there cars) would phone up and say running like crap afterwards go and have a look for them to find that they bought plugs, feeler gauges etc, what they had done was to buy metric feelers and gap to "30 thou" but 0.30 metric was 12 thou which is why it run like rubbish, as a rough guide 0.1 mm it very closed to 4 thou just little things you remember as you used it all the time during the change over period, commericals tried to fend off changing, even to the point some volvo commericals would have metric size heads to nuts and bolts but UNC threads as the engine originally was based on a british engine design so had imperial sizes in the engine but the chassis side would be a mix of metric threads

 

[nvingo]

When I had the Ford Consul Classic 315 (predecessor to the Corsair and to an extent the Cortina), I used to read magazines such as Practical Classics, advertised within these were spanners and socket sets called "wall drive".
I purchased a set locally from a DIY chain of six spanners (ring/open) for about £18 but unfortunately no longer have them, but the claim is they grip rounded-off heads and all equivalent sizes of the different standards.

 

[dandamano]

And the USA prefers AF/Imperial instead of our damned commie units.

I always wondered what those strange numbers on some of my sockets were

 

[Arkady001]

I thought European Cougars were only part-assembled in the US, being finished at the Ford plant in Köln...?

 

[FlamencoAssassin]

I thought European Cougars were only part-assembled in the US, being finished at the Ford plant in Köln...?

Paul Procomm emailed Ford and the answer was they were built to completion at Flat Rock which is what I thought all along. It wouldn't make financial sense to build a car in 2 factories. Germany was just a distribution point for Euro exports.
Remember Ford invented car mass production.

 

[backseateducation]

Whats the metric equivalent of 'thou' then?

 

[Quicksilver]

I thought European Cougars were only part-assembled in the US, being finished at the Ford plant in Köln...?

Paul Procomm emailed Ford and the answer was they were built to completion at Flat Rock which is what I thought all along. It wouldn't make financial sense to build a car in 2 factories. Germany was just a distribution point for Euro exports.
Remember Ford invented car mass production.

The email reply I received from Ford is in post no.182 here:

https://forums.ukcougar.club/threads/29418-Red-C2-on-Ebay/page19

 

[Quicksilver]

Whats the metric equivalent of 'thou' then?

'thee'.

 

[backseateducation]

'thee'.

 

[lazybones]

Matt 0.1mm is 0.0039370 thousandths of an inch but rounded to 0.004 for quick use
the old fashion spark plug gap was usually 0.025" = 25 thou which is around 0.6mm when using metric feelers, fords tended to say 0.028" / 0.032" thou which is 0.7/0.8mm
don't know if that helps to explain it better

 

[backseateducation]

Thanks mate

 

[Mako]

When I had the Ford Consul Classic 315 (predecessor to the Corsair and to an extent the Cortina), I used to read magazines such as Practical Classics, advertised within these were spanners and socket sets called "wall drive".
I purchased a set locally from a DIY chain of six spanners (ring/open) for about £18 but unfortunately no longer have them, but the claim is they grip rounded-off heads and all equivalent sizes of the different standards.

For what it's worth, Sealy still make "wall drive" sockets.

Long story short, where the socket would touch the corners of the bolt there are circular cutouts. They definitely work on rounded bolts/nuts and are my first choice if I know a car is going to fight me.

 

[dandamano]

For what it's worth, Sealy still make "wall drive" sockets.

Long story short, where the socket would touch the corners of the bolt there are circular cutouts. They definitely work on rounded bolts/nuts and are my first choice if I know a car is going to fight me.

Ive got a set of those from sealy, they are a life saver sometimes

I find they work better than Irwins IMO

 

[lazybones]

For what it's worth, Sealy still make "wall drive" sockets.

Long story short, where the socket would touch the corners of the bolt there are circular cutouts. They definitely work on rounded bolts/nuts and are my first choice if I know a car is going to fight me.

SNAP-ON make these as well, they call them "flank drive" they do a wide range of sockets, spanners and rachet spanners etc
BUT snap-on tend to be expensive there may be others doing a wide range as well