Part swap logic. If a Duratec V6 is available with a manual in a 99-02 Cougar, or is available with an AX4N auto, and an AX4N is also found in a 4.6 32V Continental, then can a 5-sp manual from a 99-02 Cougar mate to a 4.6 from a 99-02 Continental?
Hmm.
Depends on bell housings.... you'll often see transmissions have the same names, but with different bells.
Now... if the bells are swappable and the input shafts the right lengths... then go to town. 
In reply to Swank Force One:
16VCorey thinks it might work with a customized fly wheel. I can totally machine a custom flywheel insert and weld it in if I have to.
its a different bellhousing AFAIK......the 4.6L casting is still a modular engine. You can bolt the 5sp manual up to the 3.4L sho v8 though(due to duratec based)
It should be the MTX-75 manual transmission. I don't think the bellhousing is swappable and the bellhousing half of the main case probably doesn't have anything to do with the AX4N.
I have read casually surfing the Mustang forums that the Continental 32V block is NOT compatible with any rear wheel drive set up, from what I gather, because the bell housing is different. So the bell housing pattern for the 96-02 Lincoln continental is unique among all Ford products? I ASSumed from surfing those sites that if it didn't match all the RWD bell housings, it must match some standard pattern FWD bell housing. But that was a guess based mostly on hope.
The Continental 32V is about the cheapest 32V V8 on the planet (available all day any day for around $300) and for that reason alone, I'd like to stick with it if I can. Helps the car's Chumpability and Challengability. But I have not come to grow fond of the AX4N.
Found a AX4N supposedly from a Continental:
Here's a 'normal' (I think) 4.6 next to a 5.0:
^^^ understood, you don't happen to have a pic with similar dims of a V6 Cougar manual tranny do you? (that's the front wheel drive angry alien cat body style cougar)
Basically Imagine that I want to put manual transmission in a 96-02 Lincoln Continental. I can't find an example of that having been done, maybe for good reason.
Sorry man, I looked and looked yet couldn't find an image of the bellhousing pattern of the duratec mtx-75.....I found them bolted to everything from the 3.4L sho to the 2.8L yamaha r1 headed custom v8s though.....
Here's a crappy pic:
But yeah, the Continental 4.6L has the same bell housing as the Duratech V6 and the SHO V6 and V8.
OK, so that crappy pic didn't show up for some reason. Here's a better one.
Dammit. I must have gotten something mixed up in my mind. They're not the same. But I know that the Continental 4.6L is the same as something else. And actually, now that I think about it, the SHO V6 is the same as the 3.0L Vulcan, not the Duratech.
the words "parts swapping logic" and "Ford" don't belong in the same paragraph..
novaderrik wrote: the words "parts swapping logic" and "Ford" don't belong in the same paragraph..
That is a load of horseE36 M3. Sure, Ford does come up with some crazy off the wall ideas and implements them, but that doesn't mean they can't be used elsewhere with different things. And sure Ford doesn't toe the GM "sameness" engineering protocol, but it doesn't make them any worse then the next automaker.
Ranger50 wrote:novaderrik wrote: the words "parts swapping logic" and "Ford" don't belong in the same paragraph..That is a load of horseE36 M3. Sure, Ford does come up with some crazy off the wall ideas and implements them, but that doesn't mean they can't be used elsewhere with different things. And sure Ford doesn't toe the GM "sameness" engineering protocol, but it doesn't make them any worse then the next automaker.
yes, yes it does.. Ford changes stuff just because it seems like it would be a fun thing to do, and they've always been like that.
This is what you need.
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/homemade-bellhousing-project/31440/page1/
edit to add smilies as I know this is a metric E36 M3 ton of work
^^^ or just cut up and weld on the mtx-75 tranny bell housing to make it work. But then I've got a special one-off tranny, and with the way I break parts I'd like to be able to replace them with a simple junkyard swap.
The tranny still needs to be Continental compatible axles to on out. So it needs to sit in the correct place right to left as well, else I'm into it for all new motor mounts to shift the engine tranny combo one way or the other to make it centered again.
I was really hoping for a bolt on solution, as I've got a race this spring and no time for much inventing.
The AX4N may have to do for now.
Just one small point, the 99-02 Cougar (and the Contour/Mystique) didn't use the AX4N automatic, it used the CD4E.
However, the AX4N was used in the 3L Duratec Taurus/Sables and the MTX75 from the Cougar will bolt directly to that engine(except for one accessory mount that gets ground off), so if you can find a picture of a 3L bellhousing and compare that with the 4.6L bellhousing, that should help you out.
Also, I'm pretty sure that the MTX75 had different bellhousing patterns depending on whether it was bolted to the Duratec or the Zetec 4 cylinder, so make sure you're looking at the right variant (internals are virtually identical).
I think I was led astray by the all-knowing internet. I've found several sources where people claim that the Continental 4.6L has the Duratec bell housing, but my eyes tell me a different story.
2.5L Duratec
3.0L Duratec
4.6L Continental
very different indeed
Oddly enough, the 3.0L Vulcan bell housing is much closer, but still not the same.
novaderrik wrote: the words "parts swapping logic" and "Ford" don't belong in the same paragraph..
Truth.
Ford not only likes to make a different bellhousing for every engine, they have a habit of changing the pattern mid-run sometimes.
Knurled wrote:novaderrik wrote: the words "parts swapping logic" and "Ford" don't belong in the same paragraph..Truth. Ford not only likes to make a different bellhousing for every engine, they have a habit of changing the pattern mid-run sometimes.
That's true to an extent, but we also swapped in late model Zetec's into a pair of '86 Escorts (while keeping the stock '86 Escort transmission) by using the lego theory.
Sometimes it works out, since the Zetec is a CVH with a DOHC head.
But sometimes you run into junk like Flatheads (mid-series change), inline sixes (some were unique, some were Windsor), 221s and 260s were one bolt pattern and 302s and 351W were another and 289s could be either way... and there are a few undocumented 400s that use the Windsor pattern instead of the 385 pattern, and all of the 385 engines had the pattern for the 430/462 engine built into the casting even though it usually wasn't drilled...
Sorry to dredge up an old thread but I have a '95 Continental with a failing transaxle. ...among other things. The engine, however, is still running like the proverbial champ.
Let's assume for a moment that I scrap this car, except for the engine and harness (just for the connectors) and then Megasquirt it. Let's also assume I don't have a particular idea in mind for the recipient said engine, yet. (...multiple project ideas in mind.)
What factors do I look for when trying to decide which transmission to adapt?
I would think the starter location is key.
Do I stay away from modern units with electronic controls?
Does a certain bellhousing to block size difference help/hinder?
Auto/manual pros/cons? (I don't know if the RWD 4.6 flywheel bolts up.)
Any input appreciated. (No pun intended.)
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