Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance anybody put a CTA into a pre-98 yet?

aaahhhhhh the time is nearing.......

I just sent Chris my order for the intake (along with some brake parts). He said there would be a little delay because of a parts shortage... maybe if labelle gets their soon, I can even get one that's been adapted over.

One thing to watch out for, folks (and a probable reason why Ford switched away from a threaded design) is that it should screw in such that the wide dimension of the electrical connector (and therefore the ceramic arch over the sensor tip) are at right angles to the airflow. Just sticking a right size thread on (or in) the tube may not get it oriented straight, unless you fudge it with a washer.

Also, ideally the thread should be far enough outside that the end of the brass housing is flush with the tube's inner surface, so only the ceramic arch sticks into the airflow. That's probably not the case with many peoples' hand-drilled mounting holes.

One way to do approximate this might be to take a piece of the old plastic tube it's screwed into -- the one with the big flat resonator on it -- and just strap the plastic over the intake with the sensor sticking in through a hole. Of course, this would spoil the intake's sleek aesthetics something awful.

Well, it went on today on labelle's Contour and the fitting went great. There are 2 differences that were taken care of. The main one, the IAT, needed a 5/8" hole drilled. From there the aluminum is soft enough that you can thread the IAT in about 2 threads, into the hole. This is more than enough to hold it. Just need to make sure the orientation is correct.

Second issue with the crankcase breather, also taken care of. We need to use a fitting that goes from 1/2" to 3/8", reuse the existing crankcase breather line, and extend it with some additional hose, clamp the end to the intake tube, and that's it.

The rest is the same as the after 98 kit. Best of all, the hood height of the pre 98's gives more clearance for the intake too.

All and all, a very good install. Now the catch is that our suppliers have backlogged many of the parts we need to build the kits and we will be delayed by about a week or more before we can get the kits out.

Sorry about that.

Excellent. So when are you taking orders for these? And will you just be drilling the new holes, or will this back things up even more at the factory? Thanks!

EDIT: Oh yeah, got any pics of the pre98 install?

The holes just need to be drilled out larger for existing kits but new ones will already come with the proper size.

We would rather not take in your funds until we are ready. We will ensure to make as many as needed, because this is going to be a regular product in our line up.

Pictures will be coming as soon as labelle has time to get them done. Shouldn't be too long for the pics.

Chris, Let me know when it's ready I'm itching to get it. Thanks!

everything went in perfectly
this thing is nice , a must have
iat was no problem
I'll get pic's asap

oh ya
chris , it should be possible to remove the paint without hurting the chrome ,but i'll have to get back to you

Sounds good, Andy. Thanks for checking that out for me.

sorry , still havn't had time to get pic's before dark , i'll have em soon.

no problem chris , still working on it though , i'll email you info on it soon .
just making sure i get the proper way
but i do know it can be done