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Cougar Dash Swap

H

HotRodV6

CEG'er
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
181
Location
Austin Tx
Anybody done it?

My 99 SE has a serverly warped dash and ive been having trouble finding a good used one, and i like the cougar dash alittle better, and im thinking the swap would be pretty straight forward as the cars are pretty much identical under all the plastic. Just wanted to see if anybody has done it and if so has pics?

I searched but was unable to find any threads.
 
Mechanically the cars are the same, but as far as interior dimensions and electronics, they are very different. Plan on a lot of rewiring under the dash if you decide to tackle this.

You would be much better off finding a 95-98.5 dash to swap or repairing the warp on your dash.
 
can you tell me the exact differance between the 95-98 dash and the 98.5-00 dash? Ive seen post refer to E0 and E1 dash but in pics they all look the same to me.
 
the only real difference is the vents shape (defrost vent and standard vents). the older dashes have a better defrost vent that prevents the dash from warping.
 
The 95-97 dash is exactly the same as the 98-98.5. The only change was the gauge bezel and the passenger side vent. Your gauge bezel will obviously be swapped over so that doesn't matter. The only thing you need to decide is if you care about having a 95-97 style passenger side vent as it looks a little dated. If you get a 98-98.5 dash, it has the newer style vent already.

The 99-00 dash was redesigned all together and probably manufactured by another company to cut costs for Ford during production. It is missing the hard plastic trim that runs against the windshield which keeps the older style dash from warping. There were many other changes like the glove box, airbag cover, and overall shape of the dash but that was the most noticeable change.

When the dashes started warping on the 99-00, Ford came out with a dash warp repair kit, which is unfortunately discontinued now. The kits are still floating around out there but very tough to find. A few places have them in stock but have been marked up from an original price of $50-60 to over $250 now.
 
yeah ive been looking for a warp repair kit for awhile and been unable to find one, and found several tours at the local pick and pull yard that seemed to be in really nice shape, and one was grey is almost mint condition but it was in a 95 or 96 so i didnt figure it would bolt in so i skipped over it. Guess ill keep looking and try and find a 95-97 dash, and id like to get a 95-97 center console as well.
 
hotrod, the cougar dash WILL fit. I dont know if you need the cross bar but from the photos I've seen they _look_ identical. As far as fitment, the only thing that is going to look odd is the different shaping on how it meets the door panels. HVAC wise, while the sub-assemblies are the same, I'm pretty sure there is going to be some differences in how the vent plumbing mates up so you will likely need a bunch of that from the cougar donar. Electrically there are a lot of differences in the wiring harnesses. Your first step may be to find out if the gauge cluster is electrically interchangeable, IIRC the wiring plugs are the same and I would imagine most of the functionality works interchangeably.

I do think its much more feasible than most members will lead you to believe and if you have specific questions, I would be happy to assist you as I am quite knowledgeable on what sits behind the cougar dash (I've done all my wiring from scratch and have all the parts laying around if you need pics)

I say go for it.
 
CSVT1214 said:
The 95-97 dash is exactly the same as the 98-98.5. The only change was the gauge bezel and the passenger side vent. Your gauge bezel will obviously be swapped over so that doesn't matter. The only thing you need to decide is if you care about having a 95-97 style passenger side vent as it looks a little dated. If you get a 98-98.5 dash, it has the newer style vent already.

The 99-00 dash was redesigned all together and probably manufactured by another company to cut costs for Ford during production. It is missing the hard plastic trim that runs against the windshield which keeps the older style dash from warping. There were many other changes like the glove box, airbag cover, and overall shape of the dash but that was the most noticeable change.

When the dashes started warping on the 99-00, Ford came out with a dash warp repair kit, which is unfortunately discontinued now. The kits are still floating around out there but very tough to find. A few places have them in stock but have been marked up from an original price of $50-60 to over $250 now.
Click to expand...

HotRodV6 said:
yeah ive been looking for a warp repair kit for awhile and been unable to find one, and found several tours at the local pick and pull yard that seemed to be in really nice shape, and one was grey is almost mint condition but it was in a 95 or 96 so i didnt figure it would bolt in so i skipped over it. Guess ill keep looking and try and find a 95-97 dash, and id like to get a 95-97 center console as well.
Click to expand...


Get me the part number and I can track them down.
 
svttour said:
Get me the part number and I can track them down.
Click to expand...

I'll shoot you a PM later. I'll tell you right now, you'll have some negotiating to do if they base their pricing off of the Ford parts catalog. It jumped up by hundreds for some reason after they discontinued it.

I've tracked some down but I haven't called any to see if they would lower their price.
 
tell me about it. Ford still has about 30 SVT front grills in stock but they wat like $435 ea!!!!
 
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