i bought my 87 cougar and pretty much got nothing with it in the lines of manuals or anything. i want to get my stock wheel covers (wire ones with the cougar symbol cap) but they have a bizzare locking mechanism that i cant find a tool to get off. can anyone help me with this?
are you wanting to get rid of your wire wheel covers? If so I would think you could just grind off the screw. If your using them I have a removal tool from an 87 cougar if they are all the same pattern. (somebody else might be able to tell you that)
If I remember correctly you have to take the center cap part off to get to the lock. There is a special tool to remove it or if you don't care you can just break it.
for some reason i didnt have to pull the center cap off my wires that came on my 84..... i can figure out how if u need to know....
Did you look in the glovebox / door pockets / console bin / spare tire well for the little wrench? My manual says it's in the glovebox...
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the special tool to get the caps off is no more than a tiny flat head screwdriver tip. You just have to be very careful with em. What I don't know is if the pattern on the bolt head is the same from car to car or if Ford used a certain amount of combinations.
There are a few different bolt designs... each one is designated by the colored band on the wrench. Among all my junk I have probably three different ones (LTD, Cougar, and Grand Marquis). If only I could find them.
And have fun breaking it... I had to bash at my wheel until all the plastic spokes broke when I couldn't find the special wrench for mine.
If your not planning to reuse them, you could drill the center of the bolt and use a screw extractor bit to remove it. Had to do that once with the 84 Elan Bird I had.
wonders of anti-wheel theft devices when you buy a used car without the lock key =p
The center cap can be popped of with a good screwdriver provided they are not rusted into place (When you pop it off you are actually pulling two metal strips out of a metal hole that act somewhat like a spring tensioner). Once you get those off you have to deal with that screw that has one of those funky star patterns on it. THAT'S WHAT THAT TOOL IS FOR. It matches the pattern. Vice grips work just as well.....just takes a little longer is all.