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Thank you, it was a very nice car, and ultra clean. I did find it rather easy to go quickly in it, and I made one of my most epic mistakes in swapping it for a 16v Saxo, which, don't get me wrong was a fun car, but it wasn't a Ford.
Well today was the first Saturday in a while that I could spend on my car, needless to say I was outside before 9am this morning, full of good intent. But the onset of seriously cold temperatures saw me only check the tyres and clean the glass, and grease all the hinges before I lost all feeling in my hands, so I gave up
I think the last time I checked it had a "sorn" in place, so hopefully it's not been scrapped, as it was really clean when I owned it, and went rather well.
I spent a little time today trying to sort a squeak from my drivers window. I used a "holts" product to clean and lubricate the rubber in hope that it would work. The passengers side is brilliant, but the drivers side still seems to do it. I cleaned all the runners etc, which were black. But I've run out of light already, so I cleaned all the glass (again) and used some Rain-x Anti-fog.
I will report back after I find out how good it is.
Well 4 days on from using the rain-x and I've got mixed feelings about it. For the first two days it's worked really well, but then the other day when I went to my car, all of the glass on the inside seemed to be coated with a layer of gel ? no idea what that was all about, either it's been so cold something happened to the rain-x or it's reacted with one of the previous glass cleaners I've used. Either way today once I got home I decided to strip both the outside and interior glass completely of all it's chemicals.
For the outside I rinsed the windows down with just water, I then used some Simoniz mixra glass cleaner, which is a foam based spray, and good at removing traffic film. I worked this in using a circular action, followed by the horizontal and vertical movement, after which I wiped it down with another microfiber cloth.
I then wet some clay and the glass again, and clayed the glass again using a circular action. It was surprising the amount of dirt this pulled out of the glass, as I haven't tried this method before.
After this I cleaned the glass again with the mixra, and dried it with a microfiber towel.
Now this next bit may seem a little different, but I thought I would give it a try, and that was in me polishing the glass, I applied some of my beading marvelous polish (again this is an experiment), waited 5 minutes and then wiped it off. I did this all around the car. Finally I cleaned the wiper blade rubbers, before placing them back down on the glass.
So I then moved inside the car (which was needed as it's freezing outside), and I started by using some of the glass cleaner on a microfiber cloth, and trying to rub off the smear on the inside, but this wasn't cutting it. I then moved onto a something different, this was Flash magic eraser. I soaked it in some water, ringed it out, then rubbed it on the glass in a circular motion, and it instantly cleaned off the smear. I followed this by drying the glass with a microfiber cloth, and then again with a microfiber towel.
A little different, but I've at least managed to set the glass back to "zero" on the inside, so I will wait a little while and try the rain-x again, and hope for better things.
Wow! Amazing read. I've spent the evening reading through the last four and bit years of your ST170 journey and actually love your car and passion.
I pick up my ST170 (5dr Magnum Grey '03) in a couple weeks (MOT permitting!) and can't wait to give her a good running. Thanks in advance for all the advice in this thread, hope I can add my own entertaining thread at some point
Wow! Amazing read. I've spent the evening reading through the last four and bit years of your ST170 journey and actually love your car and passion.
I pick up my ST170 (5dr Magnum Grey '03) in a couple weeks (MOT permitting!) and can't wait to give her a good running. Thanks in advance for all the advice in this thread, hope I can add my own entertaining thread at some point
Thank you for your kind words, and I look forward to reading all bout your ST170
Hi Paul.
What a wonderful read. I've been mesmerised by your in depth journey wondering half way through will you still own it when I get to the end? So pleased you are still enjoying the st.
I bought a 2002 three door last week and was gob smacked by it wondering why so many criticise the car. Ok I took a chance as it's 157k miles but goes so well and doesn't look its age. Admittedly there are jobs that need doing, refurbishing the wheels being the first one. Yesterday I changed the oil and filter and noticed the engine noise had decreased which was a pleasant surprise. Lots of little jobs but just wanted to say you have inspired me to put as much effort into it as you have.
Well done sir.
Best regards.
George
Thank you George, kind words indeed, and indeed the ST 170 is often criticized by non owners and some actual owners (past & present), but I don't regret owning mine, or indeed actually buying it all those years ago.
Get your own thread up and running, and I will look forward to reading about your own progress.
Thanks Paul.
Not sure if I'm brave enough to start a thread like yours. I don't think I have the same abilities and attention to detail but it's worth thinking about.
So a little update today as I'm home packing boxes (more on that later), but first the ST170. Well the car is still turning it's wheels o.k. and I've done very little to her due to work commitments and home life activities.
One thing I am in the progress of working on is a back to back fuel comparison, which sounds a little odd given the fact it's an ST170, but of late I've been visiting a hospital that's roughly an hours drive on A & B roads (my favorite), so I thought why not.
I normally run my car on B.P. either Ultimate Unleaded or just normal Unleaded, but lately the car has been hitting some lovely flat spots around the 2000rpm point, as well as another after 5000. I put this down to a combination of needing a service, and a catalyst along with the pre/aft Oxygen sensor (not much to do lol).
Well one night coming back from the hospital my fuel light came on, and I thought "oh bugger" as the range on the car is very limited once the light comes on, plus I'm not one to drive around with the fuel that low (due to hearing nightmare tails of dirt - low pressure pick up), so just down the road I spotted a Shell station.
In I rolled, up to the pump, and I thought to myself this would be a great opportunity to test out some V-Power Nitro Plus fuel in my car. Well Mr Shell then seemed happy to take £35.02 of my money, and off I went (bloody 2p).
The car has managed around 178 miles on 27.17L of fuel, which I roughly work out at around 29.8 mpg (ish), which to me seems really good, as I normally tend to get around 16-22 lol. The other thing I've noticed is that the car seemed almost fluffy, and the flat spots had gone ? which is very confusing.
I ran the fuel through and tried it again using the same fuel and the car felt different, after which I went back to normal BP (not ultimate) and the flat spots had returned, but the car felt more aggressive i.e. more on or off the throttle. I haven't used all the fuel yet but once I do I will try it on the Ultimate and do another (almost) direct back to back, and share with you the actual results (hopefully followed by a Shell stop).
So back to the subject of packing boxes, yes I've decided to move, it's a very long story (nearly 4 years), and one I often find myself questioning as to why, but I've decided to downscale and rent a smaller but more expensive (?) modern place. I've experienced lots of unexplainable problems whilst living here and despite it being a lovely place I think it's for the better (for the time being).
most that slag off the 170 have never actually owned one, i find them a decent car but being mass produced there is so many sheds out there most join the bandwagon of haters, not many fords out there that can put a smile on your face without spending obscene money, theres a good few chaps that own these and prices of decent examples are on the up so keep up the good work folks
Since exchanging my BMW 323ise for the st, I've been amazed at how good it is on fuel. Honest. Great fun to drive and much better on the pocket. Very happy
Well part two of my back to back fuel comparison test, I've just managed to do 82 miles on 16.69L of normal BP fuel (3.67 Gallons), which works out at around 22mpg. This was mainly doing short runs on A roads, with speeds varying from 40-60mph.
I've just put in some Ultimate Unleaded and hope to report back with my results in the not very scientific test of mine.
Originally Posted by Glenn_
What's these unexplainable problems matey?
It's a little bit random Glen, and I don't want to go that far off topic, but the place I'm in can best be described as rather "spooky". I'm fairly sceptical about these sort of things and at first my partner and myself thought the occurrences were rather "unusual" but it never felt uncomfortable here. But over the nearly 4 years I've been here, well things have begun to feel mighty uncomfortable, to the point where we are moving.
Since exchanging my BMW 323ise for the st, I've been amazed at how good it is on fuel. Honest. Great fun to drive and much better on the pocket. Very happy
It's a shame you can't compare the results against before and after your minor engine mods, I suspect the consumption is better since she breathes better.
most that slag off the 170 have never actually owned one, i find them a decent car but being mass produced there is so many sheds out there most join the bandwagon of haters, not many fords out there that can put a smile on your face without spending obscene money, theres a good few chaps that own these and prices of decent examples are on the up so keep up the good work folks
there was a 2.0 zetec for sale on eBay for yesterday with 2000 miles. Bidding was up to £2500+
Would be nice for the value of them to hold. But for examples like mine, they're worth nothing
there was a 2.0 zetec for sale on eBay for yesterday with 2000 miles. Bidding was up to £2500+
Would be nice for the value of them to hold. But for examples like mine, they're worth nothing
I was offered £150 and an Xbox for mine the other day #winning
So Paul, do you have any more mods/upgrades planned for the car this year?
Also, while i'm waiting to get mine on the road I've looked up insurance today :-O It's crazy high and with some companies im struggling to find a reasonable-ish quote that won't mean I have to eat Aldi beans everyday. Any recommendations Everyone?
So Paul, do you have any more mods/upgrades planned for the car this year?
Also, while i'm waiting to get mine on the road I've looked up insurance today :-O It's crazy high and with some companies im struggling to find a reasonable-ish quote that won't mean I have to eat Aldi beans everyday. Any recommendations Everyone?
So after a month of solid work, I've moved into my new (rented) place. Sadly the old property was making me very ill, so it had to be done. I've about a month of sorting and unpacking to do, but then hopefully I can actually put a spanner on my ST170 and get some work done to her.
Hope it works out for you.
I met up with an old work colleague yesterday to ask for a few jobs to be done on my st as he is a genius with spanners, didn't realise he was smitten so much with the st170. He called me today with the news he had bought one for just £350!!!! and is collecting it next weekend. No mot but for him that's not an issue. All he kept saying is that my st gave him the inspiration to get one he loved it so much.
It's great to hear the passion for these cars still lives.
Took mine for a blast last night. Quicker than I expected! She's got a little stutter at ideal every minute or so, hoping it smooths out after a while as shes been sat on a driveway for most of 5 months! If not then i'll change the spark plugs and airfilter.
Took mine for a blast last night. Quicker than I expected! She's got a little stutter at ideal every minute or so, hoping it smooths out after a while as shes been sat on a driveway for most of 5 months! If not then i'll change the spark plugs and airfilter.
Every time I take mine out it puts a smile on my face so I understand where you're coming from.
The stutter you mentioned does it happen around 2000 rpm? If so mine does the same and I'm sure others have mentioned it. I changed the plugs on my st but it still does it. It does go better though so you might as well do it.
10-01-2017, 07:00 PM
(Obviously only coat the outside)
#winning 
