Picked up a '99 Mountaineer 2WD V8

[tinman_72]

So.... I bought a beater '99 Mercury Mountaineer. My plan was to use the engine/ECU/transmission in my '73 F-100 and the 31 spline 3.73 Track-Loc rear end in my '93 Ranger. Of course, right after I bought it I discovered the ECU gets the VSS signal from the ABS computer which gets it from the sensor in the rear differential. Unless someone knows a way to get that thing into a 9" rear end I guess I will just fix the Mountaineer up enough to beat around in, since I won't get my money back for it.
My first issue is that the "threaded pegs" that the headlight switch mounts to are both broken. I managed to get the dash apart enough to get the switch out, but I cannot figure out how to get the whole panel out to replace it. It is loose on the left side but It appears to be under the radio bezel on the right side. I don't see any screws to remove the radio bezel; I tried pulling on it but it feels very tight like there are screws holding it. Does anyone know if it is supposed to just pull off or are there screws hidden somewhere?

 

[fastpakr]

I suspect that there are many options for creating the VSS signal. Among other things, you could probably do a magnetic pickup on the driveshaft and feed it to a box that converts it to the pulse count of the Ford VSS (dakota digital could probably do this).

 

[Josh B]

Does the radio bezel have holes(likely 2) on each side? If so there's tools for that at most parts store stereo shelf or maybe Wmarts

 

[fastpakr]

The whole radio bezel comes out with two screws pointing upward above the HVAC controls.

 

[tinman_72]

I suspect that there are many options for creating the VSS signal. Among other things, you could probably do a magnetic pickup on the driveshaft and feed it to a box that converts it to the pulse count of the Ford VSS (dakota digital could probably do this).

Sounds expensive. I have two weeks vacation for Xmas/New Year's so I guess I will have some time to do research.

The whole radio bezel comes out with two screws pointing upward above the HVAC controls.

Thanks for pointing that out. I looked all around the perimeter of it and underneath and couldn't find anything. After your post I looked and there they are, plain as day in the middle of the darn thing.

 

[tinman_72]

Oh man, check out the second to last post in this dezertrangers.com forum.