What Have You Done to Your Cougar Today?
- Thread starter Axximilli
- Start date
Chris..............................
Honestly, the Passat is immensely capable, ridiculously quick, and full of all the toys you could ever want (it's the top-spec one). But for all of its technology and all of its tricks, it simply doesn't have Tiger's... soul.
Drove to work this morning and had a couple of hair-raising moments with the brakes ("I'm sure there's pads in there somewhere...") but 20 miles later we're back in the groove together. Was going to give her a bath and glaze this evening, but it's about to rain so she's had to do with a tank of BP Ultimate as a treat.
Last night I researched potential solutions to the loose disc in my water pump and decided I can only hope to improve it by removing the other half of the water pump, the part that is still in place on the end of the block held by rubber hoses held by spring tensioners, How the heck...... Whilst pondering options I refixed the fuse / relay block now that the paint is dry on the battery carrier. Cleaned up the elec earth connection and refixed them too.
For the pump body the technique employed was to remove it complete with the Themostat housing. Managed to lock the clips in an open position with mole grips and then slide them away. I thought the pump was only held by two of the damn things, one totally inaccessible, ( hence removing it with the thermostat ) Turned out there's another little blighter onto a hose at the front of the block. You gotta hand it to Ford, they sure didn't design this car with future maintenance in mind, I doubt they could have come up with a worse pump / thermostat arrangement even if that was set as the challenge.
So success, pump body now sits on the garage floor. I just need to stretch the disc and then drive it back into the pumpbody.
And source a replacement stat, might as well change it whilst its out.
For the pump body the technique employed was to remove it complete with the Themostat housing. Managed to lock the clips in an open position with mole grips and then slide them away. I thought the pump was only held by two of the damn things, one totally inaccessible, ( hence removing it with the thermostat ) Turned out there's another little blighter onto a hose at the front of the block. You gotta hand it to Ford, they sure didn't design this car with future maintenance in mind, I doubt they could have come up with a worse pump / thermostat arrangement even if that was set as the challenge.
So success, pump body now sits on the garage floor. I just need to stretch the disc and then drive it back into the pumpbody.
And source a replacement stat, might as well change it whilst its out.
Today, i decided to update DG's ROUSH decals. I really like the black chrome ones i did for Ricky so off came the old CF effect ones and on with these. Really difficult to show the effect of this black chrome as it just reflects , hence the green grass effect but take my word for it, these are not green.
CLICKY for full size.
, hence the green grass effect but take my word for it, these are not green. CLICKY for full size.
I like the 2nd one better where you can see all that grass rather than just parts of it[emoji1]Today, i decided to update DG's ROUSH decals. I really like the black chrome ones i did for Ricky so off came the old CF effect ones and on with these. Really difficult to show the effect of this black chrome as it just reflects
CLICKY for full size.
View attachment 8816View attachment 8817
Looks good though
I believe what he actually did was weld the disk to the impeller vanes (he has the metal pump, not the plastic one).
Whether he had to grind down the disk before doing this (since it's supposed to sit still in the groove that's part of the pump body) I'm not sure.
Got two new rear wheel ABS sensors today, but, they would not fit in the hole. They are identical to the old ones apart from the diameter of the shaft that fits through the knuckle. Didn't want to waste money buying another type, so, I bought a 15.5mm drill and made the holes bigger. Jobs a good one.
Jacking points were a touch less inviting,
Fine. I'll jack it on the beam. Crunch. Car came down to put the tyre back on the concrete, Jack still fully extended.
Widow maker and hammer to straighten.
Arc in the dark, and by feel as the mask wouldn't fit under the car with me... Not the neatest welds but closes the box on the weak spot until I can find a supplier for trailing arms (not radius arms.. I was going to fit them..) and a new subframe... Speedbump tested at 80 on a closed circuit, solid. I was off to Chester zoo with my son the following day, wasn't leaving it to chance if I hit a pothole on the motorway.
Anybody know a reasonably priced supplier? Rang Ford and was told trailing arms don't even show up, and the crossmember is no longer available, price when last available was apparently £642 +VAT!
Sealed for now, but really want to replace the rusty crossmember and arms asap.
Fine. I'll jack it on the beam. Crunch. Car came down to put the tyre back on the concrete, Jack still fully extended.
Widow maker and hammer to straighten.
Arc in the dark, and by feel as the mask wouldn't fit under the car with me... Not the neatest welds but closes the box on the weak spot until I can find a supplier for trailing arms (not radius arms.. I was going to fit them..) and a new subframe... Speedbump tested at 80 on a closed circuit, solid. I was off to Chester zoo with my son the following day, wasn't leaving it to chance if I hit a pothole on the motorway.
Anybody know a reasonably priced supplier? Rang Ford and was told trailing arms don't even show up, and the crossmember is no longer available, price when last available was apparently £642 +VAT!
Sealed for now, but really want to replace the rusty crossmember and arms asap.
Hello Chris, long time no hear.
The FINIS for the trailing arms is 1054467 if you want to try your dealer again.
The FINIS for the trailing arms is 1054467 if you want to try your dealer again.
Hello again, long time indeed. How are things?
I vanished as I was having an awful year and tucked the Cougar away - crazy hours took their toll, contract went south to boot. I'm just getting back to level with time/other such things now. Rear radius arms were my first job back at the car - she has been back on the road since Christmas, but haven't had time to do anything on her until recently.
Thanks for the finis - it should help locate them at least. I'm half tempted to just grab some 2mm steel and fab some tubular items up if I can get accurate measurements on them - possibly adjustable to shortcut the precision issue. I'll be asking for some measurements if Ford still can't find them, or want stupid money for them.
Any idea where subframes can be had at a decent rate? My understanding was that they were the same as MK2 Mondeo's, but Ford Parts in Bradistan had them listed under a different part number, and £100 cheaper than the Cougar item, whilst still unavailable. Same when pressed to check the ST200 specifically.
Ebay et al have them for about £450, but I could practically buy a whole car for that. Again debating fabricating one if I can find a straight, but rotten one to measure. It won't be as pretty, but that doesn't matter - it'll be hidden.
Lots to catch up on with NBB as the pictures show. Having the frame out will mean a fair chunk of "need to fix this now" will be exposed, and I need the car too often to take her off the road for a bit - plus I have another restoration on my plate, and don't fancy two bare shell rebuilds at once. If I haven't got a subframe ready to just bolt back in, I'll wind up taking my time with the repairs behind the subframe, rather than quickly cleaning up and letting fresh steel in where needed, stone chipping, and reassembling... I don't need another project, but NBB is too good to let her die.
I vanished as I was having an awful year and tucked the Cougar away - crazy hours took their toll, contract went south to boot. I'm just getting back to level with time/other such things now. Rear radius arms were my first job back at the car - she has been back on the road since Christmas, but haven't had time to do anything on her until recently.
Thanks for the finis - it should help locate them at least. I'm half tempted to just grab some 2mm steel and fab some tubular items up if I can get accurate measurements on them - possibly adjustable to shortcut the precision issue. I'll be asking for some measurements if Ford still can't find them, or want stupid money for them.
Any idea where subframes can be had at a decent rate? My understanding was that they were the same as MK2 Mondeo's, but Ford Parts in Bradistan had them listed under a different part number, and £100 cheaper than the Cougar item, whilst still unavailable. Same when pressed to check the ST200 specifically.
Ebay et al have them for about £450, but I could practically buy a whole car for that. Again debating fabricating one if I can find a straight, but rotten one to measure. It won't be as pretty, but that doesn't matter - it'll be hidden.
Lots to catch up on with NBB as the pictures show. Having the frame out will mean a fair chunk of "need to fix this now" will be exposed, and I need the car too often to take her off the road for a bit - plus I have another restoration on my plate, and don't fancy two bare shell rebuilds at once. If I haven't got a subframe ready to just bolt back in, I'll wind up taking my time with the repairs behind the subframe, rather than quickly cleaning up and letting fresh steel in where needed, stone chipping, and reassembling... I don't need another project, but NBB is too good to let her die.
Mine two passed mot.. couple advisory still good for a 17 yr old. Thought i had a calapier gone as low whine through steering wheel . But seems ok whish i could stop the parcel shelf from banging whilst driving
All good thanks.
The Cougar and Mondy Mk2 subbies are pretty much identical apart from the centre web section being a different shape.
Got some time today without torrential rain so I decided to spray the underside of the car with stone-chip paint. 3.5 ltr used on first pass. Probably give it another coat as I have 2.5 ltr left.
I hope i'm not following you while that stuff is drying
In other news today, i took DG back to the exhaust place where i had the SS catback sys made as it's become intermittently noisy and they found a cracked pipe so arrangements have been made to get it sorted before Blackpool
I
Bugger. I was hoping they'd be identical. The finis for the arms was bang on, thank you. £70+VAT each though - which is excessively greedy of Ford for a couple of beams with holes drilled. Still making my own adjustables, I think. Definitely going to flat floor it at the back either way - too much of a cavern there adding drag.