Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California SVT sighting in San Fernando Valley..actually two

today, 12/6/04, saw a t-red csvt passing me in the opposite direction in Northridge driving down Parthenia street just west of Balboa. appeared to be an older gent in his 40s-50s.

also saw a silver clone of my own in Chatsworth about a week ago at DeSoto and Devonshire. we just passed each other but he didnt appear to notice. I saw him park at the gas station with his wife. appear to be a couple in their 50s-60s.

any CEGers?

its kinda funny. both of these gents were white and the guy i bought mine off of was a retired (late 50s) white guy. at least they keep em clean. talk about your rock solid demographic!

hi, i just mooved here from Maine to Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley. I drove my 98' red contour svt out to here from Maine. I posted here because that could have been me driving, i still am learing the area. I haven;t got any pictures on here, i almost think my car is disgusting compaired to some on here, since i am from a area where salt is mixed with sanded streets in the winter, i only drove it for ONE winter season, and every other season i had it in a heated garage. Just one winter and the cheap paint chipped off gradually, since i am here i dont have to worry about that, just looks like the car is dirthy all the time :(

Anyways, i love my car, and adding modifications here and there, I just installed a Pioneer AVIC-N1 to my car, for those who dont know its a GPS system wich i really do love now that i am in LA. I also had installed a voice recognition with the system. I just bought a MOMO shift knob, i am just waitting for it to arrive. I hope to join a club one of these days, I have heard good things about the Galpin supported SVT club, and also about the good work from their service department. Anyways, someone drop me a line if you want to get in touch, and or comments, i will need help soon when my exhaust system falls apart, i am looking for that unique exhaust system, i am still currently looking.

1998 CSVT
RED - all options, including smokers package (non-smoker driven, always)
77,000 , runs at a top
#3733 , unknown DOB at this time

welcome to paradise. lol
the valley is a piece of cake. its one giant grid. nearly all streets are parralel or perpendicular. over the hill is another story....

ive been hanging out with some local SHO guys. havent met any csvt owners in the valley although when our group went to the California Speedway we met up with some other socal CEGers and also at the Saleen show. we like to go to Ford events and other motorsports stuff together too. i post in here when something comes up. maybe you can join up and meet some people. mixed group from mid 20s to upper 40s.
id be interested about what you learn about Galpin's SVT club. ive never heard of it. my cousin even works there. Im skeptical about their service dept. my friends dads cobra got f*cked up there. if you have had or heard good experiences please share, cuz im interested.
my buddy was telling me that he takes his SHO to a mechanical engineer he met who is a SHO fan. he does his mechanic work and does contours too. i am planning on taking mine to him. he's in Woodland Hills just off the 101.


i want a MOMO shift knob! i used to have one on my accord and loved it! this csvt has this lock out thing and there are only a few momos that fit it. i havent found any used and i dont feel like spending big bucks for a momo knob a 3rd time. i recently picked up a sparco off a fellow CEGer but it is a little too small, though bigger than the stock knob. ill have to check out your momo one day.

as for exhaust, i think im gonna go with magnaflows. id go with borla if i kind find one cheap enough but i think the magnaflow sounds better.
if you are thinking of doing a repaint on your csvt, i know of some good shops in town. as well as speed shops etc...

we live near the infamous Sho Shop. its in Hungington Beach, about an hour or so down the God-awful 405. they have a bad rep because they their service is terrible and their shipping takes forever. BUT, their parts are top notch. i picked up a cold air induction system from them and a set of subframe connectors. if you dont want to wait a few weeks you can always arrange to pick up in person.
ive got a good shop for getting the springs as well if you plan to install any.
anyway, if you have any questions of what's around or where to go to get the goods just pm me.

SHO SHOP SUCKS! Live just a few miles from where I live. Hate their service, price, and their attitude.

-dan

thanks for the greeting, i was surprized to see i got a post back, i am still new at all this so bare with me. I would actually love to be incommunicado with people around my area, i am new here and have made zero friends yet! haha plus i just turned 20, and soon will be entering Pierce college. yeah i am def in paradise! if u ever been to maine its sweet, but only for the summer... nothing to do there at all...

but speaking of galpins, i only heard about there SVTOA owners association or something through svtperfornamce.com, under chapters , i think. it looked cool cuz it was close to me, and the membership fee seemed minimal, i honestly dont remember how much it costs. but i had heard absolutly nothing about the place till i went to see vandeveer ( i think thats his sirname) over at their aston martin showroom across the street. he actually informed me that galpins sells more fords then anywhere else in the country, interesting. long story short my dad wants a lotus elise, except there is no place to by them in socal! how crazy is that. he is on multiple lists all over the place and a few places he is number one, but hes been waitting for over a year, i think its so rediculous. galpins was going to be a lotus franchize, they were even taking deposits (mind u they had like 70 people in line with only word of mouth advertizing). anywho, the deal feel through with galpin and distrobuter in atlanta as usual, but we spent some time in the aston martin area talking with the guy, who is very nice. he even took us on a took of the new show room, when it opens u must see it, its hysterical. while we were chit-chatting i told him i had a contour svt and was thinking about bringing it across the street, and he said not only did he like my car, but he said that the ford place was perfect for it, not just because he is in the galpin family. they also had a $250,000 zagatto when i was there, one of 55 or something, what a machine, convertable only with no top made for it, i think he said it was steal body, but it was all hand shaped, simply stunning.

i bought the shift know from spmotorsports.com, and i really dont know what i am getting to be honest, because they wrote it retains the reverse-lock, what the heck does that mean? and when i printed my recipt, it clearly said "w/reverse-lock out", maybe it comes with a seperate mechanisum? i have not a clue. just hope i can fit it on myself, i dont know how the original one comes off, cant be too dificult.

and oh my goodness, picking a exhaust is more dificult then i thought. by the way, my brother owns a silver 00' svt, so its nice we can communicate a bit between coasts. we both agree a fart cannon, what i call those things dangling from every civic and accord, will never do, alomost ruin the car. i would prefer a higher pitched note if at all possible, but still at lower revs having a flowmaster type of snarl. and at highway speeds i dont want something loud, like what a 4" magnaflow will do. i am also concerned with the look(i woudl rather not look at a resonator and a 4" outlet, just looks tacky, somehting clean like the system already on there), but most important to me is the backpressure and the sound. my brother says he had a friend with a 2nd gen SHO, and he got a after-market exhaust that was so terrible, he ended up selling the car. i mean if it sounds bad, i dont want to drive it. i have looked at the bosal , also at spmotorsports, but i have never seen a contour with it, let alone any other car, that worries me. the bassani i have heard from here it has a drone note, and is raspy when cold, i get that from my stock system now, which i think sounds pretty good. then i have looked at borla, which seems reasonable. but i would like to call each of the places once my system falls off the car, and ask people what they think... magnaflow and flowmaster are still on the table, full cat-back flowmaster sounds interesting.

as for the paint, does anyone think ford could have spent another 40 cents on the clear cloat? i mean to me it was microthin.. maybe it was desinged for socal weather in mind. i bought touch up paint, but the flaking beihind all the wheels is just so exstencive i dedided i didn;t want to tackle that, i mean what if it looked silly and terribly noticable concidering how red fades so poorly. plus in everyones opinion but mine, people say the paint looks very good. maybe its not worth a repaint, not yet at least. ( i was at a body shop in maine that does classic cars (ie: they had a lotus super-seven being resprayed when i got a estimate, so it looked like a ligit place), and not even getting half way around the car he said "we are up to over a thousand, shall we continue?" so i naturally declined)

additions will be comming along at some point, i just love the idea that my car is so limited, so i woudl like to modify it with that in mind, so not to follow the pack. message me anytime, or whatever, still learing all this as i go...

future conciderations would include:

possible praxis in-car adjustable suspension
front sturt tower brace
rear strut tower brace
17" FSVT wheels
Wilwood 6-piston 13" brake system
...sparco seats are tempting with 4-point harness

i think Borla may be what youre looking for. i have seen a company on ebay selling the setup at a reallllly good price. my friend's shop may sell Borla. if he does, i can get it at just above cost. bolts right on, do it yourself job.

as for the shift knob, sounds like yours will definitely work. what they meant was that it will work with a car with the reverse lock out mechanism. that's the little trick Ford thingy we have in order to reverse. you pull up on the reverse ring. the knob has a wide enough opening to allow the ring to pull up inside it. most knobs dont have that option. the stock one twists right off, counter clockwise i believe. this momo probably will just twist right on since its designed for a reverse lock out. might need to use screws though, which would come with it.

as for Lotus, i know that Jaguar in Thousand Oaks always has them. i believe they may be authorized Lotus dealers. go to ultimateautoconnection.com they are a dealer located in Augora Hills. they specialize in extoic cars. my friend and his bro and step dad are the owners/salesmen. just call them and ask if they can get one. he said they are authorized dealers for every manufacturer in US except Lambo. Also try "Auto Gallery" (i think thats their new name) used to be Ogner Motor cars in Woodland Hills, on Ventura Blvd. They specialize in exotics big time.

what is Praxis on board adjustible suspesion? is that air suspension? ive never heard of it...

btw paint is always EXPENSIVE! there are many killer paint shops in the immediate area. i live around the corner from Primo customs which was recently featured on Rides tv show. i have a guy in Newhall that does good work for rates. Maybe it just needs a clear coat shot on it or color sanding and buff. you can always take it up to him and he'll give you an honest assessment as to what your options are and what might work best for you.

ps we just recently discussed have a So Cal meeting in the LA/OC area to come up pretty soon. you can roll out and meet up with the locals. i have met three so far but none from the valley. i didnt even know any other CEGers actually lived in the valley.

hey, thanks for the informative advise, i will use it. As for the Lotus, its a table-top discussion everytime i sit to eat with my dad. He is on the list at a few places, some are number one, except he has gone directly to hethel, england for his advice about getting one, mainly because those places may sell them, with yearssss waitting for one, because shipments have not come, lotus screwed themselves for the mean time. in hethel, they say they are pumping out 40 a week to meet US demand. most of the dillemas revolve around the fine print contract, lotus doesn;t want to get sued for screwing up someone elses contract, cuz that woudl put the poor company out of business it if got sued by ford or something. I actually live right off Ventura, so maybe i can convince my dad to screw around here and get one. and the funniest thing is that ebay sells more then anywere else in the world, i am sure of that.

I live in the SFV, Northridge side. Yesterday I saw a TRed SVT, almost a clone of my own (fewer paint scratches though!) on Reseda and Devonshire turning left...right in front of me.