Just Bought a new Ka for £150

[2flags]

As they say, every day is a school day. I never knew that. I knew that the orbital engine was earmarked for it but not that it died early. I never knew about the 3cyl zetec engine. Am I right in thinking that the Valencia engine is an updated Kent engine? I know that engine started out in the mk2 Cortina. Great engine, last for ever but do get tappety with high mileage.

[bigstraight6]

These are great little cars and fun to drive, it’s just such a shame they rusted as badly as Fords built over 30 years earlier.

[Vince70]

1 hour ago, 2flags said:

As they say, every day is a school day. I never knew that. I knew that the orbital engine was earmarked for it but not that it died early. I never knew about the 3cyl zetec engine. Am I right in thinking that the Valencia engine is an updated Kent engine? I know that engine started out in the mk2 Cortina. Great engine, last for ever but do get tappety with high mileage.

It’s had many names over the years it was a Kent then a Valencia and it then went on to be a HCS. and finally an Endura E. then it went all horribly modern as they replaced the engine sometime in 2002 with OHC witchcraft.

I had the same engine in my old pre crossflow ford anglia back in the day and most of my old Escorts and this one is leaking from the rocker cover    like all the others I’ve owned so I might as well change it for a couple of quid.

All I need to do now is find my old Chrome rocker cover that was fitted on my MK1 Escort and a pancake filter then throw a cherry bomb on the back and I will be back in the mid 80s but I don’t like this modern injection stuff as it needs a twin choke Weber lol

 

[holbeck]

8 hours ago, 2flags said:

 Am I right in thinking that the Valencia engine is an updated Kent engine? 

Yes. It's a metric version of the Kent engine.  Although much modified over the years.  

Ford internally always called it Valencia as the Kent name internally referred to the 1.8D! 

 

Oh, and nice Ka @Vince70

[LostnotFound]

A ka was my first insured in car. It was the same era didn't they have 3 bands of spec rather than names / letters to start with so ours was a ka 1 = boggo spec.

Loads of space inside for 4 teenagers good handling and cheap insurance, helped by the massive bumpers and as a result of the engine choice. It wasn't fast but wasn't underpowered and was competent on the motorway.

My first owned car was a 205 which had a lot more grip but seemed less fun to thrash because of it. 

My parents had it for a fair few years before chopping it in for an Aygo when the inevitable bubbles appeared, it would have been 12 years old at the time. Mot check suggests it then lasted till 2016 which suprises me massively.

The Aygo is a proper step backwards, noisy tinny worse ride and handling and painful for any distance.

 

[AnthonyG]

The earlier ones do seem to have lasted longer, I wonder if they put more paint on! Where they ever built anywhere other than Valencia? Might explain the differences...

I had them as courtesy cars back on the end and can agree they are great cars to drive.

I would also say that a rust-free S reg example is definitely worth looking after rather than running into the ground.  Not that you’ll see much depreciation from £150 ?! 

[sofarsogood]

Cracking cars. Mother had one which I threw around a bit great fun. Sold in 45mins on mongtree.

[Rod/b]

I only found out very recently that the StreetKa and Ka Sport versions didn’t actually have different shaped headlights, just the bumper design was different to cover the outer corners of the lamp units. I think it was Jim McGill on the twitter who mentioned it. 

[RoadworkUK]

Back in 1998, my parents bought this little honey as part of a significant fleet renewal.

:

Absolute base model, non-PAS, FM-only Model 1000 radio cassette. If memory serves it was £7,995; it was around the time that Kas were so 'hot off the press' and in demand that they literally didn't depreciate. Certainly not in the eyes of main agent Ford dealers, anyway.

So that was 'Mum's car' sorted out, and Dad didn't have to go far for his.... the other end of the showroom, in fact, where there was a P reg Mondeo Ghia X 24v automatic, in Diamond White, with velour (for some reason) and an RS rear spoiler, sitting there for, if memory serves, £8995. Yes, P985JOO definitely DID depreciate.

So the sales guy probably thought it was Christmas come early, and tucked my parents into the two Fords, and we all went home for tea. It was a good day.

Dad enjoyed the Mondeo; hell of a car, although it always had a very occasional misfire on a trailing throttle. That was eventually solved with new leads by its next owner; Dad moved the Mondeo on when I sold him his current E39 back in 2006. Alas, the guy who bought the Mondeo off Dad would later chuck it in against a Hyundai i10 in the first scrappage scheme. Utterly criminal.

The Ka, meanwhile, remained in the family for donkeys years. It stood in for my first 800 for a few months in 2003 when the latter was having a head gasket (of course) transplant and I still needed uni transport, and my Sister knocked about in it until I inflicted a 100k-mile Puma 1.7 on her, which came in to work as a part-exchange (I'm still somewhat envious of my Sister for having a Puma as her first car).

R280ABJ DID rust, in quite an impressive way. Fortunately, Dad, as am I, is very much 'make do and mend', as well as being staggeringly tight and unwilling to put money in other people's pockets. He's been a terrific influence. So, by the time the end came for the Ka, it had received so many Zintec sheet repair patches that original 1997 metal was at a bit of a premium.  Eventually, it was chopped in about five years ago against a 58-plate Fiesta Titanium diesel, which was a fairly terrible decision.

The Ka had been, rust aside, utterly brilliant. An absolute hoot to drive, too; my job saw me mucking about with some fairly tasty machinery, but the Ka was always a treat to flick around the back roads between Frinton-on-Sea and Ipswich. There were moments when the engine's Kent roots would show themselves with a faint Escort Mexico accent from the exhaust. And the Art-Deco style dashboard clock was one of the greatest timepieces ever slammed into a dashboard.

 

[bramz7]

I saw this very recently, which was welcoming. MOT history is, of course, predictable.

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

That's got to be one of the first off the line.  An absolute survivor.

[CreepingJesus]

I worked in a Ford garage when these were launched. I did laugh at the briefing pack, which told us to call it 'Ka', not 'the Ka' or anything else, cos it was a sharp young car, for sharp young people. Our demo was beige, and was christened 'Mushroom', but it won over everyone who drove it. Including the old bloke who ordered one in that green metallic that was almost BRG. And all the other old folk who signed on the line while reminiscing about Minis... The first five we delivered were to old folk! 

[Tenmil Socket]

I forgot all about the Ka 1 and Ka 2 thing.

I bet this is a laugh!

[DodgyBastard]

I bought one from the forum for £90, it was the same shape and must have been one of the last made and the newest car I've ever owned being a 2008.
It was pretty crusty around the sills and fuel filler, I did some welding, mot'd it and sold it for £650.
I really wanted to hate it but it was actually a really good car to drive.

Sent from my moto g( power using Tapatalk

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

I forgot all about the Ka 1 and Ka 2 thing.

I bet this is a laugh!

Photoshop?

[Tenmil Socket]

1 minute ago, Tim_E said:

Photoshop?

No it's a real thing.

[Cord Fourteener]

On 6/2/2020 at 10:08 PM, Vince70 said:

My other half wanted to buy a small manual Car for her boy’s to have after they pass their tests and I saw on Facebook market place a red Ford Ka for sale that had been standing since February for £150 and I’ve seemed to have hit the Jackpot again and bought another rust free genuine example.

The problem is now is it’s too nice to give to someone just to trash as it’s actually near immaculate and it’s actually only done 19000 miles from new and it’s an early model with keep fit windows and few toys.

So this weekend I will give it a wash and waxoyl underneath and just look at this petrol cap lol.

I really rate them and in my book it’s what the mini should of been and this one is old school with its Ford Anglia engine plus I’ve never heard a Kent Valencia Crossflow whatever it is this quiet  before and  it’s just too nice to use lol.

It says it’s had some corrosion issues in the past but I can’t find any at the moment and it doesn’t have a black tide mark anywhere but it’s wait and see as I’m going to just take it in and try an mot and see what happens.

 

Cor, look at all that grey mottled plastic!

But, on the whole, a good example indeed.

I've never driven one, and I always thought them ugly as sin, but then I've always told myself the outward looks are the least important bit when you are sat inside driving...

[Rod/b]

1 hour ago, Tim_E said:

Photoshop?

Negative

https://passionford.com/forum/restorations-rebuilds-and-projects/215761-cosworth-ka-2015-what-to-do-45.html

[Cord Fourteener]

6 hours ago, Rod/b said:

Negative

https://passionford.com/forum/restorations-rebuilds-and-projects/215761-cosworth-ka-2015-what-to-do-45.html

Now I'm seriously impressed!

[bangernomics]

Get the plugs out sharpish and then copper slip them as they love to seize in.

[Vince70]

54 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Get the plugs out sharpish and then copper slip them as they love to seize in.

As it goes I bought a set for the other Ka and still have them sitting on the side but will have to find out first if they fit as they are from the later OHC engine.

Would it be best to get the engine warm first before trying to remove the plugs as it’s most probably on the original set being it’s only done 19000

[RoadworkUK]

1 hour ago, bangernomics said:

Get the plugs out sharpish and then copper slip them as they love to seize in.

Can confirm. We snapped a plug in ours and then found two of the others were likely to go the same way. Head had come off so they could be drilled out

[Vince70]

I’ve just got the hosepipe out and washed out underneath the car and have some black Tetroseal which I’m going to warm up and mix with white spirit and spray underneath with a garden hose sprayer.

But it looks amazing underneath and although the other newer  Ka was rot free Underneath you can see the earlier car has more protection from the factory as it has factory underseal Whereas the newer car looked like it just had a light coating of primer plus the paint looks thicker on the early car.

 

[Broadsword]

That is rather amazing for a Ka. It should be embalmed in preserving fluids!

[outlaw118]

+eleventy on the positives for this, well bought, especially for £150.

Like a lot of people, I've had one as a courtesy car while my van was in for repair, some place in Colchester - so a a fair trot from Outlaw_Towers - was a silver Ka One, about 2 years old, 30k on it IIRC. Keep fit windows, no PAS, stereo had been upgraded to a Ford unit with a CD player and a removable front bit (which kept pinging off).

Van estimate was: In Monday am, back Wednesday pm. 

I took every opportunity to take a "scenic" route every time I went out in it; and as it wasn't mine, I drove it like I stole it. 

Just enough poke to have fun, not enough to kill you, no under or oversteer to speak of, although I managed a graceful 4 wheel drift around a wet roundabout near home, just planted my foot and the wheels span and pulled it straight.

Shame the later ones, which I have had the misfortune to "fix" because "you know about cars" were hideous for rust. In fact a 53 plate KA was the very last thing I welded* before realising I'm shit at it, and gave it to someone else to do (And claimed full credit for the job OBVS).

I've got room for one - possibly but only when Outlaw_junior clears his stuff out of the garage, by which time they'll all be £££££ or utterly fucked.

[MrSteve]

I've got a Haynes that can be had for the price of postage.

We had an X reg one- was great until the power steering went iffy and had uneven feel.

Pretty sure that carting fat Val from up the road to work each day caused a front spring to break prematurely.

Got p/x'd for a Hyundai i10. Which is shit.

[Zelandeth]

Cracking little things to blat around in.  Proper old small car handling, and cleverly packaged so don't feel claustrophobic inside.  Even if the illumination on the clock is as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Only thing I'd probably change if I had one would be to fit the milled alloy gearknob from a Puma.

I'd really like to own an early one before they're out of reach.  Doesn't have to be forever, I'd just like to have one long enough to get to know it properly.  Spent quite a bit of time in them at the garage and know I enjoyed driving them.

Which engine is down to personal choice...though it's a crying shame we never got the planned three pot two stroke that it was meant to have.  That would have been epic.  Personally I actually prefer the more raw nature of the Valencia in it...the later ones just seemed more detached somehow to me.

Shame they have as great a propensity to rust as 80s BMC metal as otherwise they're pretty unbustable if anything I've seen is to go by.

Definitely one of those cars where I think the earliest ones were the best though...as soon as they started to add more equipment and tone things down a bit it diluted what the car was all about.

An ageless looking design though...I couldn't believe how many years it's been around when I worked it out.

[Vince70]

Today I decided to give the car a bit of a clean and oil the plastic bumpers plus I got the trusty hair dryer out and removed a sticker off the hatch and it’s come up lovely.

I also had a good look underneath and the sills and floor pans are still like new and it’s getting a coat of waxoyl this weekend but I’m wondering if I should drill a hole each side on top of the sill in the door opening and filling it with wayoyl as well as it kept my Ford Anglia 105e rust free and basically it’s the same car lol.

I did find one bit of rust though and that was around the plastic panel underneath the screen on the bottom of the screen pillar and it looks like it was done when it had a new screen fitted sometime but it’s only small and a small touch up stick and a bit of krust should sort it out.

[Vince70]

[Vince70]