Fiesta ST150 budget track car
Discussion
Hi all,
After a couple of years of drunken theorising about it, a couple of mates and I have decided to get ourselves into track days. Budget is basically as little as possible while still having something fun to drive.
We were originally thinking about a 1.7 Puma, I've had one in the past and loved it, but unfortunately I think all of them are either wrapped in cotton wool or rotten as anything these days. I looked at a couple in budget but they were awful rot-boxes, and I've no appetite for spending time welding it up.
So having cast our net a bit wider, and asked for advice on Fezbook for suggestions, I'd settled on either a Focus ST170 or a Fiesta ST150. There were lots of other options, but my compatriots are somewhat novices in driving decent cars, and I'm not hugely experienced either - so mid/rear-engined suggestions like a Toyota MR2 were off, and I vetoed an MX5 on both rust and soft top concerns.
The Fiestas have plenty of parts available being standard Ford items of the era seen in the Mondeo and Focus as well, easy to work on without being silly money, and of course a golden era of great Ford handling.
This particular car was on eBay - it was advertised as having Eibach lowering springs and a Miltech cat-back stainless exhaust which were both things I'd have fitted, but it also has a knackered engine! Knowing the Duratec lumps aren't too hard to find, I wasn't too put off. The MOT history was pretty clean, and the seller said various bits had been replaced last year for the MOT.
I had a bid on it but didn't win. Cue 24 hours after the end of the auction and the seller got in touch as it had been won by a time-waster. I had a chat and agreed it sounded good with price tbc on collection. The only snag being that I'm near Chester and the car was up in Newcastle, and with a knackered engine it wasn't a train+drive home job.
So, made arrangements to borrow my friends' car, and hired a trailer. Here's the rig for the day at the first stop for a coffee:
Unfortunately the weather on Friday was absolutely soaking, so it was pretty slow and miserable up the motorway, and a long queue on the M62 around Manchester for someone that managed to crash in a 40mph average camera zone!
Made it by just after lunch time up to see the car, and it was almost exactly as the seller had said. The auction finished at £580, I knocked him down to £520 for a few marks here and there he hadn't mentioned, and shook on it.
Then came the first problem - the trailer. It was a tilting bed trailer, and unfortunately the piston to jack the bed was pretty much dead - the seals were leaking so it took ages to pump it up, then it wouldn't push the bed right the way down to the floor.
Anyway I ran the car onto it as the gap was 4-5 inches, only to find the force of having the car on it pulled the ram straight out of the jack! Eventually we managed to use some old sleepers that the seller had to get the rear wheels on, with the engine just about dead as it was knocking its tits off, the brakes were nearly seized on, and the trailer winch rusted as anything.
We got there eventually, and ratcheted the car down to the trailer ready for the trip home:
After a couple of years of drunken theorising about it, a couple of mates and I have decided to get ourselves into track days. Budget is basically as little as possible while still having something fun to drive.
We were originally thinking about a 1.7 Puma, I've had one in the past and loved it, but unfortunately I think all of them are either wrapped in cotton wool or rotten as anything these days. I looked at a couple in budget but they were awful rot-boxes, and I've no appetite for spending time welding it up.
So having cast our net a bit wider, and asked for advice on Fezbook for suggestions, I'd settled on either a Focus ST170 or a Fiesta ST150. There were lots of other options, but my compatriots are somewhat novices in driving decent cars, and I'm not hugely experienced either - so mid/rear-engined suggestions like a Toyota MR2 were off, and I vetoed an MX5 on both rust and soft top concerns.
The Fiestas have plenty of parts available being standard Ford items of the era seen in the Mondeo and Focus as well, easy to work on without being silly money, and of course a golden era of great Ford handling.
This particular car was on eBay - it was advertised as having Eibach lowering springs and a Miltech cat-back stainless exhaust which were both things I'd have fitted, but it also has a knackered engine! Knowing the Duratec lumps aren't too hard to find, I wasn't too put off. The MOT history was pretty clean, and the seller said various bits had been replaced last year for the MOT.
I had a bid on it but didn't win. Cue 24 hours after the end of the auction and the seller got in touch as it had been won by a time-waster. I had a chat and agreed it sounded good with price tbc on collection. The only snag being that I'm near Chester and the car was up in Newcastle, and with a knackered engine it wasn't a train+drive home job.
So, made arrangements to borrow my friends' car, and hired a trailer. Here's the rig for the day at the first stop for a coffee:
Unfortunately the weather on Friday was absolutely soaking, so it was pretty slow and miserable up the motorway, and a long queue on the M62 around Manchester for someone that managed to crash in a 40mph average camera zone!
Made it by just after lunch time up to see the car, and it was almost exactly as the seller had said. The auction finished at £580, I knocked him down to £520 for a few marks here and there he hadn't mentioned, and shook on it.
Then came the first problem - the trailer. It was a tilting bed trailer, and unfortunately the piston to jack the bed was pretty much dead - the seals were leaking so it took ages to pump it up, then it wouldn't push the bed right the way down to the floor.
Anyway I ran the car onto it as the gap was 4-5 inches, only to find the force of having the car on it pulled the ram straight out of the jack! Eventually we managed to use some old sleepers that the seller had to get the rear wheels on, with the engine just about dead as it was knocking its tits off, the brakes were nearly seized on, and the trailer winch rusted as anything.
We got there eventually, and ratcheted the car down to the trailer ready for the trip home:
The weather on the way home was just as bad as the journey up, only this time slower and in the pitch dark! I had hoped to be home by tea time, but that schedule had long since gone.
Eventually made it home for about 830pm, so nearly a 13 hour round trip, and (for 2020) a load of miles!
The Insignia 4x4 I'd borrowed was fantastic for the task - great seats, nice ride quality even with a trailer attached. The miserly 4-pot diesel was, as they all are, totally boring and disappointing to use, but still managed to return an accurate 38mpg over the whole trip which I think was pretty reasonable.
Next morning I jumped out of bed to get the car off the trailer, and the fun and games began, here you can see the state of the jack as I left Newcastle:
I reassembled it expecting a pain, but the ram just pushed straight back in. That said, it wouldn't jack the trailer bed up at all, totally dead. After a few minutes faffing with a trolley jack, a thought finally percolated through that I recognised the original ram as being similar to my engine crane's jack. 10 minutes fishing in the back of the garage to fetch it out, and lo and behold it was!
So having jacked the bed up, the battery was flat, soon remedied and we got the car off and on the driveway. Trailer returned, car returned and everything was ready for the strip down.
Eventually made it home for about 830pm, so nearly a 13 hour round trip, and (for 2020) a load of miles!
The Insignia 4x4 I'd borrowed was fantastic for the task - great seats, nice ride quality even with a trailer attached. The miserly 4-pot diesel was, as they all are, totally boring and disappointing to use, but still managed to return an accurate 38mpg over the whole trip which I think was pretty reasonable.
Next morning I jumped out of bed to get the car off the trailer, and the fun and games began, here you can see the state of the jack as I left Newcastle:
I reassembled it expecting a pain, but the ram just pushed straight back in. That said, it wouldn't jack the trailer bed up at all, totally dead. After a few minutes faffing with a trolley jack, a thought finally percolated through that I recognised the original ram as being similar to my engine crane's jack. 10 minutes fishing in the back of the garage to fetch it out, and lo and behold it was!
So having jacked the bed up, the battery was flat, soon remedied and we got the car off and on the driveway. Trailer returned, car returned and everything was ready for the strip down.
First thing's first, got the car up on axle stands, wheels off, bumper off etc to have a look underneath and give it a jetwash. Out with the pressure washer and the snow foam to get the worst of the grub off:
Unfortunately by this point I was losing the light/time to give it a proper hand wash.
A quick look underneath gave away that it had indeed had brand new Eibach springs not too long ago, they barely look used. The exhaust is definitely an uprated stainless one, but I've yet to get underneath the car to really confirm. The arches front and rear are really clean, and some love has clearly gone into the suspension with recent rear dampers and front control arms too.
The interior is nice, although a few bits of plastic trim missing that doesn't matter for our purposes... The lovely sports seats in really good condition, although needing a bit of a clean, the camera makes them look much worse than they do by eye.
Unfortunately by this point I was losing the light/time to give it a proper hand wash.
A quick look underneath gave away that it had indeed had brand new Eibach springs not too long ago, they barely look used. The exhaust is definitely an uprated stainless one, but I've yet to get underneath the car to really confirm. The arches front and rear are really clean, and some love has clearly gone into the suspension with recent rear dampers and front control arms too.
The interior is nice, although a few bits of plastic trim missing that doesn't matter for our purposes... The lovely sports seats in really good condition, although needing a bit of a clean, the camera makes them look much worse than they do by eye.
So that's where we sit for now - plans are to strip it down and see what's wrong with the engine - I'm 99.9% it's terminal but for interest I'll be having the sump off to see what's what. Once I've confirmed it's terminal I'll get the engine and box out.
New engine, brakes, tyres and a little once-over ready for an MOT, hopefully should be ready by the end of Feb so we can do our first TD.
Would appreciate any particular points to sort from those that have used one before. I've managed to find a workshop manual for the whole car which is fantastic, makes it 100x easier to work on
New engine, brakes, tyres and a little once-over ready for an MOT, hopefully should be ready by the end of Feb so we can do our first TD.
Would appreciate any particular points to sort from those that have used one before. I've managed to find a workshop manual for the whole car which is fantastic, makes it 100x easier to work on
Edited by Krikkit on Sunday 13th December 14:16
As standard these handle beautifully as road cars. We had the peppy 1.4 as a road car. I sold it as we needed a car with a bigger boot for the baby stuff we have now. I'd have kept it as a navigational rally car if we had the space and I had any spare time..very fond of wee Fiestas and look forward to see how this project develops.
Krikkit said:
So that's where we sit for now - plans are to strip it down and see what's wrong with the engine - I'm 99.9% it's terminal but for interest I'll be having the sump off to see what's what. Once I've confirmed it's terminal I'll get the engine and box out.
New engine, brakes, tyres and a little once-over ready for an MOT, hopefully should be ready by the end of Feb so we can do our first TD.
Would appreciate any particular points to sort from those that have used one before. I've managed to find a workshop manual for the whole car which is fantastic, makes it 100x easier to work on
If you haven't already, get yourself onto fiestastoc.com as well - loads of information to go through! Some of it is hidden behind a £10/year paywall, but a lot of it is free and there are plenty of helpful people (myself included) who have done a bit on these cars.New engine, brakes, tyres and a little once-over ready for an MOT, hopefully should be ready by the end of Feb so we can do our first TD.
Would appreciate any particular points to sort from those that have used one before. I've managed to find a workshop manual for the whole car which is fantastic, makes it 100x easier to work on
Edited by Krikkit on Sunday 13th December 14:16
Also I've noticed you're near Chester, so if you're really stuck with anything I'd be happy to pop over (COVID permitting) as I'm an hour from you tops - in North Wales.
Thanks all.
Jase that's a great offer, I'll keep that in mind in case something gets a bit tricky. It's a fairly straight-forward car to work on by the looks, I'm very much looking forward to getting into it.
I've joined the FiestaSTOC forum per your recommendation so I'll have a good gander.
Jase that's a great offer, I'll keep that in mind in case something gets a bit tricky. It's a fairly straight-forward car to work on by the looks, I'm very much looking forward to getting into it.
I've joined the FiestaSTOC forum per your recommendation so I'll have a good gander.
Krikkit said:
Thanks all.
Jase that's a great offer, I'll keep that in mind in case something gets a bit tricky. It's a fairly straight-forward car to work on by the looks, I'm very much looking forward to getting into it.
I've joined the FiestaSTOC forum per your recommendation so I'll have a good gander.
It definitely is a pretty easy car to work on - for some cheap/easy track day upgrades, consider Mondeo MK3 front calipers on ST170 discs (300mm rather than the standard 280mm, with the Mondeo calipers having a bigger piston IIRC) which are a straight swap besides having to drill out the mounting holes from 10mm to 12mm. ST170 front caliper carriers would allow you to run 300mm discs with your standard calipers and are a direct fit, but hard to find - same for the rears which are fine anyway in my experience.Jase that's a great offer, I'll keep that in mind in case something gets a bit tricky. It's a fairly straight-forward car to work on by the looks, I'm very much looking forward to getting into it.
I've joined the FiestaSTOC forum per your recommendation so I'll have a good gander.
Thanks Jase, I think we're going with the standard brakes to keep the spend down for now, but it's on my list of upgrades!
Dropped the sump to see just what was going on with the engine. As it turned out someone's obviously had it apart to have a look, found a ruined bearing, then just chucked it back together...
Without bothering to put the bearing back in!
So #4 big end bearing was missing, which was the horrible and weird knocking noise (didn't sound like any bottom end knock I've ever heard, now I know why).
But having popped the caps off all the rods, they're all knackered, this is #1:
20201215_213933 by HarvB, on Flickr
And in the same process it looks like it's spun at least one bearing too, but not surprising as there's no retainer and the state of #1.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2khQvyP]
[/url] 20201215_214019 by HarvB, on Flickr
So a new engine it is! Found a lump removed from a Mondeo which I'm picking up on Saturday, hopefully it'll be up to scratch.
So I cracked on taking bits off the front end, lunchtime today was making a start getting the loom/ECU off the engine ready for removal.
20201217_140750 by HarvB, on Flickr
Dropped the sump to see just what was going on with the engine. As it turned out someone's obviously had it apart to have a look, found a ruined bearing, then just chucked it back together...
Without bothering to put the bearing back in!
So #4 big end bearing was missing, which was the horrible and weird knocking noise (didn't sound like any bottom end knock I've ever heard, now I know why).
But having popped the caps off all the rods, they're all knackered, this is #1:
20201215_213933 by HarvB, on Flickr
And in the same process it looks like it's spun at least one bearing too, but not surprising as there's no retainer and the state of #1.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2khQvyP]
[/url] 20201215_214019 by HarvB, on Flickr
So a new engine it is! Found a lump removed from a Mondeo which I'm picking up on Saturday, hopefully it'll be up to scratch.
So I cracked on taking bits off the front end, lunchtime today was making a start getting the loom/ECU off the engine ready for removal.
20201217_140750 by HarvB, on Flickr
pthelazyjourno said:
Thought this was going to be mine for a moment, it was also lowered with the same exhaust and a knackered engine. No MOT, had sat for a few months. Good car otherwise.
Was surprised when somebody bid just under a grand for it on eBay!!!
Was surprised when somebody bid just under a grand for it on eBay!!!
That would've been something. What was it that knackered your engine? Oil starvation?Edited by Krikkit on Thursday 17th December 19:15
Krikkit said:
That would've been something. What was it that knackered your engine? Oil starvation?Edited by Krikkit on Thursday 17th December 19:15
ked as yours - it was already on 145k and drank oil at an alarming rate, by the time the engine light came on and it cut power I'd already decided it wasn't worth investigating. Light had disappeared when I jumped it 3 months later but suspect it was on borrowed time. They're good cars, I like them. Mine was a road car but just wanted something that wouldn't rattle like a 172, I don't really care if it's lacking that last degree of composure or speed in comparison, still felt better made and a nicer place to be when driving at 8/10ths or below. Was never a fan of the lowered springs though, ruined the ride even more over a regular Fiesta. Obviously not an issue on track.
Truckosaurus said:
Can't you swap a 2.3 engine into these? I'm sure that would be amusing.
2.3 would fit, but don't really give any more power (torque yes) and don't rev as nicely. The 1.6 Ecoboost from the MK7 Fiesta ST fits as well, pretty sure the 2.0 Ecoboost from the MK3 Focus ST will also fit as it's the same architecture as the standard engine.Stuart Fordyce said:
As standard these handle beautifully as road cars. We had the peppy 1.4 as a road car. I sold it as we needed a car with a bigger boot for the baby stuff we have now. I'd have kept it as a navigational rally car if we had the space and I had any spare time..very fond of wee Fiestas and look forward to see how this project develops.
I'm interested too.We still have a 1.4 Zetec as a runabout. I was driving it about over Xmas and it was brilliant (new Rainsport 5s on the front worked really well in the wintery conditions) "Peppy" is a good description, it seems to egg you on to drive it hard. It would be good to drive a ST150. I've wondered what a Zetec chassis with an ST engine would be like, it is far more capable than the 1.4 engine.
Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 5th January 15:21
Hi there, going through a similar build to you with a similar car 
I have intentions of fitting bc coilovers, bucket seats and half cage, but a baby has come along so it's been put on hold for a while, it's been sitting in my garage for nearly a year now in pieces waiting for some love again!
So far I have fitted powerflex black series bush kit, new front suspension arms, braided lines and ds2500 pads and stripping out as much weight as possible, it will be good fun for not much money at all! It has a miltek catback and Eibach springs already fitted, which are OK so would do if I can't stretch the budget for coilovers.
Power steering resovoir is a weak point especially with track work so a relocation kit is needed, you can DIY a set up quite cheaply or try and get one second hand, I got lucky and managed to get a kit with pipework and a cooler (slight overkill) real cheap.
Hopefully your replacement engine goes OK, and good luck with the build
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/5bT4SKkv[/url]
I have intentions of fitting bc coilovers, bucket seats and half cage, but a baby has come along so it's been put on hold for a while, it's been sitting in my garage for nearly a year now in pieces waiting for some love again! So far I have fitted powerflex black series bush kit, new front suspension arms, braided lines and ds2500 pads and stripping out as much weight as possible, it will be good fun for not much money at all! It has a miltek catback and Eibach springs already fitted, which are OK so would do if I can't stretch the budget for coilovers.
Power steering resovoir is a weak point especially with track work so a relocation kit is needed, you can DIY a set up quite cheaply or try and get one second hand, I got lucky and managed to get a kit with pipework and a cooler (slight overkill) real cheap.
Hopefully your replacement engine goes OK, and good luck with the build
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/5bT4SKkv[/url]Evoluzione said:
The Mondeo engine is no good for this car, hit Google for the BHP output.
Not as a straight fit, as the Mondeo is cable throttle and a different exhaust config, but the engine itself looks identical from external inspection. As I have a working set of everything I'm swapping the inlet and exhaust etc etc. jase_llan said:
Truckosaurus said:
Can't you swap a 2.3 engine into these? I'm sure that would be amusing.
2.3 would fit, but don't really give any more power (torque yes) and don't rev as nicely. The 1.6 Ecoboost from the MK7 Fiesta ST fits as well, pretty sure the 2.0 Ecoboost from the MK3 Focus ST will also fit as it's the same architecture as the standard engine.To be honest we're not really chasing power. Something that's rewarding to drive and isn't completely gutless is more than enough.
iDave said:
Hi there, going through a similar build to you with a similar car I have intentions of fitting bc coilovers, bucket seats and half cage, but a baby has come along so it's been put on hold for a while, it's been sitting in my garage for nearly a year now in pieces waiting for some love again!
So far I have fitted powerflex black series bush kit, new front suspension arms, braided lines and ds2500 pads and stripping out as much weight as possible, it will be good fun for not much money at all! It has a miltek catback and Eibach springs already fitted, which are OK so would do if I can't stretch the budget for coilovers.
Power steering resovoir is a weak point especially with track work so a relocation kit is needed, you can DIY a set up quite cheaply or try and get one second hand, I got lucky and managed to get a kit with pipework and a cooler (slight overkill) real cheap.
Hopefully your replacement engine goes OK, and good luck with the build
Yours looks and sounds a lot further than ours, like your thinking though I have intentions of fitting bc coilovers, bucket seats and half cage, but a baby has come along so it's been put on hold for a while, it's been sitting in my garage for nearly a year now in pieces waiting for some love again! So far I have fitted powerflex black series bush kit, new front suspension arms, braided lines and ds2500 pads and stripping out as much weight as possible, it will be good fun for not much money at all! It has a miltek catback and Eibach springs already fitted, which are OK so would do if I can't stretch the budget for coilovers.
Power steering resovoir is a weak point especially with track work so a relocation kit is needed, you can DIY a set up quite cheaply or try and get one second hand, I got lucky and managed to get a kit with pipework and a cooler (slight overkill) real cheap.
Hopefully your replacement engine goes OK, and good luck with the build
I've got a PAS solution on the cards already, although rather than a relocation kit (and as we're ditching the AC) I've got room to fit the cooler pipe and a slightly longer LP return line to fit what they did on the non-ST MK6.
Edited by Krikkit on Tuesday 5th January 19:09
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