Well, seeing as I thought it was my issue of redline I didn't make as much of an effort to open the bag, but it's a rather nice trip down memory lane and the ads have GOT to be seen to be believed

Nice one lads

 

Jeez, I've not even seen it yet!!!!

 

got mine this morning aswell, good read so far
and yes the old adverts are are funny check out the price of a stg 3 conversion on a cossie back then!

steve

 

the cover resembles one of my many ideas that i put forward when you asked about stuff a while back

when you see it you may know what i'm on about

glad you got your motor fixed though

 

Still smokes on start-up though!!!

 

your glass is always half full it seems

 

Or the car is just fucking cursed!

 

got mine yesterday,

quite amusing some of the old pictures.

 

When is it in the shops? Might have to buy it!

I must say Dan, the dedication to getting your car fixed is quite impressive. I think I would have given up long ago

 

It's on sale on the 9th Dec!

Oh, and it's not dedication, it's pure stupidity!!!!!

 

Not got mine yet and the post has been today

Steve

 

Cheers Dan, will take a look in Smiths

And, well, I didn't like to say

 

TopBoss Fitz dropped a copy into my work today......cheers for the feature Neil! I'll be down the shops on Thursday to buy a hand full

Gutted on my mug shot though....Im a fugly barsteward so it kinda kills the feature

 

He still owes me £80 surcharge refund

And we all know your ugly anyway

Steve

 

What is your car?

 

A hardcore Mondeo TDCi Estate!

 

We've only just got the copies in the office, hence why we've not sent any out!

 

I know it's a bit off topic, but I have to ask; why the dedication to sorting it? Can't imagine it's come cheap, most would have thrown in the towel by now. You must seriously love that car!

 

Because I'm stupid and I'm in too deep. I'd not get back what I've spent on it! I crashed it after owning it for two days and wrote it off. I stupidly bought it back off the insurance co. as I'd spent months looking for a low mileage Zetec S (don't ask!). I figured I could easily repair it for the cost of the payout, and have some coin left. I was wrong.

What I didn't factor into the equation was the injector issues, nor all the issues I've had with getting the front end straight - I fitted Eibachs, only to find I had self levelling suspension, then I fitted the Bilsteins, the s/h wishbones I fitted 'went', so I had to fit two more new ones. Then a pair of replacement hubs, track rod ends and drop links. The bearing went in one of the replacement hubs, and then again... and again. It turns out the hub flange was worn, which kept taking bearings out (think I've replaced 5 now), it also gave some nasty (and random) 'pedal to the floor' instances as it made the hub nut come loose constantly. Then it transpired that the other hub was bent, so the tracking and camber were way out, which had other consequences... such as it eating bearings! That's not to mention the the rear bearings, and bent control blade.

Engine wise - in a bid to track down the boost problem I've spent literally hours stripping and rebuilding it. It's now got a fully refurbed turbo, a decat pipe, 4x brand new new injectors, recent fuel pump, Airtec intercooler, decent brake discs and numerous other bits like the EGR bypass, replaced vac solenoids etc etc..

In short there's loads of really good bits on the car and it's still only on 87K miles.

It's a case of 'better the devil you know' and I keep thinking that there can't be that many more things to go wrong!!!! Having said that a couple of weeks ago the pinch bolt that we stupidly reused decided to let go of the balljoint, so as I manoeuvred out of a space it went 'bang' and the wheels ended up pointing in opposite directions!

If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have bought the car back, and stripped it for spares, but as I'd just done that with my ST200 I really couldn't face doing it again.

But to answer your question, I do (bizarrely) really like the car. When it works it's really good, plus I've learnt loads about diesels and Mondeos as I've had it apart so many times. Although if I never see another front hub it'll be too soon!!!!!

 

Fair enough! Definately had some work put in. So is it finally running properly now then?

Gotta say, they are a storming car, really easy to drive and a great work horse. I still rate them as the best car in that class by a good margin. Just a shame about the random issues they seem to suffer from. Modern diesels seem to have gotten really good from a performance point of view, but I think there's a few problems they need to iron out still.

I was going to ask if you have modification plans, but I don't think I'd want to push my luck if I was you!

 

A remap and air filter is next

It's also got a dent in the rear quarter that I've yet to sort - hence why all the pics in the mag for the past year have been taken from the driver's side

 

You're brave after all that trouble Should make it a whole lot more nippy though, always fancied a chipped one. I'm just put off by all the problems.

Should be a nice motor when done though!

 

So when are you going to do a mondeo special then

In the article you mention spending money on it straight away rather than looking for cheap fixes, but would you have found the other issues you had with the car had you just gone to a diseasal specialist who would have found out your I jectors wernt coded?

At least stu's had a good chance to explain how they work

 

That's the problem though - I did take it to a diesel specialist - he took the injectors out and sent them off to a Delphi agent to be tested. They said they were fine, even though they weren't. So he swapped two new ones in (as he didn't beleive Delphi) and he beleived he coded them in.

There's no explanation as to why it didn't take the codes, nor why the Delphi agent gave shagged injectors a clean bill of health.

It's runing really well now, although it still kicks out shed loads of dieselly smoke in a morning - The colder it is the worse it is.

 

You're going to have to explain this new word to me?

 

I bet you pawed through the whole of that long post looking for mistakes didn't you?

Oh, and your sentence isn't a question, it's a request - so you don't actually need a question mark.

 

Oh. Sounds like a barrell of laughs you have with it!

 

Not had any post today so no mag

Steve

 

Email me your details, and chase it up with the subs department.

 

I will wait a few more days thanks Dan

T38 thrash ?

Steve

 

Er... No!

 

You keep teasing me

Steve

 

If I was a subscriber I'd be gagging to know where my Mondeo Special feature was!

 

I'm in no rush fella...(don't quite get your post tbh?)...I was eagerly counting down till Thursday, so to suddenly have one thrust upon me on Monday morning was a real surprise

 

Ive robbed a big clip frame from work for the poster to go in as well lol

 

Diseasals smoke sooty when they are running at their best don't they? Plus it's going to be on it's warm up cycle when it's cold which would explain why it's a bit sooty

I'd not worry about it until it breaks down again

 

We get a couple of boxes of mags in the office, and usually send feature car owners a mag or two when they turn up. I didn't want you to think we'd not been arsed to send you a mag!

It's not sooty though - it's white and stinks of diesel! And no, I'm not overly worried about it TBH!