2 Sweet Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 So I'm browsing facebook marketplace tonight while I'm drinking a lot of beer, and came across one of these SVT Contours, and non-sober me thinks it's pretty cool..... This one is probably a shitbox, I have no idea what the hell they mean by "bolt holes in the subframe need patched up" but I'm assuming this thing is probably not even worth looking at. But that being said, I might consider checking it out anyway lol. I've always liked these cars, but don't know shit about them. Are they reliable? Easy to work on? Common problems I should know about? What are they worth nowadays? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Contact Turborust. Derik has owned at least one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Gump 9 Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 It means it a rusty pile of crap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3NN3TT Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Not terribly reliable, not terribly easy to work on. Fun as all get out, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 It means it a rusty pile of crap That's what I'm assuming. I asked the seller to clarify, and still waiting to hear back. Regardless, I felt like this would be a decent topic of conversation. Maybe not this specific car, but the SVT model itself. I'm sure there are still a few of these out there in good condition for a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 It's half decent at best. Engine is prone to oil starvation on a sweeper. It was probably a good cruiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spankis Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 These are cool for what they are, but nothing crazy. My first car was 5 speed non-SVT Contour, so I did a lot of reading on the SVT stuff but never did drive one. Back in the day the way to go was the 3.0/SVT hybrid motor. Basically a run of the mill 3.0 Taurus "vulcan" block from a donor to use the SVT 2.5 heads and top end as I recall. When I sold mine somebody had figured out how to convert it to coil on plug ignition also, which was neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Not Brian had one for a bit too, right? I think unfortunately there's a reason we don't see a lot of them anymore in Ohio: rust is starting to make them Find a Probe GT with the 2.5L V6 and a stick...if any of them still exist around our area. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl1647545492 Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Think all of the Probe GT,s have died a natural death,mostly by leaky head gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Think all of the Probe GT,s have died a natural death,mostly by leaky head gaskets. I know of a buddy who still has one but it now has the mazda swap in it and its a non stop project car always having some sort of issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiji ST Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I know someone who's restored Contour SVTs in the past. I can see if I can get a hold of him if you want some further advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wease Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I've had two of them and for me, they were surprisingly reliable, so maybe I got lucky. Both were owned by older guys who really took care of them. I think the worst thing that happened to my first one was that the fuel pump died, which actually was a common thing. They are fun to drive, for what they are, a 20+ year old car now. Both were decent daily drivers and definitely something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3NN3TT Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 These are cool for what they are, but nothing crazy. My first car was 5 speed non-SVT Contour, so I did a lot of reading on the SVT stuff but never did drive one. Back in the day the way to go was the 3.0/SVT hybrid motor. Basically a run of the mill 3.0 Taurus "vulcan" block from a donor to use the SVT 2.5 heads and top end as I recall. When I sold mine somebody had figured out how to convert it to coil on plug ignition also, which was neat. The hybrid build uses the 3.0 Duratec (not a Vulcan) from a Taurus SES, preferably an 04-05 model, and 2.5 heads for a smaller combustion chamber/higher compression. That's the same build I have in my autocross Cougar; makes 200 to the wheels (the non-SVT 2.5 Duratecs make about 145) which is fun in a car this light and this analog and front-wheel drive. Haven't done the COP conversion as of yet. Yeah, rust is the killer for the Contour in this region. Southern or west-coast cars are the way to go, if you're looking for one. They're out there, you just have to travel to find a solid one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dammit Charlie Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I had one for a DD. Really fun car, but as previously said a PITA to work on. Very goofy cooling hose setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted April 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 Yeah, I don't like them enough to buy one if they suck to work on. I read a brief article about the Contour SVT earlier today and how time consuming it is for something as simple as an alternator change. F that. Same reason why I never bought a Lumina Z34. I wanted one with a 5-speed sooo bad back in the day, but the DOHC 3.4 was a huge pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstmg8 Posted April 23, 2020 Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 Yeah, I don't like them enough to buy one if they suck to work on. I read a brief article about the Contour SVT earlier today and how time consuming it is for something as simple as an alternator change. F that. Same reason why I never bought a Lumina Z34. I wanted one with a 5-speed sooo bad back in the day, but the DOHC 3.4 was a huge pain.Yep, I had the 3.4 in a '91 GTP. You had to pull the passenger wheel/tire and fender well, to change the alternator. It finally broke a timing chain, so I swapped in an L67. Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboRust Posted April 23, 2020 Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 It looks like everyone is covered everything in here if you have any other questions feel free to PM me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted April 23, 2020 Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 Most fwd v6 cars are a bitch to work on. I bought one off Wease and did some maintenance before eventually just going with a newer car. Changing plugs was a pain in the ass. They have an issue with rev-hang, where the rpms hang high between shifts. The fix is it drill a tiny hole through a coin and insert it in some vacuum hose attachment, but then my experience was rpms dropped to quickly. Maybe it was the other way around, I forget. Headlights fogged up like every other 90's car.. I tried wetsanding but failed and bought a new pair. The trunk struts like to wear out early. Changing brakes is weird, they have a goofy retaining clip over the pads. Maybe it's normal, but I've never seen that. Jacking them up in the first place sucks with those low-hanging rockers, and dirt/mud likes to cake up behind them. Other than weird old car shit they're a blast to drive for what they are. Secondary intake flaps open up at a higher rpms and you get a little kick of power like vtec or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.