Not too sure what people's reactions to this will be. I am 15 years old and I purchased a ford fiesta flight a few months back as a sort of project to do up before I can drive. Was wondering if anyone knew any good styling and or engine mods that I could do to it? I understand through research that the 1.3 endura e engine isn't liked much but it's cheaper to insure as a first.

 

Welcome to pf. There isnt many things you can do to a 1.3 to be honest.

 

Thanks and yeah, so I believe haha. Just styling really, obviously when I can afford to insure something better I could put a 1.7 puma lump in it, that's quite popular with the mk5's

 

I had one as my first car (98 1.3 Fiesta Van, Not the courier!)

I wouldn't bother wasting money modding it, Mine was standard bar a set of alloys (Standard 15'' Puma Propellers) and a Silver Dash/CD player from a Puma. Oh and a Puma gearknob!

 

welcome to pf, the 1.3 is one of fords bad engines tbh and is very limited with tuning aspects the puma lump is far mor desireable

 

Ye TBH your better off leaving it alone and just using the car to get some no claims discount up, maybe out some nicer alloys on it but that's all I'd do really.

 

My older brother still has his first car (mk5 fiesta 1.25) and it's just lowered on coilover suspension and he has put puma millenium wheels on it. He has also put the left rear light to euro standard because it doesn't have the white reverse light cover and looks cleaner! He also has the puma rear wiper which is a smooth curve and looks better. He also now has a straight through decat on the car. Last but not least he has put the escort recaro seats in it which are lovely and fit straight in! It's just an all round good car, good luck with yours and hope this helps you! Any questions just ask mate!
1 st pic is non lowered with the puma wheels and 2nd is lowered on coilovers!
Untitled by ryancameron01, on Flickr
Untitled by ryancameron01, on Flickr

 

All useful. Thank you

 

Thank you! Taking notes on everything I'm told haha! Already considered lowering and adding some puma related stuff to mine

 

Thank you! I'm currently looking for a puma gear knob haha! Great minds think alike

 

No bother! Haha. Yeah although i would say if you're looking for a kind of cheap mod that looks nice and is actually functional I would look at some wind deflectors. They let air in without getting that shitty wind noise haha!
All the best

 

Sounds good, will do! Got heaps of time haha

 

Yeah haha! Got any pics of the car mate?

 

I know how stero typical the chavy intake kit appears but my air filter box was all cracked and broke so I found it lying around from my old punto and after cutting the pipes a bit it fit on so why not haha

 

Car looks fine man haha, yes the air filter looks a bit chavvy but i bet it doesnt sound too bad lol. Without the blue pipes it would look good! Would definitely recommend removing the side bump strips (as you can see in my photos) which just come right off and dont require screws etc.. And would remove the fiesta and flight badges to clean it up! Looks clean and no rust? good 1st car tho!

 

Not bad huh? got it for a bargin price too, there is a little bit of rust on the rear left arch and a bit on the boot but hardly visible until you're up close haha, probably not too pricey to clean up! I think it makes a heck of a difference if the wing mirrors are colour coded as well as the side bumps being removed and the rear being de-badged. Think it looks pretty good when the lights are de-tangoed and the side repeaters are smoked? what d'ya reckon?

 

I would honestly just save any money you are thinking on spending on it.
There is no point upping your already not doubt high priced insurance.

I understand the urge to tinker and modify as I was exactly the same in my teenage years. However, you'll be better off saving until you can afford something better.

 

Aye I agree haha, me, my brother and my dad gave my brother's car a home respray (which doesn't look too bad I must say!) because it was needing both arches, did it all including paint for just over £250!! But probably not worth it if it isn't much. Sounds good to me apart from the smoked side markers, not keen on smoked lights at all haha.

 

Well I don't want to spend mega bucks on it but I do want to do it up a bit as it's got to get me to college and back everyday which is a good 15-20 miles away, so around 30 a day haha, just cheap things that make the difference really.

 

Wow that sounds alright haha! Just wanna have it looking nice and I'll obviously make sure that it's running perfectly maintenance wise as I know my way round an engine quite well for my age but everything noted sounds good! Thanks again

 

Aye haha! Yeah that's good though, sounds like I know a lot about fords etc, however I only turned 16 the other week haha. Building my 1st car just now man.
Also wee pointer if you want to change the handling, I would look into polyurethane bushes, my brother has them too lol.

All the best

 

Haha yeah heard about them! Might get a strut brace too, my uncle does performance parts so I will probably get a discount on one, nice to see I'm not the only young enthusiast! I turn 16 in August so quite a bit younger than most people haha!

 

Yeah, would definitely be looking into improving the handling and being able to chuck it into the corners safer rather than trying to make the 1.3 go fast!
Yeah there's not many of us young enthusiasts haha, but it's awesome to see more of us produce cool things!

 

100% agree haha! I'll try to keep updating my progress on here as the responses were far better than I originally expected

 

Yeah i was very surprised at it too, only joined at the start of feb and my build thread has almost got 2000 views and over 70 replies
If you're going to make progress then make a thread on the 'Restorations, Rebuilds and Projects' section of the site!

 

Thank you, will do!