Davemurphy007

As this is now a rebuild project it deserves a thread in here.

Older members here may remember some happy-go-lucky tw@t with a mildly fettled 1.8 Focus which he'd done a few bits to.

https://passionford.com/forum/pictur...ord-focus.html

Well the car has been laid up on axle stands pretty much since I put that thread up but, as I'm out of the RAF in 6 months and I will lose access to the building it's currently in when I leave, it's time to get my arse in gear.

Apologies for the cut/paste to begin with but I really can't be @rsed typing this all out again.

Blah blah blah........

.........She went up onto sticks in late 2007 and has never really been down since.



The 1.8 engine has been removed, the complete front end stripped entirely and the rear subframe has been dropped.



Bearing in mind the shell has 103,000 miles on her she has a bit of surface rust underneath, thankfully nothing a wire wheel couldn't remove and i've used Hammerite satin black in the wheel arches and engine bay then liberally coated the whole lot in a corrosion prevention compound i've borrowed from work (I work on Spitfires, Hurricanes and a Lancaster bomber at work - if it's good enough for those.....)





Thankfully in all this time, as well as doing some work on the main shell, i have acquired a few tasty bits which are all going to be fitted in due course. The first area of concern being the engine - i was never going to refit the original 1.8 so it was all about speccing a 2.0 litre. Originally, as i already had a set of lairy Piper cams, i was just going to bung a set of throttle bodies on and rev it as high as possible (circa 8.5 to 9k) with a strengthened, balanced ST170 bottom end - but the opportunity came up to purchase a very special bit of kit instead which dramatically changed the direction of my build.



So instead of going high revving NA, i'm now going forced induction. The Powerworks charger has been modified to allow the fitment of nitrous directly into the inlet ports and the manifold has been machined to increase the flow rate by around 40% over standard. It also comes with the smaller pulley 'big boost' upgrade and an upgraded Mustang V8 throttle body. The engine the 'charger came from was a standard ST170 engine but running 310bhp - hopefully it might make a little more than that now.

To go with the supercharger i plan to run Piper 285 cams with a vernier exhaust pulley, i will keep the VCT which will be fully mapped to work as intended (most people run it on aftermarket management like VTEC which changes over at a set revpoint, this doesn't get the best from the system) and i am having the entire rotating bottom end dynamically balanced to ensure smooth revving and minimal vibrations/harmonics at high revs (aiming for 7.5 - 8k redline) with coil on plug ignition to ensure constant string sparking. I'll be putting the power through an uprated Focus RS AP Racing clutch through a MTX-75 gearbox fitted with a Focus RS Quaife ATB diff and a Hewland Engineering short ratio, straight cut final drive kit.







Other parts to be fitted around the car include a Focus RS tailgate and spoiler, freeing up my original one, with WRC spoiler, to be used on my race/track car, a fully pollybushed rear subframe with Eibach camber adjustment bolts, a full Ford Collection kit front, rear and sides, genuine Ford Xenon headlights (I've acquired 2 sets of these somehow so may spray one set inside), Focus RS interior, completely refurbished ST170 brake setup (2 off) i've got a cruise control kit laying around i will try and adapt to fit and several choices of alloys.















Comments or thoughts are most welcome. You don't see many people doing serious work with the Mk1 Focus anymore. I've definitely kept my hand in though, I also have a 2.0 litre ESP track/sprinting car which i'll do a seperate thread about with plenty of photos/video. A lot of the parts for that car have come from this one as it's been sat around and some parts will potentially get used on both cars.

blah blah blah.........

Not a massive update but got a bit of work done today.

I've been told that my parts I ordered are almost ready for me, so I thought I would do a bit of preliminary work ready for their arrival.

I'm currently awaiting delivery of.

Focus RS uprated AP Racing clutch
Link G4+ Storm ECU and wiring loom
In-tank uprated fuel pump
Siemens 550cc fuel injectors
Will Pedley Racing engine block oil breather
AEM Wideband Lambda sensor and guage

Once the uprated clutch has arrived it's time to get my engine block and all the internals off for machining/balancing/lightening to make sure everything's going to be spot on ready for an 8,000+ RPM rev limit!

So I've made a start cleaning up the engine block before it goes away (I'm in 2 minds whether or not to paint it before it goes or wait until it comes back) and I've turned my attention to the gearbox. I'm going to be using the 5 speed MTX-75 box normally found in the 2.0 litres and I have a Quaife ATB diff and a Hewland Engineering straight-cut short-ratio final drive kit ready to be installed into a 'box. I happened to have a 'box laying around so thought I would open it up for a look inside. Changing the diff actually wouldn't prove to be that difficult but, because of the straight cut final drive kit, the job will go to a garage/gearbox specialist as I'm not in a position to be removing/refitting gears and bearings.



It's come out alright for a first go but will need more work and more abrasive action.





I'm undecided on colour for the block...............

Gearbox ready to split



Bellhousing removed



Quaife diff + Hewland final drive kit



Straight cut awesomeness



Despite this gearbox having 130k miles on it it seems in very good condition inside, that said I remember it being a bit difficult to engage gears when it was cold so I suspect the synchros may be past their best, if all the gears are coming off to fit the final drive kit then it should be easy enough to get everything refreshed while it's apart. I've also been reminded how much I HATE gearbox oil, the stuff absolutely stinks and you can't just wipe it off your hands either!!!

Colin_P

Really nice work.

nevsrevs

they are such nice boxes to work on,
just remember your shims go back where they came from,
keep it up.

DavebST170

This is another project that is going to make me want to spend lots of money.

Great progress so far!!

The Underdog

excellant. great to see another focus build on here

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Cool project matey.

PaulinhoT

Quality build, and good luck with the super charger.

I've had over Ł3k sat in my bank since I bought my ST170 ready to buy one, but despite emailing the odd seller in the USA, UK, ebay etc.. I've still have no luck

It will be interesting to see the power out puts

Davemurphy007

Block, crank, rods and pistons, cylinder head and supercharger inlet have all been dropped off the Headshop UK in Warrington for machining.

Block is being honed and prepped for the build, going for a lightweight, knife-edged crank, balanced rods and pistons and I'm having the cylinder head port-matched to the supercharger inlet. Should get it all back in a fortnight - REALLY looking forward to seeing the results as it all goes back together.

Taking delivery of the ECU, wiring loom, AP Racing clutch, fuel pump, block breather kit and AEM wideband sensor bits this weekend courtesy of Will Pedley Racing.

PaulinhoT

Heck Dave, that sounds mighty

STFUN

Dave,

If that's what I think it is, the cylinder head has already been flowed and ported by Ric Wood.

Ian

Davemurphy007

The parts fairy has been and has gifted me a load of shiney goodies!

One lightened + balanced flywheel





One set of balanced ST170 rods and pistons.



One cylinder head port matched to the supercharger inlet.



One engine block decked and honed ready to be built up (bar a lick of paint)



One extra sexy lightweight balanced crank. This finish on this is absolutely immense, it's almost too nice to put into an engine, i want to frame it and put it on a wall or something!



Against a standard crank for reference.







One Link G4+ (the new, upgraded model) Storm ECU, which will allow full dynamic control of the VVT, and wiring loom.



AEM wideband lambda sensor



A set of used but ultrasonically cleaned 650cc injectors.



Deatsch uprated in-tank fuel pump.



AP Racing uprated Focus RS organic clutch.



Will Pedley Racing block breather kit. Stunning bit of machining work!



All that should be left to source now is a rebuild/gasket kit (I have all the bearings and piston rings) and the engine's ready to be built and I also need to sort the gearbox rebuild to fit the Hewland final drive kit and Quaife diff and she's ready to be rebuilt into the shell!

Huge thanks to John at Headshop UK in Warrington for all the stunning engine work and Will Pedley for supplying all the rest of the bits. I'm a happy (if skint) bunny.

PaulinhoT

All looking really good

Davemurphy007

Got a bit more done last weekend.

Managed to drop the fuel tank to fit my uprated Deatsch pump and have a good look at the bodywork above it.

Minging standard tank, half full of 7 year old fuel!



If you thought there was some sort of fancy electrical arrangement for the fuel level, wrong, it's a float on a resistive arm


Standard pump and filter removed. All in reasonably good condition for 103k miles. Note the plastic pot it all lives in acts like a swirl pot to prevent fuel starvation during cornering.



As the Deatsch pump is a universal pump it wasn't a 100% straight swap. I had to trim the rubber seal that fits the pump into the 'swirl pot' and had to slightly elongate the holes for the outlet/return cap that fits onto the pump. Other than that, all straightforward.





And the floorpan above the tank is pretty good too which is encouraging, despite not having much corrosion protection.





This is the only bit i spotted but it's just a touch of surface rust where it has been rubbing on the fuel tank, so easily treatable.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Is the multi plug ok that goes to the tank sending unit. My mam n dads old focus cut out one night and wouldnt start. One of the electrical pins in that plug had corroded and snapped off.

Mk4 Rick

Looks a nice build mate.Keep up the good work.How much weight have you lost from the crank?

The Underdog

looking good.its in good condition underneath too

PaulinhoT

Looking good

Davemurphy007

I hadn't realised it had been so long since I last updated this!

Things have moved on quite considerably since my last update in May. I have now left the RAF and, as a result, have had to make sizeable chunks of progress on the shell and engine in order to move the car from where it has been stored over the last 5 years.

I finished cleaning up the underside of the car, gave it a lick of paint and have coated it in an anti-corrosion compound which I managed to 'borrow' from work - if it keeps 70 year old Spitfires clean it should be good on a Ford!











Finally gave the engine block a lick of paint



Refitted the fuel tank and pipework.









This has also meant the credit card has taken a bit of a spanking as I've simply had no option other than to buy whatever bits were needed. Including, but not limited to:

Bilstein B12 dampers with Eibach Pro-Sport springs









Unfortunately I haven't been able to fit the rear springs as part of the rear suspension rebuild - they have proven too awkward to fit with my limited tools and timescales (anyone who's changed Focus rear springs will know what an utter b@stard they are!). So I've had to do something I swore I'd never do and cut some springs to fit.











All the rear suspension has been refitted with powerflex bushes, new bolts and new trailing arm bushes. The Eibach Anti-roll bar has been refitted as well and all hubs have brand new bearings in them.

Got the front subframe, steering rack and anti-roll bar all refitted.



I did have time to be a little bit bufty though and clean up the discs that have been sat on the shelf rusting away for 5 years.



And clean up and repaint the rear calipers



I have removed the ST170 calipers at the front as I have a set of Focus RS Brembos with grooved discs, Ferodo pads and braided lines to fit, unfortunately I think I need to change the mounting brackets as they are shockingly bad! I've bought the spacers and longer wheel studs necessary to do this conversion but haven't had chance to fit them yet. The front bodywork is just attached loosely for the purpose of moving the car from one end of the country to the other.





And on the deck for the first time since 2009!!! I definitely won't be running the car without changing those cut rear springs first - there's about half an inch clearance between the arch and the tyre





And loaded up on the trailer ready to move to her new home.

Davemurphy007

So with the shell rolling it was time to get the engine sorted and built ready to to fit.



I've had all the engine brackets and panels powder coated in silver and the lower crankcase blasted to remove all the accumulated sh!t before giving it a lick of high temp paint. Only right everything's nice and clean to begin with!





Then packed everything up in the back of the car and off to see a Mr Pedley to actually build the damned thing!











Unfortunately even the best laid plans can fall apart at the last second. Having measured and checked everything and mock-built the engine to check all the fits and clearances I removed everything ready to be immaculately cleaned prior to the final build................





NOT what you want to find when you've committed to the final build, however, I'm VERY glad I spotted it before we built everything up and didn't find out the hard way the moment we showed the engine some boost!!!

However, nearly a grand later and the standard ST170 rods and pistons were replaced with some shiny PEC ones instead - although this was NOWHERE as simple as it should have been. Because I was now running aftermarket rods and pistons I had to send the block of for re-honing (original rods and pistons were 84.8mm bore and the PEC ones were 85mm) and the PEC rods and pistons come needing to be machined down to suit whatever compression ratio you want to run. Unfortunately there were a few issues with the first set of rods and pistons I was sent out (poor quality control spotting machining defects) and then, once we'd gotten those replaced and sorted, we found the gudgeon pins we'd been sent were the wrong ones (3mm too short) so they needed replacing. In fairness to PEC once they'd acknowledged the fault was with them they got new parts out to me very quickly but they should have picked up the problems in the first place. Also, with all the extra time (labour costs) lost to sorting out these problems in terms of finding out what was wrong and corrective machining I could have bought some known good quality items (Wossner etc) and they should have slotted straight in - so the slightly cheaper PEC items have been very much a false economy!!!

But, after all that faff, I did end up with shiny new rods and pistons in my block, all ready to be built up.











Using the ST170 multi-layer steel head gasket as they are bulletproof.















And the 'finished' article.





The 'bling' 4-1 exhaust manifold is not staying. I have a standard ST170 one which I will be heatwrapping and fitting.

That's as far as I've gotten so far as I've now started my job in the Middle East. I hope to do more while I'm back in the UK, including getting the gearbox rebuilt with the Quaife diff and Hewland final drive kit, get the engine and box mated together and into the car and then sort the wiring loom ready for the Link ECU. I also need to replace the crappy FRS Brembo mounting brackets and get those fitted as well.

It's nowhere near finished, but hoping it will be something special one it's done.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Nice work mate glad you are still at it. Good to see the bucket of sky wipes, I've got about a dozen of them in the loft from my raf stores thieving days lol

PaulinhoT

This is all looking mighty nice

Cos500

Some nice work going in there, looking great

STeve

iTrader: (11)

interesting read this dave, I have just aquired a supercharged 170 and toying with the idea of dropping into my 170 so this thread has given me something to think about, but my pal with a track car keeps waving cash at me for the engine lol