MK3 fiesta project - 2.1 zetec turbo - 358bhp-365ftlb for now

[RS_Rob]

well its been a busy week just gone for me, heres a few updates taken the rear arch kit off which was bonded on previously the sealer still left on the rear quarter brand new wings arrived as the shell is going to be seam welded mainly in the front, the decision was made for it to be taken for a proper shotblasting session as the small kit i'd bought was'nt strong enough to get the sealer out properly to avoid weld spitting when seam welding so on the back of the truck the night before the missus decided to take a picture the next early morning ready to go for a trip to be blasted

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[fezzajsy]

nice one matey

[andy130]

looking good mate, much are the wings?
must reply to your pm!

[RS_Rob]

so the car was back later the same day,
only problem being the weather was'nt on my side and was raining nicely
this made the journey back very interesting especially when the car cover kept blowing off the back letting the car get wet.
so some time with the airline and new cloth sorted that out!

the next night my fabricator decided to crack on now it was clean
so starting with the plasma cutter he cut out the problem areas of rust



heres some freshly cut holes
this is under the passenger side of the front bulkhead



this is the passenger rear turret



the nasty bits



the side showingno major signs of rust



also the start of the seam welding

[RS_Rob]

inside the shell is'nt being left out either
the top of the bulkhead





the floor





decided to weld up where the plastic plugs normally go aswell





the main support on the floor, even welded a washer to support the seat bolt points which normally fracture





how the engine bay is looking from underneath





close up of the drivers front arch





heres a clear picture showing the supports used while welding the front end,
as we did'nt want that much heat going into the shell while being held up by the front and rear of the shell





you can see from the seams we intend to seam weld as their back to bare metal





also had the sealer cut off the rear quarters, so the rest can be removed by the fudge wheel

[fezzajsy]

mate its really looking good,well done

[rs turbo j]

Hat off to you mate wish i took the time to prep my shell like that now.

[RS_Rob]

ok time to catch up with a few updates

bought some 1.2mm thick steel which i had bent to my spec





then shaped it to meet the floor and sill inside the shell
which will reinforce greatly





here it is seam welded in postition





on the inside of the engine bay we used it to reinforce between the chassis leg and bulkhead
and sort the hole made by plasma cutting the grot out





will look like this





on the otherside of the bulkhead its look like this,
ignore the dodgy looking colour its from the gas used for welding
it comes off and will all be sorted before its first coat of etch primer





had my bigger master cylinder painted panther black aswell
so will build that back up soon





mmm metallic flake

[RS_Rob]

the seam welding has gone back to the rear floor





tidied the welds up a little and buzzed over them with the scotch wheel







the windscreen brackets were looking a rusty, so taken them off aswell





quickly machined the small scabs of rust around the sunroof to see the full extend of the tin worm





more welds cleaned up with the scotch wheel

[RS_Rob]

back on its side now for more welding underneath





the welds which have penetrated through when welding inside have been cleaned up





patches replaced where the metal has perforated after shot blasting





the inner fuel cap area was cleaned up but thin in a few places also
so that was cut out with the plasma cutter





the piece cut out







rear suspension turret where we cut out the rot has now had a new peice welded back on





this hole is where the bracket for the spare wheel carrier goes into the boot,
as i've taken all the other bracket off, i want this sealed up
so removed this extra support fords had over the top of it

[RS_Rob]

machined the sills back removing any chips in the previous paint etc





part of the front chassis welded up





the master cylinder back together





picked up some parts from the powdercoaters
rear beam, coilpack bracket and front mount





close up of the clean rear beam
now that its back, going to have the old man make up some spacers to make up for the width lost
when converting the rear brakes from drum to disc setup as the wheels sit further in the arch

[GaryHurn]

awesome rob really is

[marky_g]

blimey goin to town on this nice work

[robp-tt]

if your using a zetec s rear beam and focus rear discs it pushes the wheels 20mm out, i done the conversion on my fiesta and need to trim the arch trims to stop them hitting the wheels, also if your using racing puma handbrake cables you will need to make brackets for the cables to go in to as the fiesta ones are in the wrong place

[BigJim19]

inspirational build pal, making me rather embarrassed that i've left my FRST sitting waiting for the good weather

looking forward to further updates

[RS_Rob]

thanks for the nice comments guys really feels like its getting somewhere now!

Originally Posted by robp-tt

if your using a zetec s rear beam and focus rear discs it pushes the wheels 20mm out, i done the conversion on my fiesta and need to trim the arch trims to stop them hitting the wheels, also if your using racing puma handbrake cables you will need to make brackets for the cables to go in to as the fiesta ones are in the wrong place

thanks for that i appreciate your info
its the original rear beam with a plate stitch welded over the hollow section, with rs2000 disc/drum setup which is why the rear wheels have gone in the arch further
uses the rs2000 cable aswell with adapter to take up the slack

[RS_Rob]

so the boot floor plugs and spare wheel carrier bracket hole have been welded up




the otherside of the welded rear turret passenger side




the rear drivers side turret welded, which i cut quite alot out of




inside view of the same rear turret as above




seam welded along the rear inner panel i trimmed to ensure no strength was lost
you'll notice the hole in the rear chassis leg, its where the rear towing eye was
my fault kept belt sanding to get it dead flat ....... opps (got a new chassis leg on way to sort it)




and the same panel otherside of the car




the fuel filler kneck panel replaced aswell

[RS_Rob]

onto the engine bay
i've circled the holes i want welded up with black pen






also seam welded along the top of the bulkhead panel





heres the otherside of that panel, after belt sanding and then running over it with a 180grit on the DA





also welded the holes left from the self tappers used to hold the bodykit on previously





after tidying them up and running the DA over them, they blend in nicely

[RS_Rob]

had a delivery in the week,
solder paste and 3 large solder sticks
as some things that need smoothing are going to be lead filled,
as it wont crack or sink like filler





got the car in the booth for two coats of etch primer aswell as 2k primer after that in some places
very happy how the floor is looking now







rear turrets looking much better





this is the turret which had a fair sized piece cut out





underneath has had some etch primer and 2k primer over the top





heres the front suspension turret in the engine bay, with holes welded up and smoothed
then primered

[RS_Rob]

well after messing the rear chassis leg





got hold of a no longer available genuine ford repair panel for the chassis leg





drilled the spot welds and cut the old piece off





here it is after being covered in primer, much better





got myself a new fords alternator cable aswell





also a new servo pipe, brake line securing clips and non power steering rack bolts





new brackets which hold the sunroof





new tailgate hinges next to the old ones,
the old ones hold in what ever position you put them, compared to the new ones which are completely smooth

[n13los]

great work, looks like she will be an animal when finished.

you seem to be a bit of an expert at sourcing no longer serviced items, i've been trying to find a pair of van blanking panels for my mk3 project.

i used to work in the parts dept @ evans halshaw in cardiff, rod there has tried all the usually sources (daventry, Quicks, Perrys) but nothing available, any ideas??? i have the finis codes somewhere.

cheeRS Neil

[RS_Rob]

Originally Posted by n13los

great work, looks like she will be an animal when finished.

you seem to be a bit of an expert at sourcing no longer serviced items, i've been trying to find a pair of van blanking panels for my mk3 project.

i used to work in the parts dept @ evans halshaw in cardiff, rod there has tried all the usually sources (daventry, Quicks, Perrys) but nothing available, any ideas??? i have the finis codes somewhere.

cheeRS Neil

pm me the part numbers your after,
i work in bridgend ford parts (small world)

[fezzajsy]

man thats gonna be a stunner

[RS_Rob]

thanks mate, its really starting to take shape now

[BigJim19]

where did you get hold on the zoo lower arms fella??

cheeRS

[njietro]

awesome

[slammedorion]

Nice work

[Brian]

Coming along really well mate


Brian

[Red16]

Fantastic work, seam welding and strengthening plates look great

[Tazz88]

Looking super mate top job on that Cant wait till i get my 1st RST get my hands dirty

[RS_Rob]

Originally Posted by BigJim19

where did you get hold on the zoo lower arms fella??

cheeRS

zoo motorsport when he was trading years ago

[RS_Rob]

thanks for the comments not updated this for a while lol

[RS_Rob]

Well its time for a catch up
things have been a bit slow lately due to loosing my enthusiam
but starting to get it back again


after selling quite alot of parts recently to get my funds level back up
mainly things that are no good to me which my change of plans
as basically this car wont look the same as before,
more factory looking with subtle touches


firstly my new black samco hoses for the mk3 fiesta with zetec engine
(the kits only been released a few months ago after all these years)





spark lead clip, new washer jets, clips to hold the wiring in the boot, and tailgate grommet





brand new hubs to go with the knuckles i have'nt picked up from the powder coaters yet





new rear license plate lamp on the left, compared to the old yellow on the right





the metal shim that goes between the block and gearbox, no longer available new
so straightened mine up, sanded back to bare metal as it was a little scabby
etch primer and few coats of satin black, JOB DONE





also the panel gap below the rear light i've had lead filled, so basically its slightly flexable and wont crack





heres how the shell is looking
basically seam sealer is being put on only where its needed and nowhere near as thick as it comes from factory






recently while in the london area, i went to see chris todd @ torque of the devil
about mapping, wiring and management
very happy to leave the car with them in the near future

[GaryHurn]

great progress rob, how ever i would consider taking the fiesta some where else!!! after seeing the mess of a friends corsa after they had mapped it, it melted a piston after 200 miles, used a 20 year old wiring loom and bodged it to fit the omex plug

id recommend dave young @ mech motorsport he loves using omex (there are also near his workshop) he is based in cheltnham, he has mapped about 4-5 of my friends cars including the nova all on various systems mbe, omex 600, emerald k3, megasquirt, dta etc etc

best of luck anyways cant wait to see it

i was always told that lead filling will corrode the metal??? hence why it is not done that much any more??

[cosmo V6]

Very impresive Bridgend boy


Awesome job


You must be a better customer there for bits than me

[RS_Rob]

hey paul, thanks mate
i spend far too much money in work haha

[RS_Rob]

Originally Posted by GaryHurn

great progress rob, how ever i would consider taking the fiesta some where else!!! after seeing the mess of a friends corsa after they had mapped it, it melted a piston after 200 miles, used a 20 year old wiring loom and bodged it to fit the omex plug

id recommend dave young @ mech motorsport he loves using omex (there are also near his workshop) he is based in cheltnham, he has mapped about 4-5 of my friends cars including the nova all on various systems mbe, omex 600, emerald k3, megasquirt, dta etc etc

best of luck anyways cant wait to see it

i was always told that lead filling will corrode the metal??? hence why it is not done that much any more??

you've put a doubt in my mind gary,
so after speaking to ian H
i've got some new idea's will post up more soon after a few phone calls

[Glenn.]

Wow top work there fella.Its gonna be a strong shell.

[cosmo V6]

Originally Posted by bridgend boy

hey paul, thanks mate
i spend far too much money in work haha

And time Rob

[creator]

this will be amazing once finished great progress mate