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CTA Motorsports - Contour SVT, CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH A BREAK

Chris@CTA

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 20, 2000
Messages
646
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Maybe this is in the wrong forum. Moderators, please move if not appropriate for this particular forum. After not having or seeing my SVT for almost a year other than the phone pics sent to me a couple of days ago. Will take more pics with a good camera or camera phone, and post here later.

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For those who don't know of my car or wasn't aware of the repair work, the transmission in my SVT decided to throw the third gear synchros after 6 years of car storage and almost no miles driven. I won't drag this out, but basically I bought a used transmission off the forums, of no one's fault, turned out the transmission (with Torsen diff) was a dud, over $1100 in the garbage. CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH A BREAK. Torsen was checked out is for sale as it is still good.Get my tranny pullled, send it to a notable local tranny shop, they pull it apart, determine that third gear components are failed, they can't source replacement parts, nothing available, practically everything discontinued years ago. Ford has nothing, tranny shop says I am SOL. CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH A BREAK. In the end, I contacted Terry Haines, and after much correspondence, my transmission was pulled and sent to Terry for a trusted rebuild from the master himself. All said and done, all of tranny related work took around 6 months.

While at the shop, I asked that shop tune my car, inclusive of updating the fuel system, new injectors, no more FMU (Supercharged), dump the piggyback fuel pump and put in a high volume Walbro in tank fuel pump, smaller supercharger pulley. That part actually went without a hitch, except for having to try 3 different supercharger pulleys. Third one worked.

So, I have a Vortech version 2 Generation 1 splined Supercharger and jackshaft. I want it to be upgraded to the pin style Generation 2 Vortech Supercharger kit with jackshaft coupler. After months and months of correspondence, no go, machine shop can't do it, tried to build the coupler , can't balance, always some excuse. CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH A BREAK. I asked the shop to contact Vortech, they don't have the parts any more, they don't do the upgrades to coupler and pin style jackshaft any more. I contacted Vortech, hoping they could help out their dealer with specs or something so that the shop can build a coupler for me. Maybe I CAN CATCH A BREAK. This is still TBA as the shop hasn't closed the chapter on this upgrade becoming reality.

The shop was now ready to run the car. A problem was discovered. The aftercooler was leaking fluid into the intake. Since the original one was custom made from years ago, there was no way to just buy another one. For this, a new core had to be sourced, some pieces from the original one had to be chopped off and rewelded, some made from scratch, all and all, this process took over 6 weeks.

This brings us to today. I was looking forward to picking up the SVT, driving it and breaking in the new parts. After major surgery, tranny rebuild, and updating power mods for the supercharger, I didn't expect the car to be perfect first time out. Of no one's fault, the speedo wasn't working, turns out the VSS and harness are MIA, somewhere between Canada and USA. Shop didn't notice this during the dyno tune. I noticed it the moment I drove the car. Related to this, Traction Control light was on. FYI, I have one of only a couple of known SVTs with factory Traction Control. No biggie, can still drive the car, just have to pace my speed with other vehicles on the road. Half hour into my first run with the SVT, alternator bites the dust. Guess that this happened because the engine sat for almost a year without running and the alternator being original, 16 years old, just decided it was time for it to quit. CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH A BREAK. Called road side assistance, and after 3 hours from the initial call, the SVT is back at the shop.All day I was angry and yet disappointed. I waited nearly a year to drive the SVT. Needless to say, for the short time I drove it before the alternator problem and having the RPMS limited to 4000rpm for break in of the new clutch and aluminum flywheel, I had forgotten how nice the SVT drives. I asked the shop to bump the rev limiter a little higher for the break in period. They told me that they didn't want the engine to build boost during the break in to not put strain on the clutch and flywheel. I am itching to get the car back so that I can put more miles on it before the snow comes.

FYI, if anyone is interested in buying my SVT after it is 100% complete, PM me or email me. I will probably be putting it back on sale.
 
I love the looks of your car, always kept an eye while you had it up for sale. If I was fortunate enough to be able to own a second one I would jump a the chance to buy it. Good luck and I hope you get everything back to 100% soon.
 
Holla @ SvtTour and he can help you with the VSS and the green gear for it that goes inside the tranny. Man I looked for like 2 months till I found him and he was here just chillin in the forum.
 
Hopefully she'll be good as new now, after the repairs!!

PS-I'm still rocking your CTA Intake on my ZETEC!!
 
I hate reading about this. I hope it gets together how you intend it to be. We are rooting for ya!
 
Hope this all works out for you Chris, you've been around here for sooooo long! Glad the tranny went to Terry Haines too, maybe with the new ownership of the CEG he'll come back as a moderator or semi-regular contributor as he's a great human being. He met my late Dad once and when he died he came to the funeral home and brought flowers and a gift before any of us got theren signed the book too, I'll never forget this, TRUST ME!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2
 
Gees, I really hope nothing else goes wrong with this build. Hopefully no more problems, at least hopefully no more big problems. I am one of a few remaining "old" guys on these forums but I don't feel old. :D Terry is definitely a stand up guy. If it wasn't for him, my car would have been pretty much sidelined for good. I mean, yeah, I could have probably found another tranny, but, after the first one being a dud, I just wasn't comfortable buying another unknown tranny. The best choice was sending the tranny to Terry.

Thanks for your kind words guys. I am crossing my fingers that all goes well with the alternator replacement and getting the VSS back online. Stay tuned for more news, and current pictures (pictures, once I get the car back).
 
Shop called me yesterday to say that the SVT is running again. I asked them to powdercoat the new aftercooler before I pick it up. As long as nothing else pops up, I can put some miles on it to break in the new parts then head back for a performance tune. The only thing that should be left is for the shop to build up a coupler for the jackshaft/supercharger.
 
Wow, that sucks to hear. Strangely sounds familiar though. My SVT has been down since just after SZ '11 with alternator/charging/wiring problems. Hope everything is good when you get it back this time.
 
By the way, look at csvtjohnga's thread regarding splined jackshaft conversion he did.

Yeah, I sure did. I PM'd him but never got a reply back. I even sent the link to my shop but they are still hesitant to build the coupler unless they get actual specs from Vortech. The shop is a Vortech dealer, so I feel that they only trust Vortech as a source for information. Poooooo :eek: I am sure csvtjohnga's coupler is just as good if not better than the original Vortech couplers.
 
Man..... I feel for ya.
This is my second csvt and i now remember why i sold the first one after 3 weeks of owning it.
My current one hasnt made it a whole week without something happening. Seems like these cars
just never wanna run right for any considerable amount of time. Hope it all works out for ya.
 
Got the word today that the SVT is ready for me again. I am going to pick it up tomorrow, and if/when I get it home, I will have to detail the heck out of it. You can imagine how dirty it is from sitting in a shop for almost a year. If all goes well, last thing to do (for now), is to get a darn jackshaft coupler built. Is there anyone on this forum that may have a source/reference or can make a coupler for me?
 
Got the word today that the SVT is ready for me again. I am going to pick it up tomorrow, and if/when I get it home, I will have to detail the heck out of it. You can imagine how dirty it is from sitting in a shop for almost a year. If all goes well, last thing to do (for now), is to get a darn jackshaft coupler built. Is there anyone on this forum that may have a source/reference or can make a coupler for me?

Wish I lived nearby to help with the detail, a good wash a speedy prep towel wipe is in order, probably some Iron-X too, then move to a good polishing and finishing up with some sealant!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using Tapatalk 2
 
Only other option I can think of is knukonceptz not sure of the long term success of his work.
 
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