Project Mondeo ST24 Advice

[Murderlamb]

I have been offered a 1998 Mondeo ST24 for pretty much buttons.
I am going to buy it, but I am debating what to do with it.
It has 205k on the clock and not much history so I doubt it would sell on for anything other than mystical beans.

Do I:

1. Fix it up, stop the oil leak, sort the rust issues (rear arches are starting to go) and keep it as a potential 'appreciating classic'

2. Give the fat lady a diet, pop uprated brakes and a baffled sump on it and track it

3. Break it and sell the parts, there is a mega ton of very good frag on it

Apart from mileage more suited to the Enterprise and the oil leak, it is not actually a bad steer. A lot of people say that cars with high miles handle like crap but this one is actually fairly alright.

• NOTE. I am not interested in making it my daily hack, I have an Accord which is doing that job quite happily and I am not wanting to sack it off.*

Here is a picture of the turd in question:




I would appreciate thoughts and opinions!

[gaz453]

My personal opinion would be to strip it, sell all the bits not needed for the track, have fun with it on a track then sell the rest of the bits when you've finished with it

[Zad]

Strip it, pop on ST200 bits and bobs for the engine, uprate the brakes. Enjoy it on the track.

[Murderlamb]

Would ST200 bits make much of a difference?

[Zad]

About 20bhp, to get 30 would probably need a cam change. Gut the pre-cats too, but keep the main one if you intend it to remain road legal.

ETA: To get that, you will need to chip the ECU with a proper rolling road setup.

Edited by Zad on Thursday 15th August 18:04

[Podie]

Calipers from a Mk3 Mondeo fit straight on the front. With ST170 discs, it's a useful upgrade. Add decent fluid and braided hoses and they haul up nicely.

ST200 bits should be getting cheaper now, and do make a good difference.

[Murderlamb]

Will a dual exhaust set up help or hinder? Sorry for all the questions, I am thinking of going into this with a plan and targets to achieve, instead of just slapping something together and chucking it on ebay in a few months because I have cocked it up/got bored of it.

[Zad]

Purely a personal choice I think. I would stick with the single exhaust, as it seems a lot of expense to go to for something which may even result in reduced power. It seems counter-intuitive, but gas flow design is a bit of a black art, and any number of tuners have discovered that more isn't necessarily better when it comes to exhausts.

[Murderlamb]

Grand. One exhaust it is.

[Murderlamb]

Well I got the keys to this today and it is now sat upon my drive, awaiting it's fate. First of all I think I may get a price for the rear arches to be attended to. Then, with that in mind, I will decide what to do with it.

[IT1GTR]

MSDS Headers and "Y" pipe would be a good addition!!

[Murderlamb]

I have given the ST24 a wash and a quick polish today.
I wanted to see what horrors lurk under the dirt.
Mainly bodywork wise I have noticed that it has had the top corners where the windscreen sits repaired, and painted the wrong shade of red, the rear arches need doing at some point and the bottoms of the front wings are starting to bubble.

The side skirts are coming off next, see what lingers under that. I am hoping there are no gaping holes.
Any advice on how best to remove the skirts?


Also, daft question, as it is a v6, how do I know which bank is the left bank and which is the right?


Random gratuitous pics...

[Murderlamb]

HELP! The rear seat has been folded down and now the centre belt is pinning the seat back down. I cannot pull the belt as it has locked into place. Do I need to take the seat apart to release the mechanism and get the seat back up? I cannot raise the back up enough to pull the bench out and undo the anchor point, so I am a tad stuck. Help anyone?!?

[Zad]

That's a new one on me! Not heard of that happening before.

[Podie]

Can't help with the seats, but... ST200 UIM!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/parts-and-p...

Caveat emptor... not affiliated, etc, etc...

[Murderlamb]

Damn yous. If that had been up for sale in about a month I would have bought that... But I am inspecting the bodywork first to ensure nothing is terminal.

Progress with the seatbelt... I have managed to lift the back of the seat high enough to get the bench out.
I will now undo the anchor point, retract the belt enough to get the seat into it's proper position, hopefully free the belt and bolt it back in. I may post pictures of this later.

At least now the bench is off I can do a check for crusty anchor points while I am at it, silver lining and all that...

[Podie]

[Murderlamb]

Cock. The fker is going crusty at the anchor points on both sides of rear.
Also, it has a hole in the boot (about 50p sized) and the fuel tank appears to have a leak.
Disheartened at the moment.

Bugrit. I think I will have to crack on and take the kit off.