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1967 Cougar build

262K views 985 replies 56 participants last post by  andrewb70 
#1 · (Edited)
I have waited a long time to get this project moving, and it is time to get it documented.

I bought this car back in 2010 and it has been waiting for my personal touch ever since. The car has a neat history and I am anxious to get my first "Ford" under way. I bought the car from the step-father of my ex-girlfriend. Funny how life presents you with certain opportunities, right?

This is a car that was originally customized in the early 70s. The story is that Phil (my ex-GF's step-father) customized this car with the help of his father (Phil Sr.) around 1972. Phil Sr. was somehow affiliated with the local Ford dealership and thus they had access to a host of Ford parts. The Ford aficionados among you will spot various, high performance, highly sought after Ford parts in the original car. I won't give away all the secrets, but hopefully people will chime in as they spot the parts.

The theme (or the philosophy of use) of this car is that it that of an Old Skool street/strip car. Think of it as a throw back to the late 1980s to early 1990s "street machine."

As Tony Soprano would say "enough with the preambles..." Here are some pictures of the car as it was when I first got it and as it sits today....














This is the state of the car as it is now. The engine that came with the car is gone and will be replaced by something that I am much more familiar with.











continued...
 
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#888 ·
Alright. Awesome news. I wanted to temporarily try the PWM+ trigger to turn on the steering ECU. I am able to configure the output on the Dominator all in software. So I simply reprogrammed the original speedometer output and created the PWM+ output and assigned it to the same pin as the speedometer output (the speedometer output had to be virtually unpinned from that location). Anyway...

I set the frequency to 1000Hz and a duty cycle of 50%, so half the pulse is on and half the pulse is off, very much like a speedometer signal. Turned the ignition off, turned the ignition back on, and immediately had power assist. The diodes will be here tomorrow so I will add the second wire to the steering ECU speedometer input. The result should be having immediate PS as soon as the ignition is turned on and there after, it will receive the speedometer signal and operate by changing the level of assist based on speed.

Andrew
 
#889 ·
I have been digging deeper into the ins and outs of the Toyota EPAS system. One thing that I ran across is that the Toyota systems have a "torque sensor zero point calibration" that must be performed in case of a wheel re-alignment or if the motor assembly is replaced. This is described well here (toward the bottom of the page):


https://www.autoserviceprofessional.com/article/92544/Electronic-power-steering?Page=3


As far as I have seen, nobody has talked about this when installing the Toyota gear into older vehicles. This seems like a very important procedure and the fact that nobody is doing it, leads me to believe that it is partially (if not fully) to blame for the lack of centering that I (and others) are experiencing with the system.


Another thing that I found out, and this is a bit confusing, is that apparently, the Yaris ECU doesn't actually go into full speed assist mode unless it sees an RPM signal come across the CAN bus. This is confusing to me because I swear that my system does change the level of assist based on speed, but I have no concrete way to verify this, except for how it "feels" to drive. This has also been tested by others on the bench by connecting a square wave generator to the Yaris ECU speed input (pin 5) and reporting variability in assist level based on altering the pulsing frequency.


The information found here is invaluable (post #23):
http://www.toymods.org.au/forums/threads/79652-Electric-power-steering/page2


I have been in email contact with the original poster (his name is Jared) of that thread. Here is a more complete pin-out for the Yaris steering ECU:





This is a wiring diagram that Jared put together.





Jared solved the CAN signal issue by using and custom programming the CANdo Auto Module:
http://www.cananalyser.co.uk/candoauto.html


Here is an excerpt from his post on the Toyota forum:


"I going to jump into technical which will make much more sense once you research the CAN system. I was able to find the hex decimal code for engine RPM is 2C4 wheel speed is either 0B0 or 0B2. Since my setup has a non ABS eps ecu has an analog wheel speed signal (input). I only needed the engine RPM on the CAN network so i will only go over how I programed the Cando for this. The Cando has 2 analog inputs that can be programed to then transmit programable CAN data. It also can have ten static data points programed and continually repeated. When you get the software open there are four tabs. "Input view", "Input setup", "CAN transmit" and "CAN setup" first off we need to go to "CAN setup" and change the setting to 500kps to match the network speed of the CAN system. Then back to the tab "CAN transmit". Now as I said earlier the hex for RPM is 2C4. The data length is 11 bit. The dlc is 8. The information I used was ramdomly picked after much trial and error. Almost 3 pages of codes I tried. I could set the RPM in connect my scan tool and see the RPM but still no assist. After much frustration I finally realised that it was a setting I had wrong. It was how often I had it repetting the message. The end result looked something like this 2C4 8 06 8A 00 19 00 00 92 09 Repeat rate 20 ms(milliseconds). All this done and turned the car on and immediate assist. I still have not been able to drive the car and see if it feels bettter. Still working on some idle issues with the engine. I could however tell the assist was greater. Last thing to work on is connecting the CAN wiring to the DLC so i can see about changing the setting for the assist level at idle."


What makes this more frustrating for me is that the Holley Dominator does use CAN communication. This is used for communication with Racepak and the Holley digital displays. The frustrating part is that the Holley CAN protocol is proprietary, so the odds of the Yaris steering computer "understanding" the Holley data packets are nil.


Before I go down the same path as Jared, I need to have a conversation with DCE. Their Microsteer ECU is speed sensitive. The only question remains is if the Microsteer ECU is compatible with the Toyota motor. If it is compatible, then I am inclined to ditch the Toyota ECU and simplify this ordeal by spending money on the Microsteer ECU instead of buying the CANdo box. I also need to find out how DCE handles the torque sensor center point calibration, as this seems rather important for obtaining satisfactory on-center feel and return.


I am open to thoughts and suggestions!!!


Andrew
 
#890 ·
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday. My wife and I traveled to Wisconsin to visit her family, and we made it out just in time to miss the snow.


I am learning way more than I wanted about CAN, Arduino, RasberryPies, and all manner of other electronic gizmos, than I really planned on with this electronic steering business. However, I feel like I have to make the system work as it was intended by Toyota in order to get the most out of it and to be able to diagnose it in the future should something fail.


This afternoon I popped into the local junk yard to track down an OBDII connector (or two). I quickly realized that although the connectors are universal in terms of the mating portion, various manufacturers use different connector bodies and terminals. After I realized this, I started looking for the same make of car. It just so happened that I had relatively easy access to a few Nissans and they graciously offered their connectors in the form of a OBDII bouquet.





I only need one connector, but I figured it was a good idea to have extra wires and terminals, just in case.


I also managed to secure reliable help with the CANBUS emulator (that's what I am calling it). It seems that my buddy Blake has been making these little boxes for his own projects. I told him what the box needed to do and he said "no problem." He builds these himself and installs them in really robust enclosures that are suited for a car environment.





The heart of it is an Arduino Nano (whateverthe****thatis), and some other electronic bits. The header side uses Molex connectors that I will source from Mouser and make the appropriate harness.





I am pretty excited to get this rolling further along. Stay tuned for more soon!


Andrew
 
#891 ·
Today I received the CAN simulator from Blake and last Friday I got the necessary connectors to build the harness.





I got the two Molex connectors for the box itself along with an OBDII connector.


Blake also emailed the pin-out diagram.


I am still sorting out exactly how I am going to do the wiring, but I am hoping to wire things up temporarily tomorrow and see what sort of trouble I get myself into.


If the power steering comes on when the CAN simulator is turned on, then I know it is working.


The other part of this will involve hooking up an OBDII scanner and seeing what codes are being sent by the steering ECU. I am hoping that I can do that with my BlueDriver Bluetooth dongle and my cell phone. Hopefully it will also let me reset the codes.


Wish me luck!


Andrew
 
#892 ·
Today I was able to do some testing. I didn't want to wire everything up permanently only to have to chase things down later. So today I simply wanted to see if Blake's box works. The definition of "works" is, will the steering ECU turn on when it sees an RPM signal over CAN. I wanted to do more, but I didn't have enough terminals for the little connector that plugs into the steering ECU. There is a Prius at a junk yard not to far from me. I plan to take a trip and see what I can rob off it.


I connected the CANHi and CANLo at the steering ECU (on the D31 connector) to the CANHi and CANLo on Blake's box, making sure to twist the wires. I installed the wires into the Molex connectors for power and ground, ran the ground under the dash and had the power wire ready to connect to a temporary power source.


I turned the ignition ON, and as expected, there was no power assist. As soon as I applied power to Blake's box, almost instant assist. Blake said that his box should come online in less than a second, and that's about right.


I then went for a drive, not really expecting any difference, but to my surprise, there was a difference. At low speed there is considerably more assist and as speed increases there is a noticeable drop in assist. So contrary to my previous proclamations, and counter to the results that some people have done with bench testing, I don't believe that the speed sensitive steering is active if there is no CAN signal. This makes sense, because in the Yaris FSM it clearly states that if there is a CAN communication error with the engine ECM, it defaults into "failsafe" mode (fixed assist at the middle level). The RTC was about the same, but I expect this to improve once I get the OBDII connector wired up, scan and clear any codes, and perform the torque sensor zero point calibration.


Progress is being made.


Andrew
 
#893 ·
Just a tiny little update. The weather has been cold and rainy, so no work is being done, but I did receive some parts. I like doing a proper wiring job and that means not doing any butt connections with the wires if it can possibly be avoided. This means spending some time looking at catalogs and data sheets for the right terminals.


With the Yaris (and Prius) steering ECUs the wiring that needs to happen is on the D31 connector. This is where the +12v power pin is located, along with the speed signal, CANHi and CANLo, etc....I have a D31 connector that I clipped from the donor car so what I needed were the actual terminals to avoid butt splicing wires and to add pins as needed. I was also looking to find the connector itself, but had no luck, but the Toyota dealership has them for $6. However, the dealership does not have and can't even look up the terminals. As far as I could tell the connector is made by TE Connectivity and the stock terminals had Tyco stamped on it. A little time spent in the TE Connectivity catalog resulted in a reward.


I know this may seem like overkill for most people, but if I am going to all this trouble, I might as well take it 100% of the way.








Once I get a dry sunny day, I can wire up the rest of the wires for the OBD2 connector and see if I can read fault code using the Blue Driver OBD2 dongle and android app.


Andrew
 
#896 ·
On the morning of December 28th, my wife and headed out early in the morning for a road trip to Orlando, to visit a friend for New Years. As you all know by now, the Cougar lives outside, and of course has the dual DBW throttle bodies outside of the hood. For the most part, this has not been a problem. Unfortunately, it rained all night before our trip.


The Cougar fired up without any issues in the morning and we packed it up for our trip. We got to about 10 miles from the house, when I noticed that I no longer had throttle input. When the Holley Dominator ECU detects a fault in the DBW system, it goes into "limp home" mode, which fixes the TPS at 22%. With dual throttle bodies, this makes my little 5.3L scream at over 4000RPM with the clutch released. Clearly we weren't going to make it 550 miles, like this.


I shut it down and fired it up again and it seemed normal. I decided to press ahead and try to fix it on the road. As we drove, it went into "limp home" mode again and just as luck would have it, we stumbled on a Walmart. I pulled into the parking lot (thankfully there was no rain) and went inside. I needed something to dry out the TB connectors and then something to prevent it from happening again while we were on the road. The items I bought were:


1. Can of "office duster" (compressed air)
2. Bag of balloons
3. Can of playdoh


I pulled the front connector and it really wasn't that wet...hmmm...then I pulled the back connector and it was drenched inside. I used the can of compressed air to blow the connectors as dry as possible. Then I used the balloons to seal up the outside of the connectors. For good measure, I used the playdoh to seal up the parting line between the TB body and the connectors. This is what it looked like when we arrived in Orlando:





The fix got us driving again and never failed the whole time. Most of the trip looked like this through the windshield:





It took longer than expected, and rolled in around 8:00pm to be greeted with bourbon and steak. Life is good.


Andrew
 
#897 ·
One of the things that I have noticed since I have built the Cougar, is that the engine started to tilt a little toward the passenger side, especially in the last year. From the very start I noticed that under heavy load, the engine did torque over pretty hard. I didn't think this was odd, since I was using stock 4th gen Camaro engine mounts. You can see in my very first drag strip pass how the engine tilts over:





So given that the mounts were rubber and that I made my own mounts, I thought one of two things was happening.


1. The mounts that I built have bent slightly.
2. The rubber inserts in the stock mounts have taken a set.


Once I was at John's house, we put the car on the lift just to look things over. It's always good to do an inspection and make sure everything was OK. The last thing I expected to find was this....driver's side:





Passanger side:





It appears that the two halves of the mounts are just stamped together and the lips that hold the two halves together have broken.





We called a bunch of local parts stores, but nobody had them in stock, and I had to be back on the road on New Years day. We proceeded to drill out the holes and bolt the two halves back together using 4 3/8" bolts on each side.





Unfortunately, the rubber inserts have deformed over time, so the engine was still tilting to the passenger side just a little, but it is much better than before.





Eventually I will either replace the mounts with stock ones, or get poly inserts (I really don't want to do that), or get the new Holley mounts that are reinforced and have poly inserts.


At least I know now that the mounts that I built are in good working order!


I am up over 700 subscribers on my YouTube channel! I really appreciate everyone's support, and please consider subscribing, if you have not done so already.


Andrew
 
#898 ·
As you may recall from my previous posts, I had turned down a 1.5" ID steel collar to fit inside the bottom of the upper tube. This allowed for a method of attaching the upper tube to the Prius motor. While I think was was a decent solution, I couldn't help but think that having only one set screw holding the upper tube to the motor was inadequate.


John has a little lathe, so we turned down another steel collar, so it would slip inside the upper column tube.





This collar was positioned a few inches up from the bottom collar and was welded in place through holes that we drilled through the tube.





The last thing that we did was add two more holes to each collar, so that each collar now has a total of 3 set screws that are located 120 degrees apart.





I felt that doing all this would keep the upper tube more firmly attached and square to the Prius motor.


I don't know that doing all this made any tangible difference in the way that the system functions, but if anyone is doing this from scratch, I think this is a good way to go.


As always, questions and comments are welcome. I also want to thank those of you that have subscribed to my YouTube channel. I really appreciate it!!!


Andrew
 
#899 ·
Not much to report in terms of progress or any other updates, however, I finally managed to track down the Yazaki part numbers for the big power connector for the steering ECU. The same connector is used on both the Prius and the Yaris steering ECUs (and probably others of the same vintage).


The connector housing body is 7283-3521-40









The terminals are either 7116-3097-02 or 7116-3098-02 (either will probably work).









The big challenge is sourcing the terminals in the US. The connector body can be purchased from Toyota under PN 90980-12653, however, Toyota does not sell the terminals.


I was actually able to source the connector housing bodies from Japan, but what I originally thought were the correct terminals, ended up being the wrong ones.


If anyone knows a source for Yazaki parts in the US, please let me know.


Andrew
 
#900 ·
Yes, I know, at the end of the day, if you have a pigtail that came with the donor steering ECU, you can solder or use a quality butt splice, and be done with it. However, for those that want to do this in the most optimal manner, this information will be quite valuable.


So here is just another tidbit of information, just in case anyone else wants to go down this rabbit hole. I found a vendor in Japan that has the connector housing body, but again, these can probably (I have not tried ordering myself) be sourced from your local Toyota dealership. I did successfully order the connector housing from the Japanese vendor.


Here is the connector body:
https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/auc-hi-1000/item/2p375-a-yz-f-tr/?l-id=rgm_item_en_rvp_widget


They also list the matching terminals. Yes, they fit the connector, but as you can see from the picture, they are not designed for 8-10 gauge (5-8mm2) wire. They are designed for 3mm2 (12 gauge) wire.
https://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-hi-1000/f375-yz-s/


I suspect that the terminal above is Yazaki PN 7116-3096-02 (too small).


I have tried asking the vendor if the correct terminal is available, but as of yet, they have been unresponsive. The language barrier and the time difference is making communication problematic.


Andrew
 
#901 ·
I recently completed a 1000 mile road trip in the Cougar and I noticed that the steering was particularly numb on center. While driving down the highway I found myself having to constantly steer it in order to keep it going straight. I attributed this mostly to the windy conditions that I encountered at various points on the trip, but I didn't give it much more thought.


After getting home, I noticed that there was a little squeaking noise from the front end when I made slow right hand turns. I suspected that maybe the preload on the front bearings has loosened up, so I jacked it up to investigate. Rocking the wheel at the 12 and 6 o'clock position really didn't show any unusual looseness in the bearings, however, I did find significant slop when I rocked the wheel at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions:





Although all of my front end components are "new" they do have about 15K miles on them since installation. After seeing the slop in the rack, I called TCP and was surprised and pleased to get a live tech guy on the line. His name was Mike and he was very helpful. He told me that due to the straight cut gears of the rack and pinion gears, periodic inspection and adjustment is necessary to minimize the backlash. He outlined the procedure and I went outside and did it. I also noticed that the passenger side inner tie rod was a little loose where it was bolted to the rack, and I was able to address that.


Needles to say, the steering feels much better. The return to center is much improved and the on center feel is also much better (no duh...considering how much slop was there)! I plan to have the car up on a rack in the near future to inspect all of the steering and the suspension components and fix anything I find.


Take away: don't assume everything is tight and working properly just because all of the components are "new."


Andrew
 
#902 ·
Going to rock a slightly different look and feel for a bit. It is definitely a different driving experience with proper front tires.


The tires are Dunlop Direzza (who comes up with these names!?) DZ102s sized 225/55-16 all the way around, mounted on 16x7 1997ish Crown Vic wheels. The fitment is very good. In retrospect, I probably could have gone with 245/50s all the way around, but I was afraid of fitment issues in the front.





Some lowering in the front and rear is probably in order.


Andrew
 
#905 ·
I like the look! Maybe the tires could be a bit lower / wider. That would lower the car and give a bit more room in the wheelwells.


Going to rock a slightly different look and feel for a bit. It is definitely a different driving experience with proper front tires.


The tires are Dunlop Direzza (who comes up with these names!?) DZ102s sized 225/55-16 all the way around, mounted on 16x7 1997ish Crown Vic wheels. The fitment is very good. In retrospect, I probably could have gone with 245/50s all the way around, but I was afraid of fitment issues in the front.





Some lowering in the front and rear is probably in order.


Andrew
 
#906 ·
The front can come down, but it looks pretty tough with those 225s. I wish I had gone with 245/50s in the rear, but they were not available in this tire anyway. Maybe next set? The shorter tire height is also impacting cruise engine speed. Seventy five MPH is up to about 2500rpm, which is a few hundred more than before.

Andrew
 
#909 ·
It has been a while since I have made any updates to this thread, but that is mostly because there was nothing much to report, until now.


I had plans to visit family in the Chicagoland area, and I thought it would be great to make the road trip (750 miles each way) in the Cougar. The first thing was to put together an emergency kit for the road. This consisted of a can of FixAflat, Pladoe, balloons, canned air, and apparently a new cam shaft...just in case...LOL








The cam was obviously not for emergency use. My plan was to stay with my friend, who has a fully equipped garage to do a cam swap. I wanted something a little more mild and something that would be boost friendly, in case I want to do a turbo down the road. For this I chose the Summit Racing Stage 1 turbo cam, aka "Ghost" cam.





I was working under a pretty tight schedule. The cam needed to be installed and everything buttoned up by 4:00pm on Saturday, because I was meeting family for dinner. My buddy Matt came over to lend a hand and we started on it at 7:00am.





The new cam was installed along with the 7.425" pushrods that were recommended to be used with this cam by Summit. We double checked lifter preload and it came to .060", which is about right.





Cam cover back on and the balancer torqued to 235lb/ft per ARPs instructions.





Once the radiator was back in, and all hoses reconnected, we fired it up, checked for leaks, brought it up to temp, topped off coolant, and time for a test drive and retune.


This is where the Holley Dominator EFI is so handy. The fuel table started adjusting immediately as I drove. Within a few miles of stop and go traffic, it got noticeably better. I transferred the learn table to the base table, rinse and repeat. By the time I was heading to dinner with my family, she was purring like a kitten....ahem...


Sunday was my daughters HS graduation party. I stopped at a Starbucks on the way, and met up with these guys. Cool dudes...we chatted a bit and went on our ways.





Monday morning I had breakfast with a longtime friend and hit the road, back south. Other than being hot af, the car ran great. I also noted that I picked up 2-3mpg. I stopped in Bowling Green, KY on the way back.





And enjoyed a nice dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Almost as if I was in Mexico...LOL





Until next time...


Andrew
 
#913 ·
Not much new to report, other than really enjoying the new cam. I am living in the Louisville area temporarily and have been enjoying having the car with me. It sure beats driving an appliance every day. If anyone is in the area, please reach out. I can use more car buddies to hang out with.


Yesterday I did a little project that I think will enhance the overall driving experience. I bought a stitch on leather steering wheel cover on Amazon for $13. The quality was way better than I expected at that price point and I decided to stitch it on with the suede side out. It will probably wear quicker, but for the price and ease of installation, who cares. It turned out pretty good.














Some future projects that I have in the works are adding tailpipes and installing a new center section in the rear end. Flowmaster actually makes a tailpipe kit for it that I have already purchased and if that doesn't work out, I got a bunch of straight pipe and U-bends. Herb Lump has been kind enough to offer help with that project.


I also purchased a 9" center section with a clutch style diff and 3.25 gears. I want my buddy Jim to have a look at it, because the previous owner said they pulled it out because the gears were howling. I may upgrade to a Strange Daytona pinion support and add new US Gears that are polished. Or I may just toss it in as is and see what happens, after I swap pinion yokes.


Today I also reached 1000 subscribers on YouTube, so thanks to those that are following along. This has motivated me to make more Holley Terminator X videos, which seem to be pretty popular. That's all for now.


Andrew
 
#914 ·
I finally had an opportunity to make some mechanical changes. Due to life circumstances, I still do not have a garage, but the generosity of "car guys" never ceases to amaze me. I am currently in the Louisville area, and a car buddy in Jasper Indiana offered his shop and skills to make this possible (thanks @herblumpp!!!).


Since going with the shorter tires, the cruising RPM on the highway has been a little too high for my taste with the 4.33 gears. In edition to the gearing, I was getting really tired of the Detroit Locker clucking and chattering around corners. It's great at the drag strip, but given that this car lives on the street 99% of the time, a more street friendly differential was needed. A buddy of mine had a used 9" carrier sitting around so I bought it from him. It had a 3.25 gear and a clutch type differential. The gear wasn't optimal, but I decided to go with it.











We made some adjustments to the gear mesh and added a Strange aluminum Daytona pinion support and a CV pinion yoke from The Driveshaft Shop. This way I have two complete carriers that I can swap back and forth if I wanted to in the future.


Got the car up on the lift and saw this:





That's the life of a daily driver. Pulled the driveshaft...





The axles...





Then the old carrier...





Then installed the new carrier...








The 3.25 gear is a little tall. On the highway it is a little over 1700 RPM @ 75 MPH. The engine doesn't seem to complain, especially with the mild cam, but you can tell that it really wants to be closer to 2000 RPM to be happy. The gears also whine like crazy. I was expecting this, but was hoping the whine wouldn't be so loud.


The biggest improvement was the clutch style differential. This makes driving on the street a lot smoother.


Andrew
 
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