Cheap mods (under $100)
***Flaming Disclaimer!! All prices are either guestimates are what I've paid. You can find better deals if you search or have patience.
AFE Drop in Filter - $50
Drilling holes in Filter cone - priceless!
New spark plugs - $40 (Either motorcraft or NGK)
Mobil-1 - $30 (for 5.5 quarts...and I know I felt a difference!)
New plug wires - $50 (see post in GB section)
Synthetic Tranny fluid - (Mobil-1)
Replace Brake fluid - (Big bottle Syntec from AZ)
Brake pads - (A matching set all around...nice and even performance/wear. Stazi's were $87 for F/R to my door. Perform a little better than stock, and hardly any dust!)
1 bottle electronic parts cleaner - $5 (pull your MAF and gently spray/clean it)
Replace stock resonator - $80 ($40-50 for a Mag or Edelbrock, and $30 for install. Not sure about HP...maybe 1-2, but love the sound!)
4 wheel alignment - $60 (can you say no more dog-tracking?)
Remove the ding guards - Also priceless
Bnoon TB Optimization - $60 ($169 total, but he refunds $100 when he recieves your TB...3 HP)
Poly sway bar bushings - $20 (for F/R...I'll do your fronts...HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHA!)
Braided Brake lines - $100 (F/R if you don't count shipping!)
I put this list together for New CSVT owners. Yes, you can optimize the stock Y-pipe, pull the UIM and LIM and clean them, do some gasket/port matching, get a used Pro-M, etc...but I felt the above list was something anyone could do in their driveway, with minimal skills, and feel solid results.
Please feel free to add to the list.
HOW?!
?! Every place I've went, least price of a 4 wheel alignment was like $90 all the way up to $145! I must be looking in the wrong places
Originally posted by MIdnight95SE:
HOW?! ?! Every place I've went, least price of a 4 wheel alignment was like $90 all the way up to $145! I must be looking in the wrong places
Mine was $64. I think $60ish is pretty much average around here...
Originally posted by MIdnight95SE:
HOW?! ?! Every place I've went, least price of a 4 wheel alignment was like $90 all the way up to $145! I must be looking in the wrong places
im good friends with the manager at the local tire shop
Painting front oval body color.....priceless
Painting rear chrome strip black.....priceless
Painting sail panels black.....priceless
Clearing corners in headlights....priceless
Removing door ding guards....priceless
Painting interior trim pieces....priceless
Lowering through H&R springs....priceless
Fog light fix....priceless
In actuality....,
About $30 (becuase I had to buy paint, which I still have most of).
$4
$4 (same $4 as above)
$10 (for silicone and clear bulbs)
$0 (used stuff I had around the house)
About $25 (for paint and prep supplies)
Enough...install is what killed me here
$0
by the way there are no alinment's on the contour. just toe adjustments. no caster or camber.
"Painting front oval body color.....priceless"
I think painting the Blue Oval a different color is :P.
Blue Ovals should stay BLUE!
he means that chrome ring around the grill
Originally posted by Blue 'Tour:
by the way there are no alinment's on the contour. just toe adjustments. no caster or camber.
Well, officially. A good alignment shop can give you a teency bit of negative camber, like around 1 degree.
Davo7 - is there a how-to for painting the rear chrome strip? If not, you wanna give some tips?
I personally think painting the front chrome oval body color looks extremely tacky on silver & green cars.
Black & red cars can get away with it and look good.
Painting the rear chrome trim black again only looks great on black and decent on red. Never seen it on green, but probably wouldn't fly and on silver it's horrendous just like the front is.
Demon - have you seen a silver car w/ the rear chrome strip painted black? I haven't seen one...but I thought it'd look good.
I don't much care for the silver front oval on a silver car, so I agree with you on that one.
What is the fog light fix??
Originally posted by DemonSVT:
I personally think painting the front chrome oval body color looks extremely tacky on silver & green cars.
Black & red cars can get away with it and look good.
Painting the rear chrome trim black again only looks great on black and decent on red. Never seen it on green, but probably wouldn't fly and on silver it's horrendous just like the front is.
With the chrome strip, I haven't heard one bad comment for it yet...I did it on a whim since I hadn't seen the silver cars with it on, but I think it turned out really well. From a distance it looks like a Mystique tail...reflector w/out chrome strip. It also helps to make the Ford emblem look better on there. I just thought it was my best option for the rear, since there isn't much to do with G2s.
Originally posted by Derk2000:
Davo7 - is there a how-to for painting the rear chrome strip? If not, you wanna give some tips?
I sanded it with 300 or 400 -- not sure. Then I sprayed some Bulldog adhesion promoter on there, and finished with gloss black enamel. Spray enamel is tough to work with because you have to do it perfect in order for the gloss to be consistent. I took my time and did it right and it turned out great.
Originally posted by MacIzCool:
What is the fog light fix??
Wiring the fogs so that they go on w/out having to turn on the headlights. I always have them on, sort of a DRL thing.
Originally posted by I-Dom-In-8:
I think mine looks Pimp 
I agree it looks really good. Another dark color.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned removing the hood blanket (if equipped). Just the ticket to lower underhood temps.
Originally posted by PA 3L SVT:
I'm surprised nobody mentioned removing the hood blanket (if equipped). Just the ticket to lower underhood temps.
how did ford pick which contours to put these on? mine didn't come with one unless previous owner removed it.
Hey, can you give me a link or something telling me how I can do that [fog light fix]?? Thanks,
Jonathan
Drilling holes in Filter cone - priceless!
What is that? What it do and how you do it?
if i put holes in my cone filter it would kill my engine with dirt... what are you talking about? who said this anyways,, too lazy to scroll back up.
Definately need more info on the filter cone drilling. Surely he means the plastic thingy that surrounds the filter cone. I'm sure it will add growl, but won't that also let in heat?
Right..the plastic cone that surrounds the SVT air filter. Take it off...turn it over..and drill 5-6 1'2" holes in the 1st 2" of the base of the filter...5-6 on each side of the tab that goes into the MAF. When your filter is off, put your head into the engine bay and look down. You'll see a pretty clear path to the ground. Hence why to put the holes there. That way...you have air being drawn from the fender draw, as well as the freshest air from under the hood. I also removed my hood liner, and removed all but 12" of the hood seal from the firewall (where air is taken in by the cabin filter) to promote air flow/heat removal.
Did the engine sound change? Any perceived power difference?
Well...I put in my drop-in AFE at the same time, so between the 2...yes. You know how when you put on the AC and it dogs? With the AFE/cone mod...no longer dogs. I'd say the combo was worth 5 hp.
Go ahead...flame me..."can't feel 5hp..."
Another benefit...is no moosing or AF droning. Sounds great at 6000rpm too!
So...5hp...$50...Thanks Micah (pxracing@aol.com)
Good call, PA. My hoodliner mysteriously disappeared one day...
i've done basically all you can do to intake except buy an aftermarket CAI (mine is close enough) but what is this about the hood seal around the cabin air filter? never heard anything about this, can you explain more and is it the same on zetec?
The rubber seal that runs along the entire length of the firewall. Seals the hood when its shut. You can remove it, but Bnoon recommended that you leave a little strip in front of the cabin air intake to prevent engine fumes from being sucked in. Allows heat to escape out the back of the engine bay. Seemed to make sense to me...been 10,000 miles and no adverse effects. Works on any car...4/6.
Except that that area is a high-pressure area. So by removing the seal, you are
a) letting air flow into the back of the engine bay
b) increasing pressure behind the radiator, which will reduce airflow across the radiator, and
c) actually creating more turbulence in there, and reducing overall airflow.
Removing the hoodliner is a good idea, because it frees up the front-to-back flow through the engine bay, but Mr. Haines himself cautioned against removing either the front or rear hood seals.
I don't know the flow characteristics of the car...so I can't comment on that. My SVT has 85,000 on the stock WP, and she nevers reads hot...even stuck in traffic in GR! I think if you think about air coming up thru the engine bay, and exiting out of the back of the hood...maybe good?
I really didn't do the mod for any high-speed gains, but rather to let the engine bay heat have a place to go when in slow or stopped traffic, which is where the dreaded heat soak hurts the most.
Well, I'm no aero engineer, either, but there was a long discussion about removing the hoodliner, and Terry chimed in with pretty much what I parroted, above.
You may be exactly right for the driving you speak of, and Terry may be talking about a theoretical constant upon which the hood seals were based.
I also have experience with air-cooled VWs, and I know that some humble-looking pieces of tin served critical cooling functions in that motor, so when an engineer says "Oh don't remove that..." I listen.
