fiestaturbo.com

[Smo]

Girly terminology! How am I meant to click with that?

[jonyb4]

[Minstral]

helped smo out at the weekend took some pics, smo can give a write up of precedings


broken


and payment for the help

[hb69]

Smo looks great

[Smo]

I hope you didn't finish both of those before you got home, Toby!

Shocking photos, though... Look at the state of it! Car and driveshaft aren't looking great, either

Not a lot to say, but cheers to smidydevil (Russ) for selling me a pair of FRST driveshafts last year, and big thanks to Toby for popping round and helping me fit them on Saturday! So bloody cold doing it, so the help was gratefully received! So glad to have it running again I forgot how much fun the car is and how ridiculously easily it spins up when I just want it to grip!! Third clutch now, though, in less than 1200 miles and I'm not happy with it, so when it warms up a bit I may invest in something uprated.

I also need to look at inlet options as I really want more power and I've still not done anything about it!

[Smo]

So what have I been up to lately?

Well the clutch didn't last 50 miles before it started vibrating lots... Definitely came to the decision that the flywheel was at fault.

Old flywheel (lightened FRST drilled out to 11mm):




New flywheel with thanks to Clark!:




The weight difference is ridiculous, and as much as I loved the FRST flywheel for the difference it made in 1st and 2nd, the proper Zetec one makes it so much of a nicer car to drive. I'm pretty sure the FRST one wasn't machined correctly now, hence why it was destroying clutches.


So along with my new flywheel, I fitted these:



A brand new LUK cover and a brand new friction plate. I've stuck with my current release bearing at the moment. So far, so good... No vibrations!


I was having some issues with my AEM wideband lambda controller (in narrowband emulation mode); for some reason the car kept going lean at idle or part throttle, and registered as so on the gauge, so I don't know whether it wasn't quite giving the right voltage back to the ECU or not, but for now I've replaced it with a standard narrowband sensor and I'm going to see if it still goes lean. If not, then I know it's the wideband, but if so, then I know I have other issues! It's a weird one...


This is annoying:




So out it came:




Yum:




Standard narrowband to go back in:




And there it is, all cosy in its new little home:




How this car still goes through MOTs, I really don't know!





And I hate the blue pipe, too! But it does the job for now...


A rather unexciting update, but I've just had to get it driving well again before I can have some fun with it. Primarily, I just want to get it running right so I can do some track days! I had a really nice little blat out in it yesterday morning, but found it had lost all its coolant again (having fixed a small leak on Saturday...) which turned out to be the lower rad hose - new one on the way, though! Hopefully that will be that for issues, for the time being!

[Tweek]

This update makes me happy.

I hear RS Combe has a few trackday sessions left

[knuckles]

glad you got it running again

[Smo]

Yeah, cheers, Clark, you have no idea just how much I appreciate your help!!!

And Wayne, I'd really like to, but I'm going to be careful with the car for a good 500 hundred miles (at least) to make sure that the clutch is all good... I don't want to kill another on track just yet! I think I was saying to Steve that I'll take it to Summer Action Day, but I'm a bit concerned about rushing into anything before that I don't really want to go putting on the miles early just to find out either! Trying to save for a mortgage means I can't afford to just keep putting petrol in the car like I used to!

[hb69]

No one could ever accuse you of rushing into anything Bring it along to the summer action day, as i see you intend to, I have recovery if its required, but it wont be

[Smo]

Oh I'll need it!!!

[jonyb4]

thats good news, shame about the lighter flywheel not working out

[Smo]

Yeah, the flywheel is great, it made such a difference, was a lot of fun to drive hard, but was very on/off when trying to drive it gently and it was just eating the clutches. I don't think it was out of balance, or at least I don't think balance was the issue, I just believe it was skimmed slightly out... I'm going to take it into my work when I get 5 mins and chuck it on a machine to see what exactly is up with it. Apparently we've got balancing machines, too, so I'll check it out properly at some point! Don't get me wrong, the on/off feel I would always get used to after driving it for a few miles, it was just always a total extreme to driving my Golf every day! The other issue is that it had quite a lot taken off the face, so it messed up the pedal a bit, which possibly didn't help how the clutch felt either! Either way, the new setup seems perfect now

[Smo]

Did a couple of boring bits yesterday...

Firstly, since fitting the brake servo, I was never happy with the vacuum hose, so I modified another one to fit a bit better

Before:




After:




Been having some coolant problems, but I've come to the conclusion it's just a cap issue. Either way, it showed up a weak point where it joined the slightly rusty water rail. I'd already cut this back 6 years ago, as so:




So just to be safe, I trimmed it back a little more, attached a bit of hose from when I got my Mondeo lump and just made certain it wasn't going to leak again:




Exciting, isn't it?

Lastly, I bought a rear strut brace a few years back, so decided to rub it back and paint it:







And that's about it!

[filtra]

I'm sure that rear strut brace will make a big difference knowing how floppy the fiesta shell is.

[dontpannic]

They do make a marked difference to the rear end, unbelievably.

New additions/fixes look good Simon

[Smo]

Well I'm hoping it might hold my shell together a bit more

I've not actually driven it yet to see what it's like, but I've been told by quite a few that the rear strut braces work very well on these, so we shall see! I've stiffened the front shocks up a bit, but I need to remove the rears to adjust them, and then I should be about ready for some track days

[jonyb4]

actually i have that issue with the vacume pipe myself, mondeo and escort servos swapped outlet sides

[Smo]

I have an Escort servo but never fitted it! I do remember looking at the vacuum port, but can't remember where it was off the top of my head. Can you not just modify a hose like I have in some way?

[jonyb4]

it just bends round like yours did, mine is an escort one and the outlet is on the left of the master cylinder

[Smo]

Ah, chop it and mod it, then!

[Tweek]

Turn the strutbrace up-side down, it's tight but it "hugs" the turrents more

[hb69]

Turn the strutbrace up-side down, it's tight but it "hugs" the turrents more

It is on upside down, you mean turn it the correct way up

[- Danny Boy -]

Oh god. Not this debate again

But yes turn it the other way please! lol

[Smo]

Madness! I just fitted it that way because that was the way the lugs were curved towards and the way up the OMP sticker was before I removed it to paint it!

[Smo]

This is my brace when Chris (Project_XR2i_Trackcar) owned it:

[hb69]

So he fitted it the wrong way up too

[Smo]

I'll fit you the wrong way up.

[Tweek]

I would get a pic of mine but I really cba I still use turret covers.

[Smo]

I couldn't be bothered to cut mine, so just left them off! I'll probably be selling/binning a lot of that interior soon, depending on what I do with the car anyway! I'll flip it over tomorrow Never even thought about it because the lugs were already bent to shape!

[bakewell001]

Still nothing much exciting going on here...

Just popped round to make sure everything was ready to go for ford fair, and took a quick engine bay shot just before I left.


Fixed? by bakewell001, on Flickr

See y'all Sunday

P.S - this is a genuine picture taken less than an hour ago!

[- Danny Boy -]

Sooooo whats going on with it? I should hope its ready for ford fair

[hb69]

The plan appears to have changed since the weekend, thought it might lol

Coolant issue Danny, head gasket it seems

[~nomad~]

oh those rear braces. Yes they make ever so much difference, even though there is no logical way they can!

[Rhinopower]

Weld in strut brace ftw!