Mk1 Ford Focus RS
Discussion
That looks fantastic doesn't it? Really well done OP.
I don't know all that much a bout cleaning but when i bought my MINI GP a few years ago they applied a Willliams ceramic coating by mistake-I wasn't paying for any of that guff!
I'll tell you what though, it was an absolute doddle to clean (something I probably only done once every six months or so), dirt just fell off it. I've never believed any of this super ceramic cleaning stuff and I've no idea if it really did ever help but placebo effect or not, that car was the easiest to clean I've ever had.
I don't know all that much a bout cleaning but when i bought my MINI GP a few years ago they applied a Willliams ceramic coating by mistake-I wasn't paying for any of that guff!
I'll tell you what though, it was an absolute doddle to clean (something I probably only done once every six months or so), dirt just fell off it. I've never believed any of this super ceramic cleaning stuff and I've no idea if it really did ever help but placebo effect or not, that car was the easiest to clean I've ever had.
So the car past it’s MOT yesterday, one indicator bulb and a headlight alignment was all it needed, MOT tester said he didn’t need to spend long looking at to know it would pass.
Done a couple of short runs in it, takes a bit of getting used to again, it’s also overboosting so need to screw the actuator back a bit, this was replaced shortly before I began the resto project and I never had a chance to set it up properly.
This morning I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning the wheels, bit sad doing this after less than a 100miles but got to keep it looking nice!
Used autoglym non acidic wheel spray, autoglym tyre gel and then autoglym wheel sealant. Will see how that lot performs.
Too much choice with car cleaning products
Here are some pictures anyway:
Done a couple of short runs in it, takes a bit of getting used to again, it’s also overboosting so need to screw the actuator back a bit, this was replaced shortly before I began the resto project and I never had a chance to set it up properly.
This morning I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning the wheels, bit sad doing this after less than a 100miles but got to keep it looking nice!
Used autoglym non acidic wheel spray, autoglym tyre gel and then autoglym wheel sealant. Will see how that lot performs.
Too much choice with car cleaning products
Here are some pictures anyway:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
That looks fantastic doesn't it? Really well done OP.
I don't know all that much a bout cleaning but when i bought my MINI GP a few years ago they applied a Willliams ceramic coating by mistake-I wasn't paying for any of that guff!
I'll tell you what though, it was an absolute doddle to clean (something I probably only done once every six months or so), dirt just fell off it. I've never believed any of this super ceramic cleaning stuff and I've no idea if it really did ever help but placebo effect or not, that car was the easiest to clean I've ever had.
A friend of mine has an M2 which he bought a ceramic coating kit and did himself, it looks very good so thinking about asking him to give me a hand to do the same to mine. Not sure what brand it wasI don't know all that much a bout cleaning but when i bought my MINI GP a few years ago they applied a Willliams ceramic coating by mistake-I wasn't paying for any of that guff!
I'll tell you what though, it was an absolute doddle to clean (something I probably only done once every six months or so), dirt just fell off it. I've never believed any of this super ceramic cleaning stuff and I've no idea if it really did ever help but placebo effect or not, that car was the easiest to clean I've ever had.
So I made the decision to coat the car with Gyeon Q2 Pure followed by Q2M Cure. It was the same product that my friend with the M2 used and I was pleased by what I saw on his car.
he agreed to come and give me a hand on monday night, unfortunately monday turned into a day of monsoon rain so we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to do it in the garage which was not ideal. Got home from work about 4.30 and made a start washing the car, it wasn't dirty but there was a bit of dust and some fly debris on the bonnet to remove.
The next step was to strip off all the wax that the body shop had applied, it was clearly a lot and good quality as it took us the best part of an hour to clean all the wax off the car back to the bare paintwork using poor boys stripping fluid
Once we had the paintwork cleaned we began applying the coating panel by panel. It was relatively straight forward apply the coating in one direction then again 90 degrees to the first direction leave the coating for 30 seconds to a minute then buff it off with a microfibre towel.
By this point the monsoon had passed so we were able to take the car outside and do this with natural light which made the job a lot easier.
Once all the coating was applied and buffed off we applied the hydrophobic cure product which was simply rubbed on using a mircofibre towel and left to dry off.
So although the process probably took us about 4-5 hours the results are impressive!
Next to my filthy Fiesta ST
Now a couple alongside the M2
I think this might be one of my favourite pictures so far
he agreed to come and give me a hand on monday night, unfortunately monday turned into a day of monsoon rain so we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to do it in the garage which was not ideal. Got home from work about 4.30 and made a start washing the car, it wasn't dirty but there was a bit of dust and some fly debris on the bonnet to remove.
The next step was to strip off all the wax that the body shop had applied, it was clearly a lot and good quality as it took us the best part of an hour to clean all the wax off the car back to the bare paintwork using poor boys stripping fluid
Once we had the paintwork cleaned we began applying the coating panel by panel. It was relatively straight forward apply the coating in one direction then again 90 degrees to the first direction leave the coating for 30 seconds to a minute then buff it off with a microfibre towel.
By this point the monsoon had passed so we were able to take the car outside and do this with natural light which made the job a lot easier.
Once all the coating was applied and buffed off we applied the hydrophobic cure product which was simply rubbed on using a mircofibre towel and left to dry off.
So although the process probably took us about 4-5 hours the results are impressive!
Next to my filthy Fiesta ST
Now a couple alongside the M2
I think this might be one of my favourite pictures so far
So a small update on here, took the car to a local show a few weeks ago. It’s called allford so you can imagine there were quite a few other nice fords there and I think there were seven other focus RSs. So much for being a rarity haha
Was a really good day and a lot of people asked about the car and was just nice to show it off. We didn’t win a prize unfortunately but I did get 10/10 on the bodywork scorecard
Anyway here are a couple of pictures:
Here are a couple of pics of my other show favs:
Next planned outing for my car is on the 29th of September at the Aberdeen performance car show in the new exhibition centre, but hopefully the weather is nice enough to get it out for a blast before then.
Was a really good day and a lot of people asked about the car and was just nice to show it off. We didn’t win a prize unfortunately but I did get 10/10 on the bodywork scorecard
Anyway here are a couple of pictures:
Here are a couple of pics of my other show favs:
Next planned outing for my car is on the 29th of September at the Aberdeen performance car show in the new exhibition centre, but hopefully the weather is nice enough to get it out for a blast before then.
So 3 weeks ago was the outing to the very first Aberdeen performance car show.
As with these things I had been particularly busy at work all week and ended up having to wash the car on friday evening as it was getting dark and not to mention beginning to rain. I got the car as clean as I could and then dried it in the Garage but the light was not great so I gave up for the night.
The weather then took a turn for the worst over the next couple of days to the ppoint where many bridges were washed away in parts of aberdeenshire, so I made a call to my friend who runs a rally car in the SRC and asked if I could borrow his race shuttle to get it along to the show as clean as possible as there was no facility to wash cars on site.
So to cut a long story short we got the car loaded up and took it into aberdeen, we were lucky that we were in the main arena and most of the cars were already there so got straight in to unload it. As we drove past the large arena door I could see some of the other cars which were already there and at that point I thought to myself what have I let myself in for!!
This is a pic of where I was told to place it and where we left it on saturday night, however by sunday morning there was a post on FB and I had numerous text messages from friends showing me the post asking the owner of the car to come in early to move the car.
So I went in early and it seemed to be a genuine mistake, due to the chaos in the underground car park the night before with the club stands setting up they hadn't really had much focus, pardon the pun on the main arena.
Apologies for all the pictures but as you can see the lights in the arena made the paint look amazing!!!
I took a lot of pictures of other cars too
This is the same Malcolm Wilson BRC winning Escort Cosworth that was in the body shop at the same time as my focus so it was nice to see it out and about
As with these things I had been particularly busy at work all week and ended up having to wash the car on friday evening as it was getting dark and not to mention beginning to rain. I got the car as clean as I could and then dried it in the Garage but the light was not great so I gave up for the night.
The weather then took a turn for the worst over the next couple of days to the ppoint where many bridges were washed away in parts of aberdeenshire, so I made a call to my friend who runs a rally car in the SRC and asked if I could borrow his race shuttle to get it along to the show as clean as possible as there was no facility to wash cars on site.
So to cut a long story short we got the car loaded up and took it into aberdeen, we were lucky that we were in the main arena and most of the cars were already there so got straight in to unload it. As we drove past the large arena door I could see some of the other cars which were already there and at that point I thought to myself what have I let myself in for!!
This is a pic of where I was told to place it and where we left it on saturday night, however by sunday morning there was a post on FB and I had numerous text messages from friends showing me the post asking the owner of the car to come in early to move the car.
So I went in early and it seemed to be a genuine mistake, due to the chaos in the underground car park the night before with the club stands setting up they hadn't really had much focus, pardon the pun on the main arena.
Apologies for all the pictures but as you can see the lights in the arena made the paint look amazing!!!
I took a lot of pictures of other cars too
This is the same Malcolm Wilson BRC winning Escort Cosworth that was in the body shop at the same time as my focus so it was nice to see it out and about
rickygolf83 said:
It definitely doesn't deserve being subjected to the salt now it has been full healed! 
Took my recently restored mk2 16v out as I couldn't resist driving it and really wish I hadn't. Mate/restorer said its well sealed so drive it!
I am sure mine would be fine too since its fully painted and then clear wax-oiled but the roads are so greasy and slippy up here at the moment I wouldn't get much enjoyment from taking it out so will just look at it in the garage for now hahaTook my recently restored mk2 16v out as I couldn't resist driving it and really wish I hadn't. Mate/restorer said its well sealed so drive it!
Have you got a thread for your Mk2 Golf? A friend of mine is in the process of restoring his.
MK1RS Bruce said:
Just a single picture to highlight one of the reasons I don't take the car out in the winter any more
Poor daily Fiesta is the definition of Neglect
Mine looks more like your fiesta than your focus though mine is dirt as I don't take it out when there is salt on the road but with it living on the drive and because I like using it the focus doesn't stay clean for long. I don't blame you for not wanting to use yours when the weather's like it has been like it has with the amount of work you have put into it. Poor daily Fiesta is the definition of Neglect
Poynter87 said:
You have obviously put a lot of time and effort into making the car nice again. The mk1 focus rs is a very fun car to drive, I've had mine 8 years now and I still enjoy driving as much as I can though it needs a bit of bodywork doing. Keep up the good work.
Hi Richard, its Baz from MK1 RSOC. Appears I have lost the ability to post on there so couldn't message you back. It wouldn't even let me upgrade membership. I should be able to pm message you on here later. Cheers Barry.
Haven't updated this topic for a while, mainly because I have just been using the car and enjoying it when restrictions have allowed.
During summer 2020 I started to notice the clutch was slipping on boost, annoying as it was to be fair it was still on its original clutch and sitting around for two years while the body was being worked on probably didn't do it much good. After a bit of research I found that I could get an aftermarket sachs clutch with an organic plate that was rated to 510Nm for considerably less than I could get a new standard AP clutch for. The AP clutch is also only rated to 300ish Nm. So decision was made in the spring I would treat it to a new clutch when it was in for its MOT.
However when I went to take it out of the garage for its last wash before being stored for winter I found that the clutch wasn't releasing unless I pumped the clutch. I naturally thought it was the master cylinder as they are known to fail and I was already on my second one. putting it back in the garage post wash was pretty nerve racking as I didn't fancy reversing straight into the back wall of the garage.
When Spring time came I went to fire it up for the first time only to find the battery was dead and no amount of cajoling with a charger would revive it, I did have the battery disconnected but it looks like the cold temps of the winter were too much for it despite being only a year old. I also didn't have the receipt for it so I was forced to buy a new one. This time I have gone for a genuine one from Ford with 3 yr warranty and I have filed the receipt in the glovebox for when it inevitably dies on me.
Anyway with battery issue resolved I booked it in and had the clutch replaced and it was found to be the slave cylinder that was leaking so I managed to kill two birds with one gearbox removal which was lucky. As expected the car flew through the MOT having not done hardly any miles in 2020.
2021 has already been a better year for using the RS and a couple of weeks ago she took me to my own wedding and posed outside the venue for a few nights.
Who says an RS can't pull off Lord of the manor
During summer 2020 I started to notice the clutch was slipping on boost, annoying as it was to be fair it was still on its original clutch and sitting around for two years while the body was being worked on probably didn't do it much good. After a bit of research I found that I could get an aftermarket sachs clutch with an organic plate that was rated to 510Nm for considerably less than I could get a new standard AP clutch for. The AP clutch is also only rated to 300ish Nm. So decision was made in the spring I would treat it to a new clutch when it was in for its MOT.
However when I went to take it out of the garage for its last wash before being stored for winter I found that the clutch wasn't releasing unless I pumped the clutch. I naturally thought it was the master cylinder as they are known to fail and I was already on my second one. putting it back in the garage post wash was pretty nerve racking as I didn't fancy reversing straight into the back wall of the garage.
When Spring time came I went to fire it up for the first time only to find the battery was dead and no amount of cajoling with a charger would revive it, I did have the battery disconnected but it looks like the cold temps of the winter were too much for it despite being only a year old. I also didn't have the receipt for it so I was forced to buy a new one. This time I have gone for a genuine one from Ford with 3 yr warranty and I have filed the receipt in the glovebox for when it inevitably dies on me.
Anyway with battery issue resolved I booked it in and had the clutch replaced and it was found to be the slave cylinder that was leaking so I managed to kill two birds with one gearbox removal which was lucky. As expected the car flew through the MOT having not done hardly any miles in 2020.
2021 has already been a better year for using the RS and a couple of weeks ago she took me to my own wedding and posed outside the venue for a few nights.
Who says an RS can't pull off Lord of the manor
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