• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Another Colorado 3.0L build!

I would have liked being able to buy a prepped engine and all I had to do is swap stuff over. But you can't beat a free engine, plus all the experience I'll be gaining from the project.
Very cool that you're going with FI! I just can't justify spending that much money on a dd that eould make it to bandimere maybe once or twice a year.
 
newguyhooah said:
it was just too easy for my swap. I got a pre prepped engine from a guy on here that has been building them for a few years now. I dont know if we can drop names or not. LOL
It was set up to take all my svt parts. Cams and heads and uim as well. It was all ported to fit and tested very well. He is the one who makes the SC kit that i am saving for. It cost me another 2grand or so to have someone do all the labor at a shop though. That part sucked. So all I need is a tune and i get all the power back from it.
Click to expand...

:) $2k to swap a motor in is too much (twice what we charge!!). It takes at the most 10-13 hours to swap parts over, install, and check for issues (more if there are issues I suppose). Even at $100/hr that's only about $1-1.3k. For those looking check around for cheaper rates as a prepped ported motor shouldn't cost any more than it would for a stock motor install.
 
there was other stuff replaced and done to the car as well so my 2grand figure is not accurate to just the swap. I also had one heck of a time finding someone to put in a moded engine. So after the swap, fluids, other parts, and other add ons it was about 2 and some change. I was in a time crunch too and yes I know I got burnt a lil on the swap price. but it is so hard to find an insured shop to do this kind of swap with the knowledge of the contour. I had a stage 3+ and a 9lb flywheel installed too while it was out and I had those sitting for a while too cause no local reputable shop would even put those in. I was getting too antsy so I just took the best guy i could find. He came with a price too.lol Hey your the guy I got my engine from huh! cool! DUH!
 
Yeah I'll say "good" shops in the denver area are a bit pricey..I had my clutch redone and found out the brass gears inside the case were non-existant...cost me 1500 for parts and labor (brass gears were about 800)...the guy put the wrong fluid in and now my syncros are eating them-selves alive...and it was about 100 miles outside of his warrenty... :mad: :nonono:
 
newguyhooah said:
there was other stuff replaced and done to the car as well so my 2grand figure is not accurate to just the swap. I also had one heck of a time finding someone to put in a moded engine. So after the swap, fluids, other parts, and other add ons it was about 2 and some change. I was in a time crunch too and yes I know I got burnt a lil on the swap price. but it is so hard to find an insured shop to do this kind of swap with the knowledge of the contour. I had a stage 3+ and a 9lb flywheel installed too while it was out and I had those sitting for a while too cause no local reputable shop would even put those in. I was getting too antsy so I just took the best guy i could find. He came with a price too.lol Hey your the guy I got my engine from huh! cool! DUH!
Click to expand...

Honestly, you could tell them it's a 2.5L and they wouldn't know the difference for the ported motors we sell. They don't have to do anything different. I hate it when shops try and charge our customers more because it's a custom motor. We did all the work for them they just need to install it. I'm glad your up and running. Quite a difference huh? :)
 
now first of all my guy was a 20 year vet at a ford dealer so he was "by the book". Thats what messed it up in the first place. He rejected the engine due to damage but it was cause you had to grind down some kind of seal. He saw every little mod you had to do. He did do all the work eventually but man, it was trouble. He was very happy with it. It sounds a bit deeper in tone but since i did not get it tuned yet it feels like i have less power than before. Also my IMRC is in-op. Oh, with a good tune and the addition of your SC will i be able to compete with an Audi S4? There is one local that is just quik as sh&*! But yes I am happy with the swap. I have some little issues to work out with my SVT but after that it WILL be time for a SC.
 
newguyhooah said:
now first of all my guy was a 20 year vet at a ford dealer so he was "by the book". Thats what messed it up in the first place. He rejected the engine due to damage but it was cause you had to grind down some kind of seal. He saw every little mod you had to do. He did do all the work eventually but man, it was trouble. He was very happy with it. It sounds a bit deeper in tone but since i did not get it tuned yet it feels like i have less power than before. Also my IMRC is in-op. Oh, with a good tune and the addition of your SC will i be able to compete with an Audi S4? There is one local that is just quik as sh&*! But yes I am happy with the swap. I have some little issues to work out with my SVT but after that it WILL be time for a SC.
Click to expand...

Damage? Did you tell him it was a 3L, If he was a 20 year vet he should have realized what was done, sounds like he charged you a lot for not really knowing anything about it. Bring your car by my house sometime or something, your imrc should work just fine and with it working you dont need a tune man, and that will cause your car to run pretty pretty bad. And blackcoog should know about the S4, as he has both! The contours will never put the power to the ground like an awd tho.
 
The guy didn't like that the block was cut for the 2.5L accessories. I actually make sure the shops know that there will be cut marks on the block before they get sent out because of that guy. lol

As far as the SC 3L and the S4. The numbers say the Cougar should win but the S4 is a very fast car. If the Cougar could keep traction it really should win but I think the AWD on the S4 would mean the S4 has a better chance.
 
so you remember me huh!? Again I am sorry! He did not even call me when he got it. Anyways.... Will my IMRC really make a power difference if it is not working? SJon85, where are you located? I do suffer from the none grip when I race these guys too but there was some guy on here that was building an awd set up for his contour with pieces from the jaguar. I really want to get that set up and that will solve all my problems, or just create a bunch of new ones.
 
I am in Denver right by Invesco. PM me for my number, only day I will be able to check it out would be this tuesday for the next like month. It will be like a night and day difference man.
 
The front sway bar will be a pain in the ass to put in and won't give you much of any improvement. I think you need to drop the subframe to put it in and I think its like a 1mm difference. If you guys have an svt at your work try and pull more parts from it and sell them on here.
 
We do have a svt at work...not much left on it after I got to it...interior is pretty rough...and the only reason I picked up the front bar, is 1 it was free...and 2, I'm dropping the subframe to do the 3L and trans anyways
 
Yesterday I made it up to boulder where the engine is to start some investigation on the engine. So I got it into the air, pulled the oil pan to check for metal shavings/chunks...good news, I only found the urethane from the pan gasket in the bottom of the pan. Oil that wasn't completely drained was pretty fresh looking. I think right befor the car was totaled it was in the shop for some time. Had a brand new coil pack, plugs and wires, oil change, and the tranny fluid in the torque converter was a nice rich pink color. Today I will head back up and finally get the thing on a stand...what bolt size/threads do I need to bolt the engine to the stand?
Thanks guys,
Nick
 
Thanks rad merc...you saved me some time at lowes! The engine is finally mounted on the stand...I got the oil pan bolted back up and filled the engine with 6 qts of oil to keep things lubed up...popped out the spark plugs and turned the crank 4 or 5 times...didn't check compression as I forgot my compression tester at home :nonono: but I aquired the last few parts from the svt at work I wanted...I got the UIM and LIM so I don't have to take anything off my car to swap over...my plans are to have the 3L and trans 100% ready to go, pull the old engine and trans...and hopefully start dropping the 3L the same day...or at least that's the plan. Haha
 
I'm in Aurora and looking at a possible 3L swap in Spring. I have my SVT already but I have a friend who is getting rid of his SVT with a blown motor. Things that make you go hmmm. So I'm looking at being the owner of a 98 and an 00 SVT. I have ZERO idea what I'm doing but I do know that it seems that the portmatch is the easiest way to go.
 
vanguard92 said:
I'm in Aurora and looking at a possible 3L swap in Spring. I have my SVT already but I have a friend who is getting rid of his SVT with a blown motor. Things that make you go hmmm. So I'm looking at being the owner of a 98 and an 00 SVT. I have ZERO idea what I'm doing but I do know that it seems that the portmatch is the easiest way to go.
Click to expand...

Oh, and I work at Lowe's so I get a nice little discount, I may be able to assist when it comes to hardware.
 
Another CO ceg'r! I am always down to help out, im not too far from you either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top