The Underdog

hi james great you found this. i was thinking of texting you to check it out actually. hows the bike going??

to be fair you kept the car in great condition and the previous owners. im very happy with it. im still in big dillemas about the (suspected fuel prob). im 85% sure its pump but my replacement pump is from a2002 model so reluctant to fit that. but dont fancy chancing it then having to remove tank again. anyway il get it sorted and hope all is well with your family

Straight_4_N/a

replace the pump with a new syntec one. stock ones are only £40-£50 and uprated are £90-£100 (depends on how much thay have gone up since i bought one)

Straight_4_N/a

also i found one of the times from llandow when you was there i was doing around 0.55s.

The Underdog

have you got ant links please. i cant find them but did find a forum post saying they were 200.

how do you time them??

im a bit sad and will watch youtube timing other cars laps to see how i compare. i just use stopwatch and a time as u see a cone pass a pillar.

The Underdog

not any major updates but i had the bushes i needed



all the bushes i got fitted in the rear arms sunday and after work today i picked up the bolts i needed from fords



so got everything i need to get the rear back on. so hopefully saturday should be done if its dry weather.
get the front stripped off then.

White focus

How much did ford rob you for them m8 and witch ones did you get .

Keep up the good work m8 iam in the middle of doing the same thing at the moment

The Underdog

the 2 bushes i got off ebay for £15. ford wanted 25 each. i cant afford the £84 for superflex just now but maybe later.

the bolts total was £43 from ford. cant remember exact individual prices but tracking bolts were the big cost. bolts were £10 each, washer £2 and nut about £1. the other bolts i got 6 at about £2 each plus 6 nuts. they dont supply the factory nuts that are spot welded to subframes etc so i just bought the same nuts for the tracking bolts as they fit.

big rip off for 8 nut and bolts but needed them so no option

oh and i wrangled trade price so work out a bit less

Straight_4_N/a

Phone up burtonpower thay sell them but since there new website thay dont list them for some reason but thay do sell them. (my prices are from the start of last year but wouldnt have gone up that much)

my miss was timing me and al and jc when she was bored sat in one of the cars lol.

Lol nothing wrong with it, use the building as a start point when you just lose the building in the video then start the timer.

White focus

How did you manage to get trade ?

Also how cum you bought extra nuts ? Fort they are welded on ?
Plus when you bolt the arms up they wownt go back in the same place as with the welded nut would ?

The Underdog

i found them.demon tweeks about 105 i think. couldn find them first cos they sytec not syntec lol

just asked for trade price.i do it everwhere.

the bolts were seized so had to cut them off inc nuts.not too worried bout the alignment has its getting corner weighted and geometry set up once finished.

have you got a build thread on your car??

Straight_4_N/a

See not as much as you thought was thay lol, if you get them from burtonpower thay will be cheaper and thay have much better cusmter service when it comes to the best prices and fitting and problems ect...

White focus

Ahh cool myt try that wen I go this week lol.
No m8 not sorted one yet need to pull my finger out and get one started lol

The Underdog

unexpected day off today so got a bit more done.
changed the pump for the one i got of ebay and just hoping it works then got the tank back on which i found very tricky because the wire plug is so short.
also got the tunnel heat sheilds on then put subframe on and swing arms on the drivers side.
the eibach camber bolts were a real fiddle to get right. iv set them at max negative camber for now but keeping the tabbed washers in the correct position while tightening was tricky as it wanted to turn with the nut.
to get the best out of them though the washer tabs need to be aligned correct from what i can see of it.
so heres some pics of so far







my concerns about the springs being loose were uneccessary as they are snug in there with no loosness. and flo flex bushes all fitted with no dramas.

still to put shock on drivers side and all passenger side suspension and arb hubs and brakes.

thanks for looking

rs clint

looking good all the hard work will be worth it

White focus

Looking good m8 did your new nuts and bolts line up ryt or are they off .

Keep up the good work m8

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Good progress matey.

The Underdog

thank you clint. appreciated

new bolts were no problems. theres very little room for them to put alignment out because the welded nuts are now gone i think. the thickness of the bolt is only slighlty smaller than the hole so very little room for play. but an alignment is always a good idea i think and especially for the tracking at least.
get yourself a build thread if you got time. what model is it and what are your plans??

thanks glenn always appreciate comments chaps.



some questions if anyone can help out please.

what height would be optimium to lower by?? im thinking 30 to 40mm. but as low as possible without ruining handling.

also as the shocks are adjustable height on rear would you reduce them equal to the height reduction of car? i was gona measure lenghth of stock shocks then shrink new ones accordinly.

sense make much?

White focus

Cheers for that m8 myt just cut my welded bolts off to make life easier lol.
I've been taking plenty of pics of mine and iam trying to get them all in order

Mine is a ink edition mk1.5 54/2005 with 50k it was accident damaged bought it cheap and iam either going cossie or mk1 frs engine .


To your questions .
Wen I had my st I had that on coillovers and dropped it 60 rear 50mm front. With eiback front rear roll bars all power flexed up the handling was amazing with 17s and 888s used to cock it's inner rear wheel when cornering hard .

But you may fined a better setup as everyone has there own and there's no right or rong as long as its doing the job you want .

Anyways keep up the grate work you will have a grate car wen done m8

The Underdog

definately sort a thread out. im keen to read anything to do with focus and always things to learn from someone elses work.cosworth is a mega build if you go for that.

ok i may go around 60mm then. im keen to keep the natural rake ford intended (rear higher than front). did you deliberately balance it out by dropping more at rear?. higher rear gives better turn in so afraid of losing that. iv read of lots of people wanting to balance the ride height out tho.

nevsrevs

If you try and keep arms as level as poss when choosing your hight you won't go far wrong. You need them to be able travel both up and down as equal as poss if that makes sence.

White focus

If you need any info pm me and may be able to help

I set the rear equal to the front as I had both at 50 and my rear kept stepping out on me so I dropped the rear to kept it in check wen cornering hard .
I also had 12.5 rear axel spacers on mine and will be fitting them to this one iam doing .
It's something iam doing wen ive got time lol
I work in a breakers so I've got it in the unit there n wen I get time I do a little on it
Iam stripping and redoing everything on mine all new and refurbed ryt the way threw .
Iam also fitting rear rose jointed adjustable rear arms,and front and rear drop links .

The Underdog

yeh that makes sense nev. thanks

ok that makes sense. i plan on getting axle spacers but until ive lowered it i had no idea what would fit under arches but if you dropped 60 with spacers then il prob go that route also.

thanks for all advice chaps

White focus

Mine at the moment it's slammed at the rear and there's plenty of room for spacers I've got
215/40/17s fitted aswell .

Freeked

Are those Flo Flex bushes any good? I'm thinking of sorting all of my bushes, and they look good...

The Underdog

they have some bad press for not being the best but for £157 a full set im willing to give them a chance. rear has fitted no probs so far.

Freeked

I've read somewhere that they become soft with time....giving the feeling of something loose in the suspension....i might give them a try, like you said, comparing with Powerflex, they're much cheaper

The Underdog

hope they stay ok or il be gutted.


been bored stiff today with nothing to do and didnt fancy working on the car in this weather.

White focus

Should of got your Welles on lol

The Underdog

maybe il get them on tomorrow. lol

Straight_4_N/a

Ive got some brand new powerflex bushes living around somewhere some could have on the cheap (not sure which mind lol)

The Underdog

wish i knew before i bought flo flex. let me know what you have though.

Straight_4_N/a

Lol ive got lots of focus items left from my old focus's some which are still brand new from poly bushs to engine parts to poly carb windows lol ive even still got a focus gearbox and engine....

Straight_4_N/a

Just thinking ive still got carbon firbe wings for a mk1/mk1.5 focus lol and i hanvt had a focus in just over a year.

The Underdog

they couldnt have been cheap.

Straight_4_N/a

Thay wasnt that much and irrc i was only selling them for £150ish due to the light marks on them and where thay was moded so thay would fit a focus with side sirkts lol but thay still do the job and look cool and really both of them are half the weight of 1 std wing which funny either ive got a brand new one of them here some where to lol. (yes ive got enough parts to build a focus lol just body work wise ive got 2 front bumpers 2 rear bumpers side sirkts a bonnet and 1 std wing and 1 pair of carbon wings and a set of aftermarkt wing mirrors lol)

The Underdog

what colour is the bonnet?? iv got rust just under front edge of mine so plan on changing it at some point.

Straight_4_N/a

Its a light baby blue colour but it needs a respary and it has a wrc vent fitted.

The Underdog

shame its not silver luke.

house bound due to snow again today so cracked on with car for a few hours.

flipping cold on the floor in this weather.



but i had to get on with it.

got all the rear suspension parts on both sides. just hubs and brakes to put on and rear is done.







and a close up of the eibach camber bolts



i know iv re used some rust bolts but its not a concours car so i can live with it. arb will be uprated at some point so not too worried bout the drop bolts on them.

i jacked the car under the swing arm for the spring to take the cars weight and got my spirit level out and angle finder to work out rear camber and its roughly negative -2.5 which should be enough i hope.


thanks for nosing

The Underdog

the rear is finished and its back down on its wheels. got it running to test the pump out and its a knackerd one. will barely tick over and as soon as you breath on the pedal it splutters like its running on 3 cylinders and dies. not happy cos tank has to come back off.

nevsrevs

Oh bugger.