Project Living with a Fjord Streetkak. The first year.

[Simonsays]

I've done this so you don't have to.....

 

After a 30+ year history of driving new-ish mundane cars I decided it was appropriate (at the find old age of 50) to indulge in a bit of a mid life crisis and buy myself a weekend vehicle to have a bit of fun with.

 

*Wavy screen transition to flashback mode*

 

About a year ago I gathered my spare change and some folding stuff that I'd managed to save from the pocket money my wife carefully issues me every week and took myself to a dealer at the cheaper end of the scale. Sitting on the forecourt with its top down was a 14 year old Fjord streetkak.

 

My intensive* research led me to believe that this was the car for me. The gent in the suit with shiny elbows wanted £650. He actually got £400 and to be fair he seemed alarmingly happy. Possibly not the best sign.

 

The very next day found me on a bus (I couldn't afford a taxi after finding out how much the insurance and road tax was) and the transaction was complete

 

On the drive home the thermostat housing cracked and it dumped it's coolant all over the tarmac.... The nice RAC man recovered me to my home address as again, my extensive* research (youtube fgs) led me to believe that I'd be able to fix this trifling problem myself in no time at all.

 

I had/have all the mechanical skills of a chimpanzee on meth-amphetamine and the only tools i possessed at this time were two hammers and two screwdrivers.

 

Oh, worth mentioning that my wife was 'very disappointed' with me.

 

More diary excerpts to follow????

[Slartibartfast]

I don't remember buying a Streetka, but this is what it would read like if I did.

[Simonsays]

Please note the invisible mending performed on the rear screen. I'm quite proud of that workmanship.

[Rave]

I keep looking at these and thinking "how bad can they be, really". So in for updates .

[fordperv]

I keep looking at these and thinking "how bad can they rust really".

Ftfy

[oldcars]

I was expecting to read that after a year you brushed it up off the drive.

[robinmasters]

Do these rust as badly as the hatchbacks? The rear quarter bodywork must be totally different.

 

Amway, good work. Now get it fixed!

[Simonsays]

Soooo.....

 

A trip to my local motor factors produced a new thermostat housing and thermostat, a tube of gasket cement and some replacment coolant. I reluctantly gave the man £52 and took myself off to halfords to make the purchase of 'your toddlers first toolkit' for another £30.

 

I tackled the job full of confidence* but despite youtube telling me it would only take 30 minutes.... I seemed to lose an entire afternoon to the job.

 

No-one was more suprised than me when the repair worked (and still works nearly a year later)

 

I can mechanic!

 

Nothing* could stop me having wind-in-the-hair fun in the summer to come.

 

 

Good points.

 

Immense fun to drive with the top down on twisty minor roads.

Engine (1.6 8valve) and gear box are sound.

Exhaust is okay.

Steering is precise.

Handles like a go kart

Radio and 6 cd changer work well

Starts first twitch of the key

 

Bad points

 

Driving at motorway speed with the top down will make you deaf.

5th gear is not tall enough to cruise comfortably.

Has a couple of rust scabs at the bottom of the doors and paint is a bit shabby from close up.

Plastic rear window is borked. (120 quid to replace)

Boot is just about big enough to take a paperback book and a toothbrush

It needed a new tyre to ward off bad spirits. Another £40

 

 

The main issue that I had/still have is that this car looks best with a young lady behind the wheel not a 50 year old bald bloke. Even though the car has been pretty reliable over the last 12 months or so

(One bill for a new ABS sensor and an mot (pass with no advisories) I still can't get over the whole Hairdressers car image.

 

The flat cap was a find in the glovebox. I dont care how stupid i look, getting a sunburnt scalp bloody hurts

[Simonsays]

Do these rust as badly as the hatchbacks? The rear quarter bodywork must be totally different.Amway, good work. Now get it fixed!

Apart from a couple of little scabs on the doors its remarkably rust free. Sills and major weight bearing bits are sound

[Norbert]

Do these rust as badly as the hatchbacks? The rear quarter bodywork must be totally different.

 

Amway, good work. Now get it fixed!

No, not at all. Mrs_N has daily-driven hers for 3.5 years (including regular salt baths courtesy of the local council) and sometimes the only wash it gets during winter is a quick jetwash at her work, yet it is still 100% rot-free.

 

So there you go, if you want a rust-free Mk1 Ka, buy the one made in Italy.

 

Thermostat housing on Rocam engines? TADTS. Also, be aware of pinholes in header tank. New Genuine one is less than £20 off Ford.

 

Second-hand replacement roof will be easier and cheaper than new rear window, 3x17(possibly 19?)mm-headed bolts behind each door (take one out, loosen the other two I think) and lift it off. Replacement drops on, put in place onto header rail and tighten bolts up.

[timolloyd]

I always imagine these are in 2018 what old Midgets and Spitfires were in 1985. Cheap top down fun. Definitely on my want list - more updates please!

[Simonsays]

I always imagine these are in 2018 what old Midgets and Spitfires were in 1985. Cheap top down fun. Definitely on my want list - more updates please!

To be fair, there's not much more to say. This has been a retrospective look at a years ownership.

 

If you include the purchase price but ignore the road tax/insurance in about £650 in. I haven't done monster milage in it as its not my commuting shuttle. It's only suffered one ftp and that was on day one.

 

Economy is at or around 30mpg driven reasonably hard.

 

Plans fot the coming year?

 

Oil and filter

Absolutely* going to sort the two little rust spots on the doors.

Attemp to detach the steel spare stored under the car, its well stuck.

Find a trendier flat cap

[For Fiats Sake]

A streetka maimed friable or How the rust was won?

 

I do like it when other makes do the leprotic Italian thing, makes me feel smug for only having to scrap 1 fiat (so far) because of it.

[loserone]

Is the SportKak just as rust-proof as these then? They were great fun when new - shame the paint came off the bumpers even with just a quick jetwash off..

[Norbert]

Is the SportKak just as rust-proof as these then? They were great fun when new - shame the paint came off the bumpers even with just a quick jetwash off..

 

No, since they're normal 3dr shells with the running gear from these and a bodykit. If anything they're worse than the 1.3s - wider wheels = more mud flicked up into rear wheelarches.

[r.welfare]

Ray Winstone drives a Streetka! Who knew.

 

A girl I worked with had one, apparently it was rust-free but this probably had something to do with a colossal oil leak from the engine. She spoke very highly of the car actually.

[320touring]

That driving pic is class.. contrasts beautifully with the joy you convert the ownership experience to be:)

 

Good stuff so far, I have a respect for Last, although I think the 1.6 is not the greatest of engines?

[eddyramrod]

My neighbour has a blue one.  Don't worry how you might look behind the wheel: Alan is 71 and only bought his to replace his motorbike!  He's had ECU problems with his, which apparently are common, but he still loves it.  And yes, 30 years on, it probably IS equivalent to a cheap Spridget.

[Simonsays]

That driving pic is class.. contrasts beautifully with the joy you convert the ownership experience to be:)

 

That was my happy face!

 

Good stuff so far, I have a respect for Last, although I think the 1.6 is not the greatest of engines?

It certainly won't set the world on fire. 93 horses when it was new and I suspect a few of those have fled the corral in the last 14 years....

 

The short gearing means it feels pretty brisk when you're pushing through the gears at the sacrifice of a bit of composure at 70.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

My old bosses wife had her back end smashed in when driving hers. She was in a bit of a mess afterwards....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, she vowed that she’d never go near a StreetKa again. The car was pretty much destroyed on impact, and it folded like a piece of paper. She reckoned the car almost killed her.

 

Last thing I knew, her husband was encouraging her to buy another...

[Jim Bell]

Like hepatitis and fugu poisoning, Im all for Kas when theyre happening to other people that have brought it upon themselves.

Well played thus far and the best of luck with all of the endeavours to come.

[egg]

Why don't these have the 16v Duratec engine?

[Rave]

Do you mean the Sigma engines? They don't fit apparently. You can however get a 2L Zetec in just by notching the bulkhead a bit (with an ordinary Ka at least, I don't know if anyone's done a StreetKa yet).

[egg]

Yup, Zetec/Sigma/Duratec.

 

Tis a shame, cos StreetKa 0-60 = 11.7 seconds, my Fusion's book time is 10.9....

[Simonsays]

In an attempt to annoy me, my Steerkaks passenger door handle has ceased to work when operated from the outside. Still works fine from the inside though. A bit of googling reveals this as a common problem. I don't know if I can be arsed to try and sort this, it's not as if I carry many passengers anyway.

[Jim Bell]

Put this lot in the boot,

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302588416303

 

Then passengers can sort it out themselves when necessary.

[sam simmons]

The wife owned a 1999 Ka 1.3 from new up until last year when rust finally killed it,huge fun around our country lanes and totally reliable....miss the ole girl

 

I bet the 1.6 is lively

[Simonsays]

I've sourced a pre-loved handle from the bay of evil for 6 groats. Bought a dozen of those little ford trim screws as well as these seem to be made to self destruct every time you take a door card off...

 

Ignore my earlier malaise. I'm definitely* going to sort the handle out next weekend

[Simonsays]

I have mail....

 

Tomorrow we go to war.

[Aston Martin]

I’ve come close many times on buying one, preferably a winter edition.