gforce

Guys I'm looking some advice on upgrading the intercooler on my 2.0TDCi.

Ideally I was after an ST upgrade one, like Airtec or Code Red etc, but don't have the green at the minute and have been offered a JDM one pretty cheap (I think!), so thinking it's worth a try.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows if it'll fit interms of dimensions etc. The seller has told me it's approx 700mm x 300mm x 75mm and has 3inch inlet/outlet pipes, so I'm assuming, with pic as well, that it's the one in the link below.

http://www.jdmperfor...0x76-16-16.html

Does anybody have any opinions on it, any advice on the size in terms of fitting (I have an ST front bumper if that makes a difference in terms of clearance), and if it's possible to get adapter tubes/hoses to join the 2inch standard pipes to the 3inch upgrade inlet/outlet?

Pretty green on this so any help would be much appreciated.

Guys I've always thought the standard clocks on my 55 plate TDCi are...well, pretty standard, so would like to do something with them. Put lockwoods in my old Mondeo and loved them, but can't seem to get a white set for the Mk2 Focus diesel. I made enquiries before to a seller but heard nothing back, so put that idea to bed.

Also, ST clocks would be no good obviously, and I couldn't be bothered with the hassle/uncertainty of fitting facelift clocks.

So, stealing inspiration from a build thread on another forum, I was thinking of picking up a set of facelift clocks and taking them apart to strip the silver surround out of them, and inserting these to my standard clocks.

Has anyone done this or know if it's much hassle?

Well guys, you may have seen recent pics of my car, but thought it time to try and pull together a progress report in some sort of chronological order, so here goes! I'm struggling to remember all the mods and the order I did them in, and don't have photos of each I'm sure, but will give it a blast!

October 2011 I decided to sell my beloved 53 plate Mondeo Zetec S 130 2.0TDCi after 2 and a half years and 60k miles enjoyable ownership. Many pennies and many more hours were spent on it, and it truly was a sad day to see it go (my boy was literally in tears!). My favourite mods on it were probably all the DIY OEM extra interior lighting, Lockwood dials, and of course Eibachs. Oh, and ST style lower mesh grille was a satisfying one as well! Oh, and heated/cooled leather/alcantara interior...the list could go on really!

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Anyway, I decided to bid farewell to the Mondeo as it had served me well and I seen this little Focus come up at a bargain price.

55 Plate Mk2 pre-facelift Ford Focus, 2.0TDCi 136, 3dr Titanium in Jeans Blue, great standard spec, and lowered and with aftermarket 18s on her. Here's how she stood shortly after purchase...

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I had long-shot ambitions of putting an ST kit on it one day, as I love the ST looks (and hate the standard black plastic bumper inserts and valances!), but doing around 30k miles a year, 20-something MPG aint an option! I started looking at parts prices and quickly realised an ST kit may be ambitious, but decided to do what I could and see where it took me.

First mods were done as soon as I bought it - converting all interior lights, boot lights, no plate lights and sidelights to LEDs removed from the Mondeo. Also installed the cheap xenon-effect bulbs I had, which worked great in the Mondeo lamps with a nice white light, but these came out after a couple of days as the output was really poor from the adaptive projectors.

Also installed my Parrot CK3100 which I removed from the Mondeo, straight swap with the same quadlock connector and SOT-092S loom.

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I then came across this forum as the one I'd used in my Mondeo days was dead on the Focus side...and then the fun began!

Fancied the wing mirror indicator upgrade, and after seeing how easy it was in a guide I set about sourcing parts. Gathered up two different colour covers and two indicator units, along with a sheet of carbon 3M wrap and some speaker wire for under £20 and got to work...Silver indicator bulbs all round were also ordered and fitted.

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I was already desperately hunting ST parts at this stage, and managed to source a rear bumper and these genuine Ford/Ronal wheels locally for bargain prices. Wanted to store the bumper til all parts were sourced and could go on at once, but the wheels were fitted straight away...

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Have since replaced the tatty centre caps with blue gen Ford ones, ties in nice with the body colour and my painted calipers. Also continued to gather up grilles and surrounds and whatever ST bargains I could find, including side skirts off the bay.

Got my gen Ford LHD rear reverse light around this time also from the bay for £7!

Spoiler was proving hard to source, so I picked up an MS Design one in my colour, even that was a huge improvement from standard.

My next ST find was a set of genuine ST-3 black bi-xenon headlights, given to me from a guy who'd sold his Focus so had no use for them. He had fitted a HID kit, but I removed this and tidied the wires back up and re-fitted the original bulbs and ballasts that were also supplied...

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Then came a few subtle but common interior mods which I feel make a huge difference...heater controls and pedal covers...

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Few extras in the boot were also added with a bit of help from Lenny and his guides on here...second boot light, but I went for a couple of SMD LED pads like Charlie, and also wired in an additional 12V supply. This was a bit more of a faff than normal as I didn't have the extra 12V live plug wired in, but tapped into the front easy enough. Two simple but satisfying mods, highly recommended!

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Was running out of patience at this stage in my quest for the ST kit, then had a reply to wanted ad I placed online for a complete front bumper at a great price, so had to go for it! Also managed to source an RS spoiler as an alternative to an ST one, as it would save me respray costs. Seller just wanted a standard one in return and a few quid so worked out well! Here's a few pics of the kit finally all gathered up and being sent for paint!

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Dropped the kit off to the bodyshop, then a week later dropped the car off for fitting along with some fresh number plates, mudflaps and a new tailgate handle (that wouldn't leak and corrode my bulbs!), then a week after that I collected it, looking like this...

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Then, after some hmm-ing and ha-ing, fitted the RS spoiler...

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Another dilemma was badging, as I had initially planned to keep 'ST' off it altogether, but haven't come up with a solution yet for the wing badges, so ordered up some carbon inlays from DMB as I think it'll blend better than the red lettering and carbon/chrome overlays as well. After all, the badges can always come off again! So have de-badged the Focus Titanium off the rear, and fitted ST wing badges, front grille badge, and still have rear tailgate and overlays to fit. Along with possibly a TDCi badge with the red 'Ci' carbon'd as well...

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Sourced a Mk2 ashtray complete with lighter from ebay and fitted straight away. Also fitted the lighter surround ring with an LED 286 bulb which gives a nice glow at night.

I have fitted a few CREEs now, 6000K reverse, sidelight and foglights and love them!

Remaining mods now are getting an exhaust sorted to fill the bumper cut-outs, so ordered a pair of 4inch slash-cuts from MIJ Exhausts through ebay and my mechanic is gonna knock up the pipework.

Wheels are in dire need of a refurb, so need to pick a colour for that (possibly black to tie in with spoiler, front centre lip and rear diffuser), next month hopefully.

Gonna order a set of blinds for the rear tint look, and I'm currently in the middle of an upgrade to the facelift rear lights...literally, in the middle of it - I did the passenger side last night in the dark because I'm impatient, but when the skies opened at about 11pm, I called it a night! Had to come to work today with car looking like this, but will get it sorted as soon as I get home this evening. Full guide will follow soon... hopefully!

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Think that's about it for now! Has come quite a way in the 18months or so that I've been driving it, and have done just under 50k in that time with regular services and no serious bother.

I'm sure there are small mods I've left out and probably got some of them !Removed! about face, and my pics aren't great and are missing in a few instances, but it'll do the job!

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated in one place from now on with the future upgrades...and once it finally looks the part, I might start looking into giving it a bit more oomph then as well, with an upgraded intercooler and remap.

Comments welcome...as long as they're nice!

Thanks for looking!

Not sure if this is a bargain or not, but at £580 ono it might be right for someone who's been looking for one, considering the standard black can go for £500 mark. Or a potential upgrade for someone with black already fitted and could sell their own to get their green back...

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item20d1af4577

Well guys, as a few of you may know I've wanted to put an ST kit on the Focus since I got it as I love the ST looks but doing well over 30k miles a year, I need the economy of a 'soot-chucker'! (Scroll down for pics if you want spared of the background info!)

It's been a long bargain-hunting road, riddled with pot-holes, speed bumps, diversions and plenty of exits too which I was tempted to take on a few occasions as parts-sourcing at justifiable prices was proving difficult.

I was in a minor rear-end shunt 3 days shy of 7 months ago and sustained a cracked rear bumper, so searching for a silver lining I decided to use this as my excuse to myself (and the missus!) to finish gathering up the parts and finally get my ST kit painted and fitted.

Car has been in an incredibly busy bodyshop for the last week, and having endured a white Mini from last Mon-Thurs and putting about 300 miles on it, I needed something bigger. Given the mileage I was planning on clocking up over the weekend, they gave me a 1.5 DCi Megane saloon with 75k on the clock, over 76k now after I had since Thursday evening until 9am this morn!

So, got the call yesterday avo that my car was ready, but only suited me to pick it up this morning. Absolutely chuffed with it! Complete front bumper with new CREE H8 fogs, complete rear bumper, side-skirts, new tailgate handle with new bulb holders and 18 SMD LEDs, nice fresh new reg plates and new mudflaps all fitted. Got the centre of the front lower lip done in gloss back and the rear diffuser section the same to match.

RS spoiler in the shed ready to go on, hopefully this evening if I can find the time. ST wing badges also waiting to go on, but thinkin of modding these in some way to remove the red ST lettering. Titanium badge to come off the back, and possibly the Focus badge too, but undecided as yet. Think it might need a TDCi badge on it somewhere, maybe front lower grille, just to show that I'm 'derv and proud' and not look like I'm trying to fool people into thinking that I have a Jeans Blue ST!

Top of the list now though is some sort of exhaust solution to fill the bumper cut-outs, then a wheel refurb maybe to finish it off...and maybe some new rear lights...and maybe some rear window tints...and maybe - you get the idea!

Anyway, enough jibba jabba, have a gander at the pics and hopefully you enjoy. Comments and advice welcome (as long as the comments are good and I agree with the advice of course, haha!).

I think a full 'build' thread should be in the pipeline soon enough with more pics, before/afters, interior mods etc, so keep an eye out for it!

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