DanMystique
CEG'er
Hey how hard would it be to convert my 96 V6ATX to a MTX i know yall have heard this question before and i searched old forums and cant find what i want so i need some advice
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ATX to MTX
- Thread starter DanMystique
- Start date
then you didn't look hard enough, its isn't worth the money .... but if you insist look over at neco as they have a guide for it ...
JScullin
CEG'er
I'm in the middle of it right now in my Cougar. As of right now, you're best bet is to buy a wrecked car and pull the parts yourself. If you try gathering them from various places or pull them at a yard yourself it's going to be a PITA. I lucked out and found a MTX shell for dirt cheap and bought new bushings, control arms, tie rods, etc...
The procedure is fairly straight forward if you are mechanically inclined or know someone that is and has the right tools. I know someone who is both (AirCougar1 aka Greg) and he spearheaded the project. Read your ATX removal How-To and perform that, then read your MTX removal and reverse that to install. You'll need the subframe, tranny mounts, half shafts off an MTX (plus other stuff in the How-To).
Now, the hiccup we've run into is with the computers. My ATX wiring harness and ECU allowed the car to start up and drive w/the MTX installed. But there were CEL's galore because it obviously not seeing an ATX anymore and the revs were limited at 4,500rpms. We tried the MTX ECU and harness from the swap car and it wouldn't allow the fuel pump to charge (we think because of the return/returnless differences in the cars). Today we tried the ECU from a Cougar with the same fuel system as mine and it was the same. Dash lights up, everything gets power, but the fuel pump won't send fuel. Tomorrow we're going to see if it's a PATS problem as my PATS system is not allowing the unfamiliar ECU to start the car. So if we swap the PATS, ECU, ignition cylinder and keys from the other car maybe it'll all work. We'll see. If not, I'll probably have to get a custom chip burned and put my original ATX ECU and harness back in for it all to read correctly.
Greg can chime in with his thoughts. But we both agree you'll want to buy a wrecked (or rolling shell) with all the parts you'll need and part the rest out to make some of that back. The mechanical swap took us 2 days but the wiring has us hitting a wall.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please chime in.
Oh, and so far I've come in at just under $1,000 for everything so far. My color is fairly rare and I wanted to keep it but was unable to find an MTX locally. We'll see how that goes if I end up needing a chip. I have pics over on NECO but the boards are down for a migration.
The procedure is fairly straight forward if you are mechanically inclined or know someone that is and has the right tools. I know someone who is both (AirCougar1 aka Greg) and he spearheaded the project. Read your ATX removal How-To and perform that, then read your MTX removal and reverse that to install. You'll need the subframe, tranny mounts, half shafts off an MTX (plus other stuff in the How-To).
Now, the hiccup we've run into is with the computers. My ATX wiring harness and ECU allowed the car to start up and drive w/the MTX installed. But there were CEL's galore because it obviously not seeing an ATX anymore and the revs were limited at 4,500rpms. We tried the MTX ECU and harness from the swap car and it wouldn't allow the fuel pump to charge (we think because of the return/returnless differences in the cars). Today we tried the ECU from a Cougar with the same fuel system as mine and it was the same. Dash lights up, everything gets power, but the fuel pump won't send fuel. Tomorrow we're going to see if it's a PATS problem as my PATS system is not allowing the unfamiliar ECU to start the car. So if we swap the PATS, ECU, ignition cylinder and keys from the other car maybe it'll all work. We'll see. If not, I'll probably have to get a custom chip burned and put my original ATX ECU and harness back in for it all to read correctly.
Greg can chime in with his thoughts. But we both agree you'll want to buy a wrecked (or rolling shell) with all the parts you'll need and part the rest out to make some of that back. The mechanical swap took us 2 days but the wiring has us hitting a wall.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions please chime in.
Oh, and so far I've come in at just under $1,000 for everything so far. My color is fairly rare and I wanted to keep it but was unable to find an MTX locally. We'll see how that goes if I end up needing a chip. I have pics over on NECO but the boards are down for a migration.
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on;y thing about that is the fact that the PATs is internal to the PCM, as long as you are using the key that is programmed to the PCM PATs shouldn't be an issue ... I'll be at Gregs tomorrow so maybe I can help figure it out ...
JScullin
CEG'er
Yea, I'll be there tomorrow ~10am. I was talking w/drumanfu and he has some suggestions we can call him about.
JScullin
CEG'er
Well, Greg figured it out and it was what he thought it would be. He took the ECU and MTX wiring harness out of another car of the same year as mine and everything fired up w/no CELS. I'll be picking it up Saturday-WOOT!
steelblueSE
Hard-core CEG'er
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2003
- Messages
- 1,736
IIRC, on the old boards Russel3L did this conversion. Not sure if he is on here or not. Try looking up some of his old posts. I remember reading through a few of them but I'm too lazy to search for some for you plus I'm about to sand wetsand/restore my fogs...