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#1357331 05/21/06 08:24 PM
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I am in the middle of this upgrade with a few odd problems. I ordered a new shift cable because I accidently broke mine durring the swap. The new cable i got was slightly different in design but the ends fit my contour (old) shift tower.

Quote:

i looked up a cable for a 99 contour on a hunch, and found that it is replaced by a focus number,




Im pretty sure the part number of the cable i got was a focus # as well.

Quote:

it is the right length and has the newer style snap ends.




Mine seems to be the same length But my ends didn't fit the new shift tower, they were the thinner old style.


Quote:

you cannot replace your stock shifter cable without also upgrading the shift tower.



This is pretty much what I did. Everything worked fine except shifting into 3rd gear at high RPM would cause a very slight crunch. Since it the tranny was completly overhauled with new syncros and shift forks I'm sure its not something wrong with the internals. It just seems like its not going into gear all the way.

How did you get the shift tower clamps off of the cable?

Quote:

I used two vise grippers to hold the cables in place




was this done in the interior?

This is a great help and I'm kicking myself that I didn't see this while I doing my 3L.


98.5 Black contour // A.K.A. Frankenstein 3L Oval port swap W P&P // SVT UIM, LIM, & Cams Torsen LSD // Dual Friction // KKM // Poly Mounts // ?Mystery Mod? // Actually Running! 205 hp @ 6500RPM 180 tq @ 4250RPM
#1357332 05/21/06 08:30 PM
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Quote:

Nowhere in this How-To did I mention the rubber vent for the shift tower. The part number is correct (I had gotten it from a previous posting on here), but there is still an additional vent piece that is needed as I discovered. I'm still trying to track down the Ford part number and will post it when I find it.




what is the vent do and is there any pictures of this? Is the number listed for the second vent part somewhere?



98.5 Black contour // A.K.A. Frankenstein 3L Oval port swap W P&P // SVT UIM, LIM, & Cams Torsen LSD // Dual Friction // KKM // Poly Mounts // ?Mystery Mod? // Actually Running! 205 hp @ 6500RPM 180 tq @ 4250RPM
#1357333 05/21/06 08:40 PM
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I'm kind of working your question backwords, but bare with me.

Originally posted by SVTake2:

Quote:

I used two vise grippers to hold the cables in place




was this done in the interior?




Yes, it was done inside underneath the shifter boot. It kept the cables as well as the shifter in the neutral position while I did the adjustment at the shift tower.

Originally posted by SVTake2:
Mine seems to be the same length But my ends didn't fit the new shift tower, they were the thinner old style.




Did the part numbers match the numbers I gave in this how-to? I'm not sure if the ends came with your cables as an assembly or if you purchased them seperately. Also I did post a picture of the cable ends I used, do yours match with that picture?

Originally posted by SVTake2:
Im pretty sure the part number of the cable i got was a focus # as well.




Hmmm. Not sure on this one. I had 98 cables, and I thought the only way you could use the shifter ends that I referenced was to use the 98 shift cables. However your saying these are the actually focus shift cables, so naturally one would think they would fit no problem.


One final thought on all of this would be to put the shifter in third gear. Use the vise grips method to hold it there. Disconnect the shifter ends from the tower and check to see if it is all the way into third gear.

Good luck.


-Mike 98 Contour SVT Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97 WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower 85 Camaro 1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
#1357334 05/21/06 08:44 PM
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Originally posted by SVTake2:
what is the vent do and is there any pictures of this? Is the number listed for the second vent part somewhere?




Never had any resolution to this. Steve at Tousley Ford couldn't come up with any additional vents. As for pictures here you go:





As you can see not much of a vent, more or less something to keep things from plugging up the hole on the case.


-Mike 98 Contour SVT Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97 WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower 85 Camaro 1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
#1357335 05/21/06 10:47 PM
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Thanks so much for the help.. I continued reading after i posted those questions and it looks like I am one of the lucky few that are stuck with the only shift cables (LEVEL 3 Cable assys) that can't be fitted to the focus shift tower that I've already purchased (ball end style).

Ford has made a real mess with the different combinations of shift tower, clamp ends, shift cables that fit on the different MTX-75 equiped models. There are only a few combinations of parts that will work for the Contour and even then you have to be careful because some parts are no longer offered.

This might be old news to alot of people but hopefully it will help having this information linked to this HOW TO.

It might make people think twice about upgrading the shift tower all together. If you are one of those people make sure to read over the link below to understand what you are getting into with this mod.
Terry Haines MTX-75 Explanation

There is another very inexpensive mod for the stock contour shift tower that involves securing the main bolt with saftey wire. I don't have the link at the moment but I found it pretty easy searching the transaxle board.

P.S. Anybody want to buy a Focus Shift Tower


98.5 Black contour // A.K.A. Frankenstein 3L Oval port swap W P&P // SVT UIM, LIM, & Cams Torsen LSD // Dual Friction // KKM // Poly Mounts // ?Mystery Mod? // Actually Running! 205 hp @ 6500RPM 180 tq @ 4250RPM
#1357336 06/10/06 10:08 PM
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Originally posted by CSVT#49:
One update on this. Nowhere in this How-To did I mention the rubber vent for the shift tower. The part number is correct (I had gotten it from a previous posting on here), but there is still an additional vent piece that is needed as I discovered. I'm still trying to track down the Ford part number and will post it when I find it.





I know it's been a while but I finally have some closure on this since my brother just received his order of a brand new MTX-75 from CTA Motorsports. The correct part number for the vent is as follows:

XS4R-7L282-AB

Here are some pictures:









Could a moderator edit the first post of this how-to, to reflect this change?? In the first post I have it listed as

Originally posted by unisys12:
XS4Z-7L282-AA Vent




It should now read

XS4R-7L282-AB Vent

Thanks.


-Mike 98 Contour SVT Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97 WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower 85 Camaro 1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
#1357337 07/11/06 02:08 AM
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Originally posted by CSVT#49:
It should now read

XS4R-7L282-AB Vent





I found out that this engineering number does not directly correspond to a Ford part number.

I ordered the correct one and found out it's actually the same as the orignal one I gave, but ends in AB instead of AA.

There for the correct part number is XS4Z-7L282-AB


-Mike 98 Contour SVT Toreador Red #49 of 6535 Built on 3/25/97 WR Headers, Borla Cat-Back, Torsen T2 LSD, K&N Short Ram, S-AFC and Focus Shift Tower 85 Camaro 1969 358ci, 97 TA interior, 91 Z28 GrdEfx and Aero Wing 255rwhp
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