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02fordsvt Build/Mod/Random Thread

261K views 2K replies 86 participants last post by  02fordsvt 
#1 · (Edited)
I finally decided to make myself a thread I can call my own. I'm not expecting to do any major builds in the near future, but since I'm always doing little changes to my car, I figured I might as well put them all in one place and stop cluttering up the rest of the forum.

A bit about me and the car. I bought my 2002 Ford Focus Svt in June, 2010 and had no real hands on knowledge about working on or modding a car except some basics I learned from my dad and from reading auto magazines. Over the past few months I have done a lot of work on this car and have really learned how to do many things. In other words, it doesn't matter how much knowledge you have, you can do anything that I have done. Furthermore, I will be the first one to admit that I have not done many things in the best or most efficient way possible. I am just learning and having fun.

Thread Rules (Or lack thereof)

Feel free to post any kind of comments or questions. If anyone would like to know how to do anything, let me know and I can give you some of the resources I used. Becuase of the way I have this thread organized, it doesn't matter how cluttered the rest of the thread gets. Post anything you feel like from suggestions, questions, and random comments. I won't feel bad if anything gets a little of topic. [thumb]

Table of Contents

First post:

Current Status Section
  1. Current Performance Modifications
  2. Current Interior Modifications
  3. Current Exterior Modifications
  4. Current Exterior Pictures
  5. Current Interior Pictures
Second post:

Modification Time Line

Reference Material
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Current Status Section
This section is kept up to date with the most recent mod list and photos of the car:

Current Performance Modifications
Air intake scoop

Current Interior Modifications
Body color interior trim pieces
Windshield shade
Short throw shifter
Pioneer head unit
10" Verge Sub
400 Watt Dual Amp
Interior build in progress

Current Exterior Modifications
Black painted summer wheels
White painted winter wheels
Tinted side and front turn signals, taillights, and fog lights
Body color hatch trim piece and front air dam
Debadged
Side trim removal
Mudflaps

Current Exterior Pictures







Current Interior Pictures

Work in progress


 
#3 · (Edited)
Modification Time Line
This section is an up to date time line of the Modifications I have done on the car:

I don't have pictures of some of the earliest happenings and dates are best guess but here is what I do have:

June 2010: Bought the car with 86,000 miles for about $8000 with new clutch included.

Fall 2010: bought a set of Mercury Cougar rims for winter tires. Painted them black. Painted the brake calipers Red.

Winter, Spring 2011: Painted the interior pieces blue. Don't worry, it was just a test to see if I like painted trim and I still have all the original interior pieces.



April 2011: became a member of this Forum [woot]

May 2011: Painted the stock 5-spoke Svt wheels. These are the first pictures I took of the exterior.




June 2011: Painted the interior pieces the same as the exterior of the car: sonic blue.



June 2011 continued: Built and installed a trailer hitch to carry a bike rack. (see post 14)

July 2011: Tinted the side indicators, turn signals, taillights and fog lights using a spray on tint. Painted the fog light surrounds and brake calipers black.

July 2011 continued: Made a windshield sunshade using two different colors of window tint.



August 2011: painted the hatch trim piece and debadged.

August 2011 continued: Painted the front air dam body color.

September 2011: Cut the shifter down to a short throw.



September 2011 continued: Did the fog light mod so the fogs can be turned on with the parking lights. (see References)



September 2011 continued: Removed the side trim pieces. They required body filling the holes behind it and repainting where the trim originally was.



October 16, 2011: Stripped the trunk area.



October 22, 2011: Repaired a rusty front fender and finished repainting the the winter wheels white. (See Post 30 for rust repair)



October 29, 2011: Passed the 100,000 mile mark.



Made and installed Mudflaps (See References)

November 2, 2011: Installed new head unit.

November 3, 2011: Made a shelf above the head unit.



November 6, 2011: Finished and installed sub and sub box.



November 18, 2011: Installed winter tires and plasti-dipped on white eyelids and mirror caps.



November 27, 2011: PlastiDipped the lug nuts black. (See References)



December 2, 2011: Completed Blacking out the upper half of the interior.



December 9, 2011 Antenna delete. (see post 63)

December 28, 2011: Made an air intake scoop. (see post 71)




References

Antenna Delete - See post 63
Black Lug Nuts - http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3908381#post3908381
Fog light Mod - http://www.focusfanatics.com/howtos/foglight/
Front fender rust repair - See post 30
Grill air intake scoop - See post 71
Hitch - See post 14
Mudflaps - http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271772
 
#5 ·
Thank you.

I am still working on the passenger side trim removal but it hasn't gone very smoothly. First I ran out of body filler, then I couldn't find my primer, and now I ran out of paint so I am waiting to get some more hopefully today. Plus, I must have painted over the primer too early because it rippled, but after some sanding, it's back down to what it's supposed to be.

Just as a taste of what's to come, I bought a 10" sub that needs to be installed and I am planning on removing my rear seat and totally redoing my trunk area. I am still in the planning stages so I can't really tell you what it's going to look like but I'm hoping to add a lot more storage space and make it much more friendly to hauling a lot of stuff (I work out of my car so I need to keep a lot of things with me).
 
#6 ·
nice car, i'd like to see those wheels all black with your car, i think that would flow a bit better.

i do have a question for you, how did you get that hitch to clear the rear diffuser??
where did you get that hitch?? i need one to haul around my race tires and wheels.. i have this sick trailer but nothing to pull it with!!
 
#9 ·
I am starting to agree with you all about the wheels. I like how the design separates them from all the other painted rims out there, but it is getting to be a bit much. I'm not planning to do anything with them until the spring since they will be coming of soon for the winter but I am considering painting the outer lip sonic blue and the center black like the spokes. Just a thought right now; if anyone else has any ideas, let me know.

i do have a question for you, how did you get that hitch to clear the rear diffuser??
where did you get that hitch?? i need one to haul around my race tires and wheels.. i have this sick trailer but nothing to pull it with!!
The hitch was hand made specially for my Svt by my dad. He is really good at making things like that and this is the second one he's made (he made one for my first Focus SE). It is made for carrying a bike rack so it is designed for up and down weight instead of pulling force so I don't know if I would ever trust using it for a trailer. If you would like some more closeup pictures of how it's made and hooked on, I could get some.
 
#8 ·
Although I like the look of the silver with black spokes, I'd have to agree that all black would flow better. Awesome car!
 
#14 ·
Hitch

The horizontal cross frame under the car is an 1 1/4" ID pipe with a 2" ID square stock welded underneath. It is mounted using 1 1/2" angle iron bolted to the car frame with a 1 1/2" flat stock underneath to add stability when the bike rack is hooked on. I will try to get better pictures of how it hooks on to the car tomorrow using my old Focus sedan because it's much easier to see under there without the lower Svt bumper. Remember, this hitch was built specifically for up and down weightt but the design could probably be altered to for towing.



 
#16 ·
Here are the mounting pictures using the Focus SE. There is some differences between the two but they are pretty similar.

Passenger side mount. Same for both cars.



Driver side mount. The mounting holes were slightly different plus it was much harder to access because of the muffler on the Svt.



And, lastly, the whole hitch on the Focus SE.

 
#17 · (Edited)
And now some pictures of the passenger side during the painting process.

A crappy picture I took about a week ago after the side was body filled and primed



What it looked like after I sanded down the ripples today.



What it looks like now after it still rippled a little more, but hopefully I will only have to sand it down one more time. It's only this one spot now so it shouldn't be to hard to get it flat.



And the picture of the whole car



My side project. Sanding down and repainting one of my winter rims which was chipping really bad.

 
#19 ·
Yup. lol
Wait till they are on the car; they are massive.

I bought the tires off Craigslist for $75 for a full set of four studded Winterforce tires only used one winter. The rims are off a Mercury Cougar in a salvage yard because all the Focus 16" rims were picked over but the combo works great. This car is unstoppable in the snow until it starts piling up on the hood.
 
#21 ·
Becuase you have to live near stupid people who are willing to just give stuff away because they are afraid to drive a fwd car in the snow. [rolleyes]
 
#26 ·
Here's a couple of my favorite pictures I took this past week doing a road trip.




If anyone's interested in seeing anymore photo's of mine and other member's road trips, stop over to this thread and feel free to post any of your own photo's: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260991
 
#28 ·
More work on the wheels.

First coat using cheap white paint to cover the black.



The final coating of white paint.



The finished product. The paint I used for the final color is an old can of Ford tractor touch up paint. I used it because it has a slightly creamy tint to it which adds a little depth to the wheels. I don't know how it will look in the snow but the only way to find out is to try.

 
#30 ·
Front Fender Rust Repair

Ever since I bought the car, the passenger fender has looked like this (the Svt side skirt is removed so it didn't look so bad with it on).



Sanded down.



Taped up.



Undercoating.



Tape removed and left to dry.



Top part sanded down.



Taped up and painted.



Retaped for clear coat.



Tape removed.



Sanded, polished, and trim put back on. Ready of another winter.

 
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