martinmilne

After a small van for work to replace my citroen relay will be modified a little to make nice what are peoples thoughts whats best pics ideas pls and other suggestions

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Connect. Just make sure the sills arnt rotton.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

I love connects, they drive really well. Would go for an earlier tddi as the tdci's are known to give bother.

STeve

iTrader: (11)

esc vans are a bit long in the tooth but saying that easier to mod

mercury grey minter

Let price be your guide.
Decent escort van Ł700
Decent connect van Ł1500
I have had both and would go connect every time.
As someone said above ,escorts are a bit tired now.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

The tdci.s are nippy compared to the tddi.s.

lerd

I've had escort vans there slow and mine was rotten after 7 years
Had a connect good on fuel but handle like a ship in a gale
Now ( coming from a ford nut who has a cos Rs s1 3.0 Capri)
This ain't gonna go down well get an Astra van with the Isuzu engine, mines done 237,000 now oil changed twice a year always do 80- 90 in it every day
Sorry chaps!

martinmilne

I have been looking at astra vans but fords are more my thing how long do connects go for most in my price range are high mileage or battered

martinmilne

How long do connects last for whats the mileage they can do

mercury grey minter

I bought my connect at 170,000 and sold it at 230,000.

Never missed a beat in all that time but it was a TDDI.They are more durable than the TDCI.

And they are good to mod...Here's mine..

martinmilne

How do you lower the connects and seen alot with focus seats in do they bolt straight In ?

mercury grey minter

Lowering Rear is flip rear axle
Front is fitting focus RS springs and cups on standard shocks.

You can fit any seats,I fitted cossie leather recaros but it's a lot of fabrication.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

That connect looks mint. I heard Focus seats bolt straight in?

mercury grey minter

No seat bolts straight in .You can bodge by drilling new holes in floor and using spacers but I did mine the safe way meaning 7 hours of welding & fabrication.

marky_g

Remember the connect is heavy so it's governed by van laws not car laws like the escort would be e.g 60mph on dual carriage ways etc

I had a connect good van I'd have another but minimum 115ps

marky_g

Also avoid 2005 plate connects the pumps are year specific so mega money my pump was 650 quid

CHRISP

been thinking the same thing myself about connect/escort ??

whats putting me off the connect is hearing horror stories of coded injector issues, pump going after 100k and being pricey yet there's nothing like that with an escort. i had a 51 plate escort from BT and every day of its life i turned the key and it went, slow as hell like lol, but it never had any issues.

so for about Ł1500 i'd be tempted to say escort

that one thats been on ebay with the rs2k front end on looks a decent buy for the money...

mercury grey minter

Only pump and injector issues on tdci.Get a tddi and your laughing.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Tddi connects are pretty much the same engine as what's in the escort, not fast by by means but look after it and it will do half a million miles. My friend's dad is a long distance courier and last I heard it was on 470k!

martinmilne

Any problems to look for with the tddi and on high mikeage ones looking at one at the weekend its done nearly200,000

mercury grey minter

The sills rust and they eat drop links,front and rear.As long as it's not lacking power and not smoking your laughing.Just listen for suspension knocks on high milers.
Should get it at a good price as that milage would put most people off.
Just remember they are getting like escort vans..(loads made,plenty of spare parts,cheap to fix)

RoscoST

iTrader: (1)

I remember having a go in a later connect TDCi and was suprised how well it seemed to go for a van ! , the look the nuts lowered with a few RS bits on them !