[Woundup7]

Pic n Pull had a 50% off sell this weekend. They also happened to have a 2000 Mercury Cougar with the V6 and a 5 speed also know as a budget 4.06 My buddy and I made quick work of the Cougar dropping the whole K member with the motor and trans intact. Once it hit the ground I split the case from the bell housing and removed the the two gear stacks, idler gear, and shifter forks. I left the rest of the mess in the yard $49.99 and I had a complete 4.06 set in my hands

We are going to fit it up the next couple days, the good new is I already have my 4.75 fd mtx75 tranny apart, and I have a complete spare 3.82 tranny in the shop. My buddy bought all the rotunda tools from ebay, so we have all the presses, race pulled, end play checker etc.

My research leads me to believe the gear ratios are all the same, except for reverse?

 

[msperber]

First and fifth can be different, 5th can be .85 but more than likely it's .77. The first gear possible options are 3:44-3:66. Not to great a difference The fifth gear .85 is certainly the best option with the 4:06. If you want you can also go up to the .80 for fifth fairly easy. That gear is available locally. The reverse is usually different in the cougar box. Which diff r u using?

 

[Woundup7]

I running a Kazz that I ran all of last season. The fifth gears are the same between the cougar output and focus input shafts, that leads me to believe they are .767 cogs. Since I never use 5th gear on stage I not going to change it out.

 

[msperber]

We have played with quiafe, Torsen, Kaaz, and we had a custom unit built this fall. Of the three off the shelf unit I love the Kaaz one. The most aggressive and easiest to place power to the ground in a road racing environment. The others are way better than open but the Kaaz is just that much better. Can't wait to run our custom unit this spring.

 

[Woundup7]

So we are pretty much buttoned up. Does anyone have an alternate source for the output shaft shims? Ford no longer carries them, they do however carry the set up shim for the diff, which is on the way here.

 

[msperber]

For the shims, use those from the 12-15 model mtx75 trans, all are available thru the dealership. Make sure the overall length of the cougar gear stacks are the same as those from the focus, they weren't on the cougar box we used for parts.

 

[Woundup7]

The input shaft itself is longer overal. We already set the input and output shafts in the case. Set the diff, threw a clutch disc on it and went through the gears while my buddy spun the disc. It appears all is a go, just waiting for the diff set up shims

 

[[email protected]]

The MTX75 is a great transmission but there has been a few differences over the years. As you found out the Cougar input shaft is longer (difference in the clutches between the two cars). Some had a 3.667 to 1 first gear while others had a 3.41 to 1 first gear, the lower gear is easier on the clutch and easier to get the car moving. The taller 1st will get you more speed per RPM. 2nd through 4th gears are the same in all the MTX75 boxes I have worked on. If you are interested in 5th gear they came with 3 different ratios. Almost all of them came with a .767 to 1 a few came with a .805 to 1 and there was a very rare .850 to 1 ratio. the final drives that came in the MTX75 were 3.41 to 1 which is some what easy to find, then there is a 3.56 to 1 which is some what easy to find, then the 3.82 to 1 is by far the most popular ratio out there and is very easy to find, the lowest factory gear set is the 4.06 and is a little hard to find but is available if you look.

When setting it up make sure you double check everything. also a good idea to modify the shift tower so it will not break on you and leave you without the ability to shift gears.

When it comes to LSD's it is a matter of personal preference.

 

[Woundup7]

A little update on this build. We put new "focus " bearing and race on the cougar output shaft away side from the clutch. Then moved on to pulling the clutch side bearing, this is where we learned a lot and figured out the answer to make a budget 4.06 work.
So the clutch side bearing is specific to the 2 piece pinion shaft. It has a square grove machined in to it on the big end. This is to make room for the pinion gear retaining clip. Also of note is the fact the cougar output shaft is 1/8" shorter in length vs the Focus shaft. We ordered the cougar bearing from the local Ford dealer, but unfortunately it arrived as a standard piece with no groove cut into it.

So continuing on we sourced what we thought would be the groved bearing from 123 bearing in France, $40 later still didn't have the correct bearing. They did however ship me an away side output shaft bearing. This is where it gets interesting. That bearing is roughly 1/8 taller than the original cougar bearing, so this fixes the height difference, but it's too small to press on.
So we mic it out and the difference is .002 of an inch. My buddy takes the cage and rollers off of it, he chuckes it up in my lathe, and grinds the .002 off. 15 minutes later we are pressing it on the cougar shaft.

So now I have a 4.06 2 piece cougar output shaft, with a focus reverse gear, a focus input shaft, and a Kazz diff. All that is left is to setup the preload on the out put shaft, we already set up the diff. One of my autox buddies was kind enough to loan me the unobtainable shim kit. The plan is to use the set up shim and do the math on Sunday. I will report back if it's a go, so far it appears it will work

 

[1turbofocus]

If you do that swap on a Focus MTX 2000 to mid 2001 , you take the Cougar/Contour 406 gear off the shaft and slide it on the Focus input shaft , the 2000 to mid 2001 has a 2 piece shaft and its quick and easy

Tom

 

[Woundup7]

If you do that swap on a Focus MTX 2000 to mid 2001 , you take the Cougar/Contour 406 gear off the shaft and slide it on the Focus input shaft , the 2000 to mid 2001 has a 2 piece shaft and its quick and easy

Tom

That's good info Tom, question on that though, is there a difference in the in the out put shaft lengths? The problem maybe earlier trannys in Zetecs and D tec v6 have slightly different case sizes, which is the problem with the Cougar output shaft that was in the 2000 mtx-75 we liberated. I'm building a focus dtec tranny with the earlier final drive. If I run across a Zetec mtx-75 sitting on the ground at the wreckers I will buy just to find the answer

Cheers
Chris

 

[1turbofocus]

That's good info Tom, question on that though, is there a difference in the in the out put shaft lengths? The problem maybe earlier trannys in Zetecs and D tec v6 have slightly different case sizes, which is the problem with the Cougar output shaft that was in the 2000 mtx-75 we liberated. I'm building a focus dtec tranny with the earlier final drive. If I run across a Zetec mtx-75 sitting on the ground at the wreckers I will buy just to find the answer

Cheers
Chris

I never used the main shaft from the Cougar or Contour , I just took the 2 4.06 gears , slid them on the Focus shaft and put it back together

Tom

 

[SeniorMaster]

Had my parts dept do some looking - plenty of 4.06 ring gears available it's the pinion that is obsolete.

 

[Woundup7]

Well I can't believe this, it still will not work, for some reason the center line of the two shafts grows apart. At first we thought it was the cougar second gear out put and the focus second gear input. So we swapped out those to straight cougar/cougar. Same problem, ended up swapping over all the cougar gears we could to the input shaft. and and matching all the gears down with their previous partner. So all the gears that are touching are either cougar to cougar or focus to focus, down both stacks. Still end up with the same problem about 2mm of growth at the the pinion end of the two shaft and the bell housing wont fit.
I would love to hear if anyone has found a solution. A good buddy brought over two 2 piece 4.06 out put stacks one from a Ztec and one "mystery unit. Current plan is to put my 4.75 back together today and shelf this project for a few months. The plan moving forward is to put together an 4.06 and install it in my buddies 2.3 zx3 to replace the 3.42 box. If you have any technical feed back I would love to hear it.

 

[SVOChuck]

So where can I get a 4.06 for a 2006 MTX75 ? Or am I better off hunting unicorns ?

Did you ever get this one in Woundup7 ?

 

[Woundup7]

So where can I get a 4.06 for a 2006 MTX75 ? Or am I better off hunting unicorns ?

Did you ever get this one in Woundup7 ?

Well I have two installed in MtX75's for duratecs. They are out there in the used market, you used to be able to buy them at the Ford parts counter. I have the cougar one still. I will sell it to you cheap, if you were certain you could make it work. We were unable to.

 

[SVOChuck]

I'm guessing if you could not make it work i can do no better...

So the search is for later style 4.06 !

 

[DirtyDave]

So, this only works for a zetec mtx75 and not a D-tec. Bummer.
I could really use a 4.06 in my 2006.
Saw the Mfactory 4.75 but I think that's too low for what I'm doing

 

[Woundup7]

It is doable, you need the input and output shafts from an early 2 piece ztec mtx75. Install those in your Dtec case. Set up bearing preloads and enjoy. My 2 piece 4.06 is for sale $150 plus shipping

 

[wadej]

Can you post pictures of the ring gear and output shaft please?
Many thanks!

John W.