Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General tilt wheel

I need some advice. I've been searching for a Contour or Mystique to replace one that was recently wrecked. I believe I've found a great replacement with one small glitch. I've found a 96 Mystique that the factory sticker says had a tilt wheel but it was not installed. The guy told me he tried at the time he bought the car new to get the dealer to retrofit it but they could not. He thinks it is relatively simple to retrofit one now. Does anyone know how difficult it would be to turn this into a tilt wheel. Its a big deal with my wife. Thanks in advance.

To let you know WHY I know: I modified my 96' Mystique V6 LS steering wheel, non-tilt, and my 99' SVt's steering wheel, tilt.
The job would not be too hard. Getting the steering shaft at a junkyard... The upper shaft assy is connected through the floor of the car by a pinch-bolt. So the upper assy is a separate group from what is under the car, and both "tilt" and "non-tilt" are the same below the floor.
The assy under the dash is in four parts: the part bolted to the underside of the dash support, the upper steering shaft, a lower steering shaft (which can slide back and forth) and a shaft that goes into the lower assy that goes back down via universal joint to the floor. I do NOT KNOW (from memory) how many of the 4 upper parts are different. I do know the shaft that went into the lower assy was designed differently on the two I did. The shafts design is nearly identical though.
the big difference is that the tilt has a slightly different gizmo locking the upper and lower parts in the steering column together.
I really think you don't need a tilt wheel. The wheel would only move DOWN from the original non tilt position, unlike most tilt wheels. So if your wife wants the wheel down between her knees!!! change it. (ha hah) The tilt wheel was a useless design.
I moved my steering wheels 2" closer to the dash. An easy project.

For me, the tilt wheel works. I test drove 95-96 cars and could not see the gauges. When I rented a 97 with the tilt, it was a relief. I move the wheel up from the original spot.

For some odd reason, the feature wasn't available until 1997. I am glad they kept it for 2000!