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[Exferes]

Hi all

Welcome to my Ford Fiesta MK6 Project.

Location of project: South Africa, East Rand area

Reason behind project: Well i happened to buy an accident damaged ford for R19k (South African Rands) in march 2011. Car was sent to a backyard mechanic who did more
harm that actual work. so i finally got it back after months of arguing and waiting. so i have decided to put the car back together myself
I am hoping it will be a fun project

Ok lets get this Project going....

Wait forgot to give some history first... let me add all the juicy details
DAY 1 (Day of Purchase)

So I had a little money saved at the current time and decided to buy an accident damaged car that wasnt too accident damaged.

i found the below ford at a salvage dealer. he wanted R25k but got him down to R19k and a tow truck cost R650.



















Ok so thats what i bought. really not that much damage from the looks of things (Probably have no idea what i'm getting myself into )
Just need a new engine, bumper, fenders, bonnet, bits and pieces and 2 new airbags and covers. it will be running in no time ( Lol...Yeah Right! )

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Ok so this guy i know told me to drop it off at this panel beater he knows who does a cheap good job and it wont take long.
so i went with it. so he was the middle man and told me i needed this and that and wada wada wada so i just organised money for the things.
this went on for months and i started getting suspicious as to is anything happening. so i got hold of him he said it still ok but i didnt believe him so i rocked up at his house just before he left and told him we getting the ford, end of story. so he let me know only then that the ford is at his brothers house. so off we went to collect. when we got there..... what a sad sight . it was ruined . the tears were right there.. but i stayed strong. we loaded it up and i took it home.
the below is how it came back to me. (Be warned, not for sensetive viewers)

DAY 2 (Day the car came home)

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(Wow posting the above pictures took ages ... well i did copy past but it felt like ages )

so thats the mess i have. i didnt know where to start
so many parts and pieces and destruction
(oh guy holding dashboard bar is stevey (a proud ford meteor owner, well looked after for its age) a good friend that came with to collect and witness the destruction)

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so we got stuff into boxes. broken and non-broken. started vacuming, got a wet carpet out from the back passenger side so it could dry and then sat and stared at the car. then decided tomorrow is another day.
that night i decided to google the ford fiesta for information. it went pretty well got some photos and info.
how to remove the radio ( really not that hard )
i found the below as research:

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so google gave me all of that. its a start as im still blind in the direction of my project.
that night i grabbed some of the broken plastics and tried putting them back together with glue. i had no idea what i was building, but it was never ending so i decided ill give up and go to a Ford Dealership the next day.

The next morning i stopped off at ford and told the guys my problem, showed some photos (guy said nothing just gave a big smile), then i told him i have the dash board and i need to know what goes under it as i only have pieces. so he printed me some stuff...

The Dash board



This Bar thats been puzzling me



The bar that goes with the dash (heaven knows where)



Some air pipes that apparently fit in the dash



This control unit for the fans and heater and stuff



Wires that go throughout the dash i think

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And then this.... the heater box





I was like dam.... i was trying to build that... no wonder it was never ending... and that describes the big black unit in this photo below



half the stuff is missing out that unit and i only noticed it now that ford pointed me in the right direction. Ford fiesta knowledge +1 (yay)

and ford gave me this that must be the fuse box setup



so with info at hand i called a contact and told him check for me at the scrap yards for this item. off he went phoning me moments later saying listen i found the heater box and the guy only wants R650. i was like come fetch me i have money. we arrived and saw how big this unit was. it is everything under the dash. it takes up all the space. i quickly took photos just incase i need them and cause i cant find them on the net.

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Ok i then had to get the heater box out i helped to get it out nicely and wasnt leaving without it. we broke one small screw bracket for a side panel that goes the driver side. we didnt have a star and a flat wouldnt fit i had no choice but i got the box

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ok so ford knowledge +1 (double yay) loads of info and a nice big new part that i dont have to build again (word of advice to anyone out there.. rather buy a complete heater box from a scrap yard than try build it. it will take too long and you will mess up or it wont fit together from all the added glue

this is what i managed to get that day (so happy!!!!)

the air box for the engine and the cover/tray that goes by the windscreen in the engine bay



the filter unit for the heater box inside the engine bay




had to glue a piece in the above photo. it was a disaster. i ended up with 3 pieces and blood and glue all over that plastic and my hands as i couldnt let go and slipped from putting to much pressure from holding it in place. i tried wiping it down but the glue that dried stayed red

AND THE HEATER BOX!



enough work and knowledge for the day:) (sorry the pics are not so detailed, i took them on the girlfriends camera and forgot to take them off so the above are after the day i got the heater box )

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ok so next day in the search for info i managed to get some missing items i paid for back. (Paid R5200 for front bits and pieces, but doesnt feel like i got all that i paid for, then again it was months since the actual purchase date so i think the guy made a quick plan to get me parts)

here are the goodies (sorry used the girlfriends camera again and forgot to take the pictures off)











ok thats all i got parts wise. as for info got some more pictures

a friend came past and i got 2 snap shots for reference

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then I hit the scrap yard again

















this was just so big i had to take a picture



ok kewl so got info now lets give the car a bash

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Repair Work Day 1

Ok it was a bit late this night and after work. stevey joined me and we had a look at the gearbox mount as i noticed it was horribly bent and it hit the ABS pump/controller

we tried tried everything to bend it but no luck. we did manage to get the ABS unit out for a sample for a new one















yip we tried a high lift jack it ended up lifting the car and we had to get another jack in there to get the high lift out. we also noticed the fire wall part by the heater box hole was bent so we had to organise a better hammer to fix it a bit. so work for that night was not much but motivation for the future

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Repair Work Day 2

ok today we started a bit earlier as it was a saturday. got to friends who heard i was working on a car project and they wanted to join (yay help!!!!)

They would be : Nel and Jones

so they were ready to work and couldnt wait to start but lunch first for a clear mind
ok so after lunch we tried the gear box mount/battery mount point again. my step dad also assisted. we tried the pole again... no luck. then i got the high lift.. attempt 1.. no luck as we tried resting it on the one plate were the wheel connects too and it kept slipping. then attempt 2... success, we put the high lift between the mount point and the firewall as i only noticed that there is a solid arm on the firewall and it wont bend from the force. we then tackled the drivers seat as it got bent some how. we stripped it and found a bar that was bent so well it looked like it was manufactured like that and even the metal seat part that hides the foam was bent so well it looked perfect. i had to hit it with the hammer to make it look like the passenger seat . we also managed to get the heater box in with the dash board bar. we struggled with the bar, i had to lie down and push it with my feet. but we came right. we got the fuse box in too and the breakbooster and pedals. noticed some of the plugs that register stuff were broken so ill have to hunt for some replacements.

ok so day went well. just a concern to why the dash bar was so hard to align with the heater box and bolt holes. and we were lightly stripping this one bolt. so something is a little funny there but its in.





the drivers seat and passenger seat











YAY DASH BAR and HEATER BOX IN!!!



with the boss giving directions





Day over. time to pack up and shut shop