My work in progress 2004 PZEV sedan

Well, after a long year of work, here's the current state of my 2004 PZEV lx sedan. *UPDATED 4/17/2008*

What was initially just going to be a a few "comfort" mods has turned into attempting to replicate an SVT/st170 as close as possible without swapping the engine and transmission. What can I say, Massive and CaysE are inspiring, cheers gus!!

Base model: 2004 LX sedan in CD silver, 2.3L PZEV engine, and mtx-75 manual transmission


Some highlights:

Interior:

SVT EAP Recaro seats (front and rear!), SVT steering wheel, SVT pedals, full factory power windows/mirrors/door locks/ keyless entry conversion, tilt & telescoping steering column, instrument cluster with tach & ST bezel, SVT center console, Factory blaupunkt radio with working AVC, European black dashboard air vents, 2008 "bullit" mustang shift knob, Sparco aluminum e-brake handle (with the SVT silver button), custom redlinegoods leather boots, European "black wood" radio surround with dash clock and the illuminated power port trim ring, European HVAC dials, Stock shifter cut down ~3inches, intermittent wiper control, door lock switch LED mod, dome light with map lights, replacement ignition cylinder, 2004 SVT owners manual & case, cabin air filter

Exterior:

MACH/HID headlights, SVT mirrors, Painted door handles w/ blanked driver door, Painted door trim, SVT glossy door pillar trim, painted trunk handle, SVT degas cover, st170 upper radiator grille with "moondust silver" surround, european 1998 lower radiator grille, factory foglight conversion, clear corner sidemarker lights, 2005+ SAP2 style spoiler, chrome metal "SVT" license plate frame, and of course its been debadged.

Engine, Performance, Etc:

SVT 2003 5-spoke 17" wheels with 215/45ZR17 goodyear eagle f1 all season tires, FRPP SVT brakes (calipers painted black), FRPP SVT suspension, Roush 22mm rear swaybar with polyurethane bushings and endlinks, Prothane polyurethane front swaybar bushings, Focussport Cold Air Intake, FRPP Borla 2.5" stainless steel exhaust, VF rear motor mount, Cosworth balance shaft delete, Russell stainless steel brake lines, Russell speed bleeders, Focussport front strut bar, custom rear stress bar, P-51 rear shims, Brisk LGS spark plugs,

Coming soon:

appearance: custom "EAP style" black perforated leather door inserts, Custom modified Mazda3 engine cover, Painted HIDs (just like cdsilver02), window tint (35% front, 20% rear), "CD silver" frame for the st170 upper grille, lamin-x (once I get the SVT front - clear on the HIDs, yelow on the Fogs), European taillights

engine/performance: Mazdaspeed3 6-speed transmission (with LSD), Oil sump baffle, Exedy clutch kit (probably a stage 2, depends on the mazdaspeed transmission swap and future turbo plans), SVT 16" alloy spare tire, HAWK HPS brake pads (when I need them)

Someday (planned for 2008-2009):

FRPP SVT front fascia kit (CD silver, with the foglight housings painted black), st170 center console with (light grey with "black wood" shifter surround to match the radio surround), Focussport stage 2 turbo kit (with gt28rs, CA-91 octane tune, and raised idle), Autometer NEXUS series gauges (boost/vacuum, wideband, oil temperature), Ported throttle body, Oil cooler, SVT side skirts, tire pressure monitoring system, auto-dimming homelink mirror, modified SAP rear bumper (to fit with 2004 trunk & lights)

Pipe Dream (2009+):

Cosworth Forged connecting rods, Supertech 9.0:1 pistons, Clevite 77 Heavy Duty main bearings, Ford Ranger crankshaft, Crane stage 1 cams, Supertech valves, Supertech valve springs & retainers, Cosworth intake manifold, 60LB fuel injectors, Cosworth head studs, Cosworth main studs, Cosworth crank pulley bolt, Cosworth flywheel bolts, Brembo 328mm GT front brake kit (black calipers), 298mm rear rotor conversion (svt rear calipers, painted black), H&R Touring Suspension, Seibon EVO carbon-fiber hood (painted CD silver), European keys/locks conversion, European hood lock, European under-steering-wheel pocket

Misc:


4/17/2008 - Well... a lot of my short-term future plans may be changing, including forgoing the SVT bumper for the time being... I got a lead on a mazdaspeed 3 6-speed manual transmission (dirt cheap) and may have to jump on it (I know I'll need to have custom axles made, and probably a rear mount, as well as figuring out the shifter, sensors, etc.). The beauty here is that the 6-speed comes with an LSD from the factory, so I won't need the torsen anymore (and I'd be getting the whole tranny for the cost of the torsen.) Anyway, I took some time this week and painted my last door handle bezel, so my driver door is now "blanked" with no key hole. I'm also in the process of painting the HID inserts, and hope to have them finished by the weekend, you can see pictures here. Lastly, I've got a lead on a replacement for the ruined door panel, and my local tint shop (where I'm going to get my tint done) says they should be able to cover the inserts for me, basically free of charge with the tinting.

4/13/2008 - Money is tight and work on the car is slowing down, . Anyway, I updated the pictures with some higher resolution shots of the euro radio bezel. I received my backup HID inserts to prep for painting in the coming weeks, I'll take some pictures along the way and do try to do a write-up of the process at the end. I made a first attempt at covering the door inserts, and wow, worlds harder than I initially thought, I ruined the passenger-rear door panel in the process and have put the project on hold while I look for a replacement. Drama continues with getting my SVT front bumper, but hopefully I'll get it paid for and on its way to me sometime this week. I also found a set of P-51 rear shims, and got them installed, I'm amazed at how much they quieted down the rear suspension. I'm also looking into adding an aftermarket tire pressure monitoring system, hoping I can mold the display into the coin tray area, so it looks close to factory, similar to the european trip computer. Lastly, I've found the passenger side SVT side skirt, still looking for the driver side.

4/3/2008 - Couple more updates, I installed my custom rear stress bar, seems like a solid design (bolted to the top of the shocks) though I'm not sure how it compares to the focussport bar, which almost certainly stiffens the chassis more.) I also got my Euro radio bezel and dash clock installed, and I'm quite happy so far. Lastly, I got my door panels yesterday, now I'm just waiting on the leather (perforated black, to match the shift boots) to cover the inserts before I install them. A couple other tidbits, I'm waiting on an SVT 16" alloy spare tire, and should have my SVT front bumper soon, and I'm still saving for the turbo, though with the economy right now, its going to take longer than I'd like.

3/23/2008 - A few night shots, see thread here: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154282

3/22/2008 - Gave it a quick bath, see thread here: http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154160

3/20/2008 - Today I swapped over the black gauge face for my instrument cluster, and in my opinion it looks worlds better than the grey. I also decided to sell my steeda tri-ax, and instead just cut down my stock shifter by around 3 inches, and at the same time, trimmed a tiny bit of excess leather from the top of the shifter boot, and cleaned up the stitching on the front seam. I also just bought a used Mazda3 engine cover which will have the mazda logo and the "variable timing" text sanded off, and will be painted satin black with a ford emblem molded in. Lastly, I bought a metal license plate frame that just says "SVT."

3/15/2008 - Well, the forced induction bug is gnawing at me more than ever, so as of right now, I'm hoping to save for either the Focussport or F2 stage-2 (intercooled) turbo kit, and I want to have it on by the end of the year. As such, I'm still looking into which clutch I want to purchase now, and after e-mailing Randy at focussport, I'm no longer going through with the 3.82 final drive conversion, just going to swap in the LSD and the appropriate clutch (probably the exedy stage 2 kit.)

3/10/2008 - Anyway, to the best of my knowledge the door panels will be one-of-a-kind as the ZX5 EAP SVT cars didn't have the same leather inserts in the doors that the zx3 models did. I also still need to do some body filler work on the 2005 spoiler, as it sits flatter than the 2000-2004 style did, so if you look closely, there's a slight gap that I need to fill in. Lastly (for the time being) I'm working on modifying the SVT mirrors so that the defrost symbols light up, I'm just trying to find the time to sit down and wire up some green LEDs (what can I say, I really like the factory green illumination.)


Enjoy the few pictures below, you can see the rest of the pictures (and always the newest) at my gallery here:

http://photo.michaelmallon.net/v/fordfocus/

cheers everyone!

-- michael