My little project **Updated 01/12/10**

[massivewangers]

**Updated 17th August 2010**

Updates coming thick and fast at the moment!

Today wasn't as fun-filled as I hoped, as there's been a few heavy showers, but I made a little progress. First off, I picked up my steering wheel this evening, and got a couple more snaps. So pleased with it, think it will really help make the interior look fresh. Just want to get a MK5 Fez airbag for it with a proper Ford badge in it.





Also, the grill has now seen paint and lacquer, so looks like this:



Gonna leave it til tomorrow and then give it a polish up and a test fit. Still need a badge though!

Tomorrow will hopefully see a bit more sun and I'll swap all the interior handles etc for the MK6 bits, so that will be out of the way. Then it's just the welding holding things up really.

Really need to start buying bits for under the bonnet too!

[cozmeister]

For the uninitiated, can you post a Mk5 and Mk6 doorcard together for comparison?

[Fireball]

Steering wheel looks great, real nice. My issue is getting hold of air bags that are not damaged/scratched/dirty/worn. Mine has had a few deep scratches added to it over the years 

Sure, you can get em from Ford but they want hundreds!

[cozmeister]

Steering wheel looks great, real nice. My issue is getting hold of air bags that are not damaged/scratched/dirty/worn. Mine has had a few deep scratches added to it over the years 

That's what happens when you drive through cabbage fields.

[massivewangers]

For the uninitiated, can you post a Mk5 and Mk6 doorcard together for comparison?

Here you go love  

MK5 (albeit with a different door bin):



MK6:

Steering wheel looks great, real nice. My issue is getting hold of air bags that are not damaged/scratched/dirty/worn. Mine has had a few deep scratches added to it over the years 

Sure, you can get em from Ford but they want hundreds!

I am very pleased, I'd really recommend having it done, think it will make the car looks much newer inside. I guess it's just a case of keeping an eye on ebay and forums really, nice stuff does come up, just have to be patient  

[massivewangers]

**Updated 19th August 2010**

Another day, another bonnet 

Well, after fitting the bulge bonnet I picked up at the weekend, I then happened to win another one on Ebay  I picked it up last night, and as it's better than the one that was on there, I swapped them over today. The paint overall is slightly worse, but the other needed some panel beating work doing, so I swapped to the new one. With a quick blow over, this will be pretty decent. It isn't 100% lined up, but I'll get my mate to do that when it's painted. Also fitted the Cosworth grill today finally. Spent yesterday cleaning it up, with a wet sand and then lots of polish. Still not perfect yet, but it will do for the moment. I robbed the badge from the MK5b bonnet as it was in decent nick, and just gave it a polish up as it had gone a little dull. Sadly, I've not been able to fit the mesh insert. Part of the slam panel seems to interfere with it annoyingly, so I'm going to have to look at that sometime, as I'd like it on there ideally.

Anyway, this is how the front end now looks:







A big improvement over the MK5b bonnet I hope you'll agree, and will be even better once the RS2000 bumper and headlamps are fitted too. I really must get some proper wheels on there too though, the 13" steels just aren't cutting it!

Outside the body work, I also ditched all the MK5 interior handles and fitted the surrounds from a MK6, along with the silver interior door handles from a Puma that I'd collected.

This is an original one:



All the new ones in place:









A quick job to swap. Just remove the standard item, then modify the MK6 handle surround slightly (it has a square peg, the door has a round hole!) and then pop them into position. The door pull cables are the same so fit the new handles. Then pop the handles in with the foam surround and job done!

On the subject of the doors; with the electric windows done on the front, and the MK6 handles in place, I now just need to fit some brackets to support the MK6 door pulls, and I can fit new door cards (need to buy them still!). But, before I do that, I'll be swapping the mirrors over for electric ones, and I need to add the sound deadening. I'm going to get some sound proof matting to fit to the inside of the door skins, and I've found some liquid sound deadening that can be painted on to where matting isn't appropriate.

This can be seen as done to one of my old cars:



I know there are some drawbacks to this from a weight point of view, but I think it will be worth it overall. I'm keen to try and improve refinement and reduce wind and road noise as much as possible, and sound deadening will also help a little with audio sound quality too, so I'm happy to increase weight a little for the sake of a quieter cabin.

I also plan to add matting to the wheel arches (inside the car obviously) to help keep tyre noise down a bit. At the end of the day, the car is being built for fast road use, so some comforts are desirable for the longer journies to and from shows and things. I don't want the car to be a chore to drive and be noisey and uncomfortable over distance.

Keeping my eye out for the required materials, but it's pricey stuff it seems!

That's about it for now though. Heading back to Norfolk tomorrow until the 1st of September so there won't be too much to report. Going to heckle my friend for the welding as quickly as possible when I get back, so once that is done, all the wiring can be tidied, the new carpet fitted, and then I can get the seats and things to go in and have an interior again!

[massivewangers]

**Update 7th September 2010**

Not had too much going on lately. Still no welding  Gonna just buy a MIG welder and do it myself soon methinks!

Anyway, a bit of an update! Got these from a friend who was breaking his car over the weekend 



A couple of you also know that I've just bought quite an important part for the engine, but I'll wait til that arrives to reveal all 

[massivewangers]

**Updated 15th September 2010**

Another brief one I'm afraid. Breaking the MK6 and buying another car has taken up plenty of time lately, but I really do want to make some progress now. I'm fed up of looking at sitting there and going no where!

Anyway, seeing as the MK6 is now gone, it means I've got another part for the project!



And the reason I wanted it:



This should be more than suitable up to a touch over 300bhp with some better injectors, so it will be stripped, cleaned and painted, and I may even looking into a little porting to help flow a little further, as I want to go as far as possible without having to buy a super expensive inlet. Will require new injectors and things, but that will come later when I buy management and things.

On the subject of the engine, I do have the 2.0 silver top lump from the MK6 sitting in the garage back home, but it's currently for sale. As it's a decent running engine, it seems to make more sense to sell it and use a less good one to rebuild as I'll have to replace all the pumps and everything anyway. I am still looking into the black top as well, as although it's going to give more fitting problems, there are a lot of horror stories floating about surrounding oil pump failure on turbocharged silver tops. Initially I was told that as long as I stayed under 7000rpm and wasn't going for stupendous power that I'd be ok, but I have now heard of engines failing, even during the running-in period. Whether this is down to poor workmanship, or reduced quality in Ford pumps of late requires some more research, but I need to check a bit more before I make a final decision. If it is looking to be a problem that I'm not comfortable with, then I'll be going black top instead. It's a little harder to fit, but I'd sooner do that than fit a silver top and it fail, or end up fitting some ludicrously expensive dry sump set-up to get around the issue as some have! My budget isn't that big!

[massivewangers]

**Updated 21st September 2010**

Fiesta Zetec-S airbag has arrived! Test fit to the steering wheel:





Much better than the Escort one, and was only about £11 off Ebay including P&P 

Should have some other bits arriving this week, so more updates on the way!

[massivewangers]

**Updated 24th September 2010**

The sound deadening begins!

Had a couple of hours spare so thought I'd crack on a bit with it. This is only the beginning of this saga, but it's a starting point. I ordered a load of material from a company on Ebay. I've gone for eDead, as it's pretty reasonably priced and my old 2.0 saloon used a lot of it and it seemed pretty decent stuff. I've got a 30ft roll of the matting, and I also ordered a container of the liquid sound deadening too, but they neglected to post that! They've told me it's been dispatched today so hopefully it will arrive soon. The liquid can just be painted on and hardens to a rubber like finish, so is obviously ideal for painting areas with lots of contours where the matting isn't suitable.

Anyway, I've started by fitting some of the matting stuff into the doors. Only done the driver's side for the moment. I've covered most of the door skin, but it's a pretty awkward job, even more so on the rear doors. I also partially covered the area behind the door cards. This area is obviously a pretty awkward shape, so that's where the eDead liquid comes into play, as I will coat the whole area with that (with the speaker mounts in position) which should improve things slightly. Once that's done, I'll refit the standard foam sheets just for good measure and then it's ready to have the door cards fitted. Just need to find a set!

Pictures of the front door first:







And the rear door:





Will do the other side after the weekend, and then apply the liquid as soon as it arrives. I've only gone for one layer on the door skins for now. I'll see how that goes, but I can always add another layer if it doesn't have the desired effect.

I will be going over other areas as well; namely the rear shelf area, roof skin, inside the boot skin, rear quarter panels and insides of the wheel arches. I may also do parts of the floor too. I'll see how I get on, as it's pretty expensive stuff! Obviously there are disadvantages to adding all this in the form of extra weight, but I'm hoping shear power should help overcome that. It won't quite be the 500bhp per tonne beast some would like, but it should have enough for the extra weight not to be much of an issue. At the end of the day though, I'm building it to be a road car, and although I like some engine noise, large amounts of wind and road noise aren't appealing, so the more I can reduce that, the better!

To be continued...

[RST-Steve]

Nice jon, nice................ just had the doors coated in sound deadening in the fiesta

[massivewangers]

**Updated 28th September 2010**

Right, little more progress to report. I've now applied the sound deadening matting to the other doors, like so:





The liquid still hasn't turned up however, so if it doesn't arrive tomorrow I'll do some chasing again. Once that is done, the doors are almost complete, I just need to find some door cards, which is proving a challenge.

I've been doing a bit more to the A-pillar gauge pod, but no pictures of that yet, some will follow in due course. I've also been cleaning up the passenger side trim where it hadn't been finished ever so well. That isn't far off now so should be painted and refitted this week hopefully.

Onto mechanical things, and the postman brought me a present this morning:



From a Fiat Coupe 20vT, but the same as fitted to the MK1 Focus RS. These will be given a coat of paint in black and have new Brembo stickers fitted (probably in white). I might yet change the seals and things too, but I've not given them a thorough examination yet. These will be fitted with MK1 Focus RS disks, which I'll be ordering soon, but I need to find some wheels first, so they can actually be fitted, as the 13" steels might be a bit close! Should give ample stopping power for the front though.

Outside all that business, I've gone and got some seam sealant, etch primer and things, and hopefully the rust repairs will be sorted soon, then the carpet can go back in, and I can sort out seats and a few other bits and the interior will be mostly done.

I may have sourced a few other bits, but I shall reveal those later!

[massivewangers]

**Updated 5th October 2010**

Well, I've been buying more bits 

Postman has visited me a couple of times today, but I also collected this from Hemel Hempstead on my way down to Lauren's over the weekend:



This would be an MTX75 gearbox from an Escort TDI. I could probably have gotten hold of an RS2000 box more easily, but they have very short ratios (an RS2000 sits at about 3300rpm in fifth at 70ish, compared to the 2800rpm of an IB5 car). Although short ratios are nice for punchy acceleration, I wanted quite a tall fifth so that cruising speeds didn't yield silly revs. Partly for refinement, and partly because the engine will drink plenty of fuel without sitting at massive revs at 70  Hopefully this box won't be too far out, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I'll have to see how it goes when the car is eventually up and running. An MTX box was essential, as the car would eat an IB5 for breakfast, but the MTX is much much stronger, and is used in early ST220 Mondeo's, as well as the MK1 Focus RS. We'll have to see how well this untested old TDI box copes with the pressure of 300+bhp, but they're cheap enough to pick up if it does lunch a couple! Also means I can add a proper diff at some point, when I'm feeling wealthy.

As well as that delight, as I said, postie visited twice today, firstly to drop these off:





For those of you thinking "What the funk are they, you tart?!" they are the rear hubs from an Escort Cosworth. I have no intention of keeping the rear beam arrangement on this car standard (all will be revealed later), and these are just part of that plan. A couple of people know my thoughts, but I won't go into details just yet, as it's hopefully going to be pretty special when it's complete. Anyway, these hubs are nice and neat with caliper mounts built in, meaning I get rear disks, as well as a nice chunky bearing pack compared to standard. Just as a geeky fact, the RS2000 F2 cars used these hub assemblies due to the big bearings, giving added strength in harsh conditions over standard components. Apparently these are fitted with Grp A studs too, though they don't really look any longer than standard to me. I'll have to compare them to a standard stud and see how they measure up. The wheels I'm (hopefully) buying are Grp A fitment, so I'm going to need the longer studs anyway, so fingers crossed they're right, as it's one less thing to buy.

As I said, I also had something else in the post today, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait and see about that. I shall hopefully reveal it by the beginning of next week, and it should add a nice individual touch to the car, so wait and see what happens there.

Other than that, I'm STILL waiting for my liquid sound deadening. I've had a moan and they've assured me it's been dispatched today, so I'll have to see if it turns up. The same seems to be true of another important item that I've been waiting for, which I'm beginning to get a bit annoyed about, as it wasn't cheap, so I'll give another couple of days and then start moaning again, as it's quite important!

HOPEFULLY, my friend will be popping over tomorrow so some progress can be made with the rust, but I won't be holding my breath. If he doesn't materialise, I'll be wielding the grinder and cutting the sill off anyway to see where I'm at, and hopefully it will be welded pretty quickly, so I can actually get somewhere.

Still need a donor engine too, but I'm holding out for a cheapie, as with most things!

[massivewangers]

**Updated 6th October 2010**

A bit fell off :lol:







Inner sill isn't quite as bad as I thought it might be, but the floor is probably a little worse than I thought, so it's swings and roundabouts really. Part of the floor will be replaced along most of it's length, and the inner sill will be rebuilt as ncessary once I've taken all the nasty bits out of it. Nasty business, but once it's done I can crack on.

Also, got some more moaning to do about certain parts not being delivered which is irritating, but there it is.

The left hand A-pillar trim just needs a quick smooth and then will be painted and refitted, so that's that job, but not had a chance to do any more on the right hand one with the gauge pod.

Working on a couple of other little bits still, so will update there soon.

I have hopefully now secured the purchase of another rather important piece of the puzzle which I'm rather pleased with. All being well, a friend should be collecting for me over the weekend, and I'll post pictures during next week. Might have sourced a couple of other handy bits too which is nice.

However, I am getting a bit bored of buying things, so the sooner the welding is completed, the sooner I can start bolting stuff on! I think you might be surprised at the transformation 

[cozmeister]

Looking awesome so far...will it find its way onto a track at some point...?

[massivewangers]

I would like to try it on track when it's all done, as I plan to go quite far with the chassis modifications, so it would be rude not to see how it performs, but I think it will mainly be a road car, hence keeping the creature comforts as much as possible.

My better half has a 1.7 Puma that we're going to strip out and cage as a bit of cheap fun for the odd track day, so this won't be the main track car, but hopefully it should be pretty handy if I do decide to drag it out once in a while 

[massivewangers]

**Updated 16th October 2010**

This isn't a massive update, but just keeps things ticking over.

I finished off the nearside A-pillar trim and refitted. It's in satin black but that's a bit dark to be honest. Both the interior trim paints I tried were too light, so I'm struggling to find something that matches really. Something to come back to perhaps! Anyway, here it is refitted:



The next few weeks should see some major updates coming though. I've sourced some quite important bits which is good, so there's a lot to come. My friend is picking up some sheet so we can finish off the sill repair work in the next week or so, then I can get all the wiring tidied up, sound deaden anywhere that wants doing, and refit the carpet and interior plastics.

One purchase that I have also received is below too:



Should do the trick. Sadly, all is not as good as it looks. Although it's claimed it had only done 900 miles since a rebuild at CR Turbos, there does seem to be some play in the shaft, so I'm trying to sort this out currently. Whether I end up having to get a refund is up in the air at this point, but I need to check there, as I think I want it stripped down and looked at now, just so I know all is well.

Onto the unit itself, it's a T34, with a .63 housing. There's nothing subtle or clever about this turbo, it's just big  Bit of lag never hurt anyone, just adds to the experience. I could have gone for a nice GT series turbo, but that would have cost a fortune. Obviously it would have given me a quicker spool-up and better response, but to be honest, I love the kick in the back you get from a big turbo, so I'm happy to save a bit of money and go down this route. It might be a touch overkill for my output, I could have got away with a .48, but this came up, and at least I know it's always got a bit more to give if I want it.

That's all for now, but like I say, there's lots coming...

[massivewangers]

**Updated 20th October 2010**

No pictures yet I'm afraid, but been plodding away still. Spent an hour this afternoon applying liquid sound deadening to the doors. Done two coats, but will give them another go over on Friday if the weather is ok. Also refitted the front speaker adaptors and applied the liquid after fitting them, which should hopefully help make them a bit more solid which will all help sound quality. Once that's finished, the speakers can be refitted, and I just need door cards then! Might have found a set, just waiting for some pictures.

I also went on an adventure this evening to see a chap off the RS2000 forum and picked up an RS2000 subframe and front hubs, which are needed to use the MTX gearbox that I have. Still need to get driveshafts and box mounts, but will pick them up at some point.

Also sorted out some other rather nice bits, but I'll save those for another day. Some of them have already been revealed in my other topic 

[massivewangers]

**Updated 20th October 2010**

No pictures yet I'm afraid, but been plodding away still. Spent an hour this afternoon applying liquid sound deadening to the doors. Done two coats, but will give them another go over on Friday if the weather is ok. Also refitted the front speaker adaptors and applied the liquid after fitting them, which should hopefully help make them a bit more solid which will all help sound quality. Once that's finished, the speakers can be refitted, and I just need door cards then! Might have found a set, just waiting for some pictures.

I also went on an adventure this evening to see a chap off the RS2000 forum and picked up an RS2000 subframe and front hubs, which are needed to use the MTX gearbox that I have. Still need to get driveshafts and box mounts, but will pick them up at some point.

Also sorted out some other rather nice bits, but I'll save those for another day. Some of them can be seen in my other thread anyway 

[Fireball]

Whats happened about the turbo, did they get back to you?

[massivewangers]

I've spoken to the seller, and he's had a look and has now said it had only covered about 750 miles since being fitted. He's going to go back to CR Turbos and see what they say, said he's not too pleased about it, given how much it cost him. So once he gets back to me, I'll see where we go from there. If we have no joy, he has offered to front at least some of the money for the repair work, which is something I suppose!

[massivewangers]

**Updated 22nd October 2010**

Sound deadening of doors now complete! Not a major update, but I've now finished applying the liquid sound deadening to the doors, so they're almost done now (feel like I've been saying that for ages). Speaker mounts are back in position, so will refit the speakers soon, just want to let the sound deadening cure fully. Then I just need a set of door cards so I can check the position for the door pull bracket, then they can go back together. Need to sort electric mirrors too, but they require paint, and it isn't really painting weather at the moment sadly. Might get a can or two and give them a coat next time I pop back to Norfolk and can get inside to do it, as I'd like to put the doors together and not then have to take them apart again.

Quick pic of the driver's door:



I also removed the mechanical pre-tensioners from the standard seats this morning, as the MK6 seats that are going in have electronic ones. I'm not entirely convinced these will fit the MK6 seats, but we'll see when the time comes. If they don't, it means I might have to try and get the MK6 air bag wiring fitted, as I'd rather the system was all in place as it should be. That will come later though, when the interior is all put back together, which is obviously still the major hold up. Sheet has been collected, so fingers crossed Tues/Weds next week will yield some progress.

I've got so many bits sitting here waiting to go on now, it's just unbelievable! I've sorted out some major parts in the last couple of weeks, but I'm keeping those under wraps for the moment, just to aid the suspense a bit. It should undergo a pretty dramatic transformation once the welding is finished, which I'm really looking forward to. I've been thinking on the engine some more too, and have bought a couple of bits relating to that, and I may have made a slight change to the management plans. I need to do a bit more research, but it's an option I hadn't considered too much, but having looked into it a little, it seems to offer a pretty decent system for a pretty reasonable price, cheaper than the Pectel set ups I had been looking at.

It's scary to think I want it running for next years shows, as progress is way slower than it needs to be!

[massivewangers]

Speakers back in:





Just need some door cards now!

[Fireball]

..... I need to do a bit more research, but it's an option I hadn't considered too much, but having looked into it a little, it seems to offer a pretty decent system for a pretty reasonable price, cheaper than the Pectel set ups I had been looking at.

New MegaSquirt 3 mate - does pretty much everything you can imagine besides suck you off as you drive, and it's half the price of the rest. Just needs a lot more "effort" to sort out. Good news about the turbo, well kinda. It's something eh?

[massivewangers]

Yeah it's a start. Will have to see what comes of it.

Not going MS. I considered it at one stage, but no one really seems to like mapping it, so I'd rather go for something that people are more familiar with. I've got something in mind anyway