3 door 4x4 story update

[3 door 4x4]

OK - so you all remember the old girl...

from this



plus a bit of this



and one of these



with some magic





we had a 24v 4x4 3 door



which I wired up and got running at Barry's



and fitted a climbing frame





and then I rented the unit next to Barry and painted it







Nice 2K Diamond white













and we got it to Ford Fair 2008 (finished at 3am!!)



then on went the RS500 splitter and rear lower spoiler





a few track days and then - DIVORCE

Car sat on the drive for 2 years to stop her new boyfriend using my drive and garage - I moved it into the garage when the house went on the market. It was in a sorry state



Had it recovered to Derbyshire and gave it a bath



and... decided to treat it to a heart transplant as I felt guilty for neglecting it...

This was donating it's vital organs on eBay... but up in Scotland though so it was a chance buy



So after a few thousand pictures of the Queen, the running gear was mine



Bloke was an arsehole unfortunately - took 2 weeks to ship it and he got the shipping cost refunded but refused to give it to me even though I paid it and I had to spend another £600 putting it right. Needed all new hoses, dizzy, HT leads because mice ate them, ignition module & heat sink plate, crack in exhaust manifold welded up, loads of broken studs in the head drilled out, broken turbo stud removed, turbo actuator renewed.

I changed the cam belt and tensioner plus the aux belts as the engine hadn't been run in something like 12 years.

Painted the cam cover and ended up with this...



Anyway - long story shortened...

Hoofed it in





and she now runs fine.

Opened the ECU up and found that the chip had a sticker with "Collins Stage 1 4x4" on it. Result. With my -31 actuator, Pipercross panel filter and Mongoose exhaust that ought to be 280 BHP.

Had a slate fall off the house roof and smash the drivers window, dent the roof, A post, door (badly) so am feeling a bit deflated.

But - I drove it for the first time last Saturday (admittedly only from the back garden to the front) but it drove.

Watch this space as I get the ABS master cyl wired up as non ABS, repair the damage, attack some rust that appeared on the drive over 2 years, and get it back on the road.

[3 door 4x4]

This is why I have felt a little disheartened lately 

Roof tile fell off the house and did this...



and this (this is after I pushed the worst of the dent out)









Clear 3 door glass? Ford no longer stock it - retail would be £103. Bloke on t'internet obviously knew it and offered me a NOS one for £300.

Quick call to Master Auto Glass... and I got one for £29.50 inc VAT 



Just got to do the repairs to the body now. Landlord won't put it through the house insurance with the roof tile repair.

Oh well onward and upward.

Next installment will detail the ball aches I had with the stuff from Scotland and how that turned my hair grey.

[mk22door]

Awesome Sierra - keep at it 

[3 door 4x4]

So - the old girl was laid up for 2 years whilst trying to get divorced. The closest I got to driving her was on Forza Motorsport on the bloody XBox360 LOL  





To say I was a little disappointed when my new engine conversion turned up (2 weeks late) would be an understatement.

I phoned the courier and complained about the delay and they said they would refund the shipping cost, but to the seller and he would then give it to me as their contract was with him. He said he would send me a PayPal but didn't. That was last May! Because the auction ended without a buyer and I managed to track him down, he refused to list it back on eBay saying the fees were too high. So I paid him by bank transfer an agreed price. I'd agreed with the bloke in Scotland what I was getting for my money and what needed doing. "Just a cam belt an an oil change, laddie - it's no been run in 12 year so ah wouldnae start it wiout a new belt."

To coin a Scottish expression - "Utter pish!"

A quick inspection revealed the following:

* Mice-eaten HT leads
* Coil Missing
* Front prop missing
* Radiator missing
* Radiator fans missing
* Engine mounts had been cut off at the rubbers and were seized into the mount arms
* Boost actuator seized
* Metal coolant pipe on de-gas return (runs along bottom of rad) was more holes than pipe
* Distributor cap half missing (block side @ hold down) - it was apparently fully serviced before it was laid up 13 years ago
* Distributor cap hold down clip missing block side - you can't buy these so I had to buy a distributor
* Every single coolant hose was ballooned and split - these were apparently all good
* Spark plugs seized into the head (took ages to carefully free them)
* Coil missing
* Ignition amplifier missing
* Ignition amplifier heat sink missing
* MAP sensor missing
* MAP sensor bracket missing
* MAP sensor vac / pressure pipe missing
* Broken exhaust downpipe / turbo stud
* Bent exhaust downpipe / turbo stud
* A number of broken exhaust manifold studs sheared off in the head
* Engine and gearbox shipped without de-polluting them

Tried phoning and emailing the bloke and he refused to speak to me.

I didn't notice these all at once and had swallowed some of the repairs / replacements but it soon mounted up so I wrote him a nice letter expressing my dissatisfaction with what I'd got and seeing as he had also withheld from me that he was in fact a trader dealing in breaking cars, the fact that this was his son's car was irrelevant. Trading standards still applies and I expected some kind of monetary compensation for the goods not being as described plus my shipping money back.

I'd already spent upwards of £300 by now and he offered me a refund of the original amount if I returned the engine in the condition I received it and I paid to bloody ship it back to him (remember he has my original shipping money still!). I tried to file a small claims court case but because he is in Scotland, the English courts were not interested and I would have to travel to Scotland to file it and then attend meetings etc. which I had no time or spare cash to do. He had me over a bloody barrel so please chaps let that be a lesson to you all. Never deal outside of eBay (as they would have reimbursed me) and get a written agreement of condition / list of included parts). Also arrange your own courier!

Wasn't until the engine was up in the air to remove the exhaust manifold that I spotted even more busted studs. Not wanting to damage the head, I sent the engine away to have these and the busted Turbo studs removed professionally...





When it came back, there was an advisory on the exhaust manifold that it had the traditional 4x4 Sapph Cos crack in it (



Had that brazed locally by a chap who does them all the time and says it's usually OK. Time will tell. They crack because of the lack of a Turbo damper apparently. Lots of weight on a hot manifold that is under intense vibration and stresses.

Bit of a rant as I'm still seething from being had over but there were plus points:

1/ The engine appears to be mechanically sound (spotless inside)and was of low mileage (around 60k)



2/ The Collins Stage 1 chip was a bonus



3/ Aside from initially sticky hydraulic tappets (cured with Wynns hydraulic lifter treatment) it starts well and runs beautifully )

4/ It looks damn sexy installed with the blue silicon hoses and the paint job on the cam cover

[MaxXR]

 Happy to see my donation to your repair funds were put to good use .    I bought your spare BOA engine and spares earlier this year .  All  carefully stashed away.     Engine rebuild will start during the winter months .     

  Few more bits to source  gaskets and the like .   Had good look over Boa engine and don't expect the problems you had.   

    If life was easy  It wouldn't be as much fun .   

[3 door 4x4]

Yes that went nicely towards the repairs and replacements - thank you, Max 

Once the bodywork is sorted, I can focus on the interior refresh.

[Matt]

Lovely looking sierra mate, im sure ive seen it in the flesh somewhere. i know it wasnt fordfair though lol.

the tile damage is a kick in the nuts but i had the same happen to my first car, only that pierced the roof...

[Lemon-Ade]

Very nice mate, gotta love a 3door 

I'm glad you kept it through the hard times and hope you get some fun out of it this time around.

Ps I had the tile incident happen to mine as well 

[TwinTurbo]

Landlord can't refuse to put it on his insurance, his property defect has caused damage to a 3rd party.

TT

[Mik]

Good to see she's still alive.

If it was easy building extra special Fords then every bugger would have one. The strife makes them all the more rewarding.

keep up the good work.

Mik.

[3 door 4x4]

Made some progress today - dents all gone and its in primer )









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[3 door 4x4]

Lovely looking sierra mate, im sure ive seen it in the flesh somewhere. i know it wasnt fordfair though lol.

the tile damage is a kick in the nuts but i had the same happen to my first car, only that pierced the roof...

Matt - would have been Trax 2009 or maybe Saffron Walden car show or Brands track day? Rolling Road day in 2009 next to AMD in Lakeside?


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[3 door 4x4]

Landlord can't refuse to put it on his insurance, his property defect has caused damage to a 3rd party.

TT

It's my fiancé's land lord and the property management company are saying that the car shouldn't be there as its not hers (even though she's named on the insurance) - tol them they are speaking crap as the 13 plate Fiesta Claire drives is one of my company cars and is registered to Ford Motor Co. Does that mean she's not allowed to park it there?

Swallowing it though as the lease is up for renewal and we won't get a similar house for the money with the space we have. So far it's cost me £80 with glass, paint and filler.


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[3 door 4x4]

Good to see she's still alive.

If it was easy building extra special Fords then every bugger would have one. The strife makes them all the more rewarding.

keep up the good work.

Mik.

Cheers, Mik


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[3 door 4x4]

My old boot lid badge now has to go or be modified...



So I've had this idea and will be getting it made in the next few weeks (in blue)




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[Lemon-Ade]

Nice touch mate

[3 door 4x4]

OK - bit more progress today.

Prepped the car for the blue area on the drivers side to be repainted...



Gave it 2 coats of Holts custom mix RAL5019 Capri Blue - the nozzle on the can is meant to replicate the OE paint finish. TBH it needs a damn good cutting back to be smooth. Undecided if it needs lacquer. Will see what it polishes up like in a week or so once it's hardened off.



Removed the masking and here you have it...



Then I set to work on the ABS wiring loom pruning to just run the ABS master cylinder as a high pressure non ABS system.

Here's what I removed )



Going to use the redundant Brown & white wire from the 2 pin fluid level switch as a switched earth for an additional warning lamp on my centre switch panel. The red live from the diagnostic connector (not using that connector either) will provide the 12 volts for the lamp.

Will hopefully put the loom in next week. Might do a new thread on that because there's bugger all out there that explains it in detail for those wanting to do the same.

Si.

[cossiemk2]

I posted up the diagrams for the 1 and 2 relay systems in the brake section ages ago.

[3 door 4x4]

Linky?? The only images I could find were small and when you print them they were blurred.

[capri v8 driver]

At least the damage is fixed  .

[3 door 4x4]

Yeah just got to lacquer it


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[3 door 4x4]

I started to cut the raw paint back tonight and it is feeling less like sandpaper. Halfords / Holts mix-in-the-shop cans aren't the best, but it's durable paint and it cuts back OK (left it a few weeks to harden first). Once I've got it looking how I want it I will give it a coat of clear lacquer to give it the same depth of shine as the rest of the blue (match to the front wing piece). All being said I think it's going to look okay.

The weather forecast is for rain tomorrow so will have to wait for a dry day ( wish I had a garage. Would have had the bloody car finished a year ago if I had one.

[3 door 4x4]

New R-Spec twin piston dump valve arrived today. Whooooooosh )

Fitting that this weekend and mopping the new paint.


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