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What mods would you do to a 13,000 mile SVT?

boumacj said:
Just remember, the lower your car is, the more snow you are going to be pushing unless you find some good adjustables.
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4" of front ground clearance for me and Ive never had an issue. Snow moves when a bumper pushes it :shrug:. Its not like you're trying to move huge mountains of snow.
 
biminiLX said:
Thanks for the replies everybody.
For all the 'keep it stock' people, I thought I addressed that in starting the thread. I hate to break your heart but none of my cars will ever be completely stock, this included. No fun in that for me, especially a car like this when there are so many ways to improve from the baseline.
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Thats understandable. I guess I was just thinking if I was intending on modding a car, why not start with an SVT that only cost $4-5K? I wouldnt go out and pay ~$9K (Im not sure how much you payed for it, but Im just guessing by the original asking price its somewhere around there) and intentionally decrease the resale value by modding it. If I knew I was going to drop the value of the car, I would have bought a $4-5K SVT and mod that one instead so the resale value wouldnt drop at all. Not many people actually pay top dollar for a high mileage modded svt. People pay top dollar for a low mileage stock SVT. I just hate to see you make a poor investment and decrease reliability. Thats all I was getting at.

I've played both sides of the field. Ive owned one of the most highly modded contours on this website. I now own a SVT. It was completely stock and near mint which is what really appealed to me. Very hard to find these days. Hopefully I'll end up HEAVILY modding another SVT one of these days. Definetely wont start with a high dollar SVT, thats for sure. ;) Good luck with your purchase. I hope you enjoy it. :)
 
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again, if you upgrade the suspension, let me know I totally would be into taking your old suspension off of your hands.
 
I say LSD and a BAT kit. I just swapped and one of the most noticeable changes is the LSD. It really helps pull you through corners and is a technically a Ford Racing part if you buy a Torsen so it wouldn't necessarily hurt your resale value.
 
I don't know how bad winters/salt/sand are wherever you may be, but I strongly recommend getting a beater and storing your clean SVT for the winter. You'd thank yourself come spring. I don't believe my SVT has been driven during the winter and it drives like new with 74k on it.
 
All I'd like to say is don't do any mods that you can't change the car easily back to stock I've bought part for mine but I'll always be able to take it back to stock. Your car is the lowest mileage CSVT I've heard of so definetly enjoy it cause yours is rare but by all means drive it! I'd say open up the exhaust the UDP is a good idea as is the water pump (just to be safe).
 
biminiLX said:
What mods added the most enjoyment to driving the vehicle?

What maintenence issues would you address first?

-J
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For myself, my favorite mods were headers and an open intake. Gave it a great sound. Course, the headers weren't my favorite mod to perform, but that's another issue.:laugh:

Have fun with the car, get a good set of winter tires. I drive mine all winter long, by necessity, and they do ok in PA snow.
 
There aren't a lot of go fast(er) mods besides headers, exhaust, 3.0L, FI. So I wouldn't really mess with that so much as improve the handling of the car a little. Look at getting a LSD for it as well.
 
elraido said:
I thought it was kind of funny as well. Welcome to the red headed step child of SVT.
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Probably very true on the red headed step child comment, but while Contour resale values have gone down the toilet fast, I think the SVT will always hold some decent value, especially in good shape to people who know them. In 3 years when my job situation changes I really won't care what the resale is (to a point) and the car will probably go to my dad for his DD as he always liked them.
-J
 
Desiato said:
I don't know how bad winters/salt/sand are wherever you may be, but I strongly recommend getting a beater and storing your clean SVT for the winter. You'd thank yourself come spring. I don't believe my SVT has been driven during the winter and it drives like new with 74k on it.
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Blah, this is my winter car as well as my all season car.
I'd love to keep this thing stored in the winter but if I didn't need a 4 season daily driver I would have kept my Cobra.
I've done winter beaters all my life and don't plan on doing it again.
-J
 
getsum111 said:
For myself, my favorite mods were headers and an open intake. Gave it a great sound. Course, the headers weren't my favorite mod to perform, but that's another issue.:laugh:

Have fun with the car, get a good set of winter tires. I drive mine all winter long, by necessity, and they do ok in PA snow.
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Scott, I drive through Freedom everyday man. I live in beaver and work in Pittsburgh. maybe I'll see you around.
-J
 
dairdevyld said:
I say LSD and a BAT kit. I just swapped and one of the most noticeable changes is the LSD. It really helps pull you through corners and is a technically a Ford Racing part if you buy a Torsen so it wouldn't necessarily hurt your resale value.
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Thanks. I really want to do both.
I'll probably do the BAT kit in the spring with the 17" wheels. The SVTC looks really good lowered on 17-18s and the BAT kit is more of a subtle drop which is what I want.
I will do the LSD if the drivetrain ever comes apart, but I can't see tearing into it until something needs to be fixed, But yes, if the trans ever comes out i will update the trans/clutch/flywheel/duff for sure.
-J

*sweet, finally got to 50 posts
 
biminiLX said:
Scott, I drive through Freedom everyday man. I live in beaver and work in Pittsburgh. maybe I'll see you around.
-J
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You probably drive right by me, I'm on Rt 989 where it meets Rochester road. My house is the one that has all the holiday lights. :laugh: You'll have to hit up the car cruises with a few of us, every Friday night in Wexford, it's a great time.
 
biminiLX said:
Thanks. I really want to do both.
I'll probably do the BAT kit in the spring with the 17" wheels. The SVTC looks really good lowered on 17-18s and the BAT kit is more of a subtle drop which is what I want.
I will do the LSD if the drivetrain ever comes apart, but I can't see tearing into it until something needs to be fixed, But yes, if the trans ever comes out i will update the trans/clutch/flywheel/duff for sure.
-J

*sweet, finally got to 50 posts
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I agree, leave the diff alone until it breaks or you are in there to do something else. It sounds like you are just using this for dd duty anyways, so you may go a long time just fine. I'm at 6yrs/80k on stock diff/clutch, etc. w/ no probs and I don't exactly baby the car. :D

On your original topic of mods that enhance what's already there, I'd say you are off to a good start with 17"s and the BAT kit. I'd recommend the B&M shifter (put mine on within two weeks of buying the car new), fog light mod, Magnaflow resonator replacement and either headers or optimized y-pipe. Then get in on next next Pudmonkey CAI heat shield GB and grab a K&N. For little aesthetic stuff, there's the pre-98 sail panel replacement (less cheesy chrome "Contour"), headlight eyelids, shifter boot with green stitching.

Just check the stickies in the different forums for more detail on some of this stuff if you haven't already.
 
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