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At it again 95 Tour

A

Aussie Ford

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Sep 3, 2006
Messages
2,033
Location
Portland, Orygun
I just had time to get the pics, but a couple of weeks ago I did the Taurus cup holder in my wife's Tour which requires the relocation of the radio. This time it took her about three blocks to notice something had changed. :laugh:

TCH installed.jpg
TCH installed 3.jpg
 
hehe, nice! I like how that looks! I need to pickup some better cup holders for mine.. my coke went splooosh last go-round with them holders.. all over my wifes purse.. hehehe needless to say I got in trouble for that...
Andy
 
Desiato said:
you should surprise your wife with a turbo 3L and see how long it takes her to notice. ;)
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LOL not a good idea..... I once took her 6 cyl 77 Plymouth with the intent to rebuild the engine. Instead I rebuild a 318 and installed it with a few goodies. When she got in and steped on the gas it burned rubber for about 1/2 a block. She got out threw the keys at me and said she wasn't going to drive it again!

I liked it :laugh: That was a fast little car. Eventually I sold it to my brother in law who wrecked it.

I'll stick to asthectic, and handling improvements..... She liked the new wheels and tires. I was actually surprised how much nicer it drives with 15" wheels vs the 14" steelies. I have the sway bars from a SE sport to install one of these days. That should change things a bit in the handling of that GL.

Regards,
AF
 
not a big fan of those cupholders, mostly because of the radio relocation. i do have a 97, though, and i really despise my cupholder, mainly because it's broken! XD
 
Have you gotten the replacement cup holder ? Mine came with it and it is stronger. What I do not like about it is that the bottom seems to sit on the side of the pass seat. When faced with the options (that I know about) installing this Taurus mod seems like the best. I think I actually like the console and look of the early Tours better than the 98+'s (I have one of each), so I didn't want to change the dash and console just to gain cup holders.

I was a bit appresensive about the relocation of the radio due to the location of the air bag monitor. I got another ABM bracket and bent it to about a 30 degree angle so it would lay down and be at or below the top side of the ash tray. That was a good plan but I couldn't get the ABM off it's mounting, so I just bent it down. This little blue box has plenty of room inside it only holds a small circuit board, and nothing else. After I opened one up to see what was in it I lost my apprehension about messing with it. The next issue was the rerouting of the wiring harness. One guy said he cut / hacked a hole in the divider between these two compartments. I thought there had to be a better way, so I separated the harness a bit inside the radio location and ran them around and down the back on the pass side following the lighter wiring. Since I have the stock radio I found there is a support track inside the lower hole just like the upper, and just flipped the bracket on the back of the radio over and it worked slick. The final issue I heard about was the access to the radio. After installation I found this to be a mute point access is just fine, and would be for any type of player. IMO

Bottom line in my thinking was to give it a try, since it is a simple & inexpensive mod that can be easily reversed.

my 2 cents
 
yeah but my issue with the relocation is the amount of wires from my cd player would most likely make it even more of a pain to move... perhaps i will just switch my consol to pre 98 style and utilize the fancy pull out cup holder hehe
 
I hate to tell you this, BUT (LOL) this IS for the pre 98 console / dash..... You can't have a nifty change holder out of a Taurus, or the fancy pop up beakable cup holders...... just keep your wires stuffed as they are.... :laugh:
 
Trademark said:
yeah but my issue with the relocation is the amount of wires from my cd player would most likely make it even more of a pain to move... perhaps i will just switch my consol to pre 98 style and utilize the fancy pull out cup holder hehe
Click to expand...

don't envy pre-98 cupholders. sure, the 98+'s suck, cuz your drinks can spill, but the pre-98's are the worst cupholders ever made. they're paper thin cheap plastic that are only wide enough for about a shotglass and WILL break the first time you try to stick in that large coke from mcdonald's.
 
dyaballikl said:
don't envy pre-98 cupholders. sure, the 98+'s suck, cuz your drinks can spill, but the pre-98's are the worst cupholders ever made. they're paper thin cheap plastic that are only wide enough for about a shotglass and WILL break the first time you try to stick in that large coke from mcdonald's.
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That's it! you understand, why the Taurus mod is important to the pre 98's. While not perfect it is an improvement over the original ones. :laugh:
 
Aussie Ford said:
That's it! you understand, why the Taurus mod is important to the pre 98's. While not perfect it is an improvement over the original ones. :laugh:
Click to expand...

i prefer to just stick with the cup between the legs maneuver. sure, it makes it tough to shift, especially when i got some french fry action goin on at the same time, but i really don't wanna move my stereo down there.

although, going this way has allowed me to develop a powerful solution to the starbucks cap leak! now, i wrap a couple napkins tightly around the cup, underneath the sleeve, then slide the sleeve on, and the napkins avoid all that annoying drippage! no more brown coffee stains on the undies! :crazy:
 
I've been trying to figure out what to do about the cup-holder in my wife's '95 for quite some time. The original pop-ups actually worked pretty well, until she got her purse strap wrapped around them a couple of times....

I tried gluing them back together, then went to TAP Plastics so I could fabricate some gussets. Still couldn't get them to stand up against the dreaded purse strap! I ended up installing one of those big, robust single pop-up models. It's tough all right, yanks the purse right out from under her arm. But doesn't work worth $#!?. Luckily it's mostly just used for water bottles.

I was kinda' planning on installing an '98+ console, just for the cup-holders, but you say they're no better? You're happy with the Taurus ones?

thanks, Rob
 
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Aussie Ford said:
LOL not a good idea..... I once took her 6 cyl 77 Plymouth with the intent to rebuild the engine. Instead I rebuild a 318 and installed it with a few goodies. When she got in and steped on the gas it burned rubber for about 1/2 a block. She got out threw the keys at me and said she wasn't going to drive it again!

I liked it :laugh: That was a fast little car. Eventually I sold it to my brother in law who wrecked it.

I'll stick to asthectic, and handling improvements..... She liked the new wheels and tires. I was actually surprised how much nicer it drives with 15" wheels vs the 14" steelies. I have the sway bars from a SE sport to install one of these days. That should change things a bit in the handling of that GL.

Regards,
AF
Click to expand...

I'm with you totally on that. For now it's more a matter of trying to keep it current. She really loves it and, like my signature block says, she won it new. Upgrades are a lot cheaper than payments.

I put E0 SVT rims on it with Avon tires - what a difference! Highly recommended. Next up - BAT Euro handling kit. She won't like the VISA bill, but she'll get over it eventually, and I know she'll like the look and feel.

Best upgrade bar none, HID low beams. Finally she can see at night! :cool:

Mind you, I'd still like to drop in a hybrid 3L some day.
 
sleepr said:
I was kinda' planning on installing an '98+ console, just for the cup-holders, but you say they're no better? You're happy with the Taurus ones?

thanks, Rob
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98+ cupholders are so shallow that every little turn sends your drinks flying. from what i hear, there are sleeves you can put into them to help fix the problem, but it seems to me there are simpler solutions for this minor problem.
 
dyaballikl said:
98+ cupholders are so shallow that every little turn sends your drinks flying. from what i hear, there are sleeves you can put into them to help fix the problem, but it seems to me there are simpler solutions for this minor problem.
Click to expand...
Actually the 99 - 00 are better that the 98's
 
It was a cross-Canada promotion in a retail store chain. Just fill out the entry form and drop it in the box. There was one prize, a brand new Ford Contour GL with V6, auto and interior light package. Winner could choose interior and exterior colours, otherwise had to take the prize as offered. She wanted 5-spd and sunroof, which would have come to the same price, but we didn't even ask. The biggest problem is that she still wants a sunroof. I can do a lot of mods, but that one's not really an option!:help:

Good question about the engine wiring harness. It's starting to get really bad. I've been spending a fair amount of tme under the hood trying to sort out a driveability issue. Every time a touch the harness another bit of insulation breaks off. Bare wire ends everywhere. That'll probably be my next little project.

Aussie Ford said:
Actually the 99 - 00 are better that the 98's
Click to expand...

Now that the Taurus cup-holder has been in for a while, and since you have one of each, which would you recommend (assuming all else equal), the factory '99 console version or the Taurus insert?

Rob
 
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"Good question about the engine wiring harness. It's starting to get really bad. I've been spending a fair amount of tme under the hood trying to sort out a driveability issue. Every time a touch the harness another bit of insulation breaks off. Bare wire ends everywhere. That'll probably be my next little project."

Oh my friend, you have got a major problem..... There was a TSB on the wiring issue and the dealers replaced them for free under it. The problem is it was good on 95-97 cars for 10 years or 100k miles. Your 95 if you didn't have it done is on your nickel now and for a V6 it is not cheap. Please read the service bulletin on it, do a search on this site for wiring harness. It will tell you specific to you car and options what you need. Then contact Team Ford Parts for a price. I'd bet the cost for you Tour will be around $3k installed, but highly dependent upon options.

"Now that the Taurus cup-holder has been in for a while, and since you have one of each, which would you recommend (assuming all else equal), the factory '99 console version or the Taurus insert?"

Ok so I like them both for different reasons. The stock replacement one is sturdy and it holds a larger cup / bottle fairly reasonably sometimes. EXCEPT it tips on the passenger seat cushion and causes what ever it is holding to fall out. The Taurus ones do about what the stock ones did in holding smaller cups, only stronger. If the bottom part breaks, as they do, they still work, and you get the coin holder too :laugh:

If I were to just do one or the other I think I'd do the stock replacement, but I had that and got tired of that one not holding what I wanted right, so I did the other one...... You see what a circle this created :confused:

I will say that my 99 isn't perfect either, so what is one to do. I haven't found a way to add in the ones like in my 02 Ram they work great...

Bottom line is nothing is going to be perfect all the time regarding Tour cup holders. It's a crap shoot out there :crazy:

I happen to like the mod it makes a usless hole useful, no matter what else it does, and the coin holder is flawless LOL
 
dyaballikl said:
best cupholders ever, as only saab can do: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xasj1SbCiTA
I saw these at a car show once. they actually shouldn't be that fast, they weren't at the show, but they sure are pretty amazing cup holding technology! wonder how the life on those are.
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Those are neat, and would be good if they were say powder coated stainless steel, or something. But if they are plastic, I'd bet they don't end up being much better than ours.

My rule of thumb in cup holders is the simpler the better..... like those ones that you hang on the door they're simple and work. The Taurus ones are simply a hole to put a cup in.
 
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