Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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May 25, 2022 21:32:41 GMT
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Hi everyone, I thought it was time to join a forum with likeminded enthusiasts after deciding to abandon pretty much all social media. I was originally posting personally on Facebook of my project but there were very few people who showed interest, so I permanently left it 3 months ago and never looked back. Now that my next project is already in the pipeline, I wanted to showcase my wee Fiesta which I've finally deemed as completed, or the "Everything I envisioned a reality" standard. Some background on her, I bought this car back on Hogmanay 2018, 4 months after I passed my test. Originally starting out life as a 1.3 Finesse, it was a fine car for building up a rapport with the insurance, good on fuel and reliable. I'd initially thought it was the most solid MK5 Fiesta I'd ever seen (How wrong was I, lol), so I ran it over the course of 2 and a half years.  I had a 2002 Ford Fiesta MK5 Zetec S which I bought in May 2018 and anticipated on restoring as I'd done a full engine strip down and rebuild on it in November 2020 due to severe oil burning. However, plans for this fell through when the timing on the engine gave way in March 2021 and when a mate towed me back to my unit, bent the front crash-bar by pulling from a junction too quick. The extent of the rot was the final nail in the coffin for it.  Jump to July 2021, I decided to embark on a project called "Project Snowfi" where my silver 2002 Fiesta was essentially going to be my white 2000 Fiesta. Everything Zetec S was going in the white one, I even rebuilt the engine on it again after the failure as I was adamant this would be the " White Zetec S" when it was done. So, cut a long story short, I done an engine swap from the 1.3 OHV 60 Horsepower to the 1.6 DOHC 103 Horsepower. I wanted to put new sills and arches on it this year in January and stumbled upon a huge amount of rot when the outers were all cut off. Took a break and after running away from it, at the end of March I set on a mission to teach myself to weld and tidy it up inside and out.               From spending pretty much every single night from the start to the end, 5th of May 2022 it was officially completed. Zetec S wiring for the interior front to back, Zetec S interior, Zetec S engine, Zetec S bodykit, pretty much now a Zetec S Fiesta built by me. I done all the work myself, including the bodywork and paintwork. My first official full respray too!         Thank yous all for taking the time to have a flick through this. I hope you appreciate that as a young and dumb 21 year old who left school with nothing it was my biggest ever achievement in my life to do something like this and now I'm super confident with a welder and setting one up. Onto the next project now!  |
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Last Edit: May 25, 2022 22:07:04 GMT by Deano
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Firstly
Welcome in.
Secondly
Well done. A brave man to take on such a project.
Ron.
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Mk5 Cortina 1982
Nissan Sunny 1987
Audi A6 black edition ultra
VW Transporter Kombi
Suzuki B King
Kawasaki ZX10R
Honda max 125
Suzuki SB200 (1979)
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Firstly Welcome in. Secondly Well done. A brave man to take on such a project. Ron. Thanks very much Ron! It was definitely a nasty surprise once the cutting started, all because rusting on the outside was what made me start lol. |
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Mega looking Fez!
Puma 1.7 swap next?
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That's a nice looking car,
Well done on all the work you've done on it,
Now's the time to enjoy it,
Nigel
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BMW E39 525i Sport
BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Thanks a lot guys, definitely been enjoying every minute of having it back on the road! Mega looking Fez! Puma 1.7 swap next? This does cross my mind a lot since it's so simple to do, but after the amount of work rebuilding the 1.6 Zetec engine I know where I stand with it as it runs flawlessly and worry that changes lol. |
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I really like those era of Fezzas, shame around here they're always owned by 'eddas who modify them badly and rag them into nothingness.
This is really tastefully done, good work on this!
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F503 FRM - MK2 Ford Fiesta - (Mo Filla, No Thrilla)
T527 LCJ - S2 Peugeot 106 - (Donor car for an AX GTI - scrapped)
CA57 GWP - MK6 Fiesta Zetec S - (Daily derv go-kart)
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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May 27, 2022 16:07:31 GMT
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I really like those era of Fezzas, shame around here they're always owned by 'eddas who modify them badly and rag them into nothingness. This is really tastefully done, good work on this! Cheers bud! I love the MK5's a lot, a car that in my days growing up in 2000's was a very common sight. Totally agree as well mate, I'm not into making it loud, touching the deck or boy racer like, just an OEM standard with a touch of my creativity put onto it! |
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Jun 30, 2022 18:41:33 GMT
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Here's a rare update post on the daily driver! For the past year now I suspected the power steering system had some form of leak. I couldn't really trace where it was coming from as it was gradual so I just topped it up once a month. Over the past month and a half of it returning back to the road on daily duties, I noticed that the leak was becoming "Once a week" top ups on the fluid, and the puddles were far bigger. After getting the car up in the air to clean the leak, it did unfortunately reveal where exactly and what the leak was originating from. The seal on the right hand side of the rack was failing, pulling the steering gator off revealed a build up of fluid inside it and the rack itself. Ordered a refurbished A Delco Remy steering rack last week and came on that Friday, quality looks to be of a good standard but time will tell if it is or not! Little did I know what I was getting myself into, after taking the car into my unit and getting it in the air I read up on a few people's experiences on doing them. I really really reallllllly didn't want to remove the subframe, but after rounding off the bolts holding the anti-roll bar bracket in place I then had no choice. After spending a painstaking day yesterday trying to remove rusted subframe bolts most of which rounded off, the welder came to the rescue in which I just welded a socket onto the bolts  . Finally I had her out innnnnn one.  No pictures from there on, more or less I was just fighting to get it back in position, didn't help it weighed a ton and all I had was a jack that it kept sliding off of. Went back today and refitted everything, she's back and leak free ready for the tracking to get done tomorrow!  One lesson I've learnt is if ever doing something like this see if you can get somebody to give you a hand! This was one of the hardest things I've ever done, even rebuilding my engine wasn't that bad  . |
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That's a fine effort, well done.
I guess we don't see that many due to tin worm which was a feature of Fords of that era.
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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That's a fine effort, well done. I guess we don't see that many due to tin worm which was a feature of Fords of that era. Thanks man! Yeah, almost every MK5 Fiesta or Ford from start of the floor 2000's you see is riddled with the horrid tin worm, unless somebody has a screw loose like me and decided to tidy one up too, lol. |
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Yep I’m liking that👍Great work chap
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Fraud owners club member
2003 W211 Mercedes E class
1989 Sierra sapphire
1998 ex bt fiesta van
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That is a brave amount of work and a lovely result.
Well done.
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Thanks guys, always love hearing positive things!
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Good job on this, fond memories of chasing a blue one around housing estates as a youth...
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Jul 10, 2022 16:20:56 GMT
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Good job on this, fond memories of chasing a blue one around housing estates as a youth... Cheers fella! Glad it brings memories back. I absolutely love how the MK5's look in Amparo Blue, a very bonnie colour! |
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Mar 15, 2023 14:20:06 GMT
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It's been a wee while since I last updated this! The steering rack appears to be doing well and so far (Touchwood) no leaks or topping the fluid up. I put her off the road back in November to preserve her from being amongst the nasty salt, but just over 2 weeks ago she came back out of hiding. Upon starting to regain trust in her, the throttle cable snapped on me coming home from work. My journeyman from my old work kindly came and towed me back to my garage. After scouring the internet, I couldn't find any throttle cables that looked the same as (Or what was left of) what I had. I bit the bullet and decided I was going to make my own cable, a quick trip to Halfords and I returned to the garage with an Oxford cable repair kit (For motorbikes). After removing the old one and much fathing about with the kit for an hour, I had my new custom cable fitted up and what an absolute difference!! I should also note I've put the standard Phase 2 Zetec S alloys from my silver Zetec S (I refurbished they wheels too) which I haven't yet posted pictures of her sporting them. Here she is:     She needs another going over with the polisher, however I've got a lot going on with moving and giving up the garage too (Moving Cindy to my new house and all her stuff), she will need to wait until I actually have some time or a buckshee day |
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Mar 15, 2023 14:38:02 GMT
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I'm gutted! I saw the update and thought you were putting it up for sale...
Still love this car
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Mar 15, 2023 20:56:39 GMT
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I'm gutted! I saw the update and thought you were putting it up for sale... Still love this car Cheers mate, that's just made my day! I don't think I'd ever sell it unless I came into financial difficulties, it's just a great car to drive but even more so great to look at when she's clean! |
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Deano
Part of things
Posts: 93
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Hi again everyone, it's been quite a period of time and hope everyone is keeping well and almost set for Christmas! I'm certainly not as active on here than when Cindy was in my ownership, however on the plus side, I have been able to really get many things in gear with the house (Which it still needs things done  ) and live a much more stress-free, happy life working away and being able to relax when I come home! I thought I'd give you all an update since it's actually been an incredibly long time since I last added to this post! Snowfi has been soldiering on through absolutely everything and has never ever caused me any major issues except for the throttle cable snapping... Twice! First when I was 24 miles away from home with a mate in the car at 1:30AM in the morning (This was back in April ) and literally limped it home on NSL roads with hazards on just using the clutch. Tried to phone a recovery but no luck once I realised what happened, there was nothing available for 4 hours hence my decision to just try and get home desperately, at a snail's pace! That was definitely one of the most slowest journeys I'd ever set out on and given the roads were totally dead, only few cars were behind me at unpassable places but no fuss was ever made from them and passed when I waved them to go . Second time was when I was taking my best friend home and decided to give it a wee welly up the brae ahead of me (This was only 2 weeks ago!), and a ping with a floppy pedal soon brought that sinking feeling of "Not again" once more . Luckily what this turned out to be rather than the throttle body end breaking it was the pedal side, and so I was actually able to make a temporary fix, which did not work well (Barely creeping past 40) but enough to allow me to drop her off, get a repair kit from Halfords and then go home . Other than that she has been good as gold! No issues mechanically, no oil consumption, no coolant consumption, nothing in the slightest except for the throttle cable! Bodywork has been holding up incredibly well and no signs of rust still after my wee restoration on her and so I am glad to say I must have done something right in that sense! Here's some pictures of her on a lovely April's day from this year!     And below are pictures of her new residence, well actually both of ours!  Then of course the much overdue bath time pictures on the needed days off     Would just like to thank you all again for encouraging me to take massive steps and focusing on what really matters in life and it's making sure I have a future which unfortunately I wasn't going to have if I'd held onto Cindy. Everything happens for a reason and a reason for everything, I might need to make another thread on my other Fiesta which has never been shown should I get the time to re-commence working on it... probably after winter Thanks again guys, I trust this is a good wee read to get yous all caught up and I sincerely hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a happy new year!!! (If I'm not back before then ) |
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. Finally I had her out innnnnn one.
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) and live a much more stress-free, happy life working away and being able to relax when I come home!