Discussion
Been tinkering about with this for a while now.
It’s going pretty well so far without too many hitches. Although I’m firmly of the belief now that if it’s in my way I can cut it and weld it back into the shape I want it LoL
What you think? Can’t be done?
ETA: Links removed RoP 12e
It’s going pretty well so far without too many hitches. Although I’m firmly of the belief now that if it’s in my way I can cut it and weld it back into the shape I want it LoL
What you think? Can’t be done?
ETA: Links removed RoP 12e
Edited by Moderator on Monday 4th November 08:05
300bhp/ton said:
Cracked sump at the first speed bump 
Sounds like a cool project, but a humungous amount of work. For the cost and effort involved you could probably end up with something nicer and cooler. Lets face it, unless you open the bonnet or spend time explaining to someone, they'll just think it's a turbo charged 4 banger.
I would also suggest that keeping it 100% legal for UK road use (yes I'm thinking IVA/SVA) may be somewhat challenging or even impossible.
Yeah it might be brought up a little at the front once the rear has been settled. Sounds like a cool project, but a humungous amount of work. For the cost and effort involved you could probably end up with something nicer and cooler. Lets face it, unless you open the bonnet or spend time explaining to someone, they'll just think it's a turbo charged 4 banger.
I would also suggest that keeping it 100% legal for UK road use (yes I'm thinking IVA/SVA) may be somewhat challenging or even impossible.
So what if it’s a lot of work? What else am I going to do with my free time? I have something nicer and cooler with the CLK500 as my daily, this is my “fun”. That’s the idea, quite happy having people think it’s just a 4 banger, at least I know it has double that.
I appreciate it’s been done before, but never a 1uz afaik and never a twin turbo, and never kept a standard interior and rarely independent rear suspension. So it’s a first in that regard. Not that I care about it being a first, I’m doing it because I want to and this whole thing has been a cheap project that I can play about with in the garage.
Appreciate the good luck all. It’s actually much further along that I’m letting on tbh but I’m not allowed to share links on here so it’s have to wait until I have the time to upload the pictures for further updates
mwstewart said:
Good project! I'm sure that it will be a lot of fun and an interesting thing to own.
Check the rack angle as you'll have some bump steer as-is. I'd raise the engine too.
Rack angle has been sorted, no bump steer if my calculations are correct. Engine can’t go up anymore. It is where it is now. I’ll just raise the car a little as it’s on coilovers. But I think I’ll be ok either way.Check the rack angle as you'll have some bump steer as-is. I'd raise the engine too.
Appreciate the good luck all. It’s actually much further along that I’m letting on tbh but I’m not allowed to share links on here so it’s have to wait until I have the time to upload the pictures for further updates
Edited by Jaffman on Monday 4th November 16:47
Well you lot can be a miserable bunch eh?! Only place I’ve had worse reception is on an american Facebook group where they just plain hated the focus.
Appreciate the feedback all, It does surprise me a little at the negativity coming from a forum of car enthusiasts. As an enthusiast myself I’m more than happy to support anyone who wants to do something mad just because. It’s not my money and time why would it bother me how they spend it?
Anyway, I will continue to spend my free time in the garage working on this and when it gets cold enough I’ll bugger off to the alps to snowboard (is it ok to spend my time and money on that too? Jus’ checkin’ ...)
Currently the rear ended is taking up my time. Wiring is mostly done. Rear wheels rotate via a gearbox. Front wheels turn. It has no brakes though... that could be a problem LOL
Appreciate the feedback all, It does surprise me a little at the negativity coming from a forum of car enthusiasts. As an enthusiast myself I’m more than happy to support anyone who wants to do something mad just because. It’s not my money and time why would it bother me how they spend it?
Anyway, I will continue to spend my free time in the garage working on this and when it gets cold enough I’ll bugger off to the alps to snowboard (is it ok to spend my time and money on that too? Jus’ checkin’ ...)
Currently the rear ended is taking up my time. Wiring is mostly done. Rear wheels rotate via a gearbox. Front wheels turn. It has no brakes though... that could be a problem LOL
InitialDave said:
I didn't think people were being particularly negative.
Is there a better word than not positive? I appreciate everyone’s comments of course, never expect massive praise when posting anything on the internet lol.
I don’t expect anyone to love it either way, I’m doing this for me and I’m sharing in case anyone else may be interested.
The American group was funny though. Instant hate for the car because they didn’t really have the focus out there. It wasn’t a muscle car so it had instant hate lol
Ambivalent is probably a better word, but with the little detail in here how can you have differing ideas to what I’ve done? Apart from “you could have had something better”
“You should have got a better project” is such a cliche that really is boring amongst car enthusiasts and it ends up with everyone having the same thing. A fiesta on airbags and a stainless exhaust is the same thing even if it’s a different colour. Had it for 10 years with my megane because it wasn’t a “good car” but people still felt the need to tell me I was wasting my time, which ironically was wasting their time because I done it anyway lol
“You should have got a better project” is such a cliche that really is boring amongst car enthusiasts and it ends up with everyone having the same thing. A fiesta on airbags and a stainless exhaust is the same thing even if it’s a different colour. Had it for 10 years with my megane because it wasn’t a “good car” but people still felt the need to tell me I was wasting my time, which ironically was wasting their time because I done it anyway lol
300bhp/ton said:
The Focus was sold in the USA too.
But I can see their point. They would be viewing it much like a microwave oven or a dishwasher. Just an economy class car with a nasty interior and generally low spec. So they probably can't comprehend why anyone would invest time and money on such a radical modification vs what you could achieve.
And to be fair, that is exactly what a Focus is, even in the UK. It is a boring car. But not boring enough to make a sleeper of it, because of the Ford youth and modifying scene. Lots of noisy exhausts, chav bodykits and a huge amount of untasteful car mods.
Now your approach may well be far superior and very well engineered to produce what will be a good car at the end. But to most people, even car people it'll just be another Focus. Which unless you are part of the Ford scene, really isn't all that interesting of a car. It isn't pretty to look at but nor is it aggressive. And being an ST170, i.e. the sporty version. It is unlikely to surprise people if it is quick, as they'll just assume they are like that or you have turbo charged it.
Of course there will be the 1 in 1000 people who will appreciate it for what it is. But as you can see, those people are maybe thin on the ground.
Personally I think you are doing something very very interesting, to something very very dull. Which while I can marvel at your fabbing skills, doesn't really excite me. As I said previously, I think for the effort/money, you could likely have done something far more interesting.
See this as either negative or positive.
I also note you are avoiding anything regarding IVA and the legality of what you are building. If you said you where going for a full IVA and detailing it here, I suspect people would be more interested. But so far it comes across as though you are going to fiddle the legality of it.
Indeed they did have the focus but it wasn’t held in such regard as it was elsewhere in the world hence the probably understandable hate. Although again I tend to ask whose time and money it is and if it doesn’t affect them then why does it matter to them? But I can see their point. They would be viewing it much like a microwave oven or a dishwasher. Just an economy class car with a nasty interior and generally low spec. So they probably can't comprehend why anyone would invest time and money on such a radical modification vs what you could achieve.
And to be fair, that is exactly what a Focus is, even in the UK. It is a boring car. But not boring enough to make a sleeper of it, because of the Ford youth and modifying scene. Lots of noisy exhausts, chav bodykits and a huge amount of untasteful car mods.
Now your approach may well be far superior and very well engineered to produce what will be a good car at the end. But to most people, even car people it'll just be another Focus. Which unless you are part of the Ford scene, really isn't all that interesting of a car. It isn't pretty to look at but nor is it aggressive. And being an ST170, i.e. the sporty version. It is unlikely to surprise people if it is quick, as they'll just assume they are like that or you have turbo charged it.
Of course there will be the 1 in 1000 people who will appreciate it for what it is. But as you can see, those people are maybe thin on the ground.
Personally I think you are doing something very very interesting, to something very very dull. Which while I can marvel at your fabbing skills, doesn't really excite me. As I said previously, I think for the effort/money, you could likely have done something far more interesting.
See this as either negative or positive.
I also note you are avoiding anything regarding IVA and the legality of what you are building. If you said you where going for a full IVA and detailing it here, I suspect people would be more interested. But so far it comes across as though you are going to fiddle the legality of it.
I don’t doubt there may be people who are totally not interested in it and that’s more than fair I don’t expect any conversation with them to go anywhere. For those that are interested how else am I supposed to share? It’s the perpetual internet problem, put something online there’s bound to be people who don’t like it but you can guarantee they will be the most vocal about their thoughts. I don’t expect heaps of praise, in fact I don’t mind criticism, it helps me learn.
Keen to know what you consider more interesting? Knowing full well that interest is subjective and you can’t please all the people all the time. Again if you personally are not interested then why waste your time telling me that?
What would you like to know about IVA’s? You already know the rules and It seems like you’ve already made your mind up about what I’m going to be doing with this car when even I don’t know what I’m going to be doing with it yet. So far people have just made statements regarding the legality, I don’t even know wether this whole thing is going to work yet let alone trying to jump through hoops to get it road legal.
300bhp/ton said:
If you don’t like it, doesn’t interest you or maybe you just don’t care then just carry on no?
Or spend a few minutes telling someone that their wasting their time and money on something they want to do.
Maybe next time I’ll say “keep your opinions to yourself,I don’t care I’m gonna do it anyway!” ?
That’s sounds friendly - might try that!
CAPP0 said:
My sentiments entirely!
I am about a year into putting a 3.9i V8 and autobox into a Defender, for no better reason than that I wanted to (and MrsC wanted it to be auto). I've done every single thing by myself, from dismantling the donor to getting it to where it is now (up & running, driveable, few minor bits to sort out before I re-MOT it), all done on the drive not in a garage (it won't fit). So there's a decent sense of achievement. My project required a lot less fab work that yours will, although integrating the electrics demanded by an ECU into a vehicle in which previously the only electronic item was the radio, was interesting!
And yeah, I'm doing it because I wanted to and because doing an engine swap on a car was on my bucket list and because I (mostly) enjoy doing it and because I can, so crack on, OP!
BTW, DVLA accepted my re-registration details without too much hassle, bit of back & forth but it's now registered as a Defender 3.9 on the V5. But as above, I haven't had to alter the structure, just moving mounts and changing mount types, and altering the trans tunnel to house the box and the shifter.
Good luck!
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 am about a year into putting a 3.9i V8 and autobox into a Defender, for no better reason than that I wanted to (and MrsC wanted it to be auto). I've done every single thing by myself, from dismantling the donor to getting it to where it is now (up & running, driveable, few minor bits to sort out before I re-MOT it), all done on the drive not in a garage (it won't fit). So there's a decent sense of achievement. My project required a lot less fab work that yours will, although integrating the electrics demanded by an ECU into a vehicle in which previously the only electronic item was the radio, was interesting!
And yeah, I'm doing it because I wanted to and because doing an engine swap on a car was on my bucket list and because I (mostly) enjoy doing it and because I can, so crack on, OP!
BTW, DVLA accepted my re-registration details without too much hassle, bit of back & forth but it's now registered as a Defender 3.9 on the V5. But as above, I haven't had to alter the structure, just moving mounts and changing mount types, and altering the trans tunnel to house the box and the shifter.
Good luck!
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. The car cost me like £600, most of the money I e spent so far has been on the engine (on purpose) so if this does turn out to be a big waste of time then I’m only £600 down. The Lexus paid for itself so I had a free engine and I still have stuff to sell from the focus to make my money back. So it’s just my time that’s the problem and I don’t know about anyone else but going out the garage to get away from the family a few times a week is actually enjoyable
irocfan said:
my best mate complainsabout this. He'll show his TransAm off at various shows only to have someone critique it ("wrong wheels", "you should have supercharged it", "black is such a cliched colour with the T/A", "why have you lowered it, it looks st" etc, ad nauseam), he knows that it shouldn't annoy him but it does.
The thing is he loves that car and what he's done and really that's all that matters.
I don't particularly like most standard Foci - do something interesting though and I'm hooked. What you're doing is interesting!
It doesn’t bother me per se, people will always be opinionated as is their right I suppose. It baffles me more than anything, don’t understand the logic.t" etc, ad nauseam), he knows that it shouldn't annoy him but it does. The thing is he loves that car and what he's done and really that's all that matters.
I don't particularly like most standard Foci - do something interesting though and I'm hooked. What you're doing is interesting!
What is supposed to happen...?
Here look at my car what do you think?
It’s s
t I hate it you should have done it this way...Ohh damn you’re totally right I’m just gonna bin the lot right now
Fastdruid said:
For me building a car is my hobby. It is about the journey as well as the destination. If it was just about the "end goal" I'd just get a loan and buy one.
Still, yours is likely to be finished before mine as its far easier. If I ever do anything after this I'm going to start with a whole car and modify it not start from a bare chassis and bodywork!
PS inlet manifold gasket
we've all been there!
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.Still, yours is likely to be finished before mine as its far easier. If I ever do anything after this I'm going to start with a whole car and modify it not start from a bare chassis and bodywork!
PS inlet manifold gasket
we've all been there! I honestly dont know what I’m going to do with it if or when it gets finished. I’ve not thought that far ahead.
Gasket - FML!!! I don’t know how I made that mistake, genuine. As I was editing I was screaming at myself! Then I just laughed, a complete genuine reaction that had to go in the video lol
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
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