Colin_P

A bit more tonight. Spent ages and didn't seem to achieve anything at all. I'm glad the car is off the road and I don't need it to get to work.

I cut the remainder of the sill off towards the rear wheel arch. Again a good call and again I think I caught it just in time before major surgery was required. I will have to make up some plates to restore the down stand inner flange.

Wire brushed up but you can still see the rotty bits






The new sill was delivered today which I proceeded to cut in half. I did not want to get into the realms of doing any major refinishing and the beauty of having the sill plastic cover is that the seem weld will be covered by it.



As it was a pattern part it did not come with the holes for the sill cover fixings. As the holes are square and I don't know how to drill square holes I carefully offered things up and drilled the holes and tack welded some nuts on the inside of the sill.

Outside shown, nice weld penetration LOL


Inside of sill showing tack welded nut.


Ended up drilling 32Nr holes for the spot welds on the lower down stand flange, 32Nr !

Finished off applying a good coat of weld through primer. The 'V' shapes are cut outs to go round the upper sill cover fixing holes. Bit of a fuck there in my measuring. Oops.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Keep up the good work.

Colin_P

Will do Glenn and you kick the bloaky doing yours up the arse

Might have a go at doing the rear inner sill patching tonight.

Colin_P

Only one picture tonight as I spent ages scratching my head how to do fabrication on the inner sill.

Quite please with my efforts and I've left it in such way that should the sill ever need to be replaced again, it will be easy to do so.

As it was


As it is now


I do need to add another section of plate out from the right hand side then it time to fit the outer sill.

Hats off to those of you who's projects I've looked at on here where you have done really complex fabrication work.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

He will get more than a kicking cause of the way is going on.

0150carmac

ive got a v reg focus saloon on the ramp the now which has just failed its mot on a holed sill
funny its exactly the same as yours same part that has gone

keep up the good work

Colin_P

That is interesting.

Must be something to do with the door seals letting water down at that point. I've not checked if it is at the point where the rubber seal joins but will.

Colin_P

Well, got the outer sill on tonight and I'm quite pleased with how it went.

Got a bit of grinding and tidying up before I paint it tomorrow. The welds look shit in the photo but are really quite good for me close up. For the seam welded bit, I tacked it at approx 5cm intervals then seam welded between them after. The lower spots were quite easy even though I don't have a spot weld nozzle. Really chuffed as it is an ancient gas-less flux cored wired welder that I bought back in 1991 or 92.

I am also getting ancient as well and rolling round on a cold garage floor when it is 1 or 2 degrees C outside was ok. Now I wear a coat whereas 20 years ago I would have been in just a sweatshirt.

Also no worries about welding with the ICD which I really was worried about.

I'm going to paint it in smooth hammerite as that is what I've got and it will be hidden anyway.

turbo m

iTrader: (2)

Nice work going on there.Lots of neat touches inside too.
I would fill the seals with engine oil!!
Had heard the mk1 focuses rot a bit a great insight for me..

Colin_P

Cheers M

I'm really chuffed with the results with me being a complete total amateur. Got the sill in a 1st coat of paint, will give it some another then put the sill cover back on. Then job done for now.

Colin_P

Got the sill all finished off and seam sealed the inner downstand. Should I paint the seam seal Gents?

Really chuffed with the results.

You would never know now that the sill cover is back on. Wonder how many are out there with rotted sills that don't get picked up at MOT time. The celly re-spray I did three and a half years ago is holding up well after a polish up.


Seam sealed


As I'm off the road (medical driving ban) for another 3 months I thought I'd have a look at a few niggly bits.

I'm looking at this now as a pre-restoration restoration which isn't really a restoration at all You read on here about people finding 1983 Escort Ghias in good nick, well this is a Focus Ghia that should still be rolling for at least another 5 years and hopefully longer.

So, onto some niggly bits. Although I've really looked after the car in the time we have had there are some things that needed doing and at about 155,000 miles well needed.

Outer CV boot AGAIN, what do they make these out of as it is shit how long they don't last. Ballbag skin ?


One of the jobs was the radiator cradle which I thought was going to be a thin bit steel. It was quite rusty so I thought it should come off for a tidy up and repaint.


1st coat of paint to the cradle, quite a substantial bit of steel it turned out.


When the cradle came off it revealed a radiator that is hanging on by a thread. It is bowed and cracked at the bottom and I've no idea how it was water tight.


So....
I got a bit carried away and thought I'd take off the whole front end




Below is the aircon rad which I changed about two years ago. Not good as the fins are falling out and had fallen out. The aircon was still freezing cold back in the summer though.


So new rad tomorrow and then I'll spend some quality time cleaning off the gritty oily shit that is all over the engine. Then I'll attempt to get the engine oil tight.

turbo m

iTrader: (2)

Looking great now.Getting really buffty now.
Never realised the engine in the focus td was similar to the engine my old escort td had in.Does it have one of those big plastic covers over it??

Colin_P

Cheers.

Covers, no, only an intercooler cover at the top and a full undershield on the bottom.

The engine is indeed ancient but had been revised for the Focus. There is a chain from the crank to the pump and then a belt from the pump up to the cam instead of the twin belt older setup. Very easy to do the basics on including cam belt changes but a lot of dismantling is required to access.

SMILER258

IMO paint over the seamsealer. Any protection you can get is worth it! Besides it'll look nice too

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Ive done a few of these timing belts now.There is a fleet of tranny connects at work. Ive only ever changed 1 timing chain due to well what I think was an over reved engine

Colin_P

That is good news. The car has done about 155k miles now.

I'm more worried about the diesel pump conking out. But so I've heard it is usually the EDC (electronic module) on the pump that goes. There are companies that will refurb the EDC module for £250 and it avoids having to take the pump itself off which is a lot of work.

Anyway, I've just spent an age cleaning off all the gritty oily sludge off the engine and did a coolant flush. I took the aux belt off, removed the A/C compressor, alternator, starter and the huge component mounting bracket off the engine. Cleaned and all put back.

Bloody aux belts on modern stuff are great fun getting back on. At least this one has an actual tensioner as some don't and need the belt stretched over the pullies.

It is nice to do a little project like this without the pressure of having to make it a road going daily. I cannot wait to get my licence back and start trundling round in it.

I feel really connected to the car having done so much to it. Much better than a new soul less machine. What a sentimental old fool

Colin_P

It has been a while but I've slowly been pootling along for an hour or two each evening.

I got the front end built back up after carefully inspecting for rot, there was none. Put a new radiator on the car and coolant expansion bottle replacing the yellowed one. Painted the visible part of the head and injectors satin black to tidy things up. Very pleased with the result.

Also took the rocker cover off and replaced the weepy gasket, whilst it was off thought I'd have a go at polishing it up as it is aluminium. Again quite pleased with the results. Had to sand the texture out and then went up the grades of sandpaper and finished off with autosol. A lot of time, probably wasted but a least when I check the oil.... I can check my reflection

Thought I'd investigate the pollen filter area in view of the rust on the passenger sill rot.

Took the bulkhead off and removed the wiper linkage and pollen filter housing expecting to see rot.... but none.

Not a spot of rot, just dirt and leaves, the pile on the air opening are what were wedged up behind the housing.


Bufty rocker and the other side of the plenum, no rot there. You can also see the freshly painted head and injectors / pipework. And nice new clean NOT YELLOW coolant tank




Rot free just a rusty nut for the pollen filter housing holder.


Wiped clean, like new


Butyl rubber sealant on filter housing


Wiper mechanism and pollen filter housing back in. Bit of spray white gease over the wiper mechanism.


I'll put the bulkhead back in tomorrow.

Really impressed with everything I've done on the car so far, really well designed and easy to take apart. The only grief I've had was on the rear subframe and suspension bolts a few years previously but that can happen on anything. The only design gripe I've got is the oil filter location which is a bit tight and is impossible to remove without getting oil everywhere.

I reckon these are fantastic cars and make a really good cheap daily driver. You can pick them up (MK1's) for very little. I especially like this TDDI as it does 50+ mpg almost everywhere. The 1.6 the Wife had wasn't too bad either.

More to come, next on the list is that CV joint boot! Fucking hate doing them especially the bloody clips. I've got the proper pliers and still have grief with them. Any tips? I either do the clip up too tight and it breaks or it is too loose and lets a bit of moly grease splatter about. Getting it just right is something I need to practice but that is difficult as I probably only do one about once every couple of years.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Yeh the mk1 focus are a bloody good car.One of the best cars ford have made imo.

Im a mechanic and changing cv boots is one of those jobs I hate. I end up with the grease bloody everywhere.

Colin_P

Solved the problem with the cv boot, I got a new driveshaft. £26 delivered

I'll keep the old one as a spare

Also cleaned up and painted the knuckle. Another complete waste of time on a car such as this but I'm thinking of the PF person who owns it in 20 years (probably me).

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Your really going to town on this focus arnt you lol.

Colin_P

Yes.

Most of it (all of it) a waste of time probably. But, I cannot drive at the moment due to a medical driving ban. The car was the Wifes daily and I was driving a TDI'd Passat before I had the SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) which led to the ban. She is now driving the Passat and the Focus is SORN'd.

It all started with me wanting to do a few bits and niggly bobs on the car. You know how it goes, one thing leads into another and into another and whilst it is all off and in pieces another and another....

turbo m

iTrader: (2)

Closet concours.
Very nice..

Colin_P

Cheers M & Glenn,

A bit more.

Knuckle on shaft in


All done.


New rad and cleaned up fans I did last week or was it the week before


Better shot of the engine, all clean and shiny.

johnkarl

I have sat and read all the posts and seen all the pictures, and have come to the conclusion that I want to marry you lol, what a job you have undertaken, it makes my knowledge of a focus pail into insignificance, I am very impressed with , not only with the amount of work, but the quality and enthusiasm it has been carried out with, everything is clear and well documented, I stand in Orr , and I have almost forgotten what I was going to ask, as it is so minor, but hear goes, has the focus tddi got a sump gasket, that's it, that's my question , but it has filled a , what is normally boring morning, into something very interesting, you have my respect mate well done

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Na its just silicone matey. Easy to do. Just get the right silicone for the job.

Colin_P

Johnkarl, Cheers.

Glenn, Cheers.

I need either a new sump or to take the existing one off and remove the dent where some fuckwit in the past obviously thought it a good idea to jack the car up from it. Not me I hasten to add.

Anyway, I have had a knuckle shuffle

I got the passenger side front back together and noticed the wishbone balljoint was floppy and had some play in it. x2 new wishbones. Fitted up the passenger side one, all done. Need to fit the new drivers one when the knuckle goes back on.

So, deja-vu, here is the drivers side knuckle cleaned up prior to painting.


The rear wheelarch. This is one the jobs I knew I wanted to do at the start of all this. I wanted to buzz the surface rot off and hammerite it. Left a few years longer and this would have been serious. I've caught it in time. The wire brushes I use in the mini grinder got it all nice and clean and shiny but strangely I forgot to take a picture.


See the brake hose below? Well some stupid cunt not to far away went half way through it with a wire brush spinning very fast in the mini grinder. What a fucking idiot. I was being so careful as well. I say halfway through it, it wasn't to the point where brake fluid starting pissing everywhere but there is no way that car will be driven with 50% of the wall of that brake hose missing. As I'll be pissing about changing it and as the fronts are a bit tired and as there was a pair of genuine ford items on ebay at a price that couldn't be refused I'll change them as well. I did fit two new hoses to the rears when I did the drum to disc conversion.


Whilst doing so there will obviously be a full system bleed, which if believe the manufacturers (VW not sure about Ford) needs to be done every two years anyway. But the system bleed will not be done before I've had a really good look at the front to rear brake pipes.

So the plans now are...

Drop the rear subframe which is easy with the rear discs but a bugger if you have drums. This will be to get at some surface rot by the control blade mountings which is inaccessible with them insitu.

Have a really good look at the front to rear brake and fuel lines. I had to replace one of the brake hoses on the Wifes old S reg.

And other than a good clean and polish up, that'll be it for now and hopefully another 5+ years of motoring.

Don't you love old bangers.

Thing is, who remembers when MK2 XR2's and MK3/4 XR3i's were ten a penny. Nobody cared about them. And suddenly there were none left. They had all practically gone to the scrapper! I know this car isn't a performance model but I reckon it'll still be collectable in a few years time being a 50mpg+ capable diesel that does NOT have a DMF, DPF and most importantly pre-dates the 2001 changeover where emissions play a big part in how much road tax you pay.

Still probably not worth doing all I have done though

Colin_P

Not much happening at the moment.

Got the other side (drivers) front built up last week.

All suspension stripped out.


New wishbone in (I renewed the wishbones only three years and 30k ago, they really could have gone back on, just some minor splitting on the rubber but far from an MOT fail).


Top mount / turret / tower - as clean as a whistle after 14 years. In fact the whole front end has been like this, not a trace of rot anywhere.


Knuckle and strut on


Brakes on and wheelarch liner. Job done.

Colin_P

Boxing Day.

What else is there to do. Was sat indoors watching crap on the telly, had my dinner and thought, I know I'll go out and have a quick pootle about on the old Focus for half an hour.

Turned out to be a bit more than that as one thing led to another and another and another....

Jacked the back up.
Wheels off.
Had a look.....

Though I know;
Shockers off.
Calipers tied up
Discs off and cailper brackets
Hubs off.

I was going to leave it there as I wanted to change the wheel bearings on the back as they have a reputation to fail.

But went on

Subframe out


Tank strap a bit rotty, only surface though. Is this yellow writing a reminder for the MOT tester to keep an eye on the strap?


Passenger side, this is a far as I got with the subframe insitu. Looks ok but now I can really get the surface rust off and get some paint on it.


Chassis leg all good, other side the same but a bit of a tidy up where it fraying around the edges wont go amiss.


Drivers side where the control blade mounts. Untouched except where I've coated it waxoyl a few years ago. Again could do with the clean up and a bit of paint.

Bailes1992

Reading this makes me wish I kept my MK1.
Engine was knocking, the electrics went ballistic and it was a new problem every week!

Should have kept it, locked it up and restored it!

Colin_P

Get another. They are as cheap as chips and loads to chose from.

Thing is, soon they will all be gone. You probably remember well as I do when the MK3/4 Escorts and MK1/2 Fiestas, particularly XR2's and XR3's were as common as muck, loads about and totally unloved. All of a sudden there were none.

The MK1 Focus is the best Focus as well

Bailes1992

Jesus at this rate I'm going to have a fleet
I want my Missus to get a ST220 so I can drive it on the weekends
And I want her KA for a 1.8TD conversion with a Bosch pump so it can run veggie oil to make into a cheap as chips track car!
And now I want a MK1 Focus

All this and I'm trying to buy a house too

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

A KA with a diesel engine would be fun.

xr2imetalhead

nice work matey love the effort you have put in!

0150carmac

your doing a great job there keep up the good work

Colin_P

A small update.

As some of you may know, I'm on a medical driving ban at the moment. It was due to run for 6 months from mid August last year and I was due to get back on the road again mid Feb14.

The ban is due to a heart condition I've got. With this condition I have an ICD (Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator). On the 29th of Dec it saved my life by shocking me out of a very dangerous heart rhythm that would have gone on to cause sudden death.

The good news is I'm still here, the bad news is that the 6 month ban clock has gone back to zero.

Anyway, being totally fucked off with nearly croaking it (again) and the 6 months starting over, I've done very little. The subframe has been sat off the car but all the surface rust has been buzzed off and painted.

Anyway this afternoon I got my arse in gear and got a bit done. I changed the control blade bushes over and got the subframe back up on the car.

New bushes


Tool on to drive the old bush out


Tool on to drive the new bush in


and again


A nice bit of kit that will now go back in its box for another few years.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

How much did the tool cost you.

Did the bushes come in and out easy.

Colin_P

I bought the tool about three / four years ago second hand for £100 off a bloke who used it once who I think bought it second hand off a bloke who bought it new. Not sure what they go for new these days but remember them being about £200.

I'd quite happily lend it out to trusted people off here if they want to collect and return it. Let me know if you need it anytime.

As for driving the bushes in and out it really is easy. As you can see I used a 16mm ring spanner only. But there again I'd only changed them about three years ago anyway but don't remember them being difficult then either.

On a rear disc braked Focus it is really easy as you can drop the subframe and remove it off the car as I did in very little time, it takes less than an hour and the same again to refit it.

On a rear drummed Focus you could get away with just dropping the S/F a bit to allow access to get the tool on. This would save having to split the rear brake hydraulic circuits but I reckon it could be a bit tricky.

The subframe itself is held on by three easily accessible main bolts each side and then of course two bolts for the control blade (the holes in the bush).

I've not had any issues with these bushes as they have been new but I understand that they are a very common MOT fail.

Colin_P

The car is sorted mechanically almost. Just want and need to change the two front brake hoses and replace the one I damaged on the back. I'll leave that for when the weather gets better as I'd prefer to do that out in the open with more room round the car.

It is all buftied externally as well, just cannot drive it due to not having a licence but am seeing the Cardiac consultant on the 6th of feb so should know more then.

One problem I do have which I've only recently noticed that there is mould on the seatbelts, no doubt due to damp.

The car is garaged and quite well ventilated but obviously the weather we have had this last few months has been very damp.

The leather is fine luckily but anyone got any ideas on how to clean the belts?

neilmanfocus1

Have a look at the thread in general car discussion I think, about using dehumidifier bags for keeping your windscreen clear over night. Seems like they would do the trick by soaking up all of the moisture in the car, rather than your seat belts doing the job for you . Your doing a great job as well, love stuff like this.

turbo m

iTrader: (2)

I know our local asda had some dehumidifier bag type things for £1 dont know if every store has then.
Or try going going over them with a hand steamer if you have one??