After selling my Zetec Turbo Fiesta last year the desire for a new Ford project got too much and a new Quarter mile beast was needed! So after looking at a few FRST's/Fiesta Shells/Series 2's I couldn't find a base project for either the right money or right condition. After travelling quite a few miles looking for a car I recently bought this Series 1 for a bargain price a few miles from my house! It had been sat for 6months with no tax,MOT and not running, it had a light OSF crunch and required the headlight/indicater/end cap and a wing.
This is the day I got it:-



This S1 has a 1.8ZVH engine with cossie management, it came stripped out with no interior and a previous owner had a thing for big sound systems and thought it would be a good idea to dynamat half the car

After scraping all the dynamat off with a heat gun, screw driver and about four days worth of cursing and blagging the missus to help we now have a dynamat free car and I even took the original Ford sound deadening off as I want this car as light as possible.
Before:-Serious mission!


After



As this is to be a sprint/track car it was important to me to remove as much excess weight as possible and basically remove anything that it not needed and leave the basics so its road legal. Unfortunately this car is a Custom and has the heavy sunroof. I would like to have this removed but as Ford and pattern part companies can't supply me a roof skin (unless anyone knows different) I think it will be uneconomical to get a body shop to do a roof chop change or plate the hole... opinons on this??

Dash out


A saving grace for the car was that one of the previous owners was a relative of Gadget and his influences are clear.. from the Cossie management.. to the FRST RS crossover pipe. Gary gave me a lot of useful info on the mods and history on the car. Cheers mate!

From my point of view it was obvious the engine had to go, only a 16v Zetec Turbo will do. So with the interior the way it is and the engine being removed its a great oppotunity to strip the car down completly and have it sprayed inside out for a great finish as I won't have an interior trim. Plus I regret selling my Fiesta and I intend this car to be a keeper so everything has to be done once, and properly!

Problem is like most RST owners once you strip the kit off and take the carpet out you see the full extent of the work needed:-







Rusty holes galore!
Its had some works carried out like new battery tray and a few plates but in my opinion they all need doing again properly!... probably mot station jobs

I've got to be honest at this stage I thought this car is fucked!.. I need a new shell. So started looking for one and after looking at a few unless I buy a Ł3-5000 series 1 a solid/perfect shell isn't going to be found! Plus I don't want to reshell to a Q-reg and if the shell is a different colour it will need a full respray anyway. So I've decided to give this poor old Series 1 another chance! I've got a bodywork quote lined up, lets hope it can be done! A few people from PF have offered there services (Thanks!) but are miles away! so unless I can get a decent quote from someone local that I can trust to give a shit about a 20 year old Ford I will have to take some of these kind people up on there offers and simply do the miles to get it sorted!

This is the shell as of today:-




Engine half way there with Cossie loom out, turbo and ex mani removed, inlet,rad,charge cooler out etc


To me the series one is one of the best looking RS's so it has to stay faithful to the original. So I have been sourcing new parts galore, so far have gen ford front panel, gen ford front wings, new front and rear bumpers new headlights, new standard rear lights (clear gay ones have gone!) new amber indicaters and I still need a load more parts!
Including passenger door as mine is pretty bad. NSF wheel arch again as this one is pretty bad. New Bonnet would be nice and obviously I need a load of repair panels, most people have recomended Hadrian (carpanels.com) as being the best. Will be making a large order with them soon!

I will continue to update this page as I get more done! any comments advise and help is very welcome!

 

good luck with the project paul!!! good to see another s1 saved!!!

 

Paul Ripley, gud luck mate

 

Paul Ripley, good luck mate if its any thing like ya old fiesta it will be a beast ! any idear on the engine spec yet ?

 

The engine has been specced looking at a genuine and reliable 300 ponies

 

Good luck with everything there m8. Should be tidy when it's all sorted.

 

was the sunroof optional on a series one? didnt think they had them

 

yes they did, both Series 1 and 2's had the "custom" option, which was lecky windows,sunroof and central locking i think, might of had more



but good luck paul

 

what happened to the engine for sale maybe?

 

The engine is for sale but I don't know the spec or condition as I never had it running.

 

cheers, see ya learn sumthin new everyday

 

 

alright, that's the first step Now keep posting them up mate!

 

Looks like the start of a lonnnnnnnnnnnng road ahead mate!

 

Paul Ripley,

 

Engines out! Windscreen is out! sunroof out! Wiring loom almost sorted
Gearbox, brakes, suspension fuel tank left to go!





Cheers Franco for helping get the engine out your a star

Got a new thoery on what to do with the sunroof now aswell; have the roof roof cage cut off (its rusty anyway!) and have a polycarb sunroof made and buy hinges like the mk3 fiesta had so it could pop up. Recon the poly carb sunroof would be lighter than a tin top anyway??
Did any mk3/4 escort have this type of pop up sunroof??

 

 

paul
no they didnt but i think it will look on a s1

did you need a door for yours as my m8 is breaking a rs1.6i

 

pull yes they did both my mate 1.3 bonus/pops had them as a option if not measure the fiesta one up and make that fit if the same size

 

Well from memory the Mk3 fiesta had a dial you turned to open the roof which you could unclip and totally remove. I'm sure my mate had a mk2 XR2 and it just a pop up.. can't remember plus I think you could remove that one aswell. Need to do some more research but I can't see why this won't work.

 

why not just get a mint second hand roof skin with no sunroof?

 

The body shop want a fortune to do it
I want to lose weight on the car but not at a great expense

 

Good luck Paul, let me know how the non ford sourced bits fit as mine will be going the same way as like you I have the intention of keeping mine for a long time.

There are that few S1's left that we really are lucky to have them

 

Cheers mate, got most the outer panels in geninue Ford now
Probably only be the parts Ford don't service like inner wings and floor pan parts that are pattern now

 

 

Good luck with it Paul. I actually plated over my sunroof on my old series 2. Adam (BlackRS) now has the shell. Look for his rebuild posts as it may show it. I basically removed the sunroof and got a piece of sheet metal and riveted it over the whole then sprayed it. Wasn't a neat job but did the trick. Oh and rivets leak when it rains so you may want to do something different

 

The Mk1 & 2 Fiestas had pop up sunroofs, the Mk3 had exactly the same sunroof but it did have a rotary knob that opened it. All 3 cars had water trays, unlike the cheap aftermarket ones that just have a seal.

 

always love the series 1

will own another 1 day

 

Lookin good mate.

Really fancy a series 1 myself. Dont recon her in doors would be to happy.

 

looking good mate!!!

keep the pictures coming....

 

Great respect m8!!!! This looks even worse than my shell and I want to reshell too....I should be ashamed

Good luck with your project m8

 

Yeah no worrys mate !

Just hurry up i need a drag ( ) Partner.............

 

Mate your gonna have at least a year on me! That'll give you some time to pratice on your launches

 

The way you were talking this afternoon.............I reckon months instead of years!!

Dude you whoop me on the strip..........but the track thats another story!!!!

Dont make me post any pics!!

 

Ok you got me.. i'll be nice....

 

Good luck mate, the pics of all the rot bring back memories of mine.

 

Small update
Gearbox is now out.... well it sort of fell out


Fuel tank is now out... what a bitch of a job!! the fuel tank was rusted bad and has been taken down the dump along with the fuel pump and pipes etc. The car didn't come with the instrument cluster when I bought it so I never knew how much fuel was in it.. turns out to be nearly full took about an hour and a half to drain out
With the tank gone I got a better pic of the rear underside and shows the extent of the rust!!



Was tapping away at the rust on the rear quarters whilst waiting for the fuel tank to drain out and a rather large piece of filler fell out


Jobs left to do at the stripping stage:- remove brakes, suspension steering and antiroll bars.
But first I need some trolly dolly's from machine mart so this baby can still be wheeled in and out of the garage.

 

shoot paul thats not good poor thing it needs serious tlc

 

it looks a bit like mine, before i started it does anyone make fibreglass doors /hatch/bonnet for the mk3?

 

Mc rallying still make them