right then, seeing as a few folks want to hear about it, i'll start the tale of my mondeo, and i'll update this page with pics and stuff as i go on, and answer any questions as they are asked

it was back in 2006 and i'd just been rear ended in my 24v granada at a set of lights at the top of my road and needed transport again



i'd got used to the size of the granada and seeing as i'd had previous experience of a mondeo estate through work, so the hunt was on

searching through ebay and auto trader and the like, i spotted one with no price tag a shortish distance away and thought it would be worth investigating, especially as it didn't have a price tag and was "open to offers"

when i asked how much he wanted he said he'd seen similar examples going for between £4,200 - £4,700 and i countered with "i've got £3k in my pocket

to cut a long story short, i drove it away for £3k

it did have some issues though from the off, a flat tyre when i went to pick it up and some scrote had scratched the bonnet but it was a steal so i didn't complain

so, what was the first thing i said i wouldn't do? that's right, i said i wouldn't fiddle with it

in the first few months it went through 2 sets of alloys, the zetec-s 10 spokes i had sitting around and then, later the titty x 7 spokes



and then some angel eyes (great when they worked, but a royal pain in the arse to fit)



somewhere along the line i fancied a different stereo so i bought a double din screen dvd player thing and spent ages trying to fit into in the 1.5 din slot

that was the start of the modifying bug proper as it meant swapping the centre console over, along with the heater controls, hot screen switches, cup holders, even the hazard light switch and air bag warning lights, big changes then were called for






and just after this i discovered that the complete dash was subtly different from early to late, including all the side mouldings, some of the wiring, some of the plugs, even the seat wiring looms so that was yet another mission

it was also at this point that i also wanted to put in the mic for the voice control stuff and phone hands free kit, so it was off with the roof lining, which also gave me the issue of dealing with the curtain airbags

it was also at around this time that i had issues with the central locking and the bonnet not closing properly, the central locking was easy enough as it just needed the master controller changing over, easier said that done, and the same with the bonnet lock, again, easier said that done

at this time i also decided that i had had enough of the shit brakes, they may have been ok on a manual car but they wern't the most inspiring and i'd had several close calls so i started to look around for larger stoppers

i first started by asking around for the focus st stoppers and everyone pointed me to one particular person/company in the birmingham area

big mistake

after about 3 weeks of "wranglings" i eventually ended up on the door step of one mr phil "martin hadland" collins, proprietor of a multi coloured parts emporium of going faster and going slower bits

after about 45 minutes we settled on what i wanted and what he could supply and a week later some wheels arrived at my house and, after fitting them, i travelled up to reyland to pick up my bits

martin was very apologetic that he hadn't had time to fit the bells to the rotors or had any ends to fit to the brake lines, but he offered to let me do everything on site and who was i to argue

brakes fitted, all i can say is that there is no better upgrade to your car that better stoppers, nothing at all can beat upgraded stoppers on any car that you use, be it a track car or going to tescos (which is why the mondeo's old stoppers were then donated to my little fiesta )

i began to look in the rear view mirror a lot more as these stoppers were simply amazing, as you would expect from 362mm discs and 6 pots of ap's finest doing the stopping



stoppers sorted i began to think about the outside of the car, specifically the st kit



parts were hard to come by and they were very expensive, but eventually i got all the parts i needed, bumpers front and rear, under trays front and rear (3 of them are needed), grilles top and bottom, fog lights, fog light loom, side skirts, wings, wheel arch liners, rear tailgate spoiler, all the extra fixtures and fittings, the list went on and on and it took about £1500 and a year to get all the bits together and fitted and sprayed up




and after fitting





finally, things were starting to look good, especially when i added the chrome lined handles



here are the xenons i also fitted, they need lots of CAREFUL wiring before they work




i also fitted power folding mirrors with puddle lights, most excellent additions to the motor



i also fitted a tow bar, and then discovered why they didn't fit tow bars to the st kitted cars




then things went a bit wrong, when i fitted what i thought, was a decent cat 1 alarm

the fitter fitted it, not a problem, but when it starting to unlock the doors when it was arming they didn't want to know

and then it started to drain the battery and they didn't want to know

so it's got a battery cut off under the bonnet and even when i switch it on, some garages are unable to start it

i also fitted a jp stainless steel twin exit exhaust and a k&n filter

and fixed my air con compressor, which went a bit wonky



i even tempted myself with a set of these............



and when it came to trying to source oe headrests to put the bigger monitors into, they were virtually impossible to get hold of, i got hold of one in the 3 years i was looking



and i also had some spare money so invested in a jag flip key



and some wooden bits



that's about it, until i find some pics

theres one of my daughter in the mean time