Dan track ka

My first post on this forum so thought id start with a project thread so you know what im up to.

Me and the G/F have owned 6 Ka's between us. 4 normal and 2 SportKa's so you could say we like them!

I have done a few track days in my old Fezzy ST and we decided to build a track car between us so we can trailer it to and from incase the worst should ever happen.

We went for the ford ka as we were both very familiar with them and the simplicity of the ka makes it them perfect.

We started looking at standard high mileage ka's for £500 ish to get us started, but after thinking about it we decided to spend a little more on a CAT C damaged SportKa.
The main reason being that the body was newer as Ka's are prone to rust, plus the benefit of the larger 1600 engine, wider track, bigger wheel arches and plenty of parts which were easy to sell on like the full leather interior.

So on February 26th 2009 we bought a Sportka SE CAT C salvage for £1300, (light panel damge). It was in a scrap yard about 250 miles away so didnt even see the car but took the risk.

Well... the car arrived safely, and we took a good look around it to see what needed doing and we were unpleasantly surprised at the condition.
Light panel damage my
Heres some pics from when it arrived...


Check out the respray...










As we started to delve deeper we discovered some serious bodge jobs.
The whole crossmember and slam panel was held on with a few self tapers and 1 nut and bolt...

1 of the chassis legs...





And just as we thought things couldnt get any worse, this was the oil sump, with the crack "filled" over...



More to come....

Dan track ka

I striped all the car down to find out how badly damaged the chassis was and noticed one suspension turret was 3" further back than the other so we had a accident repair centre out to asses the damage to see what the future held.

It came back that is was too badly damaged to repair to a good standard for what the ka was worth. It wasnt what we wanted to hear but that was the outcome.

I striped the ka to a completely bare shell and salvaged the rest...

In the process...

















Bye bye sportka.

In the meantime i had sourced a bare shell from a club member (10th racer) Sound lad. £250 with 2.0 focus rear disc conversion.
So we shipped it from birmingham to scarborough and it took its new home... and collected a safety devices 6 point roll cage on the way too...







The above pics were just before going to a friends garage to be painted and cage welding in.

More still to come..

Dan track ka

While it was been prepared for paint i went up to have a look at the progress...









Cage welded in...





Now for something a bit more interesting
PAINT!!!!

We wanted something bright and noticable and we both like the Fiesta Zetec-S celebration green. Having been fooled around by the ford dealer (whats new) we went somewhere else and chose the closest colour to fords celebration green. Its not far off at all...



Engine bay painted satin black...



Inside is Teflon coated...





Back at the garage. Looks a little spazzy with no weight on the shocks and 13" steelies

Brian

iTrader: (2)

Brian

Dan track ka

We have been buying parts for the ka since we started it.

Team dynamics pro rally 1, 15" wrapped in Toyo R888 SG





Cobra clubman bucket seats and TRS 4 point harnesses



We also got all the doors, bonnet, bootlid back from been painted and also swapped the sportka bumpers for Ford Racing wide arch kit.

Looks better with a bit of body to it...





Carbon door cards will cover the blue...





















Ive got more pics which i will upload later...

Dan track ka

We originally was going to use the 1600 sportka duratec engine, so we bought a SWR camshaft, and SWR 4-2-1 manifold but sigured we would soon get bored of the low powerd engine.

So a member on here (Pat) broke his S2 zvh and i took the engine off him.
I believe the engine was Ian Howell's 2nd ZVH build which was then owned by phil holmes followed by Pat.

Quick spec of engine...

2.1 ZVH
Mahle forged pistons
H section rods
beige injectors
cvh35 cam
bayjoo chip on OFAB ecu
T34 turbo
Stage 3 big valve head
AP 4 paddle clutch

Should give the little ka a bit of a boost.

Ka spec so far...

AP coilovers
Safety devices 6 point cage
Cobra bucket seats
Trs 4 point harnesses
ST170 300mm black diamond, drilled/grooved discs, predator pads.
2.0 Focus rear disc conversion
Braided brake line and rear bias valve
Cosworth fuel pump
FR wide arches
Team dynamics pro rally
Toyo R888 sg tyres
300mm steering wheel





Im going to keep this updated as of now.

TimC

iTrader: (1)

Cool Car. Should be a quick little thing when done

Ollie MK5 Turbo

I say paint the wheels black

This KA will fly with a ZVH, Nice little car

Dan track ka

So many people have said paint the wheels black and i said no way so many times. However im starting to think about it.

Thanks, glad you like it.

wess-rs

Looks really good!! I keep an eye on this tread!

Twins

iTrader: (18)

Fantastic project ,wheels need to go black as you have green black theme going on

Richie.

iTrader: (5)

Looking good there Dan


Any reason why you swopped the sport arches for the racing ones ?

Dan track ka

Always wanted FR arches and found a bargain, so sold the sport bumpers for a good some and went a long way towards the new ones. Also, there is less drag on fr arches and actually improve speed believe it or not!

steve st220

looks awsome mate, love the colour.

ROBnoTOP

Very well done, mate...

Was the SportKa shell really beyond repair?

I like the color and the black inside...

But sorry, I don't like the wheels..
I would bought some really nice Speedlines or Technomagnesio



But that's just my that's just my opinion......don't hate me for that...

With that engine it will be a pocketrocket, I'm sure mate...

Keep up the good work...

Dan track ka

I take everyones opinions into account, thats why we post on here right to hear what people think?

Im thinking of swapping the wheels completely for some team dynamic's pro race 1.2 or similar.

The pro rally are a very strong wheel which makes them quite heavy. About 8kg without tyre for a 15" is pretty hefty.

Dan track ka

Oh and the sportka shell wasnt beyond repair, but wasnt worth the cash it would have cost to repair it, especially when i found a shell for £250. Plus the geometry isnt guarenteed to be spot on. Not what you want for a track prepped car.

ROBnoTOP

Yes, I didn't think of that....
For a track car it's quiet essential to lose so many weight as possible.

A shell for £250 is a bargain, mate
I get the point......

wirralphil

ATS DTC wheels are 5.6kg bare weight if any good. They come in a perfect size for the Ka 7x15

Dan track ka

Sorry pal, wasnt trying to put a point across, you just sounded very sorry for saying you didnt like the wheels. I post my projects for people to make suggestions, mock, and compliment. also!

Wirralphil, i will have a look at those wheel. Sound just the weight that i want.
My current wheels are really heavy! R888 are not the lighest of tyres either!

Thanks for all your comments.

ROBnoTOP

It's a language barrier, mate.....
I mean that I understand what you're saying......

Any updates on the Evil-Ka......

10th_racer

come on dan its about time you got on with this and got it finished!

looks a bit different to how it used to, im glad it went to use though, i would of hated to scrap the shell, i'v still got its old engine and managment here if you ever need anything

stuartcarvell

Hello,
Do you have the paint code for this coloour?
Thanks
Stuart

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Nice project mate.Shame about the blue sport ka.Do you fancy coming to the scotch corner all ford meet in march/More details in the show section.

jonny s2

iTrader: (12)

awesome pal

Dan track ka

Been a while since i posted on here. Its still not finished. Lol.

Ill get some updated pics next weekend.

H7 CYA

iTrader: (3)

Looks like a nice project mate