1983 Mk 1 fiesta

[dallow]

Well after lurking on here for a while wishing I had a retro motor I have finally got myself this s1197.photobucket.com/user/dallow2/media/fiesta/20130309_134043.jpg.html

At some point in its life its been looked after but not for the last few years . Its been painted in matt black paint which is hiding a multitude of sins , a bit of rot in the front wings and in the doors but nothing horrendous, no doubt i'll find more once I start pulling it apart.

Plans for it atm are , run it as a weekend car for a few months then once my unit is sorted , strip it out sort all the rust out , put a zetec in it , upgrade the brakes and get it painted......... how hard can it be

[georgeg93]

Looks like a good start for a project! Are they ERST recaro like seats inside? What engines it running ? If its a 1300 or 1600 you've got a few of the really annoying to get bits for a zetec conversion . If not you'll need 1300/1600 driveshafts, cradle. Custom mounts can be bought from the fiesta centre and management should be easy with megajolt or proper zetec loom just so you know . Xr2 brake conversion is a good upgrade, calipers can still be obtained new but its the carriers that bolt them to the hubs that are like gold dust.
Whereare you located?

[dallow]

Hi, i'm based in weston super mare .its currently a 957cc, brakes are a must, no servo and they are terrible!!
I've read up a bit on the zetec conversion and it requires a bit of cutting to make it fit. not sure whether to go with carbs though as they will be in the way of the servo.

[dallow]

The seats are rough old 3i seats , only fit for the bin

[georgeg93]

Yeah man my mk1 daily has no servo they're pretty bad but I guess you just have tip drive accordingly . Thank god my other one has a servo already and soon xr2 brakes with xr2 servo should stop alright then . If u use a mk2 xr2 servo it would help as they're a lot thinner taking up less space .

[dallow]

nice one , i'll make a note of that

[rodney]

www.xrtwo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60072

[dallow]

Thanks for that rodney, i've read your guide and posts a few times already, seems like you're the chap in the know!
what do you think is the best route carbs or injection?

[rodney]

if you don't wanna mess with tanks and swirl pots then carbs , you can get a esc unit cheap to run ignition , and ebay you can buy a manifold to run a single pinto carb , or bike carbs etc ,

if you don't mind doing the tank then efi is curse word with the right loom and ecu,.

[jaminben]

[jaminben]

Well Brean Beach meet was very quiet..........

[dallow]

[dallow]

Was a bit quieter than i was expecting.......

[jaminben]

At least you had a good shot at winning the show and shine.....but you came second.

[dallow]

Got the old girl on a ramp today courtesy of jaminben at his new garage advanced auto services to have a look to see how bad it really was or as ben said " i fancy a laugh".
Not to bad on the rust , its got 1 or 2 plates welded in but apart from that its fairly solid. It would be fair to say that it shouldnt have passed an mot though, cv boot split , leaking brake caliper , one rear wheel with a seized on brake and some dodgy welding.
Glad i bought it as a project and not a daily runner!

Our unit is soon to be finished though and as soon as it is i'll be taking the festa in to start what I'm sure is going to be a a fairly long project.......

[dallow]

THE UNIT
Well since aquiring the festa me and jaminben have brokered a deal for some unit space , its 50sqm of dark damp space and after 6 days work its nearly ready to be filled with our stuff. So far we have a half finished project boat, my fiesta and his humber zetec conversion to get in there , oh and a widescreen tv and a 3 piece suite. and a log burner.

THE PROJECT
The plan for the fiesta is to get the engine out , interior out and get it on its side so i can start working on the underside a bit of welding ( which i'll have to learn) general cleaning , painting and upgrading the brakes and whatever nastys i find!
Once the underneath is sorted i'll be turning my attention the chopping and cutting for the 2l zetec conversion and then it'll be ready for the bodywork( our unit is part of a bodyshop) which is handy.
Then it'll be on to the engine conversion and all the fun that it entails.

THE BET!!!!

I have wagered ben a whole £10 that my project will be finished before his humber sceptre zetec conversion (sorry cant find the build thread) which already has a running zetec installed!
I'm not betting against his skills or knowhow but against his work ethic, he's a proper lazy curse word ,i'm surprised he has energy to breath sometimes! so i'm fairly confident!!!!

[mattmk1]

I'll pass on a little bit more info on this one...

Once owned by a Ford dealership worker... left to sit for 3 years we think... I crashed my Mk1 Fiesta and had it on the drive...

Christmas day an old man came past whilst we were taking some parts out (with my newly acquired tools) and said his son has one of these laid up in a small close in Bridgwater... five minutes later I was in a strangers car on route to someones house.

He wanted £250 for it, it didn't run it looked pretty shabby, but complete... I wanted to pay less... so two weeks later i get a phone call with a yes... £100 delivered.



Interior out, washed and cleared out...once over for rust ect.


New water, oil, spark plugs and leads... found the wheel arches a little crusty... this was never fixed...


Another interior shot...


Then it ran for the first time... in a while... brakes binding as you can tell in the later part


Bored one day... so it got a spray paint... £12 i think it cost...


Then a few weeks later for RRG


And in December after owning it for about a year, the head gasket went, due to lack of antifreeze/coolant... so I purchased a Fiat Panda and sold this to someone nr Weston.

[dallow]

WOW, thanks for that mate! i knew it had been looked after at some point in its life, the last few owners however have painted it matt black and painted the pepperpots with white gloss and done various dodgy repairs to brakes and the rust, the underside is still fairly clean though with the original paint on show in places!
your pics have made my night, its great to see some history

[jaminben]

Well dallow the £10 will be safely in my pocket very soon, already phoned practical classic and max power about doing it as a cover car in a couple of months.
Nice to see the festa in a different colour, question is will it ever see the road after its pulled apart?!

pic's of unit...



This next one is a bit spooky, looks like the ghost of an angry Turk in the corner.
i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx146/puchmaxi50/20130410_203218_zps4720906e.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
And bargain....a pipe bender ;-) was hidden under a load of cack.


And last of all my link so everyone can see how I'm gonna get it done in a matter of months and then take my winning £10 to Farmfoods and buy enough processed meat to sink a small pedlo.

retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=106378

[dallow]

Just because you have a 2 year head start , a fully operational garage with ramps ,loads of equipment, tools, skills and knowledge it doesn't mean that you will beat me and my novice skills and mole grips!!
Infact if you're that confident you wont mind upping the ante............. If i win you'll allow me to fix the ford badge i have kept hold of to the boot of the humber!