Tell me about the Mk 1 Ford Ka, SportKa, and StreetKa.

Got a link to a build thread?

When I put put the Puma motor in our Courier the 1st test drive of it was enough to go home and start searching for a Ka and another Puma. The following morning(!) I went to Plymouth and picked up an 03 plate Ka which was running on 2 for £150 and a Puma from a couple of of miles away from home for £70 (2 days of mot and properly rough)
It's the only Ford engine swap I've ever done where there's not a parts bin solution for putting the engine and box in.
The PuKa:


I think it's a design classic and done 'right' look superb, I'd happily do another 1 but low and wide. I like the chunkier SportKa and StreetKa arches and the track increase must surely help the handling as it makes the car squarer. Which I always thought, probably a little simplistically, helped on fwd stuff.
The retired vicar that lives across the road from me sold his hovercraft and bought a StreetKa so he could have something fun that he didn't need to take somewhere to use. He's bought a hardtop for it so I helped him fit it and wired up the heated rear screen for him. I was really surprised that it's steel, transforms the car to drive, and improves the rear visibility. The rocam 1.6 is a decent enough little engine but it would be hilarious with 125bhp 1.7
More power + less weight ftmfw

I'd make it look like this... 





...but in the blue. 

WOW it was a hoot with the 1.6 but i can only imagine a1,7 or 2.0 in there. Mind you there comes a point when the ability to thrash it everywhere at barely illegal speeds like an old mini gets surpassed and you have a properly quick very short whee base fwd rocket

It’s pretty mental, as it’s not just an ‘ordinary’ 2 litre Zetec. It has lightened & balanced crank, some fancy pistons (can’t remember what) big cams, gas flowed head, Suzuki GSXR1000 throttle bodies on a one off alloy manifold with Omex management. Quaife diff plus a few blah blah bits, you get the idea, think it was around 200 ponies

DJM motorsport ( www.djm-motorsport.co.uk/ ) did some wild conversions in the early 2000's. Cosworth engined/evo gearboxed wide arched rally cars.

They used to be modified alot in the early 00s by folks. I gently modified mine. Why were they modded?

-They were cheap
-They were for the best part reliable thanks to known, albeit old underpinnings
-They were a very fun steer ; Autocar in 1996 loved the example they drove as did Jeremy Clarkson.
-Not alot touched them for practicality
-They didn't lost alot of money. Not hard when they were so cheap, and in demand.

The image of them never helped. They were considered to be girly. Funny as the 106 was too, and with a more worse driving position! But they were more of a 'lads' car. But they came with great engines out of the box.

That was the Ka's Achilles' heel. When I was in the KaKlub (I know I know...), I saw varying engines fitted into them

-Ford Puma engine ; This was by far the most popular conversion. They went very well with this engine
-Escort RS Turbo engine : This was the second most popular. The T3 Turbo however really limited your choices of radiator, so, many of them ran hot. Only one guy managed to make his run cool, but he wen with the willy shrinking T2 Turbo, and a larger custom Ally rad. Pragmatic, but the right move
-Turbo Converison. AmD used to do these conversions, but they were of varying qualities, as was the reliability of them. I know of two people who had holed pistons with them, and eventually they'd run right again, but not after being reworked by others
-1.6 Sigma engine. This engine is meant to fit in very well. It can use the stock KA 'box.
-CVH non Turbo. Less common conversion
-Black Top Zetec 1.8 and up. Not as common, but done by a few.

I did debate converting mine to a Puma engine, but in the end I sold it and went with a Focus 1.6, and then finally a Pug 306 GTi-6.

The problem with them all IMHO is as follows

-Image. They were and kind of still are considered girly despite their superb chassis
-Rust ; Only Alfas rust worse than these and I'm talking about the 70s Alfas!
-Cheap parts ; Why go genuine on a £500 car, when a £15 lower arm can fit it?
-curse word engines. Sorry, but they are. The Endura-E aka the Valencia engine was past its sell by date when it was fitted. The RoCam engine was better, but not quite what it needed to be. In 1.6 guise, it drank like Jordan after a breakup. 30MPG is possible with careful driving. A Pug 106 GTi handled as well, and had a much much better engine. 130BHP and 38/40MPG on a run. Sure, you weren't as comfy inside as you were in a SportKa, but for a backroad blaster, it made more sense on paper. Obviously the 106s are now quite pricey, so maybe the scale tips in favour of the Ka.

Anyway, I'll see if I can dig up of mine. I had a 2002 last of the Endura-E Ka Sun Collections in I "think" Colorado Red (may have been Radiant Red. Oh, and the electric Webasto Roof and AC. The roof was very cool.

I would then attempt to make it a Ford Racing Ka Spec. That included

-Ford Racing Suspension (£150 brand new for Eibach Springs and Sachs Dampers!)
-Ford Racing 7Jx15" Wheels ET28 - With 195/45 Eagle F1 GSD3s, the Ka handled great and looked spot on.
-Janspeed Stainless Exhaust
-Ford Racing Air Filter kit (basically a modded airbox and panel filter from memory.

I had some good memories in that car. I believe it lived on but with

-A K9 Kit fitted if anyone remembers those
-A 1.6 RST Conversion (I think).

It was on the plate VN52 GAX when we got the car from the now gone Brooklyn Ford in Redditch. I believe it went onto R666 KAA in around 2008.

I think this thread shows the Ford Ka has all the ingredients of a car about to go up in value.
1. It's a ford
2. Lots of people had them as first cars and have nostalgia written all over them
3. Chronic rust means less and less decent ones around, they are disappearing fast!
4. It's ideally suited to a be a second car, cheap to run, fun to drive, practical, easy to fit on the drive etc etc

Get one while you can!

Calling KFG!

No, no, no! Oh no!

KFG is the Ka Finding Guide, an online resource for buyers and sellers of only the best examples of the Ford Ka...

Everyone knows that!!!