SVT front brakes were done last week, I finished installing new rear pads today along with a final brake system flush. The pads are left over ThermoQuiets from the '99. The old pads on this car looked original, along with just about everything else on the car.
The BAT suspension needs some time to settle, but I think the car will have a nice stance. Some of the bushings and endlinks will need replacement before long, but they are OK for now.
I finally got the fuckin' front seat out. The
After the drive last night, I parked the car and popped the hood. I noticed a fair amount of heat coming off the hood. I placed my hand on a flat section and it was cool. I placed my hand on the louvers and they were hot. Each row of louvers was hot, while the flat section directly next to and in between the louvers was cool. Heat is being extracted by the louvers quite effectively. There is no hood blanket and the "skeleton" has been chopped out. The engine itself was not really hot, just warm
Got the SVT brakes on... EBC slotted and dimpled rotors that were on the '98 when I bought it and some Wagner ThermoQuiet pads that I put on the '99. Both have very low miles and virtually no wear.... along with some stainless braided lines that were also on the '99 before the TCE brake kit went on.... so more "free" upgrades for the Craptour.
So I took a quick drive to scrub the rust of the rotors. Whee!!! The brakes are MUCH improved and no more vibrations. Gawd, I gotta get this bitch leg
I thought it was kinda cool. I installed the SVT rotors and calipers along with some braided stainless brake lines on the Craptour. I was planning to run the 16" SVT E1 wheels, but I might keep the original 15" wheels instead.
I'm still waiting on SCT to determine what was wrong with the Xcal 3 I received. It married itself to the car immediately after it was connected. I thought it downloaded a tune, but it won't communicate with the car anymore. It won't return the car to stock either. For
Here you go Adam. No, you aren't tripping... the camera's focus is going crazy because it's dark.
Just a quick run through the revs. There is some rasp around 2500, then again when IMRC opens and I stab the throttle. Raspy, not clipping from the mic. It sounds alright to me. It's louder in person than I think the video implies.
I'll get Hello Kitty installed before long.
http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/media/672880
It was about 10:30pm so I knew the local cops were hanging out at the 7-11 about 2 blocks away drinking free coffee and talking about "perps". Great time for a test drive. I have no plates, no tags, no insurance, no hood, barely a muffler, and I don't know what the car is going to do.
How does it run? Well.... well!! Surprisingly. It runs much better as is without tuning than my '99 did after I completed the 3L swap. Throttle response sucks at times. There will be a lag as if I give it ga
Been working on the exhaust. I purchased a TruBendz 2.5" stainless tubing kit (for a Cougar). The kit includes the pre-bent pipe, hangers, clamps, and a gasket. No mufflers, so it's designed for custom applications. I've added a 4" round 16" long MagnaFlow to the rear. The rear pipe section required 4.5" removed to keep the muffler under the rear bumper cover. I'm going to make a cutout in the bumper cover to keep the muffler as high as possible under the car. Day before yesterday, I laid out th
I was fiddling around at 4am trying to get the ATX wiring harness to work with the MTX. I couldn't figure out which wires were for the park/neutral safety switch so I could crank the engine. I didn't have the plugs installed yet, I just wanted to turn it over a few times. The engine has been sitting for months on a stand, then on the ground, and finally in the car for the last month.
I was working by trial and error. Jump a wire, try to start. Nothing. Try another wire, crank, nothing... and
I am using a SVT radiator in the Craptour. I'm reusing the 2.5L fans. I was not aware of the 2.5L fan shroud being deeper, I guess to account for the slimmer single row radiator. To get it to fit the SVT double row radiator I cut almost 1/2" off around the shroud. It fits much better.
The small port on the upper passenger side of the radiator was cracked off when I got it. I "welded" the plastic back together, then slathered it with JB Weld. We'll see how it hold up.
You can se
You can look at my earlier post about the throttle cable bracket to see how I rearranged the original bracket. It worked out very well. I'm using a Mondeo ST220 throttle body. It uses the same ball and socket connector that this '97 used. It also uses a "dog bone" link on the throttle shaft. The dog bone link causes the throttle operation to start slow at first, and then opens from 65% to 100% very quickly. In operation, the throttle pedal has a smoother, longer operation at low and part throttl
I had some left over Window Weld so I decided to try something. I sealed the exposed rubber on the lower control arm bushings. The idea is to prevent dirt and grime from getting into the crooks and crannies of the bushing. Maybe it will firm them up just a little bit too. I dunno. The old one is shown, although the pic sucks, it demonstrates how the old ones failed.
And the engine went back in this morning.
I did some work on the heads a while back, removed the exhaust studs, cleaned them, and hand tightened them back into the heads. Well, I'm installing the headers and the exhaust studs are being stubborn. They won't come out! The nuts have rusted to the studs, again. One stud actually broke off on the front head. Fark! It was broken flush with the manifold surface. I drilled a hole through the stud, tried a bolt extractor, but to no avail. I drilled a larger hole and some of the old stud thread d
Here are the rear roll restrictor and '97 hydraulic transmission mount, chopped and filled.
The rear restrictor is from a '98 SVT at the junk yard. It was sagging a bit. The two outer rubber rings were cut out. I re-centered the bolt sleeve, masked the opposite with aluminum foil tape, and poured in about 3/5 of a can of 94A. I've had one like this in my '99 3L for a several years now, and it works great.
The transmission mount on this '97 Sport was hydraulic. The SVT mounts I've seen we
The second box from BAT arrived today. This time filled with the '99 3L's new suspension. Adjustable Spax struts and BAT Euro springs along with new mounts all around. Total cost including shipping was $1025.
I think the yellow will stand out nicely on the green car... and will match the yellow transmission
New struts, springs, and mounts from BAT arrived today. Total cost was $825. When you subtract the list prices from the total, that works out to less than $50 for shipping. Not a bad deal in my opinion for high quality parts from a respected Contour parts supplier. Everyone I spoke with at BAT was very friendly. Delivery to BAT from Europe took several weeks. All total, it took about 6 weeks from placing my order to receiving my parts.
The '97's mount and roll restrictors were completely shot. I ordered new inserts for the upper and front brackets. Still trying to decide how to fill the transmission mount, and need to find a new rear roll restrictor.
I used 94A hardness. The two mounts required a full 1lb can. I tried something new this time and used aluminum foil tape to seal and form the mold. It worked well, but without a releasing agent, it's a pain to remove.
just another distraction to keep me from the bigger projects.....
It started out like this....
these are the left overs and the original Ranger exhaust.
Here it is from the side....
...and from underneath.
It's quieter than the original exhaust. At low RPM the tone is deeper, but has the same volume. Cruising on the highway, it's almost silent.
at this point it's the Non-Star State.... but once paint is nice and dry, I'll tape off the star... then it will be done :)
Don't mind the crappy finish.... I shoudn't be painting in 100 degree heat. It lays down real nice until I go for a second coat, then it bubbles. After it's fully cured, I'll sand it and buff it.
