Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General What would you do with 2k ?

Some great suggestions in this thread, and I appreciate all of them. I have some thinking to do.

As for the civic question, its not like Im buying some POS civic and ricing it out, im talking about a clean ~93 hatch with a B18 that would run in the 13s. Another option is a 240sx (but thats so played out now)

And the reason im not entirely happy with the car is becase
A.) FWD (yes I know a civic is also fwd)
B.) Weak transmission (always worried on launches)
C.) Worried about blowing my engine because of all the horror stories ive heard.

But I have to say I do love driving my car a lot and it would take me a while to get used to something else, I just dont know guys.

In response the that... your worries are about the reliability of the SVT. You shouldn't have any. If you drive your car right, and don't beat the crap out of it, it'll be fine. The tranny is quite strong. Remember that it is MXT, which can take more of a beating that any auto. As for the motor... change the oil, drive normally (not racing at every light regardless if someone is next to you), and there shouldn't be any problems. A B18 is quite difficult to fix, and parts are expensive!!! And since you won't be doing the work, labor is much more. These are just my opinions. I wasn't sure about my CSVT when I got it, and some of the stories on these boards scared me as well. But if you drive/treat the car the way it was meant to be treated, it'll hold up no problem. Besides, the CSVT looks nicer than a Civic Hatchback anyday. What will you do without all the toys... leather, moonroof, power everything, comfy seats...

low miles 3L - $500*
gaskets and bolts - $300*
labor by mechanic - ????

*estimates

that is the basic 3L swap

What are you going to do to the B18 to make that Civic run 13s?....I think your hopes might be a little high, but I would drive either one. I would prefer a CRX for the lighter, go cart feel, but it's up to you.

I have no idea but I would have around 10k to throw at it so I think 13s would be do-able.

13's in a b18 hatch is very doable especially in a 92-95 CX... with all bolt ons... honda's suck nads but they are light and have tons of go fast goodies availble for them...

do you just want a faster car or or better lookign car. me personaly when it comes to looks i think the csvt body is bette rthan any body kit ive seen for it. it just has a real nice exotic but not overdone. ive had my 5 speed se sport for about a year now and i couldnt take a civic over it even if it had a gsr motor. im sure the csvt is a way better car than my s.e. all i have is catback exhaust and K&N drop in with a cut out factory box and my car can give a gsr a good run than a beatin in the long run. if i had your svt i woudl get a full exhaust headers, y pipe with hi flow cat, and a catback. i dont know as much about the contours as the other guys on here since ive worked with mostly toyotas, but the 3L swap sounds liek a real good way to go especially with svt heads on it.

3L swap sounds cool, but I couldnt do that knowing that my SVT engine is in perfect shape. I think at this point suspension/looks is where I would be headed if I were to put the money into the car.

A short-shifter sounds like a great idea, would someone with little mechanical ability be able to install it ?

If your worried about the tranny then get a Quaife or Torsen installed (Quaife installed at HMS is about $1000.00), just to be on the safe side. I'm sure you can find someone with mechanical skills to install the B&M short throw, but you might wanna get another knob for it though Keep this in mind, as time goes by you'll start seeing fewer and fewer Contours, especially SVTs and thats cool with me because rare and odd is are attention getters

Yeah, new headlights would be a good idea. Not too expensive either.

About the rest, I'd remove the door ding guards (but be careful parking from then on!) and maybe a new exhaust system with some chrome tips or something.

That's about it, if you don't have any mechanical issues I'd save a bit for a rainy day that always seems to come, and spend a little on something you really don't need, like satellite radio or a PS2 and Xbox.... you get the drift.

Anyone special in your life need a gift?