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New guy here...

T

TwinTurboStealth

New CEG'er
Joined
Feb 21, 2007
Messages
9
Location
Naperville and Justice, IL
Hello, my name is Eric, and I new to the boards. I am currently a college senior and will graduate in a couple of the months. The reason why I joined is that I will be looking for a practical, sporty car to take me to and from my entry level job this summer. I would very much like to eventually track down a nice 98.5 - 00 black/blue SVT. I currently own a near mint 1992 Dodge Stealth Twin Turbo with 53,000 miles on it that I would like to keep only as a toy car rather than a commuter. I have never owned a four door car and the word practical and I don't mix too well considering my previous two vehicles were a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and a 1985 Porsche 944. However, I really like the Contour having driven my girlfriend's 1996 SE that had a mere 23K on it when her family bought it last year. I am sure I will have questions in the coming months, so I thank you in advance for helping me. Oh, if you care to check out the Stealth and my previous cars, here is a link to some pictures of them. :cool:

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o13/MrFiero/
 
The Five-Oh! said:
Welcome, nice stealth, my friend has one too, but not the TT. Glad to see you don't have the red interior, cause that interior was the ugliest thing ever.
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The interior you are talking about is referred to as "Porno Red Leather" and was only available on the White or Black cars. Yes, I am glad I don't have it either although I was searching for a Mystic Blue Metallic Stealth for a long time... Too bad they only made a few hundred of them...
 
IRingTwyce said:
Welcome! Good luck on your SVT search. Be sure and check the classifieds. That's a nice looking Stealth....and your GF is a cutie!
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Thanks! Yeah, SVTs seem hard to find unfortunately. It seems like every car I want is like that... I won't be ready to buy until well into the summer or early fall, so I am in no rush. I just figured I'd learn a lot about them in the meantime... Hey, what is the consensus on the best year to buy? I hear the 2000 is desirable because it is the last year, but I am not planning on collecting, I am planning on driving it. I have also heard of the dashboards warping on some. What's up with that? :shocked:
 
The Five-Oh! said:
Welcome, nice stealth, my friend has one too, but not the TT. Glad to see you don't have the red interior, cause that interior was the ugliest thing ever.
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this coming from a guy who bought a mustang with that very same color interior. :help: :laugh:
 
The Five-Oh! said:
My friend has a 1st gen ES and we're debating between doing suspension, or new motor and trans, i keep telling him to get the vr4 motor and just go TT fwd cause we're too lazy to want to put in the AWD system haha
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I recommend he save his money and just buy a VR4 or TT. Conversions are expensive and time consuming... and when it's all said and done, it's still an ES...:laugh: Too bad VR4s and TTs are hard to find in nice shape...
 
the earlier year svt's like the 98.5 had much better dash designs, the E1's (later year later 99 and 00) had dashes that were built crappier and would warp. It's hit or miss, i had a 2000 and my dash was fine, but i've seen some that were god awful. 2000 allows you to use a twEECer which is a tuner, but it's not a big deal because you can have a chip burned for any year svt, but you won't need it unless you do big power mods.

All in all there is no big difference between the years, just look for dash warp, there are fix kits out there, but to put em in right you have to pull the windshield.
 
IRingTwyce said:
'98 is generally thought to be the best year for the SVT. No dash warp, no crazy decontenting. Yes, the 2000 will have 5 more h.p., but really, how much of a difference will that make in every day driving? 98.5 is second best.
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My vote goes for 98-98.5 also. Comparing my 00 to my 98, there is tons of misc. little features decontented or downgraded in design.
 
IRingTwyce said:
'98 is generally thought to be the best year for the SVT. No dash warp, no crazy decontenting. Yes, the 2000 will have 5 more h.p., but really, how much of a difference will that make in every day driving? 98.5 is second best.
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Okay, you've convinced me to go for a 98-98.5 then. How much should I expect to pay for a nice one? Mileage would preferrably be under 100K with no mechanical issues. One last question before I go. Timing belt/waterpump : How often do they need to be changed and how much is it? I know all about zero clearance motors from the 944 and the Stealth, but I just want to clarify. Is the Contour motor zero clearance as well? I know dumb question, but I am a noobie and am still learning...
 
water pumps are known to fail but are replaced easily within an hour.

the 2.5's in svt's use a timing chain so you won't have to worry about that going out on you.

The cost of these cars aren't bad at all, you can get a 98-00 svt with less than 100k miles for under 5 grand all day long, as long as it's not coming from an over charging dealer.
 
Welcome to CEG, here you will find very valueable info for you car as I have. there arent many svts for sale in our area just a silver one with 58,XXX miles and a black one with 109,XXX. It took me two months of searching to find mine. I showed up at the dealership and bought it on the spot. The guy said "I have someone coming down from Milwaukee right now to look at it" I smiled and said you better call them or there going to be quite mad driving 4 hours down for nothing. (Sorry I hope it was no one on CEG) Good luck on finding the whip tho.
 
The Five-Oh! said:
water pumps are known to fail but are replaced easily within an hour.

the 2.5's in svt's use a timing chain so you won't have to worry about that going out on you.

The cost of these cars aren't bad at all, you can get a 98-00 svt with less than 100k miles for under 5 grand all day long, as long as it's not coming from an over charging dealer.
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Great! That's what I thought. Yep, definitely going to get one now. I just have to decide on black or silver since it will have to stay outdoors until I get my own place.
 
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TwinTurboStealth said:
I just have to decide on black or silver since it will have to stay outdoors until I get my own place.
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SOME of the earlier black Contours (95-98.5 or so) had problems with paint cracking. Mine was covered with cracks when I bought it. Some areas have been repainted since, but my roof and few other areas still look like crap up close.

Stick with Silver Frost if you want something easy to take care of.
 
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