fiestaturbo.com

[hb69]

some later mk3's had a larger hole behind the mirrors, this means mk3.5 mirrors go straight on without the need for modification.

[Max M4X WW]

My old one was a 3.5, with mk3 mirrors but 3.5's went straight on

[MotorcyclesFish]

So much has happened, update to follow.

Let's just say I'm teetering on the verge of smashing everything smashable on the car and torching the car live on webcam.


Resolve. Need more resolve.

[Max M4X WW]

Fiesta's are not that bad! Will 'look forward' to an update!

[MotorcyclesFish]

Update: fudgekin thing.

Found some rust.

Car pulls left, steering wheel goes right under acceleration, can feel either engine moving or suspension flapping, fooking scary. Steering goes *ping* as you come past straight ahead to go onto other direction.

New boot pop mechanism doesn't work, suspect wiring on car.

New coilovers are f**cked, got mugged there.

2 of the 3 working speakers have stopped working.

Found a gap where a PCV hose should be.

Engine and box are moving about despite 2 new gearbox mounts and 1 new engine mount - speedo is flickering all over the place.

[abbasar2000]

Have the hubs ' ovalled ' where the balljoints go in? My escort did that, it ate lower arms, well balljoints, had about 6 lower arms in 3 months, just tore the balljoints out if i booted it it would pull right, ive i backed off , it would pull left, i even replaced the steering rack, track rod ends, only to find out it was a new hub i needed, spent around £350 and all i needed was a £15 hub

Check top shock mounts.

If engine is moving about check the new mounts are not faulty items, i once fitted some diesel ones to a RST and 2 days later, the threaded part ripped out of the rubber block

Make sure the brackets are all done up and havent snapped.

Speedo should just be the drive which is held in the box, undone by a 22mm spanner i think.

[MotorcyclesFish]

Actually it's funny you should mention most of the above points

1. I had to replace an ovalled OSF hub (see earlier in the thread)

2. It's had new front top mounts

3. I fitted diesel mounts to the gearbox on this. Maybe they've failed already.

4. When I got the car, the gearbox to mount brackets weren't done up!

Do the speedo drives fail on these boxes even when powertrain assembly rigidity isn't in question?

[MotorcyclesFish]

I'll stick some photo progress up soon.

Today I (ably assisted by my dad) removed the Sparkrite alarm from the vehicle. The crudely punched holes in the scuttle to run some wires through (1/2" square hole chisel punched through, I s**t you not) have been sealed up, which is nice.

Whilst trying to begin repairs to the abused cabin loom, I discovered some gaffa tape and residue from where numerous small packages have been attached behind the glovebox. This shocked me enough until I dropped the fusebox to investigate there and a knife dropped out in a crude homemade cardboard sheath. This knife was small and vicious, not what you'd use for e.g. chopping veg. Nice.

I'm beginning to suspect one of the diesel gearbox mounts has failed, causing the assembly to rotate a bit unnaturally causing my odd steering issue.

[Sphinx]

Who the f**k did you buy this car from?!?!

[~S1~]

Who the f**k did you buy this car from?!?!

[~nomad~]

the upside of this is that you now have a handy stabbing knife. I have found knives in a couple cars before, and plenty of old ford xrs and rsts have the gaffa tape residue from taping weapons and gear places

[Excursion]

I bet some great things happened in that car.

[~nomad~]

I bet some great things happened in that car.

superb.

All that happens in it now is cussing and crying.


tbh.

[MotorcyclesFish]

Yep.


My dad dropped me off at the tram stop on sunday. From 200yds away I could hear him spinning up in 1st and 2nd as he left the side road. He denied all knowledge. ASBO pedigree.

Once I sort the funny steering/pulling issue I'll be happy to keep working on it.

[MotorcyclesFish]

Update 28.02.08

Began prep work on the new door and tailgate I sourced. The door needed adjusting where a space for mk3.5 mirrors had been crudely punched through - this was easily sorted with an air saw and belt sander. The tailgate needs further stripping and then they both need rubbing down, but it shouldn't be too much of a hardship. There are some dents and rust to sort out on both panels, but if I wanted to avoid rust I'd have bought a peugeot and started kissing boys and all that gay s**t.

Extra long wheel studs are on order, as is a (hopefully) straight ZS alloy.

BODGERY UPDATE:

Latest bodge found is PCV hose missing, blanked off at manifold with a length of garden hose or similar, with a socket cap set screw clamped inside it. PCV box is open to the engine bay and so, by a circuitous route, my fooking nose. I need to source a new hose from them and a new metal water rail hose as there's nothing bolted up around there. *sigh*

Next item on the agenda is to fit a new set of lower arms to begin to address the dodgy steering issue and to maybe make some tiny inroads into repairing what's left of the cabin loom.



The lovely door sourced from Dave The Jew's House O'Nappies, a notable Ford parts supplier. Superb value for money. I mean that as well, that's not my usual deadpan cynicism. This was shortly before stripping it all down and removing all the stickers etc.


*TRADE TIP* Using the trusty Bosch hot hot hot air gun to extend the longevity of a cuppa. Also useful for this is an IR paint baking lamp. These tips also work well on, e.g. fried breakfasts.


Removing what's left of the door membrane with same.


Removing stickers with same. Yes I was trying to get a Call-Of-Duty-screenshot type affair going here. This is my plastic scraper. There are many like it, but this one is mine... etc.


Lovely tailgate from an RS Turbo. Felt a bit guilty mashing the RST badge off the boot - are they rare? This will be stripped back completely and repainted. There's a bit of rust around the rubber slam thingies, wiper mechanism and numberplate holes, all of which need attention, but for what I didn't pay for this tailgate I certainly cannot complain. Mk4 wiper is a nice touch.


Mid-vanilla-wheeling numberplate tape off. I assume the previous owner had a specific phobia of numberplates falling off and, e.g., causing a 15-car pile-up or something.

Bonus material - vid of the zetec-s alloy illustrating just how fooking bent it is. Mega props, shoring and suitable foundations to MildlyScary_Generator for onlining this shiznit:

[heeman10]

This car is very special! It's almost as though you bought a car specially put together for a series on buying used cars, to be used as the "worst possible case" example!!!! Shocking!

[rchambers]

I think you should change your username to "Mike Brewer" after finding this peach

[MotorcyclesFish]

I'm telling everyone on turbosport that you're on a FWD forum!

[rchambers]

I feel dirty now Nah FWD is alright if you like that sort of thing

[Sphinx]

It does seem kind of ironic that your first public venture to fwd has resulted in possibly one of the most…..problematic shall we say, cars on the site.

[~nomad~]

It does seem kind of ironic that your first public venture to fwd has resulted in possibly one of the most…..s**t shall we say, cars in the world.

[Capri]

I did try to warn him.

Mind you, I can't really talk.

Good luck mate - fair play to you for having the commitment to see it through! Just don't forget to keep a look out for that fine line between respectably dogged commitment and flogging a dead horse.

[Sphinx]

Just don't forget to keep a look out for that fine line between respectably dogged commitment and flogging a dead horse.

On that note, when do you need me to come and bodge the money pit*?




*Rover

[MotorcyclesFish]

This car is very special! It's almost as though you bought a car specially put together for a series on buying used cars, to be used as the "worst possible case" example!!!! Shocking!

It does seem kind of ironic that your first public venture to fwd has resulted in possibly one of the most…..problematic shall we say, cars on the site.

I wish you guys were wrong. Anyone that knows me knows that I can be a touch... persistent. I think I'm going to try and see this one through. Pray for me, for this car is doing its level best to break me.

[Sphinx]

Once you've fixed everything and made the bodywork nice and rust free, I'd buy it off ya

[MotorcyclesFish]

PROGRESS!

With the fitment of new genny ford lower arms, retaining bolts and nuts, the car is finally starting to behave. It's shown up the steering rack and knackered suspension as weak points but it's gone from a liability to a laugh. Also fitted are the extra long studs to allow the wheels to be spaced back to the correct offset - ZS alloys are ET42.5 or something and fiestas take ET35 or thereabouts, suggesting a 10mm spacer would be fine. I've knocked up a machining drawing for a hubcentric spacer but after taking measurements today I'm not sure how to repeat the spigot on the spacer... More on that at another juncture.

Pics:


Phat hydraulics bruv


Pimp My Mill: Merton Abbey watermill gains refurbished wheel - new wooden paddles and wrought iron rims picked out with red paint in the manner of rim tape. s**t is hype.


Winding the new studs in. These are a clear inch (25.4mm) longer than the originals.


Comedy Focus - note inventive use of both doors for shopping list. I'm not sure how the two-tone bit was done. Oddly, I'm a fan of two-tone schemes, but this is just risible.


New OE Ford lower arm and retaining bolts for same. The anti corrosion covering made the bolts look like aluminium, which wouldn't have been too helpful!


EDIT: I should point out that the mill in the pic is just up the road from my dad's unit where I work on the cars - it's on the way to the cafe. I wasn't just attempting to force mediaeval industrial heritage on everyone for no good reason...

[heeman10]

Never use "genny" as an abbreviation for the word "genuine" again, you common outlaw.



But I'm glad the car works






But don't do that again.


But that is all

[Sphinx]

Fag.

[filtra]

Check out my subaru!

Good news homes! An injection of enthusiasm was sorely needed I think. Hope the suspension issue gets sorted, shame to hear about that . As I said if you need help with the rack let me know as I've just done mine

That is all

xx

[Ollybee]

Well it sounds like nice progress but where have all the pictures gone, or is it the crappy filter at work that means I can't see them?

[Ollybee]

Still can't see the pictures?

[MotorcyclesFish]

It's probably a virus caused by your habit of visiting popup infested sites for "comedy" videos.

If your taste in women is like your taste in websites, I bet your nob's fallen off.

[Ollybee]

If your taste in women is like your taste in websites, I bet your nob's fallen off.

The least said about this the better.




There's actually a good video on there today with a walking robot but I don't want to post it as you and Nick will tell me off.

[MotorcyclesFish]

Right, have actually been working on this most weekends, often only for a few hours at a time as I'm fitting it in around various things like xbox, horse riding, learning guitar etc.

Anyway, here's what I've been up to in the last few weeks:


Door being prepared for filling and paint. For some reason I haven't a picture of the tailgate stripped down, that needs some rust work done and I'm trying to decide whether to just have the tailgate lock left off and plated over or whether to install it.


Recon ford rack ready to go on. Due to time constraints I stuck the old track rod ends on but I'm tempted to fit new ones.


The top rack is the new recon ford one, the bottom one came off my car. Can anyone advise me whether that's the correct rack for the car that came off, as it's noticeably weedier around the mounting points and along the steering arms than the recon unit, which had Ford cast into it and a 7 digit number, not the usual 89BB-xxxxxx-xxxx type number.


Fiesta en repose at the stables. This is a work in progress, but it still gets driven 20 miles each way every day and round and about at weekends. The shagged coilovers are making all travel purgatory at the moment.


The two sets of suspension. Grimy stuff at the back are standard, shagged, Ford dampers and some sort of lowering spring. Yellow bits at the front are hopefully unshagged Spax dampers and springs. I'm in the progress of building the spax up with the ford top mount assys from the OE units at the back, complete with new gen-u-win Ford top mount bearings.


One of the units in the process of being built up.

[Captain Tightpants]

Not sure about this FWD stuff grant,

Looking good now by the looks of it, some shocking bodges there intitially,

Onwards and upwards,

Steve