So, the engine.
It was relatively low miles when I got it (72k) and it didn't pile the miles on (16k in 3 years) but it had no history and it was always at the back of my mind.
I serviced it, all filters, oil etc. It had a new backbox fitted (standard) and I sorted out a few gremlins (balljoint, rear bearing, coolant tank, clutch and temp sensor)
In the summer of 2020 I was doing a tip run, I had been waiting for 40 minutes thanks to covid but my car had other plans. As I was sitting in the queue I noticed steam from the bonnet, so I had a look underneath and saw a nice little puddle. Now I had previously done a new coolant tank and pressure tested the system, it failed but we couldn't identify where the issue was. I was happy to top up every few months as it really didn't affect the car.
When I got the car home I checked the coolant side of things and apart from being low on coolant it looked fine, the coolant was escaping from around the coolant tank but that was not the failure.
I decided to stop procrastinating and ordered some goodies.
-New thermostat
-New cambelt
-New waterpump
-New aux belt
-New rocker cover gasket
At the time I was also helping some friends with their transit van, the van was on hold for a few days so I thought it would be perfect timing to do my little fiesta then cary on with the van.
Day 1 - striped down the alternator, aux belt etc and swapped the cambelt and waterpump, turned the engine by hand - all fine
Day 2 - rebuild and start.
Now I hate working on engines, but I was confident it was perfect, I turned it over and heard the clang.
TLDR - The engine wasn't timed right and I managed to bent 4 valves, fantastic
It took me a day to strip the head off and undo all of my previous work, I was tempted by a different head but it just felt better to use the existing - it was sent for a machine and I put 4 new valves in, new oil seals and re-bed the existing valves in.
On strip down I actually found another issue, someone had been here before but managed to put a gasket on back to front, reducing the waterflow from the head!
We slowly started rebuilding it up, I went to my favorite scrap yard and picked some replacement parts up, rocker cover with original screws (I snapped a screw a while ago) A few little bits and bobs, air intake etc
Now I didnt check the mileage when I stopped the car, but when it was built back up the miles where easy to remember
With it all built up I went to cut the grass whilst someone braver than me turned the key, it was running great and just needed the coolant bleeding!
Now the majority of the mechanicals are sorted theres just a few issues which I will resolve at a later date:
Now long term plans is to chuck a 1.6 turbo our of the newer fiesta in it, with a facelift interior loom for a high spec, turbo 'nearly' modern classic, but we will see, with the future of electric cars and me being out the country for a few months I really don't know what will happen!
It was relatively low miles when I got it (72k) and it didn't pile the miles on (16k in 3 years) but it had no history and it was always at the back of my mind.
I serviced it, all filters, oil etc. It had a new backbox fitted (standard) and I sorted out a few gremlins (balljoint, rear bearing, coolant tank, clutch and temp sensor)
In the summer of 2020 I was doing a tip run, I had been waiting for 40 minutes thanks to covid but my car had other plans. As I was sitting in the queue I noticed steam from the bonnet, so I had a look underneath and saw a nice little puddle. Now I had previously done a new coolant tank and pressure tested the system, it failed but we couldn't identify where the issue was. I was happy to top up every few months as it really didn't affect the car.
When I got the car home I checked the coolant side of things and apart from being low on coolant it looked fine, the coolant was escaping from around the coolant tank but that was not the failure.
I decided to stop procrastinating and ordered some goodies.
-New thermostat
-New cambelt
-New waterpump
-New aux belt
-New rocker cover gasket
At the time I was also helping some friends with their transit van, the van was on hold for a few days so I thought it would be perfect timing to do my little fiesta then cary on with the van.
Day 1 - striped down the alternator, aux belt etc and swapped the cambelt and waterpump, turned the engine by hand - all fine
Day 2 - rebuild and start.
Now I hate working on engines, but I was confident it was perfect, I turned it over and heard the clang.
TLDR - The engine wasn't timed right and I managed to bent 4 valves, fantastic
It took me a day to strip the head off and undo all of my previous work, I was tempted by a different head but it just felt better to use the existing - it was sent for a machine and I put 4 new valves in, new oil seals and re-bed the existing valves in.
On strip down I actually found another issue, someone had been here before but managed to put a gasket on back to front, reducing the waterflow from the head!
We slowly started rebuilding it up, I went to my favorite scrap yard and picked some replacement parts up, rocker cover with original screws (I snapped a screw a while ago) A few little bits and bobs, air intake etc
Now I didnt check the mileage when I stopped the car, but when it was built back up the miles where easy to remember
With it all built up I went to cut the grass whilst someone braver than me turned the key, it was running great and just needed the coolant bleeding!
Now the majority of the mechanicals are sorted theres just a few issues which I will resolve at a later date:
- Sunroof occasionally leaks
- Speedo occasionally doesnt work
- Windows could do with some new runners, they seem temperamental
- Occasional missfire, It's had the head and coreplugs done, so some new HT leads and coilpack should sort this
Now long term plans is to chuck a 1.6 turbo our of the newer fiesta in it, with a facelift interior loom for a high spec, turbo 'nearly' modern classic, but we will see, with the future of electric cars and me being out the country for a few months I really don't know what will happen!
