Well guys a few updates to be had, and there are even pictures to go with it!!

So, first update... I've got rid of the S3
Lovely car, brutally fast in a straight line but my god what a boring thing to drive once you've launched it a good few times. Combined with the fact that it doesn't really come into its own until above 3-3.5k RPM and that happens at 80 and the tuning box makes the most noticeable difference above 100mph means it was only a matter of time before I got rid or lost my licence lol

So what have I replaced it with I hear you all ask! Well, ok maybe not but I'm going to tell you anyway
I've gone and done what I thought I would never do and thats buy a french car

My girlfriend had a diesel Clio which was four years old and she wanted a new car so we went shopping for her and saw a 1 year old Clio RS at the local Renault dealer so went for a test drive and did the deal on that. While in there I noticed they had a white Megane RS Trophy in the showroom but it was blocked in so couldn't go for a drive in it so was going to sort it out the next day as I was off anyway. And then while we were in doing the paperwork for the other halfs car someone came in and bought it!! so the hunt started to find another one for sale...long story short managed to find one in Middlesborough so phoned up put down deposit and then collected it that weekend. Was up for sale for 2 hours lol

Here's a few pics of her on the drive











Much more fun to drive. Its the 275bhp version and the Akrapovic exhaust sounds amazing in Sport mode
Only done 9000 miles so still has to loosen up a bit and even over the 1000 miles or so I've done in it I can feel and hear it getting better

So anyway, whats happened to the Fezza?? Not a lot lol... gave her a quick wash today as it started raining and have put some track parts in her to try and help tidy up the garage so i can get her in to start the track prep





Only other update is that I won't be able to make it to Ford Fair this year so I've got a couple of tickets and two track slots if anyone wants to buy them off me?

Cheerio for now, will come back once I've started the fezza or bought another car which ever happens first lol

Paul

Small update... garage has been cleared and the Fez is now safely tucked up inside ready to get abused by me and my spanners

So first things first, I need to get the coolant hoses off and send them to Terry lol He only bought them off me about a year ago
Then smash the engine and gearbox out and put the 2.0 in with the straight cut box Going to be a novelty doing all that work inside in the dry and warmth lying on some carpet rather than a freezing cold driveway!
Then have to change a rear wheel bearing...again...and she'll be ready for a run out and about.

Sills need looking at as think they've started to rot with being sitting outside..shocker!...but don't have to get that sorted properly till next year for MOT so will just keep on top of it until then I think.

That and swapping the buckets and harnesses in along with steering wheel swap but that's just a days work!

Hopefully get some pics up when the work starts proper

Paul

Another quick update, got the Fez up on ramps at the back and axle stands at the front ready for the engine and box to come out and be replaced



Started stripping parts out too.
So far battery, cooling fan and airbox are out. EGR plugs have been WD-40'd and three undone, one is jammed but nothing a pair of vice grips and a hammer won't fix



Its quite a novelty being able to work on the car in the dry warmth of a garage in my joggers, a t-shirt and slippers rather than looking like the Michelin man freezing my nuts off on the drive lol

Cheers
Paul

nice one

Cheers matey!

Little bit more done last night...wiring loom detached from engine, starter motor removed as well as the inlet manifold and injector plate.
Going to have a break from it tonight then tomorrow night the plan is:

Remove Alternator
Disconnect speedo cable
Remove front wheels
Syphon as much oil from gearbox as possible
Remove lower arm cradles (leaving lower arm stretch bolts in place)
Pop shafts out

Then I'm undecided as to whether I should drop the engine and box together or pull the box out first....hmmmmm......decisions decisions lol

Will get some pics tomorrow night and update on how much of the list I get done

Cheers

Paul

Well I decided to keep at it last night as the other half was studying so got some of the list checked off and a few others I had forgotten about lol

Remove Alternator
Disconnect speedo cable
Remove front wheels
Syphon as much oil from gearbox as possible
Remove lower arm cradles (leaving lower arm stretch bolts in place)
Pop shafts out of box
Drain Coolant
Disconnect downpipe and cat
Disconnect gear linkage

Not sure if I'll get a chance tonight now to do anything as we're away for the weekend from Friday straight after work so will be packing!
But if I don't I'm off work Monday and Tuesday for the school holidays so will get hopefully have the old engine and box out by end of play on Tuesday

Cheers
Paul

cracking on nicely

Cheers mate, yeah things are coming along quite nicely indeed

So got some work done on her on Monday and Tuesday as planned and the old engine and box are now out.
Bonnet has come off as I'm going to drop the engine in from above and bolt up the mounts and stick the trolley jack under the sump before lifting the box up with the crane from below and get it mounted. Tried bench pressing it up myself before and didn't enjoy it so going to take it easy and do it properly this time lol

Will get some pics of how she stands tonight and maybe get the engine and box in tonight too depending on how I feel
Going to drain the oil while the engine is out just to make it a bit easier to do and get new filter on etc.
Need to get the crankshaft bolt off to replace a broken bit of the timing belt cover...really don't want to do it when the engines in the car but getting the bolt off when it's not isn't going to be easy either Will have a ponder tonight and see what I can do!

Then its just a case of reattaching all the ancillaries, fill the gearbox with oil, smash the cat out of one of my downpipes and swap over the ECU's (which I will probably forget about lol and then try firing her up
Ideally want her running by tomorrow night as hoping to store some things in the garage for a couple of weeks so if I can get her running means I can run her as a daily for a bit to check all ok before going track mad...although not sure how long a straight cut box as a daily will last lol

Hopefully update more tomorrow.

Cheers
Paul

straight cut daily sounds interesting!

Hahaha, yeah should be good for a laugh lol

Did a little bit on the engine and box last night getting it ready for dropping back in. Mounted the inlet manifold and sandwich plate on the block. Noticed that two of the injector buckets had moved slightly and one would have been blocking the spray pattern slightly so removed the rail and reset those before bolting it all up
Changed the rear engine mount for the one that was on the car as it felt a bit stiffer.
Mounted the gearbox mounts to the box.

So plans for tomorrow are crane the engine into place and mount it. Get the box in and bolted up and tighten all mounts. Change engine oil and fill gearbox with oil (couldn't be arsed doing it on the crane last night lol) and then start putting ancillaries back on. Simples lol

Couple of pics...

Engine bay minus engine as it sits just now


Engine ready to be dropped in


Shiny shiny gearbox and Vibratechnics mounts


Questions...
Which clutch arm is better? The old style one like whats on the box now or the Si one with the big block where the nipple sits?

What are these two things and what do you do with them again? I have the two ports looped together on the back of the inlet that thee would have gone to. Pretty sure you just block them off but can't remember lol




That's me for now, fingers crossed will have her up and running this weekend and can change the rear wheel bearing and take her for a blast

Cheers

Paul

Didn't get as much done this weekend as I'd hoped so she's not up and running quite yet.

Managed to get the engine and box in and mounted up. Starter is on and wired up as is the alternator.
Driveshafts are in, wiring loom is all connected up (I hope lol) so all I should have left to do is....

Torque up lower arm to hub pinch bolts
Torque up ARB to strut nuts
Attached downpipe to manifold and rest of exhaust
Put radiator back in
Put radiator fan back in
Connect remaining coolant pipes up
Modify throttle cable holder for 2.0 TB and install
Install K&N banana pipe/MAF/Filter assembly
Fill gearbox with oil
Connect battery
Cross fingers and turn key!

Got a few other things to do before can get her on the road though.

Change steering wheel
Replace stupid white plastic clutch adjuster screw as mines broken
Change rear drum as bearing going
adjust coilovers all round (back too high, front too low)

On the two vacuum lines that go to the inlet I have blocked off the exhaust vapour solenoid and looped the air pulse solenoid back on itself.
Sure that's what I did last time so we'll see what happens lol
Gave the engine bay a bit of a clean up with some industrial wipes while I was cleaning the samcos so its a little bit nicer to look at...never gonna be a concours bay so wouldn't get too excited about it lol.

Anyway, might get her running tonight, might not...we shall see I guess...but will get something done on her so will let you know tomorrow.

Cheers
Paul

just a few bits to do

nice work

Haha, yeah, one or two things left

Did a bit on Monday:

Exhaust manifold on
Radiator in
Coolant hoses all connected up
Gearbox filled with oil (possibly too full lol but will make sure its ok before running it )
Started removing cowling etc to get steering wheel off

New clutch adjuster screw arrived today

Dunno if I'll get anything done tonight but will certainly get a good chunk of it done at the weekend.

Also got my ST170 exhaust manifold blasted and modified so I can put that on later on once I'm putting the ITB's on





Will hopefully clear the rad with ease and fingers crossed will miss the starter too!
Its got a bit of 3" stainless welded onto it and it runs straight down the middle of the sump recess....not bad for a rough guess lol

Going to get some VHT paint on it while its still shiny

Cheers
Paul

nice work there jock strap

those things you asked about are stuff to do with the egr system, keep the ports on the inlet looped

as you dont have the egr system there you wont need the little pot and shit

Cheers bawbag!

Sweet! thought that was the case just wanted to check.

Updates from the weekend are pretty sparse to be honest.

Changed the ECU over to the DEWY one for the 2.0 and filled the coolant.
So I guess pretty big milestone as she now has all vital fluids in but nothing like what I wanted to get done....ho hum! Weathers shite up here just now anyway so no real biggy lol.

Will update once I do some more

Cheers
Paul

So spent an hour out in the garage last night and got the following done:

Throttle cable bracket modified to fit 2.0 TB
Fitted and adjusted throttle cable
Fitted banana pipe, MAF and filter
Torqued up ARB drop links to shocks, Lower arm to hub pinch bolts, Lower S-Brace
Raised the front coilovers a bit

Also tidied up around the car as there were tools everywhere lol.

So, unless I find something tonight I think it's just a case of connecting the battery, running it on the starter for a bit with fuel pump fuse out and coil pack disconnected to get the oil and water flowing around. Check for leaks. Then stick fuse back in and check for fuel leaks. Then connect coil pack and fire her up

Once that's done need to get her off the axel stands and ramps so can get the rear drum replaced as the bearing is rough. Also drop the rear coilovers down to a sensible height. Change over the clutch adjuster screw so I can use the clutch lol and then take her for a test drive to get the ECU learning bit done

After I've done that and got her running ok will start to look at other items...

Roll cage
Pedal box
Sparco seats and harnesses
ITB's & Megasquirt
ST170 exhaust manifold and decat pipe
Plumbing in Stack water temp gauge
Sparco wheel and quick release boss
Binning carpets, centre console (maybe not decided yet), clean up inside
Wire in heated front windscreen
Mount gauges properly in centre vent position
A shit load of other stuff that I have bought over the years and have forgotten about lol

Cheers

Paul

So went out last night and gave the car a once over again to check hadn't missed anything obvious and all looked good so put the battery in and did the pre-starting checks. All ok bar a little leak from one of the quick connect fuel lines so cleaned that up and re-seated it and checked again, all ok. Connected up the coilpack, turned the key and she fired up first time

Let her get up to temperature, fan kicked in so all good there, no coolant leaks and oil pressure sitting at 4.5bar when cold which sounds about right I think lol.

So got the front wheels on, took her off the axle stands and went for a short run just to check all ok.

Gearbox is noisy, sounds like the clutch release bearing is on its way out but not sure if that's just the straight cut gears being noisy when the clutch is released. Will drop Dalsy a mail and ask him as he had one on his Si track car.

So, short blast and the box is going to take a bit of getting used to. First is really tall, gets up to just over 40 and then its blat blat blat through the gears. 5000rpm in 5th is around 90mph

Car was full of stuff and it was dark so didn't go far but I'm going to gut her and change the rear bearing and lower the rear coilovers then go out for a run with the racelogic box and record a straight run hitting the limiter in every gear and then look at the logs to see what I'm actually getting

Then it's time to worry about all the other bits and pieces.

Cheers
Paul

sounds mental!

Few small updates happened over the last month

Changed the rear drum over as bearing was noisy, need to get a few spare ones as I seem to go through them like nobodies business!
Took her out for a bit of a blast, good fun but front end feels really loose so need to get 195/45's back on the front (currently have 195/50's) and check tyre pressures etc then probs get alignment checked.
Taken the drivers seat out to get the buckets test fitted on the Sparco Mk3 sub frame I have.
Oh and SORN'd her as tax runs out tomorrow.

Garage is now clear, was storing the other halfs dads 1400GTR for him while he moved house, so will tidy it up and get her cleaned and polished then nestled back in the garage for the winter.
First port of call is getting the rusty scabs off and change the N/S/F wing. Basically going to concentrate on bodywork for a while.

Got a plan sorted in my head for the Megasquirt/ITB's too so going to go all in and rig the MS up for ITB's and do it all in one go.
Was going to put the MS on the car as it is and map it to check it works on a known working configuration but to then change it to ITB's involves re-soldering the MS board so all in all a pain in the arse to not actually gain very much.
And this way means I don't have to worry about wiring in the controller for the PWM ISCV on the Fiesta, small bonus but I'll take it lol

So next update should be a clean car in a garage with lumps of rust knocked off her!

Paul

sounds like a plan mate