fiestaturbo.com

[andyhardy]

Hi,

As of tomorrow I will be the lucky owner of an H-reg Fiesta RST (http://www.geocities.com/hardypictures03/Fiesta.jpg) and I've got a couple of things that I would like to change near enough straight away.

Firstly - when test-driving the car I noticed that first gear was a bit notchy and I reckon the synchro-mesh might be on the way out (the car's done 103k) and I've heard that the best thing to do is get a Escort RST gearbox as it has an LSD (which will help with the wheelspin and torque-steer as this baby pushes out about 180bhp). Where would people recommend that I got a new/re-conditioned one of these and will it be up to the punishment of 200bhp+? If not - what would you guys recommend?

Secondly - the brakes on the car are standard and therefore absolute cack. Reading on the technical section of this site they suggest that I fit Sapphire Cos. 4x4 calipers and discs - how much should I expect to pay for a set of these and would people recommed them anyway? I've had experience with drilled and grooved discs before and I've never been that impressed - most people I speak to recommend bigger discs so that's what I'd like ideally! Any suggestions?

I think that's it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of something else after I've posted this!

Cheers,

Andy

[Project]

Hello Andy and welcome to the club of people who spend every weekend either driving like loonies or getting greasy fixing the broken bits caused by driving like loonies.

Have a look at this braking guide written by some bloke called Proj which might help you with the braking side of things:

http://st2000.s5.com/ffbrakesguide.html

It's not a comprehensive guide though (I forgot to mention 4 pot conversions and that sort of thing).

Re transmission, the ERST box's LSD is a good upgrade for power handling but will increase torque steer (like that matters much). A stronger transmission might be better, which means getting an iB5 or Quaife internals. A specialist transmission builder will be able to advise on the fitting of, say, the ERST S2 LSD into an iB5 box.

[voorhas]

I thought 1st gear on all BCs didn't have a syncro mesh...

Gonçalo D.

[andyhardy]

Hmm, not sure about the synchro in first - the gearbox just feels a bit tired and I don't think it will last that long with the amount of power the car's got.

What kind of price would I be looking at for the rebuilt S2 gearboxes with LSDs?

Cheers,

Andy