Fiesta Duratec Hillclimber

[grahamb]

Owned for 17 years, this 26yr old Mk1 Fiesta has had more than a few quid spent on it, but it satisfies my penchant for 'modifying' and proves very enjoyable to drive

Embarked on a Duratec transplant in 2008 (Matt Downers fault) and the current status is that I have had an oil adapter plate made to allow me to fit oil lines to the car (took 6 months from inception to production), and I'm at the stage where the re-wiring is going to be completed in the next week or two. I've upgraded from DTA E48 to DTA S80 for permanent traction control and flat shift facility (Nick Algar provided the ECU)

The car started life as a 1600 x-flow, then went to 1372 x-flow, then I took it off the road, and installed a 2.0 16V Zetec, and campaigned her for 6 years in the Midland Speed champs.

The Zetec is cast iron with an alloy head, and weighs a tonne. So the Duratec is 30Kg lighter, and should see 210-240BHP without too much effort/cost.

The car is also going to have a sequential gearbox, from Quaife, the IB5, which will allow flat shifts and should be able to cope with the torque from the new engine.

The rear axle has just been collected. This is based on Focus rear hubs, with HiSpec calipers and cross drilled disks, and most importantly, adjustable camber. The front suspension has gone through a few versions. Dave Walker described it as "Zig Zag Zetec" in CCC, and since then it had a complete custom front setup with rod ends throughout, and a designer in the USA has just finished a stronger version, again with rod ends, which should be winging its way over to the UK in the next few weeks. The car also has a carbon bonnet waiting to go on, plastic windows, GRP tailgate etc, and weighs in at around 600Kg with fuel and without me sat in it, so BHP/Tonne its quite a lively ride.

The website, started in 1998, and was a vehicle to get me a) noticed, and b) discounted goods from suppliers. This has proven very worthwhile, as the car is very well known, and has meant deals with Quaife, Yokohama, Titan (throttle bodies), Tony Law exhausts, Earls, and all manner of suppliers over the years, which keeps the costs down when undertaking the modifications that I've done over the years.

You scratch their back with some advertising, and they'll scratch yours.

The Zetec installed




At Cadwell in 2006



The Duratec installed


The project continues, and I'm hoping to enter the BSC next year, and maybe the odd trip to Shelsley.

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[Bunman]

Thank god for that Graham, you had me worried for a minute I thought you were putting her up for sale.


Not many of us Tintop warriors left.

It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Duratec versus Zetec.

[AllanMcD]

The engine must still be heavy its 30Kg lighter than a tonne
Allan

[grahamb]

Sell it? I did toy with the idea once... But it'd worth more if I sold the bits and I'd hate to see it broken up.

[btcc93]

I'm the President of a Ford owners club and often put a link to your site on that club forum and it has proved very useful to a number of members there, and saved me the problem of writing long replies to questions on there, many thanks for that.

[moleracing]

I even went to the site via the internet connection in the garage - as you do for advice. glad you not selling GB and hope to see you at the BSC rounds next year.
Smiles

[grahamb]

Finished the control box last night. This houses relays for fuel pump, radiator fan, starter solenoid and wipers, and supplies power (fused) to the dash, ecu, aux etc.



Webcam is off air at the moment. Till I fix all the dos attacks.

[grahamb]

Here's the circuit diagram, for anyone interested.



And here's the rear axle I fitted today





Based on a std rear axle. Focus rear hubs replace the standard stub axles, and I've gone for HiSpec rear calipers, and focus disks skimmed to 6mm and cross drilled + lightened.

The trailing arms and panhard rod are from www.kustomengineering.com

Rutland Performance Vehicles produced the axle for me. And they had it powder coated, and anodised the caliper brackets too. The rear hubs are shimmed to give -1.5 degrees camber.

[redturner37]

Originally Posted by grahamb

Finished the control box last night. This houses relays for fuel pump, radiator fan, starter solenoid and wipers, and supplies power (fused) to the dash, ecu, aux etc.



Webcam is off air at the moment. Till I fix all the dos attacks.

Last week 4 wires drove my car, this week, OMG, what have we done.

[grahamb]

4 wires! I wish. There's 47 from the engine bay alone. Good job I have an electronics background as this S80 is taking some effort to connect up properly.

At least I stand a better chance of diagnosing any problems, having designed and built the whole car myself.