It's good to see there is a bit of love for these here. It is surprising really. That said, for me, it's understandable. They may not be 'retro' to here, but they certainly have what could be deemed to be now 'old school' traits
-Limited CAN-BUS interfaces ; Headunit swaps and light mods are very easy in this compared to my MkIV ; That requires a Canbus Controller
-Too Dirty go into the cities without being charged ; My M3 is too, but Sven isn't
-An element of mechanical interrogation present
-Relatively simple to work on.
Anyway, let's get to what's been going on with this car.
Firstly, I bought a bumper and a wing.
I know, I know. This was meant to be a cheap project! However, I did have my reasons.
-My grille on closer inspection doesn't look too clever
-A welding kit would cost at least £60+, and probably more in materials by the time I messed around with it
-With sanding etc before it hits a bodyshop, it would soon be close to a £100 bumper
-It's been repaired before.
I was casually keeping an eye out for cheap bumpers. Many went by with folks either wanting £400, or the owners not selling them. If they every came up for sub £300, they sold! It was mad! I was semi-tempted to buy an ST TDCI with a blown engine. But then I'd have to collect it, break it and get rid of it. That and I was looking at £500 for cars with the bits I wanted in poor condition anyway! However, my luck would change.
One chap was getting rid of the bumper for £250, and the wing for £60. Some chaps moaned at how scratched it was. I looked at it being crack-free. Being Machine Silver, I'd have to paint it anyway!. I felt like having a punt. I offered him £160 for the bumper and £40 for the wing. A bit of a drop I know! I was expecting a scalded reply back to me! You can expect my surprise when he said yes, but he'd call the shots on the courier charges. Given it would cost me £40 to grab them plus 4 hours, not to mention making what strictly is a non-essential trip, I agreed.
He came back with a price of £60 for the courier charge, shipping them via a parts courier, complete with invoices. And so, I received them! Indicators, fogs, the lot.
So, maybe not the best use of the cash, but at least it wasn't much more, and I'll end up with a better result. The bumper is unrepaired, which is spot on
.
However, the time was coming. The clutch. Eventually my mechanic got his hands on it to do the job. I'd normally attempt it but
-It's a nightmare to change without a 2 poster ; more in a V6 than it is with a 2.0 or TDCi
-My mechanic is very good and quite cheap. A decent and rare find.
The downside? You can wait weeks for him to do your car. Bad if your only car is your daily. Not so bad if you have access to other cars. Since I'm not driving this, I passed it over to him.
He began the stripdown. In its rather chavvy state, it is looking a little sorry for itself.
Now to the business end
Finally, to the engine side.
As he began stripping it down, it was clear not all was well. The biggest thing? The slave cylinder was wet around the feed pipe on it. Upon checking for it being tight, it was loose.
Yup, the reason why this car with a fresh clutch had a problem was down to a loose clutch pipe! The chap who fitted this is meant to be a good fitter as well! However, the rest of the story would unveil more from my long suffering mechanic
-Some bellhousing bolts were missing
-The starter motor, held in by 4 fixings on the 5 speed, was held in by 1! Yup, you read that right! How, it didn't break is surprising. It is a very fiddly starter motor to replace however
-The wiring I partially sorted out. My mechanic found that a no. of key brackets were missing. Substitutions were made for these to make the car safe again!
After scounging around for a number of fixings, the car was back in shape.
That saved alot of labour! However, the rectification of a botched install did cost me £150. Not too bad for what could have been a pricier clutch change, or worse, the wiring loom, starter or 'box damaged. Would I recommend other chaps go to this mechanic, despite some classic guy guys liking him? No chance.
Another thing? The plate sold off the car! £250! OK, I've not won the lottery, but it's put much needed cash back into the pot. I've also had to pay the retention fee out of that, in addition to more plates for the car. However, they are dealer plates and at £12 for the pair, they're not too taxing
. Yes, the plates I did get at a discount thanks to company connections, but I think a few of us will know someone like that
.
With this in mind, I took it for a spin down the farm's local tracks. It's quite a firm clutch engagement. Whether, this is down to the car having a solid centred clutch over a sprung one is hard to know. The clutch does only have 2 miles on it too remember.
It was time to take a shot next to another rare Mondeo. Fear not, that one won't had a dedicated thread folks, despite it being my rarest car!
Surprising that the length isn't too different between the two. The width, like most newer cars however, is quite different.
So, what does the car stand me in at now? It's gone up I'm afraid to say.
-Wheels : £150
-Mirrors : £40 posted
-Clutch : £320
-Brake fluid : £3
-Thermostat : £30.
-Spark Plugs : £48.
-Oil : Free!
-Oil Filter : £6.
-Boot cover : £20
-Wing and Bumper : £270
-Coolant : £23
-Labour for botched rectification : £140
£1.05k. Ouch! That's not very good is it? I can redeem myself via the sales list however
-Subs : £70
-Stag Exhaust Manifolds : £60
-Merc W124 Timing Tool Set : £15
-Private Plate : £158
So the spend of this car is at £747. Not great, but not terrible. I've had word that Ford will take the clutch back, albeit with a restocking fee, which will help.
For anyone wondering, why on earth did I buy the clutch? Silly and considerate reasons
-I was assured by my MOT man that the chap was a decent fitter. Obviously we know differently now.
-The clutch took the best part of 5 days to get in, and I was unaware as to what caused the problem. Given my mechanic's main business is to keep his ramps free for a local construction firm, and to not fix mates cars which take out a ramp, I didn't want to put him into that position with a parts holdup.
Either way, I have saved probably around £100-200 on labour for the 'box not coming out. That's got to be a result
.
.
