2000 Contour to pre 98.5 MTX conversion

[Zintac]

Hello all again.

Well the shift tower bolt has broken yet again (3rd) time now.
When I first got the car the Shifter cable broke with in 24 hours after picking the car up.
The transmissions 1st and 2nd gear syncs are bad.
The Trans has over 120,000 miles on it.

I want to change over the Trans to a pre 1998.5 Trans with hard bar linkage.
This crappy cable system that ford put into these cars are a joke.
And I’m at the end of the line with it.

Has this been done?
And what is needed to convert it. I’ve done a few ATX to MTX swaps on Ford Probes in the past.

My list of parts to get so far
1. Pre 98.5 MTX
2. The shifter linkage bar
3. The shifter ASMB inside/outside the car.


Is there any differences in the 1/2 shafts, or clutch?

Any other information on this would be very helpful

 

[BrApple]

not worth the time, get a new trans from terry and get his keyed shifter tower and don't worry about it again ...

 

[vudusvt]

not worth the time, get a new trans from terry and get his keyed shifter tower and don't worry about it again ...

+1

10char emeffers

 

[todras]

I've done a few,I advise against it if you have never done one.Floor mods are involved to change shifter/linkage,need the shifter link stab bar and the early rear roll restrictor baracket and roll restrictor.The existing 98> trans mount will not work with a pre 98 rod shift.The hard brake lines under the brake master/booster need to be modded to clear.The pre 98 trans reverse light switch also has a combined nutural position circuit/switch,4 pins Vs 2.
Don't go there..get a new BAT trans or have yours repaired/upgraded.This mod, to a rod shift,is not for the feint harted.TH

 

[TRicker]

take out your shift tower, remove the bolt, get one the same size but use a lockwasher with it, perma-locktite it like i did and even put a tack weld on it so it cant turn out if you want....it'll never come back out

 

[BrApple]

take out your shift tower, remove the bolt, get one the same size but use a lockwasher with it, perma-locktite it like i did and even put a tack weld on it so it cant turn out if you want....it'll never come back out

yeah and it will still break since the bolt you find will never meet the specs of the oem :nonono:

 

[TRicker]

well ive got 44k on mine /shrug. i never had a problem with mine breaking before it just backed out because it wasnt locktited in.

 

[BrApple]

well ive got 44k on mine /shrug. i never had a problem with mine breaking before it just backed out because it wasnt locktited in.

well you might want to read this then ...

The genuine Ford bolt is NOT a hardware type bolt.It is a 'tri-lobe' locking design to prevent it shaking loose.The current Ford part replaced an earlier bolt of the same part number but was NOT the same design.This bolt NEVER broke but is not now a Ford stock item.I know full well,from looking at both bolts,why the current part breaks it's head off...Simple forces acting in an adverse way on a bolt that is NOT the correct design for the job it does.Long story/explanation but I won't bore you with.Suffice to say that a new ,genuine current Ford bolt will,in time,break again.There are only 2 fixes that never break the bolt or pin(in the case of the Focus style tower) One is the keyed tower mod I offer, the second is a kit of 'tower/turret' upgrade parts offered by Quaife.This kit is mainly for Focus style towers but can be used on early MTX tower...It will cost you over $600....!!! Your choice,keyed tower,stock bolt that will go again,'wally World' Harware bolt that will be weaker still than the stoc pat without a locking feature or the Quaife kit...Speed on brothers,...hell isn't full yet!!! Regards,TH

 

[BrApple]

well ive got 44k on mine /shrug. i never had a problem with mine breaking before it just backed out because it wasnt locktited in.

the bolt can still break if your not careful ...

...welding the bolt, lockwiring the bolt etc...none of this will stop the bolt breaking and loss of gears or stuck in gear. The only way is to stop any load on the bolt during gear engagement(keyed). Even if the head doesn't fall in the trans you are still stuck in gear and have the problem of removing the tower & FWIW the selector arm the bolt holds to the vertical shaft is a hard PM (powdered metal)part that is a pain to weld, as all PM components are. TH

 

[Big Jim]

And if it does break after welding, you will have to contend with removing the weld to make a repair.