the start of my csvt rebuild.

Short story on the car.

I have always wanted a CSVT. I have been looking on and off for the last few years. It just so happened that one weekend I went up and helped Greg (aircougar) do an engine pull. After talking to him and the owner of the car(and sitting in the car) we were working on. I had a turbo zx2 and a cougar that I just acquired. Well that following Sunday I saw a non running csvt for sale for 1k. I saw the pics and remembered the car. The guy was selling it for $800.00 a few weeks previous. So I emailed him and asked him if he would take $800.00 He said yes and I went the following weekend to pic it up. The car is in decent shape. It does need work. But I wanted to buy something cheap and put some work into it. The guy said the engine wouldnt start. (thinking 3.0 already) The starter when cranked sounded like it was jammed. The crank pulley wouldnt turn. I pulled the serp belt. Still locked up. Pulled the starter. Still locked up. So I think there is some internal engine damage. Oh well , 3.0 time. Here is where my picture story begins

The car when I picked it up





3.0 swap in process
the new engine. 29 k



Things I found along the way

The gunk in the LIM was bad. not to mention I think the front bank hadnt been hooked up in a long time.



who needs a slide hammer (going old school)


The last few before I filled up my memory card

Needs MOAR



good luck with your project

Thats the scariest engine pull I have seen thus far. Good work though.

svttour said:

Thats the scariest engine pull I have seen thus far. Good work though.

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LOL not even close to pwnbywombat pulling it with rope. :laugh:

Good luck on your project. Always nice to see people giving these a 2nd life.

Looks like a good buy to me. Hell, the sideskirts and bumpers alone could add up to $800 if you had to buy 'em separately.

looking good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im sure youll love the 3l. its cheap enough to do..

i started pulling my axles the same way about 6 months ago.. works great!!!!!!

I never thought to use a freaking chain! - It isn't ever too late to learn something new! - nice job

blu_fuz said:

I never thought to use a freaking chain! - It isn't ever too late to learn something new! - nice job

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loc0gring0 said:

looking good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im sure youll love the 3l. its cheap enough to do..

i started pulling my axles the same way about 6 months ago.. works great!!!!!!

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I wish I could take credit for that. I actually learned that from Greg (aircougar). Its cheaper than a slide hammer. hehehe

As for the engine pull. It was one of the worst ones I have done. Took all day. The engine pull on my RX7 took 7 hours the first time. Then by the time I sold the car, I had it down to 45 minutes. heh

My zetec I can have out of the car in under 2 hours. Moving slow, eating and talking on the phone.

Im really happy with the buy right now. I just want something sporty and fun to drive. Im tired of doing mods. My rx7 was really fast and fun for only so long. I had to monitor the gauges constantly and that got old quick.

I just finished my turbo zx2 and that is being a pita right now(needs a tune).

I just want something I can get in and go for a long drive and not really have to monitor what the car is doing all the time. I think that is why I like my cougar. Besides bolt ons, I think the car is just going to be clean and driveable

Looking good already. Whats the mileage and year?

1998 168 k on the clock

I am amazed on the underbody of the car. The car must have been garaged most of its life. No body rust. I think the only part that has rust on it was the sway bar.

blu_fuz said:

I never thought to use a freaking chain! - It isn't ever too late to learn something new! - nice job

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Yea never thought of that either... but I did buy the CV puller adapter for my slide hammer ($20)... so yea it only takes me 2sec to pop them out now anyway.

CSVT#49 said:

Yea never thought of that either... but I did buy the CV puller adapter for my slide hammer ($20)... so yea it only takes me 2sec to pop them out now anyway.

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yeah thats what I have too... but he had called me one day asking how to get it out, and I told him a few options... this was the best one he could try, and it worked! LOL... Cant wait to help you get this project running Mark!

Mark is a good dude... we pulled a MTX out of his Mom's 01 cougar, swapped the diff and cleaned the inside of the trans, and reinstalled everything into the car and got it running in just under 5 hours... so awesome to work with people who can figure their way around a car!

aircougar said:

yeah thats what I have too... but he had called me one day asking how to get it out, and I told him a few options... this was the best one he could try, and it worked! LOL... Cant wait to help you get this project running Mark!

Mark is a good dude... we pulled a MTX out of his Mom's 01 cougar, swapped the diff and cleaned the inside of the trans, and reinstalled everything into the car and got it running in just under 5 hours... so awesome to work with people who can figure their way around a car!

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Thanks Greg! I cant wait wait to get the car up and running!!! Just let me know when you want me to swing by to start swapping stuff over.

Well Greg prepped the 3.0 block and I stripped down the 2.5. I was really eager to see what caused its failure. So here is a break down of the "breakdown"





Surprise!!!!!



Cleaned out


Fun is!!!

alwayssideways said:

As for the engine pull. It was one of the worst ones I have done. Took all day. The engine pull on my RX7 took 7 hours the first time. Then by the time I sold the car, I had it down to 45 minutes. heh

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There's ever so slightly more room under an RX's hood than a Contour's. Hell, there's room for two or three engines (minus accessories). At least there is in the FC. Don't know about the other bodies. Fewer bloody knuckes too!

yeah after pulling the a/c and doing my wire tuck it made it nice and clean under the hood. As well as very easy to pull