When I had an ATX, I asked the same question. Here is the response I received:
"The 3.0 only comes with ATX in all vehicles it's offered in. As long as the ATX has the same bell housing pattern, it should fit. I would have to know in advance about the ATX conversion so I didn't grind the end of the crank off to fit the MTX input shaft which does not have to be removed for the ATX in theory."
--BNoon
"About the 3.0 Duratec ... I honestly feel that we should go test drive or rent a 3.0 one weekend and compare and make measurements. If it looks like the ATX will fit without poking it's nose past the front sub frame, all you would need is custom half-axles ($400-$600) and you would be set. If that is the case, we would need a 2001 long block and 2001 ATX. Only ifs then are about the shifter mechanism since the Taurus is on the steering column. I'm pretty sure we could rig something with current selector, but just not sure. That is a small point as it can always be figured out a lot easier than the much harder stuff like doing the swap.
If the ATX to MTX conversion doesn't run more than 1K in parts (conversion parts, not including the MTX itself), I would highly consider that."
-- FastCougar
