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Infra-Red Focus RS replica/conversion build!

153K views 516 replies 123 participants last post by  sicskate 
#1 ·
well, I've been collecting and building(yes building) parts for about a year now, and I'm finally set to get moving on this project. I traded in my beater today for a brand new F150 so now I have a reliable vehicle to drive daily while I work on the Focus build. Starting life as a 2003 SVT:



I used to have a Euro facelift front bumper and 98spec rear bumper, with rieger lip up front.....but someone backed into the front end and it got broken to bits, so I put it through insurance and used the money to buy the last set of RS bumpers from Capaldi.







So then I had to start sourcing all the other parts. Scouring ebay.co.uk I was able to get the foglight bezels, brake duct vents, front indicators, and rear fog and reversing lights complete with bulb sockets. I got a splitter from Spudo, and a wing from Cayse. Then I hit a wall, not being able to find sideskirts or fenders and quarterpanels, I had to get creative.....

An opportunity arose..... a fellow member here doing an RS conversion had obtained a set of RS skirts that were damaged....I messaged and offered to make all the repairs for FREE, if he would just pay shipping to me and back with the aggreement that I would be allowed to make a mold of them....and to my pleasant surprise, he agreed!

So I still needed fenders and quarterpanels! About 6-8 months go by of me searching for these.....my gameplan was to obtain a set and make molds like PUMASPEED has in the Uk, they sell fiberglass replicas of the OEM panels for conversion purposes.....but then something incredible happened. I recieved an email from a member here, that he knew of a fellow up in British Columbia that had a complete set of molds (besides sideskirts.....weird, that's what I made!).....he had fenders, quarterpanels, and both bumpers molded from OEM stuff and was willing to SELL THE MOLDS!!!!!

I got in contact with this gent, and we negociated over numerous emails until we settled on a price. MAN, was I a happy camper! what a huge savings in time and energy not having to source panels, then make molds!



So here they are all unpacked:







bought a 50" wide roll of fiberglass, 80yards long to make all my parts



So I'm going to get started over the weekend setting up the molds and begin fabricating the front fenders and Quarterpanels, I figure I can have the front clip finished, painted, and mounted in the next week or two time permitting.....Then I'll have to clean out my garage and pull the car in to remove rear glass and start working on the rear quarters. I have a concept image I made in photoshop but I can't find it right now, I'll have to post it up later on......

Thanks for reading!
 
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#122 ·
it's really not hard to pick up on. All you really have to do is befriend someone who's good at it and pay attention to their techniques and ask lots of questions, then give it a go!

I only started painting about a year ago....
 
#123 ·
worked on it a bit yesterday. I'm in the part of the build that sucks the absolute most.......laying body filler and block sanding for hours to get things to look right. These next four pictures are at least 6hrs worth of filler/sanding work :(

this is after one coat of tiger hair filler, followed by a coat of regular filler.



Then after some touch-ups and whatnot I decided to spray with primer to see where I'm at. It's getting pretty close, but still needs some work. The major shapes are there, but I need to do some more filler work and start stepping my sandpaper grits up so it smooths out nice. right now it's in 80-grit for shape, so I'm gonna jump to 180 on the next pass, then 320, then I'll spray the whole deal in primer/surfacer (high-build) to sand out with 600 and 800 grit before sealer and paint.







probably have another 6-10hrs of work to go just on this quarter, then repeat for the other side, and repeat for the passenger front fender. Lots of work still to go, trying to keep motivated.
 
#126 ·
Tonight my buddy Nick came by to lend a hand again......We blocked down the driver rear quarter again, and found what I think to be the last imperfections....I think once this layer gets sanded out it'll be ready for high-build primer......



then we sanded down the excess glue from the passenger rear quarter and laid up the seams with tiger-hair filler.

 
#130 ·
Checko stopped by again and got me off the couch. The driver side rear is done. Just needs primer-surfacer and 400-grit wetsand before paint. Going to get up tomorrow and jump right on the passenger side and see how far I can get before I get too tired/frustrated.





 
#133 ·
You did all of those rivets with a hand rivet gun? You've got patience. All i ever use now is Air/Hydraulic. 1 of mine was $40 from Harbor Freight (get the Extra Warranty just in case) and it works great. My other one was like $400 from Snap On.

Progress looks great!
 
#134 ·
Hey Hurtin,
I stumbled on your post. I have a RS here in the States. Tim at Capaldi knows me as I purchased two new front and rear bumpers and anything else RS for insurance in case someone hits me while Im going down the road.( sorry for drying up all the remaining RS parts in The States):.... Im watching your build and I can foresee a problem you havent though about yet. My RS uses different rear trailing arms and bushings than a standard focus which moves the track out to the same width as the front. Your car has the width of a SVT, much narrower than a RS. Your fenders and rear 1/4s are going to look really funny without the correct track....get your wallet and Skype ready numerous calls to a UK dealer. Also transmission is different in RS ( bellhousing is larger for AP clutch and Quaife). Axles are different too. If you need any dimensions, pictures I can help.
Ken
 
#139 ·
spent most of the day yesterday and most of the day today working on it. Got both rear quarters 100% ready for high-build primer-surfacer.







Also mocked the front bumper and passenger fender up so I could "flatten" the nose like I did on the other side....



Also, my paint gun arrived :)

DeVilbiss Startingline

 
#141 ·
That gun is pretty!!!
I need a new gun


Sent from jeremy's iPhone using FF Mobile
I got that gun brand new in packaging from TCP Global on ebay...$79.99 shipped!!!!
 
#143 ·
OH MY DAYUM UPDATE!

Pirite came over just as I finished taping and bagging the car for paint, and helped me scuff the bumpers for sealer.

me mixing sealer:



car bagged, luke scuffing and prep-all'ing the bumpers



after all prep work, ready for high-build surfacer:





ACTION SHOTS YOOOOOOOO!!!!!111!!!11!!







after sealer:



Then sprayed both quarters in high-build, and taught luke how to lay some primer....I let him spray most of the driver quarter and then just passed over it to make sure coverage was good. He did pretty damn good for a first try!



then my phone/camera died and we didnt get pics of the passenger side. Poop.
 
#146 ·
I still have to finish the passenger front fender before I go on to make the molds.....There's a big car meet/cookout at Letchworth State Park sunday the 16th that I'm trying to throw the car together for.....so I might not have the fenders done for that. Might be another week or so before I can finish them, mold them, make new ones, and paint 'em.

I'm keeping the original color, Infra-Red (a.ka. Colorado Red, a.k.a Vermillion Red)

going to have the center of the roof and center of the hood wrapped in carbon fiber vynil once the car is buttoned up for good and whatnot.
 
#147 ·
I had a little time before work this morning so I went out and sprayed a guide-coat on the quarters so I can block them out with 400 grit tonight.



 
#149 ·
Realized I never got a shot of the front bumper in sealer, so I snapped one on lunch break :)



Tonight I'm going to put wheels back on the car and roll it out of the garage, clean/sweep the floor to get all the heavy dust from all the filler/sanding work, wet the floor....and I'm planing on spraying base and clear on the hatch and both bumpers before bed tonight.
 
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