Well i thought i'd better say ''Hello'' to everyone on here,i've been lurking for a couple of weeks & already gained quite a bit of knowledge & i'll be a paid up Member in July. I'm Ray from Cleveley's,Lancashire with a 2005 Fiesta Zetec S,I'm (almost) old enough to be the Grandfather of some Members here,it's been about 34 years since i was last behind the wheel of a blue Oval (a 1984 XR2). I've had a succession of various Company cars as well as some lovely Classic's such as a Datsun 240Z,Rover P5B Coupe. I've just sold my BMW 330Ci Coupe so the Fiesta is quite different in many ways but also very surprising in it's capabilities.

Over the last couple of weeks i've given the interior a really good clean & bought some floor mats,rubbed down & covered the underbonnet slam panel with smooth Black Hammerite,fitted a later model rear window wiper arm & blade,leather gear shift gaiter,front aero wipers & machined polished it to within an inch of it's life. Hopefully if the nice weather continues this week i'll be replacing both front & rear 'Ford' badges,wire brushing the brake calipers & painting them with Gold smooth Hammerite,future mods will be Heko wind deflectors & find out which Forscan diagnostic software to buy,won't be slamming it with cheap coilovers though. Been there/done that! There's a few other niggly little jobs that need doing but i'm loving it & enjoying every minute driving it,hope to start picking everyone's brains about all the usual Newbie questions but i'll continue to use the Search function whenever possible. 

 

**Must also say that before i bought it i looked at about 6 or 7 different Ford based Owners Club forums & decided to stay with you lot as you come across as being sensible & very helpful without any animosity or backstabbing. Quite a few other websites were not designed very well & some even had almost every forum subscription only available to paid up Members so not very welcoming & not much use to anyone like me looking to buy a car & who would always prefer to buy direct from an Enthusiast.**  

 

Hello and Welcome Ray

Hi & welcome 

Looks like a very clean example you have their

20 hours ago, SpannerTheCat said:

Well i thought i'd better say ''Hello'' to everyone on here,i've been lurking for a couple of weeks & already gained quite a bit of knowledge & i'll be a paid up Member in July. I'm Ray from Cleveley's,Lancashire with a 2005 Fiesta Zetec S,I'm (almost) old enough to be the Grandfather of some Members here,it's been about 34 years since i was last behind the wheel of a blue Oval (a 1984 XR2). I've had a succession of various Company cars as well as some lovely Classic's such as a Datsun 240Z,Rover P5B Coupe. I've just sold my BMW 330Ci Coupe so the Fiesta is quite different in many ways but also very surprising in it's capabilities.

Over the last couple of weeks i've given the interior a really good clean & bought some floor mats,rubbed down & covered the underbonnet slam panel with smooth Black Hammerite,fitted a later model rear window wiper arm & blade,leather gear shift gaiter,front aero wipers & machined polished it to within an inch of it's life. Hopefully if the nice weather continues this week i'll be replacing both front & rear 'Ford' badges,wire brushing the brake calipers & painting them with Gold smooth Hammerite,future mods will be Heko wind deflectors & find out which Forscan diagnostic software to buy,won't be slamming it with cheap coilovers though. Been there/done that! There's a few other niggly little jobs that need doing but i'm loving it & enjoying every minute driving it,hope to start picking everyone's brains about all the usual Newbie questions but i'll continue to use the Search function whenever possible. 

 

**Must also say that before i bought it i looked at about 6 or 7 different Ford based Owners Club forums & decided to stay with you lot as you come across as being sensible & very helpful without any animosity or backstabbing. Quite a few other websites were not designed very well & some even had almost every forum subscription only available to paid up Members so not very welcoming & not much use to anyone like me looking to buy a car & who would always prefer to buy direct from an Enthusiast.**  

 

Welcome! Get some pics up of what changes you've made!

Thanks for the welcome Guys,originally intended to post it in the Fiesta section so will try again. Here's a before picture of the underbonet slam panel,must admit i was surprised at so much rust there on a 2005 model;

Here's the new rear wiper which is much better than the original;

You may notice in my original post that i painted the rear tow hook bright yellow,the Girlfriend is in for a surprise next time she gets her make up kit out! Spent this afternoon trying to connect the green round thingy behind the radio that controls the heating/ventlation direction,not sure if i've been successful though. Tomorrow i'll be painting the brake calipers & hoping for nice weather.

Hi Welcome
 

welcome along. that is a large amount of rust, it does jsut look like surface rust though, crack some rustoleum on it and get it painted

You're right @superking the rust did surprise me,if it was a 4 door i would think it's been used as a taxi in a salt mine! After i wire brushed the underbonnet slam panel i gave it 2 coats of Vactan followed by smooth Black Hammerite,should buy shares in that Company,lol. I'm waiting for the V5 from Swansea & intend asking the previous (& only owner according to the supplying Dealer) if the cam belt is due for replacing & also any other info that he would like to share.

Today i wire brushed the o/s front brake caliper,masked all mating points & gave it 2 coats of Gold coloured smooth Hammerite,before;

After;

Cleaned the inside of the alloy wheel with Dragons Breath,it works wonders but doesn't half stink. A light coating of Copperslip on the wheel nut threads & mating face of the alloy wheel to make it easier to remove them in the future;

F

Finished,time to put the kettle on & have a cuppa,had everything in already so it only cost me my time which was a couple of hours including interuptions;

 

 

 

wheels look good 

1 minute ago, dezwez said:

wheels look good 

Thanks @dezwez,looking at the last picture i'm kicking myself that i didn't replace the wheel with the Ford logo straight,maybe i've now got OCD?