fiestaturbo.com

[Excursion]

I've been giving the hifi system some more thought. I had laid two RCA leads from the head unit to the boot and from there I was going to use Y leads to split them between the four amps. The front channel would be split three ways to run the front Midbass, front tweeters, and rear fill. The rear channel would run the sub amp. I was going to use the Seas passive crossovers.

The problem with splitting RCA's is that the line voltage drops leading to potential reduction in signal quality. The passive crossovers - while very good in the Seas kit - don't allow much scope for customisation. In view of this I have decided to order an Audison Bit One digital processor http://www.audison.eu/index.php?page=product&id=49 It is a 32 bit DSP processor with 24 bit AD and DA converters.


It is a pretty cool piece of kit and provides various inputs and fully customisable output channels, including EQ, phase, and crossover. It connects to a laptop via USB for updates via the custom software.


Today I re-jigged the boot layout around a card template to plan a final position for the Bit One. I also connected the speaker wires.

[beanyfrst]

WOW!!!!

I was going through this thread and I just want to say that I am totally blown away by it. The time, the money the detail is just different league. A total breath of fresh air to see something so awesome come together. Keep up the fantastic work

[Excursion]

WOW!!!!

I was going through this thread and I just want to say that I am totally blown away by it. The time, the money the detail is just different league. A total breath of fresh air to see something so awesome come together. Keep up the fantastic work

Cheers

[MK4 Rick]

Nice work as ever Mark I have one question though when you drive to Italy where are you gonna put your luggage now you have a boot install?

[Max M4X WW]

[Excursion]

I'll take a pic when I'm finished - there's actually a decent amount of space left, more than in some convertible I've owned anyway

[Excursion]

For some reason the driving lamps in my bumper did not sit flush with the frame. I took a new lamp set from my stock to compare, and realised that I had the driving and fog lights the wrong way around; the fogs should sit on the outside of the bumper, not inside like I had installed them. Oops.


Headlamp Washers
I was browsing the Ford parts catalogue looking for the part number for some mouldings, and saw that headlamp jets were available for the XR2i/RS1800. I mailed Tom at http://www.tompeters-fordparts.co.uk/ to see if he held an stock; he didn't, but he did send me links to a new old stock pair on eBay. Thanks Tom!


They are quite chunky things, so to make sure I was happy I set up a mock up on an old bumper. All bumpers have markings on their reverse for the jet mounting holes.


Looks OK. They suit the clunky styling overall.


I'm not going to paint then as the black complements the axillary light surrounds.


Rear Parking Sensors
I had a play around on an old bumper to determine the best approach for installing the rear sensors;. This was something I hadn't got around to before sending the car to paint so the method I selected ideally should not necessitate repainting of the rear bumper! My first attempt was using an Auger bit to match exactly the sensor diameter to see what the current style of sensor mounting would look like .i.e. no mounting bezel just the sensor itself poking through the bumper - like the majority of post -'06 cars.


I thought it looked cheap and quite flimsy so I enlarged the hole to 25mm and mocked up the Bosch sensor housing - like most first generation parking sensor system installations. It looks good! Incidentally I enlarged the original Auger hole with a Dremel and sanding drum which gave a much sharper edge than the Auger bit, and gives a perfectly acceptable result on a finished bumper.


RS Turbo Green Mouldings
This was quite disappointing. I'd spent a bit of time piecing together a couple of sets of new Ford Fiesta Turbo green mouldings, but a trail fit reveals the colour just doesn't look right against the Noveau Red paintwork. I am now looking at alternatives.


Roof Mouldings
These spring up on eBay and weren't something I'd seen before: they are roof mouldings with removal panels to facilitate easy removal of the Ford rood rack - ideal for me as the car will be going on a few decent long-distance trips. In the Ford parts system this part is marked as available only for the South-African market 'ZA', but from what I've seen a lot of the early '90's accessories were marked for this region only, so I take it as short hand for the accessories category (I can't imagine it was a large market in the early '90s)


Installed.

[rsturbonutter]

I think you need to put the bumper inserts on before you make a discision on the mouldings if it still doesn't look the part maybe chrome inserts

[freak power]

Don't like the head light washers

How about using some escort cosworth head light washers, small, subtle and not so bulky?

[Smo]

I agree about making a decision on the mouldings. As much as I can see where you're coming from, I think you need to mock up the rest including the bumpers before you completely rule it out. That said, I fear black may be the way to go. I think chrome would be too extreme with the rest of the car's styling, though.

What colour wheels are you ultimately going with? I'm not sure it'll work, but if they're dark, then possibly mouldings in the same colour?

Do those roof rail covers slide to expose the rail or remove? They look like they should slide?

[Max M4X WW]

Love all the little touches, but those headlight washers I can't get my head around!

I'm assuming they won't actually do anything, given that Xenon equipped cars have fairly high pressure washers?

[AdrianFRST]

Don't like the head light washers

How about using some escort cosworth head light washers, small, subtle and not so bulky?

Thinking the same. 3rd vote here for "don't do it!"

If not the Escort ones there must be some out there which are more discreet and look less like they've been prised off a Nissan Bluebird!

[knuckles]

I also think them headlamp washers look totally naff.
You have done so much to this car - they look like they should sit on a pov spec bumper not a nicely painted Rs/xr2i bumper.

I get that the car is crammed with toys but draw the line some where fella.

[tin-ribs]

Yeah I agree, headlight washers are a good idea but don't suit the car at all

[Excursion]

I had a feeling those washers would be marmite I need washers to keep the Bi-Xenon headlamps legal. I have installed a auto levelling system from a Mk1.5 Focus, along with the headlamp washer tank & pump from the same model, so the washers will be fully functional.

I will put on the green strips again to see what I think.

it was some of the best weather for a long time and I was out for a drive for most of the day, hence I I didn't make a great deal of progress on the Fiesta. I had ordered some cable to finish off the HiFi installation: a USB cable for the Bit One, and some Van Damme Pro Grade Classic XKE instrument cable so I could make up custom interconnects/RCA leads.


It's quite a fiddle cutting and soldering the leads but was actually quite therapeutic


I got as far as mocking up the cable runs.

[FRSJON]

hate the head light washers and the green stripes

[MK4 Rick]

What about headlight washers from a lexus or some thing from along them lines which pop up when you press the button.Just an idea

[Excursion]

hate the head light washers and the green stripes

What about headlight washers from a lexus or some thing from along them lines which pop up when you press the button.Just an idea

Pop-ups were my first choice, but sadly not possible due to the way the front of the car is designed; those washers sit at an angle and mount just below the headlights, and on most modern cars the front panel is hollow in this area to facilitate that, like so:


The Mk3 however is not, and the area occupied by the jet body is where the bumper mounts are located:


Even if I did cut a hole and reinforced the panel the pop-up washer body would prevent access to the bumper mounting studs.

Fuel tank
Next on my list was the fuel tank. In addition to the different exhaust routing I have previously mentioned - which necessitates a custom tank - at the same time I also want to increase the fuel capacity to make long distance trips easier. I haven't yet decided if I want a lift installed in my unit but I didn't particularly fancy working underneath my car, so I bought a Ka to help with fabrication and mock up. The Ka has the same chassis as the Mk3.5.


I paid a local garage to drain all of its fluids. I don't like doing the dirty jobs these days I tipped the Ka on its side to make life easy.


Exhaust, heat shield, handbrake cable, brake lines, rear beam, and fuel tank removed. I sprayed a line on the floorpan to show where the Focus subframe sits on my Fiesta.


I bought various fuel tanks from late Ford models in the hope that two smaller units would fit in the space, but no suck luck. The RS2000 4x4 tank I bought earlier in the build is also too large, and requires modification in too many areas to make it worthwhile.


At this point I consigned to modifying a standard metal Fiesta tank. It gives me a chance to learn TIG welding too. Here's a new standard Fiesta/Puma/Ka tank mounted for reference.


I'm going to section the tank both horizontally and vertically and add an additional rear section to increase its dimensions up to the line I spray painted on the underside. I used my laser level to get a straight line across the curves of the tank.


Here's where I got today: tank sectioned ready for the first infill section.

[Max M4X WW]

Haha, buying another car to make a custom fuel tank for a 20 year old Ford Fiesta only you!

Looks like you have been spending a fair amount of time in the gym as well

[Excursion]

Haha, buying another car to make a custom fuel tank for a 20 year old Ford Fiesta only you!

Looks like you have been spending a fair amount of time in the gym as well

It was quite good fun using the engine hoist to get it tipped over

[Smo]

The rust on that is quite shocking! What year is it?

[Excursion]

The rust on that is quite shocking! What year is it?

2003. They are a complete load of s**t.

I wouldn't want to run one if it was given to me - far, far worse than the Mk3.5. Thin gauge, dirt cheap steel.

[MK4 Rick]

How many litres of fuel do you think you will get in the new tank your making Mark?

[Excursion]

How many litres of fuel do you think you will get in the new tank your making Mark?

I've not calculated the new capacity as it's more a case of making a tank to fit what space is available, but as a rough estimate I would say I'll double the capacity, so from 42 litres/9.23 gallons to 84 litres/18.46 gallons. Assuming 18MPG average I should have a 332 mile range.

I found that there was some unused space at the O/S end of the fuel tank so I slotted the standard mount holes to liberate an additional 10-12mm of length. There is still some clearance space around the tank periphery.


My Dad had a look at the tank today and suggested that rather than 'band' the new tank to increase its length, I should use another spare Fiesta tank and cut it in a different place to end up with two long sections of tank joined together with one new seam, rather than the two I would end up with using my approach. It is a good idea and I had a spare tank lying around.

I used this method to first purge the spare tank before starting work.


Here are the two tank sections tacked together. I'm going to cut out the scallops in the bottom left hand corner, so there's quite bit of infill work to do tomorrow.

[Smo]

Sorry if I've missed something (it happens a lot!), but how do you propose to double the capacity? Are you making the tank deeper as well as wider?

[Excursion]

Sorry if I've missed something (it happens a lot!), but how do you propose to double the capacity? Are you making the tank deeper as well as wider?

I am. The beige line I spray painted onto the Ka shell in the previous update is where the tank will be extended to, length ways.

[Smo]

Ohhh!

[Excursion]

Fuel tank - part 3
On the new tank extension I have been working to to add a second fuel pump to ensure that fuel is pumped equally from either side of the tank after a new exhaust recess is added to the bottom edge.


I picked up another new tank this morning from Derby, as the spare tanks I had were OEM versions which have plastic swirl pots. The after market version shave pressed steel pots which I can readily utilise/weld. I drilled out the spot welds and liberated another metal pot for use under the second fuel pump.


Second swirl pot/baffle in position. I had to consider the exhaust routing, and the height of the fuel pump assembly; there needs to be room above the tank for the fuel connections.


Next I cut a fuel pump/sender assembly mount from a spare tank. The mount had to be sunk into the tank to provide adequate space above it for the connections, so I mocked up the mount and added a flange around it so it could be recessed into the top of the tank.


The tip of the tank has some swage lines pressed in, so the new piece was folded and cut to match the profile exactly.


Tacked into place and tested as OK with a spare sender assembly. I need to get a bit better with TIG tomorrow before I start to seam weld these new additions!

[mikeymikeyp]

Thats good going mate you make it look so easy

[Christina]

Oh wow, this is crazy! haha. Wow.

[disc]

Good progress Mark.
Any chance to have needed resistance measurement for cruise control? I have all needed parts in hand, last night I've disassembled column radio stalk to swap resistors (what a PITA to disassemble this little %$%^#$^).

[Excursion]

Fuel tank - part 4
A clearance recess was required on the first tank extension piece so I fabricated that and welded it in place.


Next I moved on to the main (original) tank body to prepare it for a second extension that will increase the width of the tank. The first job was to relocate the filler breather pipe out of the way to the side of the tank.


The breather sweeps up inside the tank to one of the higher points.


My Dad kindly made some card templates for the profile of the second tank extension piece, and also a baffle for inside the tank itself.

[muz]

Although I admire the effort here, and I'm also not one for going about things "the easy way" would it not have made more sense to just have a bespoke aluminium tank made from scratch?

[Excursion]

Although I admire the effort here, and I'm also not one for going about things "the easy way" would it not have made more sense to just have a bespoke aluminium tank made from scratch?

It's a good question and something I thought about before starting, but my aim is to keep an OEM look and I couldn't have done that easily if starting from scratch.

Fuel tank - part 5
Today I have fabricated the baffle plate. I added a flange to the edge of the plate so that it doubles up as a reinforcement band for the new tank extension join. The triangles I cut out at the top are for air to reach the breather, and at the bottom to allow fuel to equalise fully in each section of the tank.


I plug welded the baffle in around its periphery, and will TIG the entire seam tomorrow then grind smooth.

[willowandmikey]

Once again excellent innovative work.