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 Topic: ModificationsThe new items published under this topic are as follows.
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Hi Everyone, since I haven't contacted or ordered anything from Carbotech Performance Brakes in quite a while, I decided to call them on your behalf.
They put me in touch with Dan Puskar ,and this is what he told me is now available for our T/T cars.
Tempo - Topaz /84-94
Front Pads: code #CT257 , Bobcat 1521 $107 USD , AX6 $116 USD
Rear Shoes: code #CT8501, Bobcat 1521 $137 USD , AX6 $149 USD
When I asked Dan about a possible group buy, he told me that he would knock 15% off on a min. order for ten cars. He said that it could be more depending on the size of the order. So something to think about.
He said that the Bobcat 1521 would be the replacement for the CT1257-FT Super Street F front pads that I purchased back in /99, and is much improved over what I had.
Also the AX6 pads and shoes are used for autocross and track use, and could be used for street use, but I personally wouldn't recommend it ,due to the lack of heat build up in normal everyday driving .
Dan also recommended that we use AP Performance 5.1 brake fuild, and do a total bleed/ fuild change once a year for max. performance.
Now since some of you are new members, I would just like to let you all know that my Carbotech front pads ( and cryo hardened rotors,of which are no longer required) lasted me for more than 4 yrs. of 'spirited' driving, with min. non damaging brake dust and zero noise.
With the HP rear shoes now being available, it could very well eliminate the need for additional brake mods, for most of our members requireing additional HP braking power.
You can learn more from viewing Carbotech's FAQ section @ http://www.ctbrakes.com/
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I have done several up grades to my tempo. I first swapped out the fuel injectors with the 19 lb design 2 fuel injectors of the ford mustang. I then changed the fuel pump to a racing fuel pump 255 lph . I replaced the fuel regulator with a mustang high flow fuel regulator, however, I had to make brackets and I later realized they do sell high flow fuel regulators for the tempo. I next took a Ford Expedition or 4.6 mustang throttle body which I inverted and drilled, connected a pin for the throttle body cables and attached it to the tempo throttle body with a space for a 4.6 mustang throttle body, I did have to drill holes on the spacer to match to the throttle body. I installed a cold air intake for a Ford probe with a little cutting. I located a tubular manifold for a 4 cylinder Taurus and replaces mine and had a s shaped down pipe made. I up graded to a high flow cat and magna flow muffler. I
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Well it took some sluthing, some luck, and based on the name Chrome Rush mostly remebered I managed to find the web page!!!
Order your front clear corners for your 1990-94 TT HERE: http://www.mirsa-mx.com/
(Read extended text for part numbers an such).
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Aftermarket parts for the Tempo/Topaz are near none, as we all know. We are always "adapting" one part to fit another (at least I am). I figured I add on my modification to my 1989 4 door Tempo. The install was supposed to be straight forward, remove old bracket and bushing, and install new Polyurethane and bracket. Umm, no, not so easy. The factory bushing has an additional 1/4" (roughly) of rubber, and is compensated for with the frame mounts being "indented / raised." The solution has two options: Weld in a 1/4" piece of steel between the holes in the indention, or two, make a bottom piece for the sway bar bracket to mount flush. I went with option 1, option 2 was NOT pretty, and doubt it would hold up for long without flexing, or worse, breaking. I added a couple locking washers, over the flat washers, to keep it from moving back and forth. With the slots included on the new bracket, you can now change your vehicle's caster by almost 1 1/2 degrees! As compared to NO Factory adjustment. I have the 1 1/16" (27MM) front sway bar, and used Energy Suspensions p/n 9.5162R. Red with greasable bushings. Total cost for front $13.99 +$9.99 S&H. From Jeg's, and $0.00 for the quick mig welding, grinding smooth. I highly suggest having an automotive lift, since it sucks working on the floor! Also, it's easy to drop in a new motor mount for the Driver's Front while there, it's only a couple extra bolts, and besides, I hate to weld above my head. I'm working on the rear heim joint based replacement control arms, I got that idea from olympic's SHO Topaz, which is an awesome piece of work, with lots of pictures.
Here are some of the other sizes followed by p/n (? = R for red, G for black)
3/ 4 in./19mm 9.5156?
15/ 16 in./ 24mm 9.5160?
1 in./ 25mm 9.5161?
1 1/ 8 in./ 28.5mm 9.5164?
1 1/ 4 in./ 31.5mm 9.5165?
32mm 9.5166?
1 5/ 16 in./ 33mm 9.5167?
1 3/ 8 in./ 35mm 9.5168?
I think I included all the possible bushings, including the 19mm for the addco rear sway bar. The addco sway bar itself is p/n addco 441G.
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I was able to buy all new Accel Ignition parts for my 2.3 Liter Tempo. I ordered a new Coil, 8.8 mm wires, and distributor rotor from Summit racing's website. They all work great together and look even better. I was able to get everything for about $150. Check it out on my cardomain site... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2063293/3
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i put a wing off a 1988 escort gt on my 93 topaz it was easy i took some cardborad and put it on the back of the escort after i took the wing off and marked 6 of the 8 holes because the 2 top end holes you dont use so before you install the wing take off the screws on top ends then put your cardborad down and drill your holes and put the wing on
p.s.it looks good with my shaved decklid
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It's possible to install a functioning lightbar into a pre92 Topaz.
Remove old grill. Take a dremel tool and shave the front bumps in the side posts beside the headlights.
Flip the lightbar upside down and shave off the extensions under the top lip. Take a 3/4" spade bit and drill 2 holes into the back of the lightbar and install two signal light sockets. Wire the sockets to the low beam (red/black wire) from the back of the headlight socket.
Center the lightbar over the hole. Drill 2 holes on the top of the supports and install 2 #10 self threading screws.
Voila! A functioning lightbar. I used two blue lights in the signal sockets. Looks pretty cool at night!
Whole mod took about an hour. Enjoy!
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For those of you who either cannot afford or do not like the look of aeroform.com's ground effects kit for the tempo/topaz, here is a simple, stylish, and, perhaps, less expensive alternative:
I was bored with the stock body style of my Topaz (heaven forbid!). I was also quite short on funds. Then I began thinking about what I could do and it occurred to me that the early model honda accords (late '80's/early 90's) shares a very similar shape with nearly all models of FoMoCo's most underrated car, none other than the Tempo and the Topaz!
So far, I only have the front air dam installed. I was able to find aftermarket ground effects on a bashed-up 1990 accord in a junkyard. Unfortunately, the back of the accord was totally crunched and the side-skirts were non-existent. Total price for awesome ground effects so far: 50$.
A small amount of cutting and bending is required and I had to cut the slotted part off of my Topaz's front bumper, but with some blue paint, some bolts, and a small amount of fiberglass filler (to make the seams cleaner), I now have an excellent looking front air dam. It looks like it was meant to be on there. I just wish I could find a way to lower my car the right way...
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| (6492 Reads) |
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Holley, the distributors of NOS products offer a universal 4-cylinder kit for sport compacts. I, being an ambitious Topaz owner, decided to purchase this kit for about $400. I also purchased the NOS line purge-valve kit for an additional $100. The installation was suprisingly easy and the actual horsepower gain feels something like in the 40-60h.p. range. It just feels great pulling up beside a civic, purging your NOS lines, and watching the look on their face. It is priceless.
If you have a couple extra hundred dollars you should seriously consider purchasing one of these. The Tempo and Topaz engine is known for it's indestructability and it handles this extra horsepower perfectly. A mod like shorter and cooler plugs is also recommended.
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I swapped my 85 tepo cfi distributor with a later model (AA) out of a efi motor. Seems to work fine with stock computer I've driven about 100 miles no hickups
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| (3168 Reads) |
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1990 - Ford Tempo L 4 Door
- 1.9L Escort HO Motor w/Wiseco Forged LC Pistons
- PF3 EEC-IV (stock programmig)
- 2001 Ford focus Sport Rims
- Garret T3 Turbo from Merkur XR4Ti
- Greddy BOV
- Spearco FMIC
- 3" DownPipe From Turbo to Cat
- 3" in Cat 2.5" out
- APC Mini Stainless Muffler with Stainless 2.5" Exhaust
- Nirous Fittings and Empty Tank (too afraid to fill it, the turbo was enuf)
Now, i dont know if this swap is desired by anyone here, but it was inquired upon off of another forum by someone a long time ago.
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I recently came across a problem with my '89 gold Topaz 5 Spd. The shifter linkage almost fell right out of the car!?! Because of the way it works I lost 5 th and reverse gears. When I got the car up on my hoist and tried to correct the problem I found that the stock design doesn't quite work very well. After about an hour of cussing and trying to weld it in place I came up with an all new idea. I took some spare steel lying around cut it to 2 and half foot lengths, placed a 1 inche x 1 inche spacer in the middle and welded it right to the frame of the car. This no only fixed my problem with the droopy shifter, but it also (cause of the sturdiness of the design) fixed the sloopy tranny feel. Now the shifter does not move around, or vibrate the way it used to and all the gears feel like they are where they are supossed to be.
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easy weel upgrade......the 195/65 15s that are on the escort gt are a direct bolt up for the 84-91 tempo/topaz....they look good on my car....pics soon
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| (3372 Reads) |
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http://www.performancerotors.com/ford-escort-brake-rotors.shtml
i found a decent deal on performance rotors here.. they work great!. I usually change rotors once a year, ive used these harder than any of the others, and still no problems after 13 months. I payed extra for the slotted/drilled.
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| (2769 Reads) |
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I did a really good looking mesh grill i cut out the whole center of my grill the unbolted the chrome piece at the top then put mesh on its very easy then i bolted the chrome piece back on over the mesh
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| (3461 Reads) |
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I recently bought a engine mod for my 1990 Mercury Topaz. It is a small chip that fits into the AIT (Air Intake Sensor) and runs about $5.00. The discription said that it would boost your Hp +20 by adjusting the fuel/air ratio slightly. It also said that it would not harm you engine's computer, which it has not. But all it seems to do is raise the RPM from about 750 to 1200. My car seems to have an increase in Hp but I think that is because whenever you ease off the brake the car takes off. If you are on flat ground and don't hit the gas or the brake the car will go about 40 Mph, and that is not good on the brakes (or the transmission). Everytime you slow down or stop you can feel the car slam back into first (I obviously have an automatic). If you have a manual transmission I think this mod would be great, or if you are one who doesn't like to take peoples' words then try it out. I only used the mod for 30 minutes and I did not want to find out if it is bad for my car. I only did what I thought has good for my Topaz. This mod will also work for Tempos. Email or IM me if you would like to find out how to get one. Buyer beware!
Email: eulogyadd@cs.com
IM Name: eulogyadd
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| (7356 Reads) |
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If you remove the fender hose running to your air box and then remove the air box you can reuse that hose. Attach the hose to the TB with hose clamps and attach the other end to a cone filter, I would suggest using a hose clamp unless you want to go with a way kool custom riveting job like mine. Also the hose will have to be modified with a utility knife to make the size right.
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| (3504 Reads) |
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Side-molding on 92-94 tempos is the same color as the rest of the car. Painting the side molding will really make your tempo stick out from all the rest. All you need to do is clean side-molding with a finish stripper (wax remover), Place 2"wide masking tape tight to the inner-edges of the side molding, Spray one light coat of primer, let dry then 2 coats of your choice of spray paint and once that is dry spray with one coat of clear coat. And you now have the sharpest tempo on the block.
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| (3386 Reads) |
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You know the problem: those headlights are yellow, making it hard to see anything at night. The problem is that the lenses get oxidized, much like neglected paint. The rest of the headlight assembly is usually fine. You should check for large cracks in the light, and if it looks bad, odds are there is a good one in a junkyard ($10-40) if needed.
So how do I remove the oxidation?
Headlight refinishing! This takes 20-30 minutes per light, with very little elbow grease. Yes, it will look brand new when done with care and attention to detail. Get the list of things given here, though I bet you have some of this in your garage.
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I was wondering how to give my Topaz a bit more of a mean sound without spending a whole pile of money on the huge rediculas looking chrome mufflers you see on civics. So I thought of straight piping it. I cut the stock muffler off the car and made up a 3 inch piece of driveshaft and a hanger. I put it on and to a surprize it was very loud because of the 3 speed automatic the engine rev's very high at highway speeds. The drone in the car was unbelievably annoying. So I packed the pipe with steel wool and drilled 4 holes through the pipe behind the wool and put stainless steel wire though in a cross pattern to hold the wool in place. I painted it with black heat paint and it looks and sounds very sharp.
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| (5044 Reads) |
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Well, it is quite easy. I just took off the air vents and the interior lights and spray painted them a crystal white. When the sun hits the paint, it sparkles. SOO NICE!!!
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| (2952 Reads) |
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To give your Tempo or Topaz a cleaner appearance or even immitate the second generation GLS/LTS look you can quickly and easily give it the blackout treatment. It's also good for covering up pitted or damaged fake chrome and scuffed strips in the side mouldings or bumpers.
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I have a 1991 Topaz GS. It came with a stock luggage rack, ||I thought it looked all right, but it needed more, I was doing one of my junk yard search and i found a 1993 Escort LX with a stock wing, I thought it would look all right on the Topaz, And I was right, The only difference is the Wing had another 3rd brake light witch was no problem to wire up, then I removed the stock Topaz light from the back window, The wing isnt anything major, but it adds some effect.....
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| (3840 Reads) |
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This project took about a 2 hours to do excluding the time it took me to walk back to my parts car and hack out the 2 plugs for the Cluster. I then removed all the "pins" from the two sports cluster plugs and chucked the wires in the Trash. (Hold on to the plain black one – it is used later) I then went through the diagrams that Brian Scanned for me (Links Below) and removed each wire from the standard cluster plug that was in my car one by one and installed these wires in the corresponding new plugs. This step took the most the time.
The Sports Cluster Requires 2 ground leads while the standard cluster only requires one. Ford just ran a jumper wire from where one wire goes into the plug, to another place on that plug. In order to make use of this jumpered wire I just cut the metal piece off the ground wire in my car, and used a crimp connector to join the two wires.
I then took another piece of the old harness with a plug on it and soldered on a Piece of wire that was long enough to reach from the cluster to the tach wire for my remote car starter (If you do not have a remote car started installed you will have to run a wire all the way to the negative pole of your distributor). I soldered these 2 splices in the wires and covered one with shrink tubing and the other with liquid electrical tape and ordinary electrical tape over that.
If any of you have any Questions about the swap feel free to ask, I am around the forum often. This was a MUCH MUCH easier swap that I had anticipated
Here are the links to the wiring diagrams required to do this swap:
Sports Cluster Diagram
Standard Cluster Diagram
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| (5136 Reads) |
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Ok, so I installed a simple gauge cluster in my car. The instructions provided should be plenty, but if you are still unsure, I have pretty pictures to help when words hurt your brain. Check out my web site for the pictures, and ask me if you need more help. To install, (by the way this cluster has oil pressure, engine coolant temperature, and voltage) first find a location for the gauges. Screw them in, bolt em down, whatever. Then run the wires through the firewall, you should have one empty if you haven't already used it. The oil pressure line screws into a port just above the oil filter. (oh, this is on a 94 topaz, other years may be different) The port will have a little cover on it, just take that off, its not used as far as I can tell. The engine coolant temperature is different. There is already a sensor there, and the car needs it. So you'll need a t-fitting which will go into the sensor port. The existing sensor and the new sensor will go into the t-fitting. If you decide not to buy a t-fitting, and just blow off the old sensor, you will have problems, so don't do it. Remember to use teflon tape on all the connections, and make sure they're tight. You don't want any leaks. When removing the engine coolant temperature, be careful about the antifreeze that will spill out a bit. Please be sure to clean it up too, my cat died a few years back because my neighbor left an antifreeze spill in his driveway. My cat drank some and suffered a kidney failure, thus killing her. It is a sweet smelling and tasting fluid, and animals often make the mistake of drinking it. Little kids too! Anyway, the instruction recommend having a pro do the voltage so I haven't done it yet, sorry. I f you have any questions, please ask, and remember to visit my web site at http://users.adelphia.net/~hagakure962 to find the pictures. Thanks for reading and remember to keep your car in shape!
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<IMG src="thumbs/brianseats1.jpg" border=0>
<IMG src="thumbs/brianseats2.jpg" border=0>
<IMG src="thumbs/brianseats3.jpg" border=0>
I decided I wanted to replace the stock GS front buckets in my Topaz with something more sporty. Originally, I wanted to replace them with XR5 or GLS seats. Well, those were somewhat hard to come by in the junkyards, but I found a suitable replacement. I went with a set of 1988 Ford Thunderbird TurboCoupe front bucket seats. Here's what I did:
- When I pulled the seats from the junked car, I took the seats and the entire seat track assembly for each seat. After the seats were removed, I pulled up the carpet and took every bit of wiring harness that I could relating to the powerseats. If you are gonna do this, you will have to pull the center console.. the wiring harness runs right underneath it.
- I wanted to try and use the full power driver's seat function. To do so would require using the seat track assembly from the TC seats. The floor pan of the Topaz has a different shape than that of the Topaz. Conceivably I could have used the tracks from the TC, but taht would have required bending the metal tracks to the shape of the Topaz floor and drilling new mounting holes... too much work just to get the power seat to work.
- Step 1: First, remove the trim pieces that cover the seat hold down nuts and bolts. There are 3 covers head on by 4 phillips head screws to remove. The right rear and right front are seperate pieces, and the left side is one piece. Be careful when removing this piece, you need to rotate it and remove it from near the middle of the seat, between the seat and the door.
- Step 2: Remove the seat belt retainer clip. This is a small slender piece of plastic that keeps your lap belt up with the seat and you front hunting around for it. It is held on with 2 phillips head screws.
- Step 3: Remove the 2 bolts and 2 nuts that hold the seat in place. These require a 13mm socket/wrench. After removing these, the seat will lift right out of the car.
- Step4: Remove the tracks from the original seats. There are four bolts that hold them to the seat. Using the adjusting lever, slide both tracks all the way to the front or the rear to expose one set (front or rear) bolts. Remove them using a 10 mm socket. Next, using the adjusting leverl, slide both tracks the opposite direction to expose the remaining two bolts. Remove them using a 10 mm socket. Remove the tracks from the seats. The small spring loaded wire that locks the seats in place will probably come loose. Not to worry, as long as the tracks stay in their currently locked position, it is fine.
- Step 5: Line up the tracks on the new seats. Secure with 2 of the bolts removed in step 4. Hook up the spring loaded wire to the release lever and mechanism. Use the lever and slide the seats to the opposite direction. Secure with the remaining 2 bolts from step 4.
- Step 6: In the carpet there will be a split directly under the seat. Pull this up a little bit and put your hand in under the carpet and find the plug for the power lumbar. My car was pre-wired for this option, and I believe that all Tempos and Topazes were. My plugs were found toward the doors of the car on each side. Pull out enough wire from the harness through the slit to give you about 6-8" to work with.
- Step 7: Alot of the wiring harness I removed was for the power seat function. After unraveling the harness from the electrical tape (used to keep the wires neat), the power lumbar portion of the harness actually seperated from the harness that went to the power seats. What I did was clip the plugs off of their wires.
- Step 8: I clipped the plug off of the Topaz harness and spliced in the plug from the TC wiring harness. This enables me to plug the seat into the wiring harness instead of hard wiring the seat to the harness. Makes them easier to remove if they need to be removed.
- Step 9: Place the seat back into the car. Bolt the car back in with the nuts and bolts removed in step 3. Re-thread the lap belt through the side clip (added benefit of using the Topaz seat tracks) and reattatch the retaining plastic piece. Reattatch the trim pieces with the phillips head screws.
- Step 10: Repeat these steps for the passenger seat.
- Step 11: Reach up under each seat and plug the seats into the wiring harness.
- Step 12: If your car currently has powerseats or the power lumbar, you can skip this step. Go to the fuse panel under the dashboard. Slot ?? should be empty. Place a 20A blade fuse in there.
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Olympic has both front and rear Strut Tower Braces available for both 2.3L 4-cylinder cars and 3.0L Vulcan cars.
 Prices for the bars are:
Front Brace
$100CND / $75US
Adjustable Rear Brace
$100CND / $75US
Non-adjustable Rear Brace
$22CND / $15US
Front and Adjustable Rear Brace
CLICK HERE for more information.
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