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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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#1,690 ·
I'm still here. [wave] lol

Finished touching up the PS rear fender and got it primed. Next up will be to finish repairing the large crack on the rear bumper and priming that.



Also a little side project that is sort of related to this thread. I took a few automotive audio components that I wasn't using anymore and made this "stereo". It uses and an old Dual headunit, two Pioneer Focus speakers, two Sony slim speakers, an old Verge 10" subwoofer, a 400 Watt Dual amp all installed on an old home audio speaker box. It runs straight off a battery.

 
#1,693 ·
That's awesome. Thought about doing something,similar, but using a plug in power supply instead of the battery idea... I will definitely be doing this when I get my garage a little more set up.. So then I can Bluetooth and usb music.
 
#1,694 ·
I was going to do it with a plug in originally as well and may convert it in the future, but using a battery is obviously much simpler and I'll only be using the unit in my shop where a battery charger is always available.
 
#1,696 ·
Dunno how I'm just stumbling upon this thread -- but neat-o. Lots of versions...

I'm starting up the bondo world...so it's cool to see work in progress.

I've been debating to keep the plastic bumpers on the doors or not -- yours removed do look good.
 
#1,697 ·
Yeah, I really like having the side bumpers removed; it does make the car look a little slab sided at some angles but makes the car look a little more modern. If it wasn't for the stupid holes behind the bumpers on MK1 Foci, I'd do it to Rusty as well.
 
#1,700 ·
Haha, I like Rusty too. That's the only reason I keep dealing with all the rust, horrible handling, crappy gas mileage, and aging mechanics. It probably should have gone to the junk yard years ago.

BTW. Anyone have a used/cheap replacement suspension for this thing? lol
 
#1,701 ·
Not a earth shattering update but cut Rusty's OEM leaky exhaust off and hack jobbed the old SVT muffler on. Basically, I'm still using the OEM straight pipe to the SVT muffler with the SVT pipe leading behind the rear axle and ending where the lunchbox would have begun. Haven't driven it yet but it sounded much better than a leaky exhaust sitting in the shop.
 
#1,702 ·
Another small update but hoping for bigger things in the near future. Hoping to have time to work on the SVT today and possibly get the rear bumper primed. Still have to smooth out the crack repair first.
s
And in the much bigger news department, I have an offer to custom mow a couple lawns this year so I'm currently looking at trucks to pull my trailer and mower. I don't have money to waste on a big fancy truck and I wouldn't want one anyways so Craigslist is my best friend right now. Here's the top pick; hopefully looking at it this weekend.

1994 Toyota DX Pickup 4WD With Plow
 
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#1,703 ·
Well, this happened. It needs a lot of work and it will never be a looker, but hopefully it will serve it's purpose for a couple years till I can get something nicer.





BTW got the bumper primed on the SVT. Next up is the passenger side door.
 
#1,705 ·
That's why I got it. Unfortunately, it wont the engine that will kill it but the body (at least road legally). The box is barely hanging on and the only floor in the cab is the carpet. But no one needs to know that. lol

However, the big benefit is the plow which will make this truck useful long after it no longer road legal.
 
#1,707 ·
Well, been slowly tinkering with the Toyota's brakes to get them to work. Figured out it was most likely the master cylinder and put a new one in today. It promptly blew a brake line. Then when starting the truck to turn the front wheels for access, a clutch line blew. Needless to say, we are now going threw everything and replacing any rusted lines.

Fortunately, so far we've only found three parts that need replacing (including the two that blew). The rear brake lines had been replaced a couple years back by the previous owner and it looks like the lines leading the the front brakes are fairly new and still shiny too. It's just the stuff in the engine bay that's really bad. I'm a little nervous about he brakes themselves because who knows when the last time they actually worked was and if anything inside the drums or disks is seized up.

When will I ever learn to buy new vehicles and dump them before the rust starts like normal people do. [facepalm]
 
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#1,708 ·
Well, it's sad but official. I'm demodding Rusty and prepping it for sale. I don't need three vehicles and it's always been kind of a redundant car with the SVT. I'll really miss it because it has been a great car for the past 8 years but it's time to move on to the next thing and start focusing on the SVT again.

Also entering the market for an F150 to pull the trailer because the Toyota is just too small with the 4 cylinder for the long run but I'm not in a big hurry for it and have time to wait for the right one to come along. When it's all said and done, I hope to have the SVT and a good condition F150 as my two vehicles. Both should be the best for what I need them for but not step on each other toes. Can't wait to get some of this stuff happening again.
 
#1,710 ·
Yeah, I own the Toyota. It's a good little truck but just not powerful enough for pulling my trailer on a regular basis. It makes the little guy work pretty hard in the hill country that I live in.
 
#1,711 ·
It's been raining steady for the past three days so things have finally happened on the SVT again.

The brakes had to happen no matter the weather but I think I would have still gotten another 1000 miles out of this pad. [:p]



All shiny. Now if only it would stay that way.



And the "fun" stuff. Primed the passenger side door and primed and installed the new drivers side door. These where the last two areas I needed to do before painting. Now I just need to get the paint and wait till I can let the car take a week or so off from DD duties. I can't wait to drive a car that's all one color again!

 
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#1,712 ·
Damn man. Your svt is looking nice.
And yeah, maybe it was time for those brakes. Lol
 
#1,713 ·
Fortunately, that was only one of the inside pads. the outsides still had half there life left. The car still stopped fine, it just made a lot of noise doing it.

On other news, test drove a 2001 F150 this weekend. It went well till it got up to 40 mph; than the whole thing started shaking like crazy. Needless to say the answer was no on it. However, we stopped into another dealer on the way home and they have these two puppies. If they still got them, we're going to try to pick one up this weekend. The Sport Trac is the top pick but they are both beautiful vehicles.


 
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