Ford Ka 2008 Style Climate 1.3
Discussion
I want to see some high-res pictures of the fuel cap 
.
I had a ka as a winter shed and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun they were to drive. It was the first car ive owned without power steering and felt great when up to speed. Loved how basic and simple it was.
As a '98 with an odometer which had went all the way back round to zero and sills composed of iron oxide, mines was destined for the scrappies so on its last day of having a valid mot me and a mate ditched the air filter and went hooning around the countryside executing rather wobbly hand brake turns and reverse doughnuts. Managed to set a 0 to 60 time of 13.7 seconds after much clutch abuse too.
Anyway great car!
edit: just saw the pics on the previous page. Ridiculously clean!
.I had a ka as a winter shed and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun they were to drive. It was the first car ive owned without power steering and felt great when up to speed. Loved how basic and simple it was.
As a '98 with an odometer which had went all the way back round to zero and sills composed of iron oxide, mines was destined for the scrappies so on its last day of having a valid mot me and a mate ditched the air filter and went hooning around the countryside executing rather wobbly hand brake turns and reverse doughnuts. Managed to set a 0 to 60 time of 13.7 seconds after much clutch abuse too.
Anyway great car!
edit: just saw the pics on the previous page. Ridiculously clean!
Edited by Gilhooligan on Monday 13th August 21:22
Great car, the original Ka. Handling is by far their best quality. Never driven a car that's easier to find the limits and stay there with some confidence that you're not going to depart the road!
Your rustproofing will pay dividends! You do see many without any rust. I think it's a bit harsh for people to brand them rust buckets. They just need a little TLC with regard to regular washing and washing the arches during and after winter. Anyone who commutes in the winter without washing it will envitably end up with unsightly corrosion!
OP the fact your car only has a tiny mileage will also be helping the longevity of the bodywork.
Your rustproofing will pay dividends! You do see many without any rust. I think it's a bit harsh for people to brand them rust buckets. They just need a little TLC with regard to regular washing and washing the arches during and after winter. Anyone who commutes in the winter without washing it will envitably end up with unsightly corrosion!
OP the fact your car only has a tiny mileage will also be helping the longevity of the bodywork.
thats got to be the best condition KA i've seen , a credit to you indeed . Removing the plastic panel around the petrol filler and giving it a good clean out occasionally is an excellent idea. The poor design and totally useless underseal treatment from the factory is the reason they rot like pigs around this area . I've got a 53 plate that had failed its mot on corrosion , floor pan , chassis and its fallen to bits around the filler neck , i got it for £250 and its taken a fair bit of work to sort the rot , ill take some pics of the filler neck area to show what happens inside if you dont keep it clean . The rust treatment on your car is obviously doing its job , what a shame Ford didnt pay a bit more attention to doing it originally , i know they are cheap cars but Ford could have spent £100 extra on the underseal and there might just be a few more of them looking as nice as yours .
Keep up the good work as if they ever do reach modern classic status , yours will be worth a mint .
Keep up the good work as if they ever do reach modern classic status , yours will be worth a mint .
Make sure you haven't broken a rear spring, ours went through a phase of breaking every single one, front and rear. Checking the cracked bits we found showed material fatigue and rust inside the spring
Very poor quality,
Keep up the waxing, our 03 has just had the sill rust, petrol cap rust and A pillar rust sorted, over £500. May sound odd, but if it lasts another 2 years, its £250/year for motoring in a known quantity.
Kevin.
Very poor quality,
Keep up the waxing, our 03 has just had the sill rust, petrol cap rust and A pillar rust sorted, over £500. May sound odd, but if it lasts another 2 years, its £250/year for motoring in a known quantity.
Kevin.
I'll always have a soft spot for KA's 
I had a SportKa briefly and it was so much fun, the amount of grip it had was ridiculous too!
Standard 1.3 Ka's for some reason sound brilliant with a decent exhaust system on! I've turn my head more once expecting to see something exotic, only to be greeted with a Ka! If your going to modify it why not upgrade the brakes and suspension? Suptle, but can make a huge difference
I had a SportKa briefly and it was so much fun, the amount of grip it had was ridiculous too!
Standard 1.3 Ka's for some reason sound brilliant with a decent exhaust system on! I've turn my head more once expecting to see something exotic, only to be greeted with a Ka! If your going to modify it why not upgrade the brakes and suspension? Suptle, but can make a huge difference
I'll always have a soft spot for KA's
I had a SportKa briefly and it was so much fun, the amount of grip it had was ridiculous too!
Standard 1.3 Ka's for some reason sound brilliant with a decent exhaust system on! I've turn my head more once expecting to see something exotic, only to be greeted with a Ka! If your going to modify it why not upgrade the brakes and suspension? Suptle, but can make a huge difference
I had a SportKa briefly and it was so much fun, the amount of grip it had was ridiculous too!
Standard 1.3 Ka's for some reason sound brilliant with a decent exhaust system on! I've turn my head more once expecting to see something exotic, only to be greeted with a Ka! If your going to modify it why not upgrade the brakes and suspension? Suptle, but can make a huge difference
joshc said:
Just hit 26,000 miles today after a blast to Bakewell. Car barely getting used at the moment as I walk to work and don't need to travel anywhere that often really. Been toying with the idea of a second car (perhaps MX-5) but this probably won't happen as it's hard to justify with the Ka getting so little use as it is.
Need to take some new photos (not that it looks any different than previously) soon, probably when Summer returns.
Not had any faults or issues for a long time now, the car is proving extremely reliable, and it gets cheaper to keep every year as my insurance premium keeps dropping as I get older.
Current niggles I need to fix at some point though:
- Could do with renewing all of the underside rustproofing and inner panel wax coatings, probably in summer though.
- A small bit of surface rust that has returned around one of the rubber boot lid stops needs touching up, thankfully not visible at all if the boot is shut.
- Some scratches/chips on the front bumper and bonnet, could do with a respray of the bumper and bonnet actually, but it's not urgent.
- Need to figure out what on earth is causing the rear knocking noise (which has been happening since 2013) - not found any faults with suspension, and it never occurs on the motorway, never found anything loose in the rear either after several attempts and my mechanic can't find anything either. No advisories ever come up on the MOT either, bit of a mystery one! Thankfully it's not too noticeable and I don't drive the thing enough for it to really be a major issue, maybe one day I'll crack it though.
Currently toying with the idea of fitting some better front seats and a full custom stainless steel exhaust...but these are probably daft ideas.
My gf has one and it has made a knocking noise which can't be replicated other than whilst driving and it only occurs occasionally I think it's a worn bush or a mount has degraded meaning it knocks when going over large bumps usually at awkward angles, etc.Need to take some new photos (not that it looks any different than previously) soon, probably when Summer returns.
Not had any faults or issues for a long time now, the car is proving extremely reliable, and it gets cheaper to keep every year as my insurance premium keeps dropping as I get older.
Current niggles I need to fix at some point though:
- Could do with renewing all of the underside rustproofing and inner panel wax coatings, probably in summer though.
- A small bit of surface rust that has returned around one of the rubber boot lid stops needs touching up, thankfully not visible at all if the boot is shut.
- Some scratches/chips on the front bumper and bonnet, could do with a respray of the bumper and bonnet actually, but it's not urgent.
- Need to figure out what on earth is causing the rear knocking noise (which has been happening since 2013) - not found any faults with suspension, and it never occurs on the motorway, never found anything loose in the rear either after several attempts and my mechanic can't find anything either. No advisories ever come up on the MOT either, bit of a mystery one! Thankfully it's not too noticeable and I don't drive the thing enough for it to really be a major issue, maybe one day I'll crack it though.
Currently toying with the idea of fitting some better front seats and a full custom stainless steel exhaust...but these are probably daft ideas.
34000 miles/ 7 years nothing spent aside from oil, filters and a few tyres for her car although it's getting a bit ropey now. Super cheap motoring
It's a 51 plate and was purchased on 9000 miles and has now done 35/40000 I think.
Mostly town miles, speed humps, etc have taken their toll plus it's has a few knocks (first car) so it's a bit tatty.
The clutch seems to be biting pretty high and the rocker cover gasket is weeping quite a bit. It's has little in the way of TLC but generally speaking it's rust free and it's been reliable so can't have any complaints especially as its only had clips, oil, filters, etc
Mostly town miles, speed humps, etc have taken their toll plus it's has a few knocks (first car) so it's a bit tatty.
The clutch seems to be biting pretty high and the rocker cover gasket is weeping quite a bit. It's has little in the way of TLC but generally speaking it's rust free and it's been reliable so can't have any complaints especially as its only had clips, oil, filters, etc
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