I am mocking up a fluid cooler to mount in the front wheel well. It will cool a 6 speed 6R80 going into the 68 Cougar and looking for a sanity check on my idea and any potential pitfalls. The cardboard cutout is intended to be 1/8' aluminum stock. A wire mesh screen will go over the cooler and I will use some type of rubber isolated mounting to hold it to the stand offs. This transmission has 1/2" cooling lines (-8AN) and I am keeping that size throughout. Roughly 7' hose lines are needed. Fluid draining back into the pan can happen but unlike engine oil I need the car running and up to temperature before checking fluid level. Transmission also has an internal thermostat valve to regulate oil flow to the cooler. This is a B&M cooler with a thermal switch to kick on the fan. I didn't want the transmission heat feeding back into the engine compartment. With an AC optioned car there wasn't room anyway. Once I find the right pluming I will route the S.S. braided lines downward. Currently the car is a low HP cruiser but I intend to make it a high HP cruiser in the future. I'd be luck to put 3,000 miles on it each season.

I've made big plans for the Cougar this winter. The C6 three speed started slipping badly and I hear very good things about the 6R80. Long term plan is for my 390 engine to have a substantial power increase. Like 2X or 3X over stock. So beefing up the powertrain etc...makes a lot of sense. Here's some progress.

I have had to make clearance in the tunnel. No cutting yet but anticipate that I will need to make two small holes in the firewall so that I can torque the top transmission to block bolts. As some of you know I participate in the Classic Cougar forum. I have a post going over there too and will try to keep them both updated. This thread focused more on the FE whereas the Cougar forum gets more of the vehicle attention.

https://rumble.com/vbseqb-6r80-automatic-retrofit-1968-mercury-cougar-390-fe-big-block-p3.html

I am using the Speed Gems adaptor kit and so far the fit and finish have been great. The new starter has an integrated solenoid. I kept the original Ford solenoid mounted on the fender well. I'm not confident of the Cougar's 12V solenoid feed to have enough current to power the new solenoid+bendix. So I ran a dedicated 4 AWG battery cable to the starter and beefed up the ground return also. Now the original Ford solenoid output switches 12V to the new solenoid downstream. The new solenoid wire is 10 AWG. Overkill perhaps but it's what I had on hand. I will use a heat shield wrap over the starter. Doing everything I can think of to avoid the possibility of a heat-soaked starter lag issue.

The goal for today will be to confirm that starter works and can crank the engine. I have read about starters bending flex plates without the torque converter installed. So my plan is to bolt up the converter before putting any load on the flex plate.

I was going to throw some stones and hijack My427stang's post but figured I'd just swipe one of the pics from it instead. Based on the scenario below should I reorientate my mechanical advance distributor? When I bought my Cougar it ran but was in a state of disrepair. Vacuum leaks galore, corroded cap & rotor etc...When I bought the car my distributor was wired completely 180° different than what I find on-line for firing order. Seeing the recent dyno motor pics reminded me to inquire with the experts. Here's my old 390 with a new QF 680 carb that I recently installed. My plug wires are routed basically 180° from what is normal. The engine has always had a slight sputter at cruising speeds of 45-50mph. A very notable drop off in torque after 4500 rpm. This was true with both the old and new carb. I have always attributed these to an old tired engine. The carb was changed as I suspected the throttle body and butterflies of the old carb to be worn. It was a 1st generation Demon 650 and no proper throttle stop had been installed.

Hi - Got this Cougar about 1 year ago. Mechanically it was neglected by the previous owner for the most part. There is a periodic rattle I discovered recently. Can anyone pinpoint what is the most likely culprit? In the video the new rattle or tick in most easy to hear at about the 10 second mark.  Afterwards some wind noise starts to drown it out. Can be heard from the front but most noticeable on the drivers side. I put a long screwdriver to my ear and probed the valve cover, distributor, intake and timing cover but couldn't isolate it. The engine is very cold blooded and the compression is down. I should note that the compression that that I did was with the engine ice cold.  I know that's not technically correct but I wanted the data for future reference. I don't have any documentation on this engine. As my handwriting is terrible - The number in ( ) next to the PSI is the number of compression strokes needed to get to a maximum. I was told i was a .030" or .040" over rebuild with an RV cam. It has a Performer RPM intake. The PO was using 10W-40 Castrol conventional oil. The zinc was 800ppm. Not super low but not exactly enough for the flat tappet lifters that I suspect are inside. I use the same type of oil but add a ZDDP additive. When I did the first oil & filter change I opened up the filter. I could see obvious signed of metal flakes.  A few flakes were the size of coarse sand. I didn't take pictures but did have the oil analyzed. The age of that oil was unknown.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErGQttb3wz0