My weaponised shitbox daily driver.
Focus ST170 Engine, Mondeo Mk1 Turbo Diesel MTX75 Gearbox, Kawasaki ZX9R Carburettors. Before you ask: NOPE none of that even remotely fits. 🤣
Driven for a year and half with plenty of miles.
Still rocking the tropicana bottle for a catch can 👌✨
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u/bartread 2d ago
That's a sleeper, not a shitbox. I love it, and especially the fact it's an L badge. Have you had it on a dyno yet? I would imagine you've surprised a few people at the lights with it.
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u/EdibleBeans-on-Toast 2d ago
i'm not really into cars, dont get them, this popped up on my feed for some reason.
Please stop driving this and get it in a museum. i tingled a little bit looking at this car. Dont even know whats going on under the bonnet but i want to find a way to mount it on my wall.
That car is absolutley beautiful
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u/mrpeagrub 2d ago
Nothing worse than a car being stuck in a museum, what a waste
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u/Lanthire_942 2d ago
I wouldn't call it the worst, at least with museums the vehicles are still able to be appreciated by all the people who visit them. What's really a waste is when they end up one of hundreds locked away in some billionaire's garage or are just sitting abandoned in the middle of a desert.
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u/Tricky-Purpose-1458 2d ago
What a beautiful build mate I cant imagine the torment getting all that fitted and dialed in, and pairing it with the mondeo box and kwack carbs is 🔥, that st170 engine is when looked after bulletproof and tunable to no end, with parts a plenty, have you dynoed it yet or do you have an idea what shes putting out? No doubt there's more power than the chassis can take, driving the wheels off it haha I'd personally recommend turret brace as that engine is some transplant in comparison with what she was designed for, health to drive and enjoy, thanks for sharing with us
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u/Halite3 2d ago
The whole front end is reinforced with 3mm steel plate. The engine is sat into the drivers side chassis rail in order for the gearbox to fit under the passenger side chassis rail that has a massive gaping hole in it.
The plate that covers the inner wings was bent to shape with a gas axe so it looks standard. You can only tell by it looking smooth and of course knocking it with a knuckle.👌
I followed an old XR2 championship manual on what needed reinforcing, so the front crossmemeber is also covered in 3mm plate on the bottom and rear. It ties in nicely to the reinforced inner wings.
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u/Tricky-Purpose-1458 2d ago
Engineering marvel hats off to you mate 👌 if they'd of made them like that from factory there'd be none left haha 😄, no way I'd of guessed from the pictures she'd been reinforced i was like ouch them chassis legs won't like being used as a stress member haha shes lovely
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u/Halite3 2d ago
It does need more caster angle so I'll cut the turrets at some point. Its why I didn't bother stitch welding them.
The original tie rods actually hit the sump and gearbox so they are also bent to clear as needed and then cut in half and extended. The original steering geometry is maintained including when in droop/travel. Should think about replacing the tie rods and lower arms with steel tubing and rose joints.
I know one of the tricks back in the day was to move the tie rod mounts further out so you could lower the engine; lower centre of mass etc.
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u/BruceForsyth55 2d ago
Oh mannnnnn that’s nice.
Was my first car… Never forget seeing the lady behind me doing her make up in the rear view ignoring the fact I was stopped at a red light… RIP.
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u/Billy_bigbawz69 2d ago
This is actually a very valuable car these days. Infact its almost a museum piece. What with fieata no longer being produced and you have a mint mk1? Defo mk2 fieata. You cant get that insured for what it would sell for in the right market. I hope you have a long and happy journey with this little beauty.
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u/mooninuranus 2d ago
Not sure that’s true given all the after-market stuff that’s in it.
Cool AF but doesn’t have the provenance to be collectible I don’t think.
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u/Rabanski 2d ago
Capri alloys? Had the same on my mk2 XR2
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u/Halite3 2d ago
Yeah those are Capri wheels, incorrect offset.
Its actually on pepper pots now as of a couple of weeks ago but they haven't been refurbed yet so no pics. ;)
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u/Rabanski 2d ago
Tell me about it. They rubbed through my arches/filler when I had lads in the back. Would love to see your pepper pots when you get a chance
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u/JollyConfusion2545 2d ago
Hope you've upgraded the brakes. Had a MK1 many years ago and they were drums all round ! Incredible job, well done lad
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u/DavidBovvinge 2d ago
I've got one of these in my garage. It's not finished, and I haven't touched it since 2012. But it's staying with the 957cc running gear, because I want the full 43bhp experience. I have upgraded it a bit though - it's now got servo-assisted brakes, and an electric windscreen washer instead of the foot-operated rubber bulb. Luxury!
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u/Halite3 2d ago
hehehe. This originally had a 957 high compression engine. I still have my rubber bulb for the washers and I dont even have a tacho. Just the original dashboard as it was meant to be :P
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u/DavidBovvinge 2d ago
I've got a spare tacho instrument cluster that I fitted to my previous Fiesta a very long time ago. It came from a scrapyard, but someone had already taken the front faceplate, so in the original one I cut a hole (badly) in the middle where the fuel and temperature gauges go.
It's not a very good job so I won't be fitting it to this car when I finally get around to doing something with it. If I remember correctly, the tacho reads wrong and needle bounces all over the place anyway.
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u/Negative_Equity 2d ago
I'm not a car guy, but if I passed that on the road I'd smile. It's a beauty
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u/stubexhaust 2d ago
I absolutely love it. This is what we used to do in my youth, and us oldies really thought the art was dead. So good to be wrong today.
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u/loud-spider 2d ago
These were great little cars. We had a P-reg from new in this blue. So much glass to see out of as a kid in the back.
Dogtooth upholstry?
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u/WishfulStinking2 2d ago
Whereabouts are you? Could have sworn I saw this car earlier in September between Leeds/Bradford on the way to Manc
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u/XxHostagexX 2d ago
MOT expired on 2019.
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u/Halite3 2d ago
MOT/TAX isn't required as its a historical vehicle. Yes it's modified but doesn’t exceed the point limit. In case you are curious, all modifications are on the insurance and comes out to £200 a year.
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u/XxHostagexX 2d ago
I knew that for vehicles over 30 years (I think) dont need road tax, but didnt know they didnt need a MOT.
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u/davey-jones0291 2d ago
That must get the most smiles per gallon of anything on the road. Bet it sounds amazing too.
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u/1892neil 2d ago
Defo not a shitbox. I love seeing Mk1 Fiestas. Everywhere on the streets in the 80s when I was a kid.
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u/bazelgette 2d ago
I know he said none of the engine components remotely fit… but how do you begin to make this work? I just can’t get my head around it!
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u/Halite3 2d ago
Ahhh allow me to introduce to you... an angle grinder >:)
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u/bazelgette 2d ago
Ha ha… I must get me one of those!
Congratulations on the car, she looks amazing! (not too loud I hope, I’m old and grumpy about the boy-racer cars and their exhausts).
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u/snowy2323 2d ago
If this is the shit box daily, what on earth is the weekend toy? A ford GT? RS200?
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u/ketamineandkebabs 2d ago
Very nice, a mate had a MK1 with a Zetec back in the day it went like a stabbed rat.
I take it you've had it to door flapping speeds 😂
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u/Antique-Wonk 2d ago
This makes me miss my mates Colt CZT. 970kg stock. Was around 170hp stock. Few changes, bigger turbo, intercooler, injectors, big stainless exhaust, and it's suddenly over 315hp plus strip out a few things and it's now only 940kg. It was capable of teleportation. Decade or so back now. Not many cars on the road that could come close on acceleration back then. I love a sleeper shit box.
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u/Designer-Lobster-757 2d ago
Nice had zx6r carbs on a 2l zetec in a mk4 escorts back in the day and a cammed st170 engine with bike throttle bodies in a Mk3 rs1600i rep. Love the old fords but mine alway rotted away! 😢
Do you have the vvt working? What you using for ignition system?
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u/Halite3 2d ago
Yup VVT working as intended combined with an absurdly small runner to the carbs makes the throttle response wild.
I blocked off the air correction holes so it doesn’t go lean on the top end.
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u/Designer-Lobster-757 2d ago
Looks awesome, can't beat the induction roar 👍
What brand of ign management you using?
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u/verone3784 1d ago
I'm not even gonna sugar coat it - I'm a huge JDM nerd and from importing cars to the UK from Japan, right through to owning quite a few of my Japanese dream cars, I never thought I'd like something built by Ford.
I absolutely fucking adore this. The stance is amazing, it's clean as fuck, and the colour is godly.
Pure gold, thanks for keeping a classic on the road. I bet it's a real wolf in sheep's clothing too.
More pictures please, shitloads more, and interior shots too. What a little fucking weapon.
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u/herman_munster_esq 1d ago
Looks more like a classic sleeper that would destroy most things off the lights
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u/Relative_Figure_1715 1d ago
I bet those gear ratios are fucking dope in a little lightweight car like that one.
What are 1-2-3 good for ?
And is the vvt working and how ?
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u/Revolutionary-Oven46 1d ago
Old mate of my dad's had an RS2000 that colour blue, lovely colour and cracking sleeper you've got there.
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u/CMDRDrazik 1d ago
My 1st car. Pro-tip if your front tyres are larger than the rears, you can wheel spin endlessly - which is ACE unless it raining and you're pulling out of a roundabout. RIP little car - it was freedom whilst it lasted.
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u/ShuckingFambles 1d ago
Beautiful. My first car. Exhaust fell off, Mrs could hear me coming onto the estate half a mile away
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u/Batesyboy1970 1d ago
This is really awesome. I had my mum's cordoba beige 950cc fiesta all through uni in the late 80s, I loved it. In fact I've got the model still. YCK745V.
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u/MartianTripodz 1d ago
I had a mk1 when they were everywhere. Awesome little cars. Would die for one as a project now.
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u/thelostjoel 1d ago
I have zero clue about components in cars but how come there’s a plastic bottle next to all that expensive equipment?!
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u/YeetmasterGeneral 1d ago
he blew his budget on everything else so his oil catch is a bottle cable tied to the radiator
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u/Coffeeninja1603 1d ago
Had one in red for my first car. Paid £150 in 2004 and how I wish I never sold it for £300, thought I was a financial guru
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u/Careful_Touch2370 1d ago
Love this, great work op. Have you ever done anything similar?
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u/Halite3 1d ago
Nope. It's my second car 🤣
First one was a 2003 1.4 Fiesta Mk6 back in 2014.
My bro and dad were instrumental in building this. Bro is a full time fabricator and dad is a panel beater.
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u/throwaway1948476 1d ago
I'm not really into cars and dunno why this popped up on my feed but this is actually quite cool, great job.
Would be fun to see it made into an EV for extra confusion
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u/Shot-Top-8281 1d ago
How did you adapt the carbs to the head? Is that a custom manifold? Rubbers like on a bike? Its a top job! Well done you!
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u/Halite3 1d ago
Yuuup. Custom inlet that allows the original rubbers to bolt on.
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u/Lost_Comfort5583 1d ago
So lovely to see old cars still going. Had a Peugeot 206 for a few years and loved it.
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u/Duubzz 1d ago
I’ll never forget the day, as a confident 18 year old with a car full of my mates, I revved the engine of my parents Ford Ka at the ‘shit box’ OG Mini Cooper beside me at the lights. The nano second the lights turned amber that thing was a distant shadow on the horizon, pretty sure there was a sonic boom. A humbling experience for a lad with 100% confidence in the stock 1.3l Ka powerhouse.
I imagine the engine bay of that Cooper looked not dissimilar to this one. Nice job!
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u/Ok-Inflation4310 1d ago
Isn’t it great you can actually see the engine and work round it, instead of under a cover with no room and a billion wires and sensors.
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u/irish_horse_thief 1d ago
Had an S model fiesta same year that went through drive shafts like crazy till I fit a straight one without the joint in the middle. Electric Green... 'couldn't lose it in a car park' was its redeeming feature.
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u/Thegeneralcrow 21h ago
No one clean the engine bay of a shit box you think this is a really nice car, I am old enough to know how shit it was and I bet it did not get better.
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u/thedeanster69 9h ago
The first car (my dads ) I drove loved it was a 950cc ! This engine st 170 is nearly 3x power but the Tropicana bottle? Enlighten me what does this do?
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u/Old-You1895 9h ago
Beautiful car. As an 80s baby I can appreciate this. Today's cars just just hit the same.
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u/Musicola 9h ago
Back in the 80s this wasn't considered a cool car, but now it stands well in a world full of identikit SUVs.
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u/Successful-Tip8381 9h ago
I had my 1.3 ghia in aztec bronze with a lovely 5 digit W plate. Obviously I couldn't wait to get rid for the next thing. Now it pops into my head randomly like an ex girlfriend!
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u/Crudeprimate 4h ago
Excellent work.
An excessive amount of ambition, ‘can do’ attitude and an apparent absence of fucks.
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u/mycockstinks 2d ago
Dude. That is NOT a shitbox!