Knew it had rust and MOT is approaching which Focus'ed my

[sierraman]

Before you weigh it in I’d rag the ancillaries out of it, starter, Alternator, pas pump etc. Always come in handy and don’t take up a lot of space. Ditto the exhaust manifold, if it doesn’t blow then they are almost a service item on a 1.4/1.6.

[billy_bunter]

Good point. Unfortunately I am going to have to drive it there and time will be tight

 

Might be worth getting it picked up. Do buy any car and their ilk insist on the car being whole?

[sierraman]

Ignore WBAC and deal direct with the breaker. Often it might be £20 or so less for them to pick it up but to my mind £20 is good insurance if it means you having a stock of known good parts.

[billy_bunter]

good point. I will ring around next week.

 

I might have to take the steering rack out yet. See ignominy post

[sierraman]

Remember you’ll still need to be able to steer it though or at least it be in a position to be pushed in a straight line onto the beaver tail.

 

I don’t know if you’ve stripped cars before but I find it’s easier to chop straight through the loom then undo the connectors once the unit is off the car.

[Sausage5000]

"I know, let's make the arch liners out of sponge' (Ford in late 90's Focus design meeting).

[mitsisigma01]

Has the focus gone to the breakers yet, if not colour and what model and is the front bumper any good. Also whereabouts are you. If front bumper is goodish any chance of pictures. Cheers

[steveo3002]

"I know, let's make the arch liners out of sponge' (Ford in late 90's Focus design meeting).

 unbelivable that dozens of car guys must have thought these up and ticked them off as a good idea 

[billy_bunter]

Has the focus gone to the breakers yet, if not colour and what model and is the front bumper any good. Also whereabouts are you. If front bumper is goodish any chance of pictures. Cheers

 

It has not. Just North of Bristol. Look at the first post pictures for car details. Bumper is in one piece and one colour. Though I suspect it will not be if I take it off the car.

[stuboy]

"I know, let's make the arch liners out of sponge' (Ford in late 90's Focus design meeting).

i believe it was to quieten road debris and rain water splashback noise...

[sierraman]

Can’t have been that terrible an idea with the amount of nearly 20 year old Focus still running about.

[stuboy]

Can’t have been that terrible an idea with the amount of nearly 20 year old Focus still running about.

i saw estates and 3 doors suffered more than 5 doors on the sills..

[steveo3002]

i believe it was to quieten road debris and rain water splashback noise...

yet plastic was accpetable on the fronts of the same car and 99% of others made

[sierraman]

Maybe it was all a big ploy to keep MOT station welders in employment.

[Rusty_Rocket]

The sound deadening thing is an example of built-in obsolescence.  The material works well as sound insulation and looks better than dusty mud in the arches, particularly with the occasional squirt of a hosepipe when washing.

However, it also holds the damp against the metal and the engineers knew exactly what they were doing in the development stage.

 

FMC are masters of marketing and making their cars last just the right amount of time before (most) people call it a day and buy a new one.

[steveo3002]

funny years ago an exhaust didnt last me 2 years , the focus has its original one still at 165k miles yet the inner arches are shot to bits lol

[sierraman]

I don’t think 18 years is a bad innings though.

[billy_bunter]

agreed.

 

Will be investigating the new ones arches soon

[Rusty_Rocket]

It's done ok in the grand scheme of things.

 

If the new one is a keeper, I'd say it would be a really good idea to remove the linings and paint or wax the metal underneath.

[Sausage5000]

I would definitely be put off buying a car with noisy inner arch plastics.