I have a 1999 Ford Cougar 2l which failed it's MOT
due to a rusted rear sub-frame - cannot be welded!
Can anybody help me?
silverfox
due to a rusted rear sub-frame - cannot be welded!
Can anybody help me?
silverfox
Need a rear subframe
- Thread starter silverfox
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They where all powder coated once rust gets under powder coating it doesnt take long to cause havoc they should have been galvased.
What follows is a parody, but maybe not so much.
The Cougar (as we know it over here) was designed and built on one of Ford's world platforms, but was never intended for any other market than the USA. The only reason we have it here was because of the Mondeo, and the fact that Ford senior management thought we'd accept it - mainly because it's a Mondeo - and that they'd shift a few more premium-spec (by US standards) units to get their figures up.
When you're an executive, that's how you're measured.
Anyway, because it was intended for the USA, there were only four major environments it was ever going to meet:
1) Hot summers, very cold winters, salted roads.
2) Hot summers, very cold winters, gritted roads.
3) Hot summers, warm winters, no salt or grit, but salty atmosphere because you're near the coast.
4) Hot summers, hot winters, very dry and welcome to Arizona/Utah/New Mexico, dude!
So it's worth knowing that in the places that get cold, wet and salty, they generally don't have a vehicle inspection that includes body or structural rust. Or emissions. Or much of anything else. Mostly they just care that your wipers work and your tyres hold air. This is the opposite of what you'd expect, until you realise that people in Michigan don't want the gummint to take their cars away after five years, when them guys down in Oklahoma don't get judged the same way. Hurf.
In all those circumstances, the Cougar was perfect. It'd either live forever or die or salty rust-rot when the owner decided that all the banging and crashing and swerving were too much to cope with.
Now take that car and move it to the UK, where your car will fail for surface rust on a brake line.
From that perspective, its subframe was doomed from the start. And although Ford continues to exist because they sell you crap that falls apart to a pre-defined schedule, the project manager responsible for the Cougar failed to realise that we in the UK tend to keep our cars for longer than they do in the USA and take a dim view of in-built obsolescence.
But the MK2 Mondy subframe fits, so you can shotblast and galvanize one and fit it. So it has that going for it, which is nice.
The Cougar (as we know it over here) was designed and built on one of Ford's world platforms, but was never intended for any other market than the USA. The only reason we have it here was because of the Mondeo, and the fact that Ford senior management thought we'd accept it - mainly because it's a Mondeo - and that they'd shift a few more premium-spec (by US standards) units to get their figures up.
When you're an executive, that's how you're measured.
Anyway, because it was intended for the USA, there were only four major environments it was ever going to meet:
1) Hot summers, very cold winters, salted roads.
2) Hot summers, very cold winters, gritted roads.
3) Hot summers, warm winters, no salt or grit, but salty atmosphere because you're near the coast.
4) Hot summers, hot winters, very dry and welcome to Arizona/Utah/New Mexico, dude!
So it's worth knowing that in the places that get cold, wet and salty, they generally don't have a vehicle inspection that includes body or structural rust. Or emissions. Or much of anything else. Mostly they just care that your wipers work and your tyres hold air. This is the opposite of what you'd expect, until you realise that people in Michigan don't want the gummint to take their cars away after five years, when them guys down in Oklahoma don't get judged the same way. Hurf.
In all those circumstances, the Cougar was perfect. It'd either live forever or die or salty rust-rot when the owner decided that all the banging and crashing and swerving were too much to cope with.
Now take that car and move it to the UK, where your car will fail for surface rust on a brake line.
From that perspective, its subframe was doomed from the start. And although Ford continues to exist because they sell you crap that falls apart to a pre-defined schedule, the project manager responsible for the Cougar failed to realise that we in the UK tend to keep our cars for longer than they do in the USA and take a dim view of in-built obsolescence.
But the MK2 Mondy subframe fits, so you can shotblast and galvanize one and fit it. So it has that going for it, which is nice.
you can import them via eBay from the USA or CougarBob sometimes has ready-galvanised ones for sale, whioch will probably outlast the car
I am also looking for a rear subframe!....ive looked on Ebay and cant really find one, it would appear this part is in high demand. Anyone come across any in good nic let me know your going rate and ill come fetch! 
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