The Chukker

These are my two Mk1 foci that I own and love here in the good ole USA:

Car
2004 Ford Focus ZX3 in Liquid Grey
2.3L Duratec with built internals:
-FSWerks Forged Pistons, 9.0:1 compression ratio
-Carrillo Super A-beam Connecting Rods
-Ranger Crankshaft
-Cosworth Main Bearings
-Heavy Duty Rod Bearings
-ARP Hardware
-Cosworth Balance Shaft Delete
-Crane Cams Valve Springs/Titanium Retainers
MTX-75

Engine Mods
FSWerks Stage 3 Turbo at 16 psi 91 Octane
Garrett GTX3071R Turbo
FSWerks T3 Turbo Manifold
Cosworth Intake Manifold
Turbosmart Eboost 2 Electronic Boost Controller
FSWerks 3" Stealth Exhaust
FSWerks 3" Turbo Downpipe
Turbosmart 38mm Wastegate
FSWerks custom FMIC
FSWerks Oil Cooler
Ford GT Fuel Pump
Siemens 60# Injectors
Innovate Motorsports Wideband and Boost Gauge
VF Engineering Rear Engine Mount

Drivetrain Mods
Quaife ATB Differential
Exedy Stage 3 Hyper Single Clutch/Flywheel

Suspension/Chassis Mods
Dominant Rear Chassis Brace
Dominant Rear LCA's, Dominant Camber Arms, Dominant Toe Arms, Dominant 60mm Spring Perches
H & R Coilover fronts with H & R 60mm 514# Linear Race Springs (180mm FL), FSWerks Camber Plates and Aluminum Top Hats
H & R Coilover rears with H & R 60mm 457# Linear Race Springs (180mm FL), Modified Turner Motorsport 60mm Upper Spring Hats
H & R Front and Rear Swaybars
FSWerks Upper Front Stress Bar
FSWerks Lower Front Stress Bar
FSWerks Rear Stress Bar
Baer 330mm Front Brakes (PBR Calipers, 2pc rotors drilled/slotted)
SVT Rear Brakes with Hawk HPS Pads and EBC Rotors (dimpled/slotted)
SVT Spare

Exterior Mods
SVT Front Fascia/Horn -- marker lights shaved
SVT Rear Spoiler
SVT Moldings and Door Handles
Euro Front Fenders with ST170 Side Repeaters
Euro Washer Fluid Reservoir
Euro Rear Bumper with red fogs
Hofele 'Edition Four' Grille
Mach 1 Front Lip with structural reinforcement
Euro ST170 Badging
Seibon CF Hood
Euro Rear Wiper
Euro Fuel Door
Color matched side mirrors
DIY Shorty Antenna
Rolled fenders front and rear
Heat molded fender liners

Interior Mods
Custom leather interior with 'ST' stitching
Custom suede headliner
Custom leather cargo cover with 'ST' stitching
MK1 Focus RS Center Console with functioning push button start + Custom molded rear mounting plate
ST Instrument Cluster Bezel
Custom Gauge Housing
Momo Pedals/Shift Knob
SVT Dead Pedal
Euro Floor Mats
Color matched radio bezel, interior door handles (matte black speaker grilles)
CFM Door Sill Plates (powdercoated matte black)
Tinted Windows

Lighting Mods
Euro Taillights -- correctly wired
Euro Facelift Headlamps -- correctly wired

Wheels/Tires
Team Dynamics PR1.2's HPS
18 x 8 et40 Front
18 x 9 et35 Rear
Pirelli PZero Nero GT's in:
225/35/18 Front
225/40/18 Rear

Random Facts
Bought car new in late '03 with factory leather (including leather wrapped wheel)
Audiophile and Moonroof

If you want to see the latest dyno go here:






^This car is my toy, she's a real beast.

This is my daily driver:
Car
2006 Ford Focus ZX3 in Dark Toreador Red
2.0L Duratec with stock internals
MTX-75

Engine Mods
None as of yet

Drivetrain Mods
None as of yet

Suspension/Chassis Mods
'00-'04 H & R Coilovers with Massive Omni Kit
H & R Front Swaybar on softer setting + Moog Front Endlinks
Steeda Rear Swaybar
FSWerks Upper Front Stress Bar
FSWerks Lower Front Stress Bar
FSWerks Rear Stress Bar
Baer Big Brake Kit -- Front 330mm (PBR 2-Piston Calipers, 1pc rotors drilled/slotted)
Baer Big Brake Kit -- Rear 305mm (PBR Calipers, 1pc rotors drilled/slotted)
Eibach Rear Camber Bolts

Exterior Mods
Smoothed '05-'07 Front Bumper with custom fog delete inserts
Focus Sport Front Lip with custom splitter (jimy_f_84's piece from his former race car)
SVT Rear Spoiler
SVT Side Moldings, SVT Hatch Molding, SVT Door Handles
Euro Rear Bumper with red fogs
Euro Fuel Door
Euro 'Ghia' Hatch Emblem
Mazda 3 Rear Wiper
Color matched side mirrors, moldings, and door handles
Rear fenders rolled and pulled
DIY Shorty Antenna
Glossy Door Pillars and Triangles

Interior Mods
Custom Suede Headliner
Custom Leather Cargo Cover with '????' stitching
SVT Leather Interior with red inserts
SVT Steering Wheel
SVT Handbrake
SVT Center Console
Color matched interior trim pieces and handles
ST HVAC Bezel with Aluminized Texture (rare option)
Momo Pedals/Shift Knob
Euro Door Sill Plates painted matte black
Euro 'Ghia' Center Console Emblem
Ford Racing Floor Mats
5% Limo Tinted Windows

Lighting Mods
Euro Taillights -- properly wired
Euro Rear fogs -- wired to running lights (this is a non-foglight specced car)
Chrome LED Front Blinkers -- properly wired
LED License Plate Illumination

Wheels/Tires
Team Dynamics PR1.2's 18 x 8 et40 HPS / Relief lettering pinstriped black
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetricos in:
215/35/18 Front
225/40/18 Rear
Rays Engineering Lugs and Locks

Random Stuff
SVT Sub Enclosure
Focal Speakers
Factory 6 CD Changer
Instrument Cluster with factory tach















And the two of them together:


Plans are to turbocharge the daily driver as well; my 'old' Torsen and Exedy Stage 1 from the grey beast will put down the power from the nearly brand new FSWerks Stage 2+ turbo and intercooler kit that came off that car as well. I had to spring for a new Cossie IM as it had to be modified to clear the power steering reservoir as well as a new SCT flasher, as well as new plumbing and fittings.
Luckily however, I will be slapping on my 'old' stealth exhaust as well as my 'old' 3" dp that I had on the grey beast. The GT28RS is nearly brand new as well. FSWerks has supplied me with a new rear VF engine mount along with 60# injectors; I learned from the first time around that the 42# injectors were starting to get taxed ~275whp. I'm going to be running wastegate spring (12-14lbs) rather than a BC so I should see around 265-280whp hopefully and without any boost rolloff.

This first post was basically cutting and pasting from a couple of different build threads I have on other focus forums so from here forward things will be less wooden and I can answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for viewing and warmest regards,
--chaz

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I like them alot matey. The focus are a bloody good car.

bagginsRSturbo

iTrader: (1)

Very nice pair lol

will@greenlight

2 very good examples there mate nice one

Colin_P

Very nice.

I know yours will not have any at all but how are the Stateside Foci bearing up in terms of rust? Here in the UK the MK1's are suffering, mainly rear wheelarches and sills (rocker panels as you call them)?

steve st220

Very nice Foci mate, very impressive spec on the grey 1.

The Chukker

^Many thanks to all who replied

I've got zero rust in the grey one but that's to be expected as she's a garage queen and I've owned her since new.
The red one is rust free except for some surface rust in the spare tire enclosure.
I bought her used somewhat neglected and unloved but now she enjoys the same pampering I bestow upon the grey one.
I love these cars.
Such great handling.

Thanks for your interest!
--chaz

Maxwell

loving the grey car. nice spec!! Love the rear arms too

The red car is a nice colour too. You seem to be a Team Dynamics whore LOL

And im surprised they both aren't automatic (as we know you yanks love the autos)

t230

love the mkii wing headlight conversion- very nice indeedio

The Chukker

^
I'd rather eat my own liver than drive an autotragic. Not only that but I wouldn't be able to turbocharge either car with an AT, as the one available here can't take much wtq before kaboom. The readily available MTX-75 though is a beast. Love it. Alas, not too many 4x108 wheels available here in the land of cheeseburgers and fries. Most are just like the population here obese and overstyled
I'm having some forged 3pc wheels made for the grey car

Maxwell

Mk1 Focus facelifts in USA, came with a European mk2 Focus front end!


LMFAO

At least you are straight to the point!! Is it them fifteen52 fellas that are making them for you?

The Chukker

Too heavy
I'm torn between HRE's, Forgeline, and Work. Still debating...

Maxwell

Surely it would cost the price of another Focus for a set of HREs!!! Lol

The Chukker

Well...sorta; this is actually how they come from the factory:




And this is what they look like after I get done with them:








Anyhoo, here are some more pics of the grey beast since you guys seem to have some interest in it.
Some tidy engine bay shots:






Completely custom interior that was intended to look stock :






Custom parcel shelf:


Italian suede headliner:


Cool beans yo:


Debadged now in preparation for some euro goodness:


And brakes. I love brakes:


^Going to 6pots next year though.

Well, that's all for now; going zip lining and rappelling with the family!!!
CheeRS mates!
--chaz

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

The interior looks really tidy.

The Chukker

^Thanks Glenn much appreciated.

In the interim time I've had the rest of the interior sort3d to include the custom parcel shelf with some Italian leather and some excellent embroidery work by a local hot rod shop:









And some quick shots of the rest of the interior:





Finally had a chance to condition the leather in here:









Working on a badgeless grille for the front of the '06 (I already have a badgeless Hofele on the '04); here's some in progress shots:











And here is the new mesh:



^It is raised .182" carbon steel. Very heavy duty and very attractive.
Once it is trimmed to fit it will be powdercoated matte black and I will start work on a matching lower grille for the bumper.

Here's the newly sanded and cleared Hofele badge for the front, should look smart imo:



Well that's all for now, thanks for popping in here

--chaz

The Chukker

Got the car back from paint today and I am super super super pleased:


Brought some euro fenders over from the UK along with some genuine OEM ST170 side repeaters; you can also see we shaved the marker lights in the SVTf bumper as well since they would have been redundant:


The view from the other side:


And from the front:


Ride height wise I have gone just a shade lower; Had Dom fab up some new rear perches to accept 60mm ID race springs as well as new shorter race springs up front:


I haven't yet had a chance to shake the car down handling wise but the nice thing is I can now order any free length spring with whatever rate I want front or rear to tailor the handling to my tastes. Here is a shot of the rear springs and the new perches:


^Up front I have 180mm FL 514#/in H&R race springs and out back I have 180mm FL 457#/in H&R race springs. The 60mm rear upper spring hats are Turner Motorsport (BMW) that we modified to work. They are placeholders until I can get my 60mm TCKline Motorsport spring hats modified. We will fabricate a small amount of tubing that will extend down a tad to help locate the spring back into the perch in case it pops out under full droop.

So as I hinted at above the CF bonnet is going bye bye soon to be replaced with the hood that came with the car -- albeit with some really sweet vents from the UK; the bodyshop is very busy right now so he won't be able to get to this for 3 or 4 more weeks. Here's a couple sweet goodbye shots:


Seibon makes a terrific product, still looks bitchin' even years after I bought it:


Still waiting on Dom to produce some custom flat centercaps all around for the TD's; hopefully he is still getting my emails
As you can see we modified the rear dust caps to sit flush so the rear 18x9's will accept flat caps.


^The fronts 18x8's have no such clearance issues

Function wise the side repeaters are lit when the parking lights/city lights are on but only blink when the turn signals are activated. Yellow bulbs.
And yes, there is a euro washer tank in there as well
Overall a very satisfying mod to do, very difficult to source the real fenders, very expensive to have shipped, and then very expensive to have the necessary bodywork done in order to do it right -- John Spears (my body/paintwork guy) is the Man.

Here's a shot of the bonnet vents that are going in:


Still working on the grille for the Mk1.5 but other projects have taken priority.

See you next update

DirtMuppet

WOW! I'm following this one.

You should be proud of these 2 mate, they're really good looking cars. I'm envious and my girlfriend would be jealous as she loves the Focus! The mk2 front end makes the mk1 look hard. The grey ones a bit of a machine too. I bet the ricer boys in their Civics love you?!!!

The Chukker

Thanks mate! The grey car is much higher spec than the red one
It definitely took a lot of work to get sort out the front of the red one -- happy though.
I do get some looks from other owners of tuned cars but it's mostly a 'what the hell is it?' sort of look.
Thanks for your comment!

nevsrevs

nice to see a true duratec turbo, liking the look of both your motors,
could you post some front suspension shots, cheers

The Chukker

Thank you sir! Been coveting those front arms you have on yours Had Dom's arms on there for a bit but after listening to a couple guys who had them break I went back to stock arms.

Here's some shots of the H&R's with the race springs as well as a shot of the upper mounts from below and in the bay (keep in mind these are the 200mm FL springs and I have since gone to a slighter shorter 180mm FL since then):







They can be purchased here at FSWerks:
http://www.fswerks.com/collections/s...ocus-2000-2011

Or if you prefer a more dedicated race camber/caster application here:
http://www.fswerks.com/collections/s...roducts/18500k

cheeRS!
--chaz

The Chukker

Took some new pics of the '06 and started cleaning the bay, although more work is needed under the bonnet. It'll be easier to clean now rather than after the snail and associated plumbing goes in.





Here's some new pics of her all cleaned up:














I'll have some performance upgrades up next.
--chaz

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I really love your focuses matey. There both stunning.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Really nice cars mate, miss my mk1's!

The Chukker

Thanks Glenn! Up until now we haven't really had many fast fords to choose from until the Focus ST and Fiesta ST recently showed up. You really had to commit to speccing up a Focus here in the states.
Can't wait to see what you guys do with the ecoboost Mustang...

Thanks Richie! A chum of mine here has moved on from the Mk1 Focus ST170 and now has a Fusion (Mondeo to you mate) and he absolutely loves it.
Proper car you have there; thanks for the comment!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

It's only a 1.8 diesel that is good for the daily commute, so more of a sheep in wolf's clothing lol. My old car was a mk2 focus st 2.5 turbo that would do about 21 mpg, fun but no good for doing lots of miles in!

sridgett

Love the gray one looks a bit like a st170. Do you get st170's in usa?

bav

Love the grey one! Very nice.

Bav

The Chukker

Thanks sridgett, thanks bav!
The ST170 is a zetec based Mk1 in the US; it's called a SVT (Special Vehicle Team).
Both my cars are Duratec based -- the grey one is a 2.3L, the red one is a 2.0L.
The red one will be getting a ported and polished 2.3 head though and we're going to port match the Cossie IM. Should flow pretty well

Lee Grout

A smashing pair mate. How does the car run on 35 profile tyres on the front? I gotta pick between 35 and 40's on my escort as on full lock its pretty tight front and rear!

RSRick3290

welcome mate, good to see you on here. your cars are looking better than ever

The Chukker

Thanks Lee! The 215/35 series is fine on a 7.5" wide wheel but is a bit stretched on my 8" wide wheel. That and the stiff sidewall on the Goodyear F1's makes for a bit jarring ride. Perfectly fine on my smooth roads here but perhaps a bit unsuited for roads in the UK as I understand it. I have 225/35 on the gray car and the ride is much better.

Hey Rick how are you matey! Nice to hear from you; thanks for your comment -- especially from a guy with a crackin' RS. Absolutely love your car.

Next up for the red car is an Exedy Stage 1 clutch and a Torsen ATB diff to be installed in the coming week or two. And the custom upper and lower grilles.

gingeRS

the dash is unique on the red one

over here the dash on the mk1 and mk1.5 are the same (simialr to your grey one)

nice cars though....

The Chukker

Unfortunately the 'facelift' here in the US resulted in the use of very cheap plastics and poor ergonomics. The Mk1 (original) interior is superior in every way.
Thankfully I was able to transplant a lot of the good bits from the Mk1 into the car to freshen it up. Thanks for your comment!
--chaz

sridgett

Where are you in the usa buddy? I once thought of moving there but then realised you cant buy a mk3 capri so then thoughy no. Lol

The Chukker

West coast near Seattle and sadly no Mk3 Capris to be found here

sridgett

Is it nice there? Doesnt it rain alot in seattle? I one thought of moving to vermont.

sridgett

If i rember right you can buy mk1&2 capri's cant you?

The Chukker

Sadly, I'm not well versed in Capri lore here as they were sold under the Mercury umbrella. They were not revered here in the states as the Mustang has always held that honor.
I personally adore the Mk1 Escorts.
In fact, my next project will be a normally aspirated high revving Mk1 focus whose lump will hopefully sound like this mad Mk1 escort:

First I have to get finished with these two cars.

Minor update. I've been wanting to visually differentiate the two cars a bit as they have essentially the same wheels so I hired Dom to make some billet centercaps for the TD's.

Oops.

Got tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

... (why oh why oh why didn't I listen to you my buddy Matt...) so I imported some genuine TD Motorsport Le Mans centercaps from the UK. Modified them slightly then epoxied them in permanently.
They look amazing. Still waiting for the epoxy to cure a bit before I mount them.

Here are some pics with the new open ended lugs mocked up, I really like how the shallow mounted caps plus the open ended lugs really transform the wheel:










Should have them mounted on the car in the next day or two.

--chaz

Freeked

Just read this...and man, you have some nice cars

I do have a couple of questions:

- That Dominant rear chassis brace, actually does anything?

- In the red car, what's that Massive Omni kit? I've read in the web, but i think i got the idea but either way, would it be possible to explain?

- The Fswerks camber plates on the grey car, don't affect the caster also?

- Still on the grey car, you're using different spring hats just because of the springs?

One last thing...you surely noticed, but the rear LCA on the grey car, make the spring sit different one from the other. Not in the same angle...