gforce Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Well strangers, aint been on here much over the last few months for a number of reasons...mainly not had much time between a house move and a hectic summer, but of course this also crippled the 'mod budget' as well, so had nothing really to report. Think with the mods drying up I also lost a lot of interest in the car unfortunately and had actually planned to sell up after putting it through MOT. Spent a few quid getting it ready for test though and she sailed through without as much as an advisory, so I'm back to thinkin that she's stayin with me...for now at least! Anyway, enough babbling...with the prospect of it staying for a while I decided to give it some overdue tlc over the weekend when the sunshine made a fleeting cameo re-appearance. Good exterior clean, engine bay a quick wipe, fresh lick of paint on the calipers, and finally got round to starting a mod which I've been meaning to tackle for a while...doing a bit of gloss black-ing! Had a ruffle through my collection of 'stuff' and rooted out some grey primer, gloss black paint and some Ford lacquer, and also had a couple of different grades of wet and dry. Was a bit nervous about ballsin it up, but sure worst can happen with painting is you flat it back and start again, so off I went! Meant to take pics as I went along, but as always I got caught up in the process and forgot. Worst thing is, spraying should be ideal to take pics as there's a bit of thumb-twiddling in between coats anyway! So, I started with the rear fog/reverse surrounds, knowing that they could be off the car for a bit of things went !Removed! up, rather than remove all front grilles and surrounds to discover they had to go back on halfway through or summat. And the results can be seen below... :D As is normally the case, the photo quality is crap from the phone, but when I get round to doing the rest I'll get a good picture update done using the camera and will remember to take some snaps during the process too. ;) I love the subtle upgrade over the grey plastics and can't wait to get the front end done. With having the central lower sections of my bumpers in gloss black, doing the surrounds to match is a must! In other news, the clip on my dash storage pocket has broken, so I think it's an excuse to fit the ST gauge pod, so if anyone has one going spare let me know. I know there's a handful on eBay at BIN prices, but I've seen them auction for under £30 so for a cheapskate like myself, that's my price aim! That and a gloss black wheel refurb are about the height of my wishlist at the minute, so hopefully will have a bit more to report in the near future again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 The black on the fog surrounds ties in nicely with the rear spoiler and carbon print ford badges mate. Nice job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliverb Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 you car is looking beasty now mate,, Great work :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Cheers lads, think a nice wee cheap and cheerful mod like this is exactly what I need to get my interest in it back! Will probably be the weekend before I get a chance to tackle the fronts though as I've stuff on every evenin this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preee Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Looking really nice Gary , some great work and time spent on her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b4zz Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 liking the gloss black grills fella and once the front is done it will look sweet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 Thanks guys...can't wait to get the front end done! What you guys reckon about wheel colours then? I actually quite like the standard silver when it's clean, think it's nice contrast or somethin. I had always wanted a gunmetal/anthracite type colour in the past, but now with the rest of the car complete, I don't think it will work. Gloss black wouldn't have been my first choice, but I'm thinking that it will fit the car best, to complement the gloss black theme already goin on, with wing mirrors, spoiler, centre lower lip on the front, diffuser section on the back, and all grilles and surrounds when I get them finished. Just worry that because it wasn't my first choice, it would be a costly mistake-a to make-a! On the other hand, my boy is begging for gloss black, so at least one of us is guaranteed to be happy, and I think I'll like the finished result, as long as I keep em shiny and keep my tyre walls slicked! Maybe I should start a new thread for a photshop request and to get some opinions... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Thanks guys...can't wait to get the front end done! What you guys reckon about wheel colours then? I actually quite like the standard silver when it's clean, think it's nice contrast or somethin. I had always wanted a gunmetal/anthracite type colour in the past, but now with the rest of the car complete, I don't think it will work. Gloss black wouldn't have been my first choice, but I'm thinking that it will fit the car best, to complement the gloss black theme already goin on, with wing mirrors, spoiler, centre lower lip on the front, diffuser section on the back, and all grilles and surrounds when I get them finished. Just worry that because it wasn't my first choice, it would be a costly mistake-a to make-a! On the other hand, my boy is begging for gloss black, so at least one of us is guaranteed to be happy, and I think I'll like the finished result, as long as I keep em shiny and keep my tyre walls slicked! Maybe I should start a new thread for a photshop request and to get some opinions... If you have a steel wheel, Throw some black paint on it and sit it on the hub mate, I think black goes well with light coloured cars but n your blue, I'd go with silver or lime green, The st rims catch the light nicely and look good rolling at 20mph catching the light, Not sure if they would have the same effect in black, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 The st rims catch the light nicely and look good rolling at 20mph catching the light, Not sure if they would have the same effect in black, My fears exactly buddy, would worry that they'd just blend in too much! Maybe if I went for some sort of metallic black finish with a bit of a sparkle in it? Love driving past glass shop fronts when the car's gleaming and seeing how good it looks in the reflection when tipping along...not that I'd take my eyes off the road ahead or anything! Ah I dunno. The lime green would be different that's for sure, but too OTT for me, Doing the calipers something brighter has crossed my mind though, especially if I go for dark wheels. Decisions decisions! How's this for a plan buddy...I'll get em done black, if they don't suit I'll allow you to take them off me for your silver car and I'll take yours in return, won't even charge you for the privilege...deal?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 My fears exactly buddy, How's this for a plan buddy...I'll get em done black, if they don't suit I'll allow you to take them off me for your silver car and I'll take yours in return, won't even charge you for the privilege...deal?! you'll have to ask Vicki about that one,Bronze may be an option, Or plasti coat black then if you don't like, You just peel it off, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 Haha, was pretty sure you wouldn't be jumping at that 'offer'! I've looked into plastidip for quite a while now...seems a brilliant product and hard to go wrong with. But at about £15 a can, and then I'd want the glossifier stuff as well for a gloss finish, I'd be not far off the cost I can get them blasted back to bare metal and resprayed for I think. I've seen bronze and copper on some STs and think it's looks class...black one on STOC with copper wheels and a few other trims in the same colour and it looks stunning, but just think black is so much more of a blank canvas, think I'm pretty limited on my blue. It's gonna be somethin pretty stock along the black/grey/silver lines, wouldn't even go with white, so think a photoshop or two is required! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b4zz Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 I think black would work well fella would tie in a the other bits you are doing gloss black but at the end of the day is your car so your decision with black the wheels woudnt show up the brake dust so much lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 Was thinkin that myself! Still need to be kept clean and shiny though, and think the tyres would def need to be kept black and slicked otherwise they'll look that horrible browny colour against black wheels. I've had an insight a couple of times as to what grey/anthracite might look like through brake dust alone! Meant to take a side profile pic of the car yesterday evening to upload for a photoshop request, or even to use on that vrimz website, but forgot all about it. Will do it this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassen Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Car looks awesome after all the mods. I wonder how it sounds. Btw, did you get it remapped or anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Thanks bud. To be honest, I'm not sure how it sounds! I don't notice a huge difference from inside the cabin...there's definitely a bit of a growl from it when under boost that wasn't there before, but I'd love to hear it from outside of the car myself. That would mean letting somebody else floor it though, and not too sure how I'd feel about that! I dropped a guy off a couple of weeks ago though and we had just been talking about exhausts on the way home (there was a wee corrolla in front of us and we had just been talking about how it's exhaust would drive ye mental!) and when I saw him the next day first thing he said was that exhaust sounded great as I was taking off after letting him out. No remap...yet. Seriously considering it though as I'm thinkin it could be with me for a while yet. If I were able to get an extra few MPG from it then doing my mileage it'd pay for itself pretty quick I reckon. Plus the extra enjoyment of having about 30 more horses to play with as and when they were needed would be nice! I've contacted a few different places up north that I've read good reviews about on forums and that. Pretty set on one now, but it's an hour and a half away, so just need to try work out a time that would suit as I don't have much annual leave left to play about with. They do a before and after RR so you see the improvement figures, but they're quoting 165-170, and pretty sure they have a guarantee to refund and return to standard if not completely happy. Nothing to lose really...apart from my clutch maybe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassen Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 That's cool regarding the remap. The price quoted is very decent and like you said, with the mileage, it would pay for itself by saving on fuel. Also, do consider a tuning box as well as the new ones do a very good job. I know a lot of people wouldn't agree with me on this, but I have had one for the last few months and it has paid for itself by saving on my fuel bills. Granted it took a lot of tweaking of the settings to get what I wanted from it but there is now the option of either going for an eco or max mode with the twist of two buttons on the box. Another upside is the amount of low end torque that is very usable on a day to day basis rather than just having most of the torque at the top end of the rev range. Major downside was that it was not as easy as I thought to fit it as the engine bay is quite cramped for that connection, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaznik Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Looks very smart, friend has the same two tone interior. Only thing letting it down IMO is the spoiler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliverb Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 The Spoiler is neat! And makes your car stand out from the rest... Doesn't let it down at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaznik Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I think even on the rs the spoiler is a little too OTT, only my personal opinion mind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 Looks very smart, friend has the same two tone interior. Only thing letting it down IMO is the spoiler The Spoiler is neat! And makes your car stand out from the rest... Doesn't let it down at all... Haha, case in point right there that it's an opinion divider...and we're all entitled to our own so no worries! Cheers for the compliments lads. If I'm honest, I even change my own mind about the spoiler from time to time, but it hasn't come off yet! If I could get an ST style one in my colour I'd be all over it, but they're near impossible to come by (as it would need to have already been sprayed, as ST didn't come in my colour) so my only options are the RS one in black or colour coded MS design one I have (see pics on page 1). That's cool regarding the remap. The price quoted is very decent and like you said, with the mileage, it would pay for itself by saving on fuel. Also, do consider a tuning box as well as the new ones do a very good job. Sorry pal, I was quoting the bhp figures there, wasn't very clear, but the price is £200, maybe a bit less with a forum discount. I actually ran a TDI-tuning box for a while there but it wasn't an adjustable one. Actually bought it cheap through eBay as a trial but was just never comfortable with it. Noticed more mid-range power (was like a second turbo kicking in just under 3000rpm) but not really enough to overcome my paranoia! Fitting on the 2.0 TDCi is dead easy as the common rail plug is at the front, so I should probably really consider one of the more expensive adjustable boxes if I'm considering a remap. Honestly though, the thought of leaving it to the pros, having it tweaked til I'm happy, the before and after rolling road figures and the refund if unsatisfied is tipping the balance over a box. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 In other news, been working at these bad boys the other evening... Have just re-fitted this morning after leaving the lacquer to harden all day yesterday, so will try get some fitted pics when I can. Just need to get round to doing the upper and lower grilles now which are standing out like a sore thumb beside the glossiness! Car's piggin at the minute though after being on site for a few days and the weather being awful. I've attached a couple below taken showing the rear gloss surrounds and the standard fronts, so would be nice to take the same photo next time I'm out to compare the difference. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Focus is lookin sweet Gary mate, Exhaust looks just right on the back and rs spoiler suits the stance aswell, Gloss grills will really finish it off 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 Cheers bud, thinkin I'll get the grilles all done this wknd. I've a boost pod in the post as well which should be here tomorrow, but having taken out my storage pocket yesterday I've discovered it won't be a straight swap as I thought the extra trim piece was the same and the pocket would swap out for the pod, but the pocket is all one piece. Here's the thread I was asking about it... http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/47832-st-boost-gauge-pod-fitting-query/ I'm either gonna have to cut out the bottom of the pocket, or try source the required trim panel on it's own, but it'll be hard to source and I don't have a part no for it to get a price from Ford. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andylaw769 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Looks lovely bud really jealous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gforce Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 Cheers pal, as I mentioned on your thread I gathered up all my parts separately over a long time and with some serious bargain hunting but was so chuffed with the end result when it was all finished, well worth the wait in my eyes and shows it can be done! ;-) This thread has been pretty dead for quite some time now as I don't feel there's much more to be done and as I've had the car over two years now and put a lot of miles on it I've actually been toying with the idea of changing for a few months now. So I've been hesitant to do much more to it that probably won't add any value to it asides from personal gratification I don't think I'm gonna go down the performance route with this car, have one or two decent aesthetic mods that I'd still like to complete, like the boost pod and a wheel refurb, but I'd say that could be the height of it! The only real 'mods' I have to report of late are getting round to completing the upper and lower front grilles in gloss black, and replacing my bonnet lock, which wasn't great craic at all! Next 'mod' is to replace my boot switch...was gonna carry out the fix from the guide on here, even lifted an old mouse from work to get a micro-switch out of, but think I've sourced one off eBay now anyway. My own got temperamental last year and a clean and WD40 cured it for a while, but started playing up again over the holidays and is well and truly knackered at this stage! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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