Preparation for our first F Race
2019-07-31: By the F'kin car for F-200 race!
Here it is - 2000' Ford Focus, 1.8i petrol, 85 kW, 115 HP!
2019-08-01, 02: make it legal on road and do all the paper work (change the owner, buy the insurance).
Done with no issues!
2019-08-03: make it run not only on 2 cylinders!
The day we bought it, Ford engine was running just on 2 cylinders. There were no spark on 2 and 3. We suspected the coil pack failure. After quick tests with multi-meter, there were nothing bad in readings in wiring to coil pack. Replacing coil pack with the same type coil pack from neighbor's Lotus kit-car, hypothesis was confirmed - our coil is faulty. So we bought another one from the scrapyard. Done. After easy replace engine start running on 4 cylinders! We we ready to do some test drive!
2019-08-05: eliminate the AirBag and ABS systems
As we are going to F-200 race, there is a 100% probability that airbags would blow off straight to your face after the collision on the first corner. So we eliminated the system removing fuses and physically disconnecting bag's plug on a steering wheel. There is no need to have ABS and Traction Control systems to work as well (surprisingly they were still working fine), so appropriate fuses were removed. Lots of warning lights came up on a dashboard that looked like a Christmas tree!
2019-08-06, 07: check overheating issues
After some intense testing, we noticed that antifreeze after hard driving and stopping starts to boil. However, vents were not switching on in neither 1st, neither 2nd speed. Also it was interesting that gauge on dashboard showed normal temperature all the time, even coolant was boiling!
There were hypothesis raised, like water pump is faulty, auxiliary belt is worn out, thermostat is not working, vents are not working, there is more water in the system than the coolant, the expansion tank cap is bad (as it seemed to be reducing the pressure all the time not just reaching 1.2bar pressure)...
So decided to start with least costing things - checking electricity, fuses, relays of vents. Result? Nothing, everything seemed to be working as intended. Then decided to change the coolant - boom! Boiling stopped. We changed the tank cap as well, just in case. Besides that, we spotted that cabin vent is not blowing as it should be, even on a max speed position and the reason was - extremely dirty cabin filter. For now we just removed it.
2019-08-08: prepare for the race
- mark your car with a start number on the roof
- make sure that towing hooks are there and visible
- build engine cover together with front lower impact bar
- delete or strengthen exhaust silencer at the end
- remove hood locking system adding racing style retainers
- do the wheels alignment
- save the radiator and grills
- make camouflage for front headlights replacement
- clean car cabin, windows
- place quick service / remedy stuff to the car (extra coolant, oil, socket sets...)
Here it is - 2000' Ford Focus, 1.8i petrol, 85 kW, 115 HP!
Done with no issues!
2019-08-03: make it run not only on 2 cylinders!
The day we bought it, Ford engine was running just on 2 cylinders. There were no spark on 2 and 3. We suspected the coil pack failure. After quick tests with multi-meter, there were nothing bad in readings in wiring to coil pack. Replacing coil pack with the same type coil pack from neighbor's Lotus kit-car, hypothesis was confirmed - our coil is faulty. So we bought another one from the scrapyard. Done. After easy replace engine start running on 4 cylinders! We we ready to do some test drive!
As we are going to F-200 race, there is a 100% probability that airbags would blow off straight to your face after the collision on the first corner. So we eliminated the system removing fuses and physically disconnecting bag's plug on a steering wheel. There is no need to have ABS and Traction Control systems to work as well (surprisingly they were still working fine), so appropriate fuses were removed. Lots of warning lights came up on a dashboard that looked like a Christmas tree!
2019-08-06, 07: check overheating issues
After some intense testing, we noticed that antifreeze after hard driving and stopping starts to boil. However, vents were not switching on in neither 1st, neither 2nd speed. Also it was interesting that gauge on dashboard showed normal temperature all the time, even coolant was boiling!
There were hypothesis raised, like water pump is faulty, auxiliary belt is worn out, thermostat is not working, vents are not working, there is more water in the system than the coolant, the expansion tank cap is bad (as it seemed to be reducing the pressure all the time not just reaching 1.2bar pressure)...
So decided to start with least costing things - checking electricity, fuses, relays of vents. Result? Nothing, everything seemed to be working as intended. Then decided to change the coolant - boom! Boiling stopped. We changed the tank cap as well, just in case. Besides that, we spotted that cabin vent is not blowing as it should be, even on a max speed position and the reason was - extremely dirty cabin filter. For now we just removed it.
2019-08-08: prepare for the race
- mark your car with a start number on the roof
- make sure that towing hooks are there and visible
- build engine cover together with front lower impact bar
- delete or strengthen exhaust silencer at the end
- remove hood locking system adding racing style retainers
- do the wheels alignment
- save the radiator and grills
- make camouflage for front headlights replacement
- clean car cabin, windows
- place quick service / remedy stuff to the car (extra coolant, oil, socket sets...)
Just 1 day before the race, evening was busy working on small tweaks, engine guard brace. Part I liked most was attention our Focus received that evening, all nearest neighbors came to check what's going on. Was very fun to us and them as well.
Luckily almost all todo list was set to done and we were ready for the tomorrow's action!
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