The "I love my ST220" thread...

[Witchfinder]

^^ That looks GORGEOUS! I miss my ST220. Still, driving a V10 Audi S8 does take the edge off slightly.

[martin mrt]

I'm just waiting to pick my £1000 ST up, bought the correct wheels, new starter and genuine mats for it already.

I've had a 1.8 LX snotter mondeo before which was good, looking forward to getting the ST and doing a mini tidy up on it

[Raynkar]

martin mrt said:

I'm just waiting to pick my £1000 ST up, bought the correct wheels, new starter and genuine mats for it already.

I've had a 1.8 LX snotter mondeo before which was good, looking forward to getting the ST and doing a mini tidy up on it

What plans do have for your tidy up?
I started to tidy up my last mk3 and then just kept changing things. In the end it had over 70 mods and was practically Unsellable as most people wouldn't have been able to insure it lol.

The one in my above pic will stay practically OEM

[martin mrt]

I'm an OEM geek, so it will just get bits that it needs, not that it needs much, but will be left standard, and any enhancements might be things like Focus ST brakes for example or retro fitting of cruise etc.

This is a car to get me back in my feet with some dignity after losing everything after a separation and burying my head in the sand for a year afterwards

[StuntmanMike]

martin mrt said:

I'm an OEM geek, so it will just get bits that it needs, not that it needs much, but will be left standard, and any enhancements might be things like Focus ST brakes for example or retro fitting of cruise etc.

This is a car to get me back in my feet with some dignity after losing everything after a separation and burying my head in the sand for a year afterwards

will you do a thread on it.
Look on the bright side, you've owned some amazing cars in your time. Better than most ( me lol ) .

[Raynkar]

martin mrt said:

I'm an OEM geek, so it will just get bits that it needs, not that it needs much, but will be left standard, and any enhancements might be things like Focus ST brakes for example or retro fitting of cruise etc.

This is a car to get me back in my feet with some dignity after losing everything after a separation and burying my head in the sand for a year afterwards

I don't know your history but best of luck with this car, and I hope you feel like a million dollars in it.

Some years ago I walked away from a relationship and left a large amount of cash with it too, as well as several cars.
I went from what some people thought was a glamorous lifestyle to having very little.
My first motor to get me going was a mk1 Mondy and to be honest it totally liberated me and was my passport to starting up again. That car will alway have a special place in my memory.

[martin mrt]

Yeah I'll do a thread on it once I pick it up, I won't be using it until 1st April as I am not taxing it until the n

Looking forward to this, if my 1.8LX mondeo was anything to go by, this should be enjoyable

[sanguinary]

sanguinary said:

Noticed a bit of smoke under load on mine recently. Not much but enough for me to start to worry about it. Also, there's a little oil residue on the tailgate.

So, I'm guessing it's either being pushed through the pistons under load or I have a leak on a valve.

Oil change will be done this weekend with something a little thicker to see if that helps and I'll check the plugs whilst I'm at it.

Luckily, I work for a lubricants manufacturer, so I'll be speaking to our lab guy later.

Okay, so the book recommended a 5W 30. Our lab guy reckoned a 10W 40 would be too much of a hike and advised me to try a fully synth 5W 40. Oil change completed 2 weeks ago and absolutely no smoke since. Engine still sounds fine too. For reference, my car now has 117k on the clock and I now drop the oil every 10k - most of which is motorway miles.

[StuntmanMike]

martin mrt said:

Yeah I'll do a thread on it once I pick it up, I won't be using it until 1st April as I am not taxing it until the n

Looking forward to this, if my 1.8LX mondeo was anything to go by, this should be enjoyable

I rarely go into readers cars these days, I'll have a look though, it'll be interesting to see what you do with it, for what it's worth I think they are a stunning car, can't believe I've never owned one.

[martin mrt]

StuntmanMike said:

martin mrt said:

Yeah I'll do a thread on it once I pick it up, I won't be using it until 1st April as I am not taxing it until the n

Looking forward to this, if my 1.8LX mondeo was anything to go by, this should be enjoyable

I rarely go into readers cars these days, I'll have a look though, it'll be interesting to see what you do with it, for what it's worth I think they are a stunning car, can't believe I've never owned one.

Cheers, I just ordered OEM xenon headlights today, so for now that's the spending stopping!!!

Here's hoping it's as reliable as my last one, I certainly hope it is.

[Raynkar]

Witchfinder said:

^^ That looks GORGEOUS! I miss my ST220. Still, driving a V10 Audi S8 does take the edge off slightly.

If that was aimed at my car then thanks
I wanted a very particular spec for the car and it took a long time to find. I wanted OEM xenons, Panther black, good condition red interior but no denso head unit. I didnt want a Denso as they are now showing their age and an aftermarket head unit can give much better sound.

Here is the inside.



The car looks pretty much OEM but even this pic reminds me of several small changes I've already made to the car.

[Podie]

Raynkar said:

Witchfinder said:

^^ That looks GORGEOUS! I miss my ST220. Still, driving a V10 Audi S8 does take the edge off slightly.

If that was aimed at my car then thanks
I wanted a very particular spec for the car and it took a long time to find. I wanted OEM xenons, Panther black, good condition red interior but no denso head unit. I didnt want a Denso as they are now showing their age and an aftermarket head unit can give much better sound.

Here is the inside.



The car looks pretty much OEM but even this pic reminds me of several small changes I've already made to the car.

TDCi gear knob too :geek:

[Raynkar]

Podie said:

TDCi gear knob too :geek:

What makes you think that?
It's the Ford generic alloy gear knob as fitted to not only the 2005-2007 Mondy ST, but also tit and Titx, focus, fiesta and C max. In this instance it was cheaper to buy the gear knob as a Focus gear knob than buying it as a Mondy one lol. It was like when you buy parts branded as volvo or jaguar as the sellers want less than if sold for a Mondy ST.
I fitted a new gear knob as it was miles better than the gear knob ford fitted in 2004.
The car also got a brand new steering wheel, brand new pedal covers and will be getting a one year old (one year out of the box) hand brake lever.
I'm gradually replacing all the door pulls too so as many of the contact points are new. I tend to always do this as even though the car had only done 60.000 miles when I bought it the difference in wear between its OEM parts and new was like chalk and cheese lol.

[Podie]

Raynkar said:

Podie said:

TDCi gear knob too :geek:

What makes you think that?
It's the Ford generic alloy gear knob as fitted to not only the 2005-2007 Mondy ST, but also tit and Titx, focus, fiesta and C max. In this instance it was cheaper to buy the gear knob as a Focus gear knob than buying it as a Mondy one lol. It was like when you buy parts branded as volvo or jaguar as the sellers want less than if sold for a Mondy ST.
I fitted a new gear knob as it was miles better than the gear knob ford fitted in 2004.
The car also got a brand new steering wheel, brand new pedal covers and will be getting a one year old (one year out of the box) hand brake lever.
I'm gradually replacing all the door pulls too so as many of the contact points are new. I tend to always do this as even though the car had only done 60.000 miles when I bought it the difference in wear between its OEM parts and new was like chalk and cheese lol.

It was fitted to the TDCi ST (FINIS 1359007 for the MMT box) as standard. The 220 got a more traditional looking effort on the first facelift



The final facelift got the red stitching...

[Raynkar]

Yes, I know
The vile thing Ford fitted to the first face lifts was binned instantly, as not only do I think they look cheap, but they also remind me of the gear knobs from an old Austin 1100/1300 like Basil Fawlty drove

Your second pic is not quite right either. It has a red stitched gear knob but with five speeds and an after market gear knob gaitor.

Ford always were a bit annoying in matching their interiors in the Mondy, and just put too many different silvers in the cockpit.
I can cope with their mixing of colours in the trim (you wouldn't get red stitch with a red trim, but could with a grey one lol) but the silver shades annoy me.
This is probably a bit pedantic but just looking at how this car left the factory it had:
Silver interior door handles
A different silver on the steering wheel spokes, hand brake knob, time clock bezel and gear gaitor surround.
Brushed alloy on the door spears and fascia trims
Chrome on the air vent pegs and the hazard/screen switch surrounds
Aluminium on the little fascia trim near the heater controls

Already the gear gaitor trim has become chrome, as have the steering wheel spokes and time clock bezel (as it sits between other chrom switch surrounds.
The hand brake level knob will become chrome as will the interior door handles.
I have debated changing the instrument cluster rings for chrome ones, but that looks quite different to the OEM silver ones, and I want to keep it looking OEM as far as possible.

At least the alloy pedal covers kind of match the door spears hahahahaha

[Witchfinder]

Raynkar said:

If that was aimed at my car then thanks
I wanted a very particular spec for the car and it took a long time to find. I wanted OEM xenons, Panther black, good condition red interior but no denso head unit. I didnt want a Denso as they are now showing their age and an aftermarket head unit can give much better sound.

Yes it was. I had the red leather seats in mine, but mine was silver. I really wanted a blue estate with the white seats (in my opinion, still the best colour combo), but the red looked great. Miss that car so much

[Witchfinder]

Raynkar said:

Yes, I know
The vile thing Ford fitted to the first face lifts was binned instantly, as not only do I think they look cheap, but they also remind me of the gear knobs from an old Austin 1100/1300 like Basil Fawlty drove

I bought one of these Richbrook gearknobs for my S-Max. I think something similar would look really smart on the Mondeo. It's really solid and feels good, and it doesn't look too "aftermarket" (in fact, I think the parts department at my local Ford dealer sell them)

Edited by Witchfinder on Monday 30th March 21:56

[RichGault]

I think I need to work on my 60ft haha. Didn't exactly do the old girl proud. Got my reactions down a bit by the end of the day but that's pretty much the only consolation. Was hoping for mid to high 15's but just couldn't get the initial launch correct. A friend in his Monaro was having similar issues.

Still, a good day and good to get the ST on the clocks

[Raynkar]

Witchfinder said:

Yes it was. I had the red leather seats in mine, but mine was silver. I really wanted a blue estate with the white seats (in my opinion, still the best colour combo), but the red looked great. Miss that car so much

What year was yours?
We're both front seats 8 way electric or just the drivers seat.

[Raynkar]

Witchfinder said:

I bought one of these Richbrook gearknobs for my S-Max. I think something similar would look really smart on the Mondeo. It's really solid and feels good, and it doesn't look too "aftermarket" (in fact, I think the parts department at my local Ford dealer sell them)

Edited by Witchfinder on Monday 30th March 21:56

I had one of those on my other mk3. It felt better than the OEM gear knob IMHO.
I used that one in the winter and the richbrook alloy one in the summer.