SALTY SLUT DOG

[Volksy]

After the grim, gory demise of the Jaguar, which I bloody loved, a mate offered me his old car, as he'd replaced it with a newer matching one. 

It has graced these hallowed pages before as an ebay tat supermodel, and subsequently purchased just over a year aso ago from the drunken fisherman owner, by a surfer buddy whom will only drive this certain type of car. His replacement provides much improved safety for his newborn daughter, given it has sills and airbags etc, so what you will see below was surplus. 

So despite sending one of our own to the great claw of scrap, I'm trying to redeem myself, a little,  by reclaiming another of our own (it was also free, and I'm broke) from the clutching orangepeel steelwork provider which was its certain fate. 

So, friday morning I wandered out, first time in week I'd graced humanity with my presence, not due to 'that' illness. Just I'm not a massive fan of humans these days. 

At least the wind has dropped! 

This family have an interesting collection, it's non of these btw, Just down the road from Sister Volksys house, and I'm guessing a bit of a specialist. As there is generally rotating stuff on all the local back streets. 

My local station, newly built, is not used very much, as trains don't generally stop here.

However I was lucky, and one did. 

Had to swap to a bigger one here. 

Then change again onto a smaller one here. 

 

[Volksy]

So I ended up going back in time to the Victorian age, ending up here.. 

The platform used to extend into the arches you can see in front to service the now defunct Zetland Hotel, one of the first Victorian railway hotels. Screw you Waldorf Astoria. 

[cpjitservices]

Where did u end up?

 

 

Darlington is my hometown.

[gm]

 saltburn by the sea ? nice wee town if that is where you have landed - make sure to have a go on the cliff railway 

[Volksy]

So. Here it is. And everything is covered in a coating Mr Zogs Sex Wax. 

 

Apart from the rust. 

It drives reasonably well. Apart from the Citroën esqe indicators, smell, and third gear is a bit of a find. 

New cambelt, recent service and patches where the bodywork was falling off. 

 

[Volksy]

It was free. And also is probably one of the oldest Focii still on the road. 

[HillmanImp]

Volksy went all James May on me here, going on about separate indicators being unusual these days and chances of them being together etc.... 

[HillmanImp]

Forgot to post a picture of the rear arch of the grey one. 

4 sail. £450. Fool MOT. 

[bunglebus]

That's a great pic

 

[Zelandeth]

Crikey that is quite an early one.  You really don't see many Mk I cars these days.

It's easy to forget what a step forward the Focus was from a lot of the market at the time...there was a good reason they became wildly popular overnight.  Gearchange on Fords of this era should be lovely, slick and precise...so if it's baggy the bushes involved probably want changing.

Front fog lights and alloys suggest that one isn't too badly specced either...bit of gloss appliance white paint on the rust patches and you're good to go!

[Volksy]

I quite like the ructicles. 

 

[stuboy]

what cc is it?

[Volksy]

It's a 1.8 petrol. So all the economy of the 2.0 with the power of the 1.6.

Zetec though innit. 

[Flashband]

6 minutes ago, Volksy said:

It's a 1.8 petrol. So all the economy of the 2.0 with the power of the 1.6.

Zetec though innit. 

Interesting, back in the day it was a commonly held view the 1.8 was the petrol to go for

Anyway I do like me a mk1 focus

[Volksy]

A week in with this, and it has quite endeared itself to me.

It's a cracker of a drive, far better than it really should, the engine is rather grunty, lots of torques, It's had a cambelt less that 5k ago, so I don't fear using the revs at all. It handles far better than you would expect. I do think the new Bridgestones on the front and new Michelins on the back help. But these always had the rep of being quite a dynamic chassis. 

The steering is a revelation, not overly assisted, so it does feel like you're dealing with mechanics rather than hydraulics. 

It's rather comfortable and amazingly, for a wagon, doesn't squeak or rattle!  Also as it looks like shit personified in vehicular form, no one messes with it on the road, which is also a bonus. 

The downsides are really that it only has a CD/Radio, so will try and source a cassette version of the stereo so I can use a tape adaptor for aux input, and I keep forgetting that it has a tow hitch on the back, which I'm sure actually is more a downside for the d*ck who wedged me into a parking space yesterday. 

It's occasionally doing the speedo fail, which these are known for, but a mate who had one explained that it's an easy fix. Condensation builds up on the circuitry behind the clocks, but some board cleaner would sort it out. 

 

All in all 11/10 for a free car, WUD RECMEND!!

 

[mrbenn]

Nice car! Not sure I've seen an S plate estate before, that's a very early example!

I really rate these mk1 Focuseses. As long as they've had some sort of care and maintenance over the years then they still drive very well and are a decent steer, as you've found. A knackered one will quickly show it's colours.

I haven't done it but you can add an aux lead to the CD head unit, have a look at this vid - might be cheaper/easier than replacing the HU:

Speedo fail - is it just the speedo or all the dials? If just the speedo then it may be the sensor on the top of the gearbox. If all dials are affected then its likely damp, as your mate says.

Enjoy!