2007 Fiesta ST and 2006 Fiesta track project

[jasellan]

Now there's a separate section for post-2000 cars, I'd figured I would post both of mine here; I'll start with the ST as it's the more boring one (having been my daily driver for over 50,000 miles). My other Fiesta is a much more interesting thing, being a track project with an engine swap amongst other bits - if there's any interest in that, I'll do a catch-up to where I'm at now with it - my ST can be done all on one post I think:

I haven't got any pictures of it totally standard (oops) - the first modification was a 300mm front brake upgrade using Mondeo ST220 parts, followed by rear axle spacers to help pull the wheels out of the arches a bit...




...followed by a TRC Composites front splitter which I pinstriped with yellow tape - this helped the car appear a bit lower:



There are loads of smaller (and slightly bigger) modifications I will miss as I haven't got pictures of everything, but along the way the car went to Mountune for the MP165 treatment - this being a closed air induction system, full exhaust system (including manifold, sports cat and cat-back) and a remap to tie it all together. Shortly before this, I replaced the clutch and then headed to Germany with it:






It performed faultlessly as ever, enjoying the tunnel runs with the new exhaust and surprising me with an indicated 143mph on the Autobahn! Not bad for a fairly-standard Mondeo lump shoved into a Fiesta really.

Along the way, I decided to get some custom dial faces for the car from Facebook:



The standard wheels were replaced with some wider Team Dynamics, meaning the arches are filled out nicely (the car has since been lowered, but these are the pictures I have):





I've done a few more bits on this, some I have pictures on and some I don't - but I'll leave it at this for now, and see if there's any interest in it or my track project.

[75swb]

Yes please! This generation (and the previous) always looked smart in ST form

[jasellan]

Feb 13, 2022 17:09:04 GMT 75swb said:

Yes please! This generation (and the previous) always looked smart in ST form

The ST will be back on the road soon, and as it's my most-used car I'll be able to get plenty of pictures as the weather improves - I let the MOT expire in December as I need to change the handbrake cables, as it doesn't hold even on the slightest of hills anymore. I'll try to dig some pictures of the modifications out as well, I'm sure they're either on my PC or my old phone.

I'll start getting the thread up-to-date with the other Fiesta when I get onto my PC this evening; I've got more content on that as it's been a much more involved build. In the meantime, here's a photo dump of the ST on my trip to Isle of Skye last year - this is the car pretty much as it still sits now, apart from some paint on the front grilles I think. As ever, the car failed to let me down - 40mpg achieved and a week's worth of travel gear for two swallowed without issue.

[jasellan]

As promised, I'll make a start on getting the thread up-to-date for the other Fiesta. So I took this (not my car, but identical to this)...



...and planned on adding this...



...and of course these - because who doesn't love shiny wheels?



Of course, buying the perfect wheels for the job is definitely not the first thing you should do when engine-swapping a car but there we go. For anyone interested, 7x15 ET35 is spot on for a MK6 Fiesta, filling the arches well enough (as you will see later in the thread) without needing stretched tyres or even rolled arches.

Oh, and the engine? For the uninitiated, it's a 1.6 Ecoboost from a 2016 Fiesta ST - good for 197bhp standard, and responds well to tuning. I considered various other engines once I had decided to build a track car (Focus ST170, Zetec Turbo, Fiesta ST150 etc. etc.), but went for this due to its relative light weight, relative newness, good aftermarket and online support, and the fact it sort of fits straight in.

With this engine and a good diet, I figured the car would be plenty quick for myself - I was 21 at the time and had never been on track before, although I did take the standard car on track before starting the project which was a laugh! The only problem was I'd only ever tinkered with cars before, and had to do all of the work outside...

[dandam]

The ST looks lovely, and Skye is a lovely road trip (I have relatives near Portree).

[tom13]

Love these. We had a 2007 1.25 in the same blue as yours and it was one of the best cars we ever had. Sooooo reliable.

[jasellan]

Well, in good news I've now got both Fiestas insured again and look forward to getting back in the black one... I do really need to update the thread as well, to catch you up with what it took to build and where we're up to.

[jasellan]

So... an actual progress update on the project car (that's the black one, if you follow) is probably due.

Well before you can fit a new engine, first you must remove the engine that's there in the first place. On these Fiestas, the easiest way is to take the engine and gearbox out in one from the front of the engine bay - so the slam panel has to go, like this:




Then the engine itself can come out, like this:




Whilst I was doing this, I also spent some time 'blacking out' some of the car parts - here's a before and after of the main stereo surround, and an in-progress picture of the chrome headlight ring:

[hopeso]

Any recent updates on these two cars?
What sort of mileage is on the standard blue one? It looks very tidy.

[jasellan]

Nov 26, 2022 21:38:18 GMT hopeso said:

Any recent updates on these two cars?
What sort of mileage is on the standard blue one? It looks very tidy.

At the moment I'm just using them both, but I can definitely bring the thread up to speed on the black one.

The blue one is now sat on 110,000 miles, it was probably around 101k when I took it up to Skye.

[hopeso]

Would you recommend the purchase of a high mileage one as being a good idea? Looking for a fun cheap car to use as a second car but unless I spend more than I want, most for sale seem to have over 90,000 miles. Don't really want a project though.

[jasellan]

Nov 27, 2022 9:30:02 GMT hopeso said:

Would you recommend the purchase of a high mileage one as being a good idea? Looking for a fun cheap car to use as a second car but unless I spend more than I want, most for sale seem to have over 90,000 miles. Don't really want a project though.

As a second car it shouldn't be a problem - I've had mine since it was on 40,000 miles and the only significant bits that have gone wrong were the water pump and clutch.

The water pump can be replaced on your drive in an hour or two, although access is a pain! The clutch is best done on a ramp - it can be accessed without removing the engine though.

The main thing to note is that there's a decent chance the engine will be burning oil at 100k plus miles - mine was run low once and since then it's burned a little. As long as you keep a good eye on the level, it doesn't really affect usability in any way.

[jasellan]

Going back to the black one, the next step in that project was to hang the engine in place:



That all looked promising, and the lower engine mounts are shared across MK6/MK7 Fiesta - so I managed to bolt that up, popped the upper engine and gearbox mounts onto the block and looked at where they lined up. As it happens, they both sit directly above the chassis rails so they were attached:



The front panel was then tested for clearance, along with the engine cover (which fouls the bonnet and has since been ditched).