I am planning to upgrade the performance of this 1995 Ford Contour GL. It's my Mom's car and she is not planning to sell it as she told me that it has sentimental value. My siblings have agreed to work on it before her birthday next month. Would you mind telling me some of the best engine modifications for this sedan?
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- Thread starter mrgrtt123
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OK, 95 GL, 2.0L I4 was the standard engine, manual or automatic gearbag? The car is in very nice shape for its age. What's the mileage?
Honestly, there isn't much in the way of bolt-ons that will make these engines into strong performers, most of the highly modified engines with members of this forum have been tweaked internally and these guys and a few gals have spent tons of $ and sometimes the extra HP comes at the expense of reliability. Additionally, the transaxles are the glass jaws of these cars, and high HP manual trans cars usually have issues with clutch life and synchronizer wear.
Suggestion 1: Do the regular maintenance, change oil and filter, fresh spark plugs and wires, new air filter and a new fuel filter if you want to tackle that.
A fresh cabin air filter would be a nice touch too.
Might you mom appreciate a thorough cleaning inside and out, and maybe a coat of wax on the paint?
Suggestion 2: Looking at your picture, get a headlight polishing kit and take the haze off the headlight housings. Rain-X makes a good kit, then swap out the 9005/9006 lamps for some modified HIR9011 and HIR9012 lamps. The 9011 and 9012 bulbs are NOT high wattage bulbs, they consume the same power as the 9005/9006 bulbs, but they are a far more efficient design and produce many more lumens per watt (+80% for the low beams) than the stock bulbs.
The 9011/9012 bulb bases need some slight modifications to work in the 9005/9006 lamp holders, that can be found here.
http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/HIRmod.html
If your mother does any night driving, the lens polishing and high lumen lamps will make you the best son in the world to her.
HIR 9011 and 9012 bulbs can usually be purchased for reasonable prices on Amazon, try to buy real Philips bulbs, don't get knockoffs, and don't waste your money on Hecho en China LED headlamp replacements.
EDIT: Another benefit with the HIR lamps is far longer life than the standard 9005/9006 lamps.
Honestly, there isn't much in the way of bolt-ons that will make these engines into strong performers, most of the highly modified engines with members of this forum have been tweaked internally and these guys and a few gals have spent tons of $ and sometimes the extra HP comes at the expense of reliability. Additionally, the transaxles are the glass jaws of these cars, and high HP manual trans cars usually have issues with clutch life and synchronizer wear.
Suggestion 1: Do the regular maintenance, change oil and filter, fresh spark plugs and wires, new air filter and a new fuel filter if you want to tackle that.
A fresh cabin air filter would be a nice touch too.
Might you mom appreciate a thorough cleaning inside and out, and maybe a coat of wax on the paint?
Suggestion 2: Looking at your picture, get a headlight polishing kit and take the haze off the headlight housings. Rain-X makes a good kit, then swap out the 9005/9006 lamps for some modified HIR9011 and HIR9012 lamps. The 9011 and 9012 bulbs are NOT high wattage bulbs, they consume the same power as the 9005/9006 bulbs, but they are a far more efficient design and produce many more lumens per watt (+80% for the low beams) than the stock bulbs.
The 9011/9012 bulb bases need some slight modifications to work in the 9005/9006 lamp holders, that can be found here.
http://dastern.torque.net/Mods/HIRmod.html
If your mother does any night driving, the lens polishing and high lumen lamps will make you the best son in the world to her.
HIR 9011 and 9012 bulbs can usually be purchased for reasonable prices on Amazon, try to buy real Philips bulbs, don't get knockoffs, and don't waste your money on Hecho en China LED headlamp replacements.
EDIT: Another benefit with the HIR lamps is far longer life than the standard 9005/9006 lamps.
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Welcome!
That's a nice looking Contour for it's age. How nice of all of you to do that for your mom!
I don't have much to add.. maybe claybar the paint before you wax it as well. The claybar will get all of the contaminants out of the paint and will make a smooth surface for the wax.
Keep us posted and let us know how she likes her "new car".
That's a nice looking Contour for it's age. How nice of all of you to do that for your mom!
I don't have much to add.. maybe claybar the paint before you wax it as well. The claybar will get all of the contaminants out of the paint and will make a smooth surface for the wax.
Keep us posted and let us know how she likes her "new car".