One shite sold, more shite bought...Fiesta mk3 content

[theorganist]

Looks like a nice little car and if you can keep it going and you want to keep it going then I think you should!

 

I thought the autoshite ethos was about saving and running old cars no-one else wants!

 

Pete.

[Cheggers]

Come on guys, give him a break. It's not a bad looking old thing and he seems to like it...

[Negative Creep]

Come on guys, give him a break. It's not a bad looking old thing and he seems to like it...

 

 

Agreed. Is there even such a thing as a mk.3 Fiesta without rot round the fuel filler cap?

[aldo135]

Come on guys, give him a break. It's not a bad looking old thing and he seems to like it...

 

 

Agreed. Is there even such a thing as a mk.3 Fiesta without rot round the fuel filler cap?

 

Its not a real Foosty if its not rusting round there!

 

I really like it mate, they seem to look old all of a sudden (in a good way!)

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

That's fine, as you say, at least the rust in this one is honest, not hidden as with the T1300. Good luck to you.

[triumph1300]

Cheers guys, and yes the reason I want to keep this from rusting is because of how disheartened I was after finding out my Triumph was shockingly bodged up which caused it to be completely dangerous, although it looked deceiving and everyone thought it was solid! That genuinely was a rot box

I will get some pics of the underside when it stops raining and dries up a bit, it really is an honest car, which I didn't think was possible with a 23 year old ford!

[theorganist]

I must admit when these were new I thought the were the most dull and boring car you could imagine, rattly engines, grey interior and dull styling. However, I would love one now!

 

Good luck with it.

 

Pete

[RobT]

I had one for a very brief period back in the early 2000s, I rather liked it. Easy to drive and reliable, but mine was the 1.4 Ghia with two-tone paintwork rather than poverty spec.

 

I've seen worse with regard to filler rot, my Montego for example

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Come on guys, give him a break. It's not a bad looking old thing and he seems to like it...

 

 

Agreed. Is there even such a thing as a mk.3 Fiesta without rot round the fuel filler cap?

 

I can think of one: http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.as ... 7&t=975921

 

Pro click if you like build threads.

[face]

I had a go in a 1.6S back in the day. It was an attempt at filling Ford's XR2 void.

 

It was quite smart and there wont be very many of them about today.

 

Good luck with this one.

[HMC]

mum had one, a 1.4 ghia 5 door cvt auto on a 'g'

 

That one had more rust around the filler cap/ vallence at 6 years old than yours has now. Had the Van doone (? spelling) autobox which was interesting (and also quite depressing) to drive as a newly qualified 17 year old that wanted to shift cogs manually

[triumph1300]

Genuine:

 

Tidy floorpan and very solid, strange seeing as though it's not coated in waxoyl!

 

Original mint sills:

 

This is why I wasn't sure about the rot box comments

[Shep Shepherd]

I had a G-reg 1.1LX three-door in Magenta Red as my first car, which had electric windows, central locking, a remote tailgate release and tinted glass. Great car

[phil_lihp]

Doesn't look too bad for one of these, a good polish will take years off it. My sister had an M plate one a few years back which didn't have any visible rot around the fuel filler at all, but that was mainly because the rear wing was mostly a large sheet of filler skimmed over dissolving metal and hastily sprayed with a rattle can. Shortly before it got traded in, I discovered that a firm tug on the wheel arch would have been enough to remove most of it in one go. It had strange little holes in odd places all over too. They just didn't seem to protect these at all during the manufacturing process, although the engines seem to rattle on forever.

 

The condition of this one seems to suggest its been dosed in underseal, if it hasn't, maybe that would be a good idea to keep it solid. Good luck with it.

[Wilko220]

I remember my gran getting one of these, almost identical to yours, new. It was to replace a lovely two-tone, early mk1 which got nicked, joy-ridden and smashed up.

Like was said before, I never really liked the mk3 new but I'd definitely roll in one now. Good luck with it.

[triumph1300]

If it was coated in underseal wouldnt it be black underneath? As the floorpan is still red, unless it had a clear wax type protection? I don't know!

[Morgan84]

Well,I like my MK3 Calypso which has rust free sills,valances and arches.The filler neck had a small blister which was attended too,and the rust hasn't returned. The cars always been garaged,and oil sprayed underneath annualy,although waxoiled as well.It is worth seeing how the front wishbone bushings are,so see if they are starting to unbond or not,as they will affect handling,as will soggy dampers,but I reccomend trying the car on wider wheels with say a 175 or a 185 profile,and you will find it feels more heavy footed,and less like its ready to take off.

 

The floorpans on them were a mix of rubber stone chip,then the factory paint finish underneath,so yours might just be a car which always stayed cleanish underneath,or had clear waxoil treatment.Another place to waxoil is the rear chassis when the axle beam bolts,and the sill backings.There are a couple of holes in the backings where you can spray some rust treatment in there to help protect the inner cavitys.If the doors are good,for how long it takes,pull the trim panels off,and waxoil inside the doors to keep the nice.

 

The other place to clean is under the rear wheel arches,where the mud collects,so clean that out,and rust treat where the struts mount up the top,and everywhere else and it should last.I see no reason to be negative about this car at all,and I'm sure if you service it correctly,and rust proof it right,then it should last a few good years.

 

Enjoy

[Morgan84]

My only criticism of the car - ditch the cheapo hubcaps for some correct Ford ones;will transform it

[triumph1300]

Wheel trims are currently in the wheelie bin... I'm going to fit the trims I had from my mk4 escort estate, at least it will be period correct.

I think the comments about the wishbone are all correct as I can hear a light knocking when going over bumps etc. It's going up on a 2 poster tomorrow for a good look around.

[purplebargeken]

A good buy methinks. I used to have a G reg dizzle version, also with the uber spartan interior. The bottom of the wings had gone on both sides, I just bought some cheapo panels from ebay and chopped 'em up and pop riveted the buggers on. Worked a treat.

[andrew e]

I take it back - looks solid under there, [grump] still wouldn't have bailed the volvo for it (and yes I've owned Fiesta's)[/grump]

[triumph1300]

I take it back - looks solid under there, [grump] still wouldn't have bailed the volvo for it (and yes I've owned Fiesta's)[/grump]

 

Bailed it? Do you mean scrapped it? If so it wasn't scrapped, I sold it...purely because I was putting in £10 a day petrol. It was a joke. And money is bloody tight right now, it was a lovely car but right now wasn't the time.

[andrew e]

Bailed as in sold onward chap.

[Lord Sterling]

Wheel trims are currently in the wheelie bin... I'm going to fit the trims I had from my mk4 escort estate, at least it will be period correct.

 

I never saw your mk4 Escort, but I hope the wheel trim you have in mind is one of these:

 

 

Ma's old Fiesta had these on them from new. I always thought they were exlusive to Fiestas, but alas not, they were available on older Fords such as the mk2 Fiesta, Orion, Escort, Sierras and so on...

[triumph1300]

The wheeltrims are similar, but have more hales which are smaller, here are a couple of rubbish pics of my escort:

 

Notice my old capri aswell

 

 

Sadly the owner after me scrapped it, I bought it for £100, it was mint but had a snapped rocker shaft, trip to the scrappies, one Ford KA and £10 later she was running like a dream!

 

Today I had the fiesta up on a ramp, I was in a good mood after seeing it up there. It has had 1 small patch of welding in its whole lifetime, shown here:

 

This will come off and I will redo that to be sure it wont rot out.

 

The rest of the floor:

 

 

 

 

The bit at the front will get rust treated then undersealed, same with the rest of the car.

 

Only thing I found wrong was slight wear in rear wishbone bushes

[Morgan84]

Get a load of oil and waxoil over that and thats going to look great for ages;that looks a nice 'honest' little motor. Very impressive considering how bad many little Fiesta's got at not even half this ones age.

Would I be wrong in thinking the lower spec models had silver painted wheels with small plastic center caps ?

 

The rear trailing arm bushes are a swine on the MK4's to get out ( cut and press the buggers out ),but if you are getting a knocking sound over bumps,its time to chance them.If the rear axle arm is the same as the MK4 Fiesta,a nice little tip is do not replace them with Fiesta ones,but ones from a Escort van which are not a all metal with rubber inner moulded to a pin bush.The Escort ones are a doddle to fit,and heavier duty,and will enhance the handling.Not had to do the ones on my MK3 but done a few MK4 ones now,and helped a friend do his Puma

[triumph1300]

Sorry I think I worded that wrong, its the front wishbone bushes, but the rear ones. The back end is solid as a,solid thing.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone!

 

I've been given some rust treatments, so I can get on with it all soon and help the car live longer

[Guest]

Just don't let the local bellends nick it as they have a tendancy to do this with mk3 fiestas,other than this they rok especially with the early interior trim.

[Shep Shepherd]

That's one clean underbody!

 

Reminds me of my 1.1 LX when I first got hold of it in 1996, prior to my covering everything ferrous 'below decks' with Waxoyl and Waxoyl Underbody Seal

[triumph1300]

Fitted the wheel trims, going to get round to sorting the few holes in the bodywork and then painting it soon. Weather is naff though.

 

Sadly no pics of me standing next to it "acting" hard though

 

 

 

The wheel trims are really tatty, so will be getting painted gloss white.