The Cougar and T-bird are harder to perform the actual PI swap on because of the shock towers and the design of the K-member.
Do your homework. The oil pan and front timing cover is much more difficult to remove on the Cougar/Thunderbird.
The motor itself is removed differently.
+1 as the other have said. For the 1996-1997 MY, the motor is the same as in the Mustang. That includes the intake.
The PCM and calibration is very different. Hence the reason the two cars drive different.