The answer to lots of questions can be found at Contour.org with the extensive FAQ and forums. Please check Contour.org for most of your problems as I am not a mechanic and just don't know the answers to most questions. If you still want to email me about your question, feel free.

I've removed the guestbook because it was mainly being used by spammers. Sorry. Morons ruined it for the rest of us.

I had a CEL come on. Codes P0401 and P1408. Turned out to be the EGR Vacuum Regulator Solenoid had gone bad. Instructions and pictures for changing it are now under the HOWTO section.

New Pictures and stuff I've been going nuts with my digital camera. Replacing the old crappy pictures with new ones as I go along. Look at my picture directory to see all the pictures. The newer ones are obvious by their file date. I'm keeping the old stuff in there just to keep a record of what I've done to the car as I've gone along.

I also have some cool pictures from when I changed my valve cover gasket. Interesting stuff if you have never seen an engine with the cam cover removed.

Lots of stuff Since the last update, I've put on an Esslinger Engineering underdrive pulley and idler pulley. I've also put 95 - 97 SE struts and H & R springs to help out some in the handling department. I put up some pics of the strut install on a Yahoo! Photo Page. A really involved process that I wouldn't reccomend doing yourself if you aren't really handy with tools. At some point, I'll write up a HOWTO for the the struts to try and help some folks out.

I recently bought a digital camera so I should be putting lots of pics up of the car. Keep your eye peeled.

Century Performace offers cheap headers ($330) for the Ford Focus, which may or may not fit the Contour. I intend to try them out around summer 2001. They're JBA Shorty headers and look pretty nice.

On John's page there is also a couple of MPEGs of his SVT with the resonator removed. Neat stuff. Check those out as well (be sure to apply for that Visa card to help me pay for the hosting for this site :) I had to take the MPEGs down to save disk space on the site

I've also added some information on the new mailing list for Contour owners on the Lists and Rings page on the right.  An invaluable resource to CDW-27 platform owners.

This site is paid for out of my own pocket (InterNIC fees, web hosting fees, etc).  If you want to help me out, and get a cool credit card to boot, click on the small Visa logo in the navigation bar.  You can put any picture you want on it as the background.  So find a cool picture of your car and hop on over there to make a personalized Visa card.  I do get a small 'finder's fee' if you are accepted, which is why I ask that you click on it from this site.  Thanks!

Old News:

September 1999 - Added a background that I created using a cutaway picture of the SVT. Also a similar background using the new Lincoln LS.  Check it out using the "Wallpaper" link on the left.  More wallpapers coming in the future.

August 1999 - My site is back in business at it's new home.  Bookmark this page, and/or change old links.  Stuff will be updated as I get time.

June 1999 - The dash was replaced as a result of the accident in Feb 99.  The replacement was down by the Perimeter Ford Body Shop in Atlanta, GA.  Results were excellent.  No rattles!

20 May 1999 - If you can't tell, this page is going though a bunch of changes. I'm switching over to using frames. Seemed like the most logical choice to me, and should make the site a little easier to navigate. Everything should be back to normal here in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, feel free to look around and give me comments on anything.

3 May 1999 - Got lots of hail damage to my car today.  Insurance estimate is $1200, minus $300 deductible so I would get a check for $900.  Can't find a place that will fix it for that cheap, so I'm not filing a claim.  The car has damage from the other accidents, so it's value is already down quite a bit.  Can't see putting more money into it.

Feb 1999: Well, I've managed to crash my car again. Taking an off ramp with a little too much speed the rear end broke loose on me. My first instinct was to turn with the direction of the spin, but that would have thrown me into a concrete retaining wall at almost full speed. So, I cut the wheel the opposite direction. Little bit better idea, but I struck a steel guard rail head on. The front bumper took the blunt of the damage with the air bags deciding that they needed to deploy.

The only damage to the car was that the front bumper needs repainting/replacement. The deployment of the airbags broke the windshield and may have broken the dash. Initial insurance (USAA) appraisal is $2293.59 in damage. The body shop will probably find more things wrong with the car bringing the total even higher. I've asked them not to replace the front license plate bracket since Georgia does NOT require a front tag.

I wasn't hurt in the accident, cept the airbags burnt the tip of my nose and a small amount on my right cheek. Two knuckles on my left hand are also bruised. Not too bad. The car was completely driveable after the accident, but I decided to stick around for one of Atlanta's finest to show up. Only took him 2 HOURS! F**king ridiculous if you ask me. And then he decided to cite me for 'Striking a Fixed Oject.' Talk about adding insult to injury. Gotta show up in court and fight the ticket since it's a dangerous ramp with lots of marks on the guard rail from previous victims. Anyways, back to the regularlly scheduled programming...