Discussion
Jaffman said:
Like I said - no idea if this is going to work, I may have royaly f
ked up somewhere and this ends up being scrap. However the engine is still good and can be put in any other car and I can sell the rear end if it all goes Pete tong.
Quite apart from the car, I just love your attitude to this. You, sir, win the internet. ked up somewhere and this ends up being scrap. However the engine is still good and can be put in any other car and I can sell the rear end if it all goes Pete tong. 
Johnnytheboy said:
Quite apart from the car, I just love your attitude to this. You, sir, win the internet.
Thank you - I think it would be pretty stupid of me to spend a fortune on this considering I have no idea of its validity. Although as said above anywhere a V8 can be fitted should be fitted with a V8 lol.For reference the rear subframe cost me £25...
I could sell it for 10x that and be no worse off than I was 2 years ago.
The Lexus only cost £400, I’ve made that back from scrapping it and I have a free engine.
Even if I don’t win - I won’t lose lol
Jaffman said:
Exactly - I spend hours trying to get the motivation to go out there but I will spend hours out there. It’s certainly one of those things that you don’t want to do until your doing it.
FWIW I try and do a little bit every day to keep up momentum, even if it's 5 minutes, working out how you're going to do something or researching stuff online. 
Jaffman said:
Actually sounds like you’ve not done much more than what I’ve done to be honest. The difficulty with mine is the rear end. But that looks a lot worse than it is. The picture looks like I’ve cut the car to pieces to fit the subframe but in reality it was all rotten so I would have been cutting it out and replacing it anyway.
I'm all for this sort of project, but only when it's done properly (I'm not suggesting you aren't going to do it properly btw!)Putting a V8 auto into a defender is nowhere near the same thing as cutting into a unibody, because you can of course buy a V8 defender from the factory. In fact, it can be done without cutting any metal at all, simply from the parts book! I've converted Tdi 90's into auto V8 in a weekend, it's easy, and simple
It's important to realise, that in the eyes of the law, there is an enormous difference between cutting out rotten metal, and replacing it with new metal in exactly the same shape and form in order to repair rust or crash damage, and cutting out and replacing it with completely different form material. In the first case, you are still relying on the original manufacturers design and load paths, in the second case, you are not. The IVA laws are clear, once you have cut the unibody, it's Q plate time if it needs to be road legal.
I can’t imagine why anyone jumped on this thread to criticise or demean your project- they can FRO, what you’re doing is awesome OP. More than I could do, and you’re making something totally your own, beats the st out of just buying something because some sad fker on the internet thinks it will be ‘better’. Keep it up!
t out of just buying something because some sad fker on the internet thinks it will be ‘better’. Keep it up!Max_Torque said:
I'm all for this sort of project, but only when it's done properly (I'm not suggesting you aren't going to do it properly btw!)
Putting a V8 auto into a defender is nowhere near the same thing as cutting into a unibody, because you can of course buy a V8 defender from the factory. In fact, it can be done without cutting any metal at all, simply from the parts book! I've converted Tdi 90's into auto V8 in a weekend, it's easy, and simple
It's important to realise, that in the eyes of the law, there is an enormous difference between cutting out rotten metal, and replacing it with new metal in exactly the same shape and form in order to repair rust or crash damage, and cutting out and replacing it with completely different form material. In the first case, you are still relying on the original manufacturers design and load paths, in the second case, you are not. The IVA laws are clear, once you have cut the unibody, it's Q plate time if it needs to be road legal.
My comment was based on what the guy had said he had done, which is change the tunnel, which I have also done, and changed some suspension mounting points which depending on how fussy you want to be I have also done because the subframe has been mounted. So I wasn’t trying to imply that it was the same, just commenting that the work hats been done is similar.Putting a V8 auto into a defender is nowhere near the same thing as cutting into a unibody, because you can of course buy a V8 defender from the factory. In fact, it can be done without cutting any metal at all, simply from the parts book! I've converted Tdi 90's into auto V8 in a weekend, it's easy, and simple
It's important to realise, that in the eyes of the law, there is an enormous difference between cutting out rotten metal, and replacing it with new metal in exactly the same shape and form in order to repair rust or crash damage, and cutting out and replacing it with completely different form material. In the first case, you are still relying on the original manufacturers design and load paths, in the second case, you are not. The IVA laws are clear, once you have cut the unibody, it's Q plate time if it needs to be road legal.
I’m aware of what’s required to get this car road legal but last time I checked there was nothing illegal about me tinkering in the garage, which is all I’ve done so far. But of course the internet has to tell me what I’m doing wrong before I’ve even done it yet.
Again, the picture showing the rear of the car, the arches were rotten, they will be replaced by non rotten arches, maybe even non rotten standard focus arches. Depends how I feel and how much work is required. The boot floor was also cut out due to rot which I have no problem replacing with a flat floor panel. If that was the only thing I had changed I’d not tell anyone either. Risk/reward and all that
I rather liked the mkI Focus, was much more fun to drive than any other car in it’s class at that time...even with a cheap nasty interior 
Are you going to move the dash and bulkhead back to try and make it as front/mid as you can?
Even the relatively small weight difference between the old 1.8/2.0 zetec and 1.4/1.6 zetec se was noticeable in terms of handling.
Are you going to move the dash and bulkhead back to try and make it as front/mid as you can?
Even the relatively small weight difference between the old 1.8/2.0 zetec and 1.4/1.6 zetec se was noticeable in terms of handling.
trails said:
I rather liked the mkI Focus, was much more fun to drive than any other car in it’s class at that time...even with a cheap nasty interior
Are you going to move the dash and bulkhead back to try and make it as front/mid as you can?
Even the relatively small weight difference between the old 1.8/2.0 zetec and 1.4/1.6 zetec se was noticeable in terms of handling.
Nope I wanted to keep the interior as standard as possible, less work on the tunnel, interior still fits, and it’s a nicer place to be than your generic track focus car that’s been stripped to within an inch of its life.Are you going to move the dash and bulkhead back to try and make it as front/mid as you can?
Even the relatively small weight difference between the old 1.8/2.0 zetec and 1.4/1.6 zetec se was noticeable in terms of handling.
Handling will be different on this one anyway due to the rear end but should be a dam site better than a solid axle.
Despite what people think about the focus it’s actually a really good car. Handles well, cheap to maintain, cheap to run (mostly). But at the end of the days it’s still a cheap hatchback so you’re not exactly going to have leather dashboards and exotic materials on it
Jaffman said:
Despite what people think about the focus it’s actually a really good car. Handles well, cheap to maintain, cheap to run (mostly). But at the end of the days it’s still a cheap hatchback so you’re not exactly going to have leather dashboards and exotic materials on it
Yep, and lets not forget that after the Escort the mk1 Focus was a revelation, it may be 'dull' but they are very, very competent cars, there are many reasons why it was always best in class year after year. I'm a big fan of them (and the Mondeo more so) but I think Ford dropped the ball slightly when they stopped producing rear wheel drive cars, I had Sierras and Granadas for years and only really made the switch to BMW's as they're RWD so to see a Ford I like being fitted with a whopping V8 and correct wheel drive interests me A LOT. Keep up the good work OP.
Jaffman said:
My comment was based on what the guy had said he had done, which is change the tunnel, which I have also done, and changed some suspension mounting points which depending on how fussy you want to be I have also done because the subframe has been mounted. So I wasn’t trying to imply that it was the same, just commenting that the work hats been done is similar.
Please understand that a Landrover 90 has a non-structural body mounted on a seperate ladder frame chassis. This makes it very different to your Focus, which has a Unibody design of structure, ie the body IS the structure. All parts of the chassis, even those that are just for beauty / shape carry loads. This means it has complex load paths,using thin sheets of metal, formed into complex shapes to provide stiffness and strength as necessary (and of course, softness and crushablity as well)Changing the "tunnel" in a landrover to allow a v8 to be interested where a diesel previously resided, requires you to be able to use a socket set, and that's it. You unbolt the old tunnel, and bolt the V8 part in it's place. That part is a standard part, made by LR for the V8 defenders it certified and sold.
You, as a private individual are legally obliged (if you want to use the car in the road, and fair enough you haven't said you will be) to get your car IVA tested if you cut or modify the unibody of it in any significant way. "in any significant way" means you would need to be able to prove, using engineering fact (ie a qualified engineer report) that your modifications have or have not in any way changed the strength, stiffness or load paths of the vehicle structure. From the pictures you have already posted, it's clear that your cuts have already more than passed the point that your changed would be considered "significant".
To be clear, i'm not "down" in any way of people messing around in their garage building home made monsters out of left over cars, it's fun, and can result in amazing feats of "shed engineering". But it's important to realise our laws are very clear and concise on what actions you must take should you want to use such a vehicle on the road once you have carried out your mods
(PS be glad that thanks to the UKs long history of "shed engineering" by amateurs, our laws do actually have a valid route to allow vehicles like this to be used on the road. In many countries, it would simply be illegal!!)
stevemcs said:
Nice project, i see nothing wrong when people look at a Lexus V8 then look at at Focus and think, yeah that'll fit.
You should have used an estate body shell though
I used to have the new focus st estate - had 2 infact You should have used an estate body shell though
Fancied a normal hatch for this project. Plus an estate V8 has been done before in the same colour
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