Thanks everyone . He has taken it to a dealer and they are doing it monday and it will be tested and with me monday night so all is well . On my last Cougar I remember my husband had to take the back subframe off to fit a new recon one we bought off ebay . He then took it for alignment. He will do all the jobs that it needs . I have to say I have sold or swapped three V6 and one 2.0 Cougars and have regretted it everytime . I love the shape ,the noise and the driving position . My.car now is a MGZR with a Tomcat turbo engine fitred . Its very very fast but horrid driving position and its not nice for anymore than 20 mile trips . Saying that I have just been out in the rain and its so much fun . Thanks again . I will post pictures when I get her on Monday .
Previous owner needed for info before buying please
- Thread starter libby46
- Start date
Sounds like it's going to work out alright then! Good luck, and hope she ends up a good 'un.
I hear that. I loved my Mk3 200s, but they're all built on a city car platform and not really comfortable for any distance.
Can I ask, was your T-tubby conversion done home-brew, or did you take it to someone like Dave Andrews? Either way it's well worth it - the T-series is a stonking torquey engine even as a NASP. Far better than the K-series.
Welcome aboard Libby - I'd go for bad jacking too as the cause of that bent bar, I remember seeing it on a thread here before somewhere.
Enjoy your return to Cougar ownership - already sounds like you will . . .
Enjoy your return to Cougar ownership - already sounds like you will . . .
Update . Cougar arrived with fresh MOT . My hubby checked it out and fiund the alternator is shot lighting the warning light at 5k . The car crabs badly down the road with the steering wheel quarter turn from center . The guy had the bushes changed for the mot . We told him to get it aligned and we could talk again . Does it need a standard 4 wheel alighnment and how much would it cost for a new alternator and how hard is it to fit please .
Hey Libby
Alty is a pig of a job, budget close to £200 for the part alone, I've heard bad things about the budget ones from eBay - this is a job in my future too
car needs an all-corner alignment check, hopefully it'll just be the toe settings on the rear arms and nothing more serious, what bushes were changed?
Alty is a pig of a job, budget close to £200 for the part alone, I've heard bad things about the budget ones from eBay - this is a job in my future too
car needs an all-corner alignment check, hopefully it'll just be the toe settings on the rear arms and nothing more serious, what bushes were changed?
If it's actually crabbing it may well want 4-wheel alignment. The rear radius arms may have been disturbed by whatever it was that damaged the tie-bar (or they might have done when fitting the new one).
The alternator isn't the worst job I've ever had to do on a car, but it's pretty close to it. Not to be taken lightly. And if the exhaust is standard, (and so has pre-cats in the headers) access is extremely limited... To the extent that some here have modified the mounting brackets to make future changes easier.
:edit: Beaten to it by Steve!
The alternator isn't the worst job I've ever had to do on a car, but it's pretty close to it. Not to be taken lightly. And if the exhaust is standard, (and so has pre-cats in the headers) access is extremely limited... To the extent that some here have modified the mounting brackets to make future changes easier.
:edit: Beaten to it by Steve!
From what I can gather from my husband ranting is they changed the subframe bushes and the front wishbones . It seemed to be charging ok since my husband checked with his multimeter . The car drove great . Is the alignment a guaranteed cure for the crabbing ? The guy has offered me the cash to fix it on top .
Hey Libby
Alty is a pig of a job, budget close to £200 for the part alone, I've heard bad things about the budget ones from eBay - this is a job in my future too
car needs an all-corner alignment check, hopefully it'll just be the toe settings on the rear arms and nothing more serious, what bushes were changed?
...I had an alternator done on my first Cougar and tried to do it cheap, wasn't worth it,
I'd recommend a Bosch alternator as a replacement, well worth a little extra money when
you considering the labour cost to replace it should it go bad on you...as for alignment,
someone told me that Cougar's aren't aligned with a standard toe-out like most cars, so
you might need to ask the person doing it to double check the settings...
It will charge (and run) just fine... for now. But it's breaking down and that's why you're getting the warning at high RPM. Eventually it will get worse and worse before failing completely. Whether it's by design or accident, it basically gives you an early warning instead of just dumping you at the roadside one day.
Wouldn't want to say whether your husband can do it as I have absolutely no idea of his skill level, patience, or how big his hands are.
I think that anyone with the right tools, who knows how to use them and who has no fear of being under a car should be capable of it thoughedit: in about three-four hours). But he won't be able to do it alone unless he's a skinny contortionist who also happens to be immensely strong.
Wouldn't want to say whether your husband can do it as I have absolutely no idea of his skill level, patience, or how big his hands are.
I think that anyone with the right tools, who knows how to use them and who has no fear of being under a car should be capable of it though
edit: in about three-four hours). But he won't be able to do it alone unless he's a skinny contortionist who also happens to be immensely strong.mine was, runs as straight as an arrow, you can only adjust the rear radius arms not camber. BUT, the subframe first needs to be bolted to the car straight!
Agreed and this is what I'll be buying
if you can find a place that does a 4 wheel geometry check, it's better and isn't much more in some places, 4 wheel alignment is OK but if you suspect crabbing a geometry check is a better option
libby, to check the subframe is aligned correctly you need to insert a 20mm bar in the alignment holes as per the first pic here:
https://forums.ukcougar.club/showth...rime-to-Shine!&p=436364&viewfull=1#post436364
if the subby wasn't bolted on straight in the first place you're peeing in the wind!
https://forums.ukcougar.club/showth...rime-to-Shine!&p=436364&viewfull=1#post436364
if the subby wasn't bolted on straight in the first place you're peeing in the wind!
Definitely, since we don't really know what happened to it, (ignoring my sarky post above).
It should be obvious to whoever does the tracking, but I've still seen cars with perfect 4-wheel alignment that go down the road with their bodies a good few degrees off straight. Doesn't do the CV joints any good.
The owner insists the steering wheel was straight before they changed the bushes and tie bar . I think I should give up on it but I feel awful since the owner is a lovely guy who has bent over backwards to sort the car and he desperately wants my car . He spent hundreds getting the MOT and drove for three hours today . He took my car out and loved it only for my husband to politely pull his car apart . He has offered to pay me for the repairs on the ford but I don't know how much to accept. Any ideas what would be a fair price to ask to get it driving straight and replace the alternator