I just bought a 1999 Contour SVT and I am looking to do upgrades to it. The car needs a clutch and a timing chain put in it but after that I am looking to do upgrades. What all can be done?
For performance, many will say jump straight to a 3.0L swap, with ported heads/intake. If you're going to pull the motor to do the clutch, it would be a great time to drop in a low mile 3.0L.
For suspension, you can pick between coil with an aftermarket spring/damper set up, or coil overs. I'm avoiding the coil overs due to the horror stories and broken struts.
There are a couple of brake options. PRT offers a kit based on the 13" SN95 Mustang brakes. Wilwood makes a big brake kit as well. Most of the upgrades I found require the 17" wheels to clear them. I got lucky and found a use BAT (British American Transfer) kit that uses 4 piston Wilwoods on the stock size rotor to retain the stock SVT wheels.
I have had 4 svt contours and one contour sport
Poor cars have turned into beaters for someone who has a nicer car.
I love these cars. I would deff upgrade the brakes I also recently installed the bat handling kit. I am happy so far.