Detailing World Forum banner

Focus rs mk1 diary.

100K views 154 replies 45 participants last post by  ALANSHR 
#1 · (Edited)
Focus rs mk1 restoration

Hello to all at DW. Thought I would start a diary of my new project FRS mk1.

The story starts about four weeks ago when I was on my way to pick up my 2nd mondeo st220, I love these cars but more about that in another thread. So a short train ride from Northampton to Leighton Buzzard and I meet my dad who was giving me a lift to surrey where the mondeo was located.

After a couple hours driving we arrived in surrey. With the money and paper work sorted I jumped into my new mondeo said goodbye to my dad and started the long drive back to Kettering.

On the drive back I couldn't help but notice just how many ford focus mk2 rs and st are on the roads! This got me thinking, my 2nd car (focus st3) has to go!

I'd been considering a frs mk1 for a while so the decision was easy.

A week later the fst was replaced with an rs and soon this was parked on the driveway.



I got the car relatively cheap compared to the average asking price of a half decent example but as the saying goes "you get what you pay for"😖

So I'll start with the cars good points.

The engine has recently been rebuilt and live mapped up to 300bhp and pulls very strong. The gear box also feels nice and tight with a new clutch fitted at same time as the engine rebuild.

The interior is pretty good and just needs a good clean.

Now for the not so good bits😒

The body work is starting to show its age with a few rusty patches (luckily not on the rear arches) and and the front bumper having clearly been repaired more than once.

The underside will need stripping down and re-sealing and a small repair to one of the jacking points.

It's rubbing on the front arch liners with only the slightest steering lock! Why do people choose stance over drivability/comfort???????

Most the bushes are well past there best so will be replaced with powerflex items.

This weekend just gone I attempted to adjust the front ride height, I say attempted because it didn't exactly go to plan. The spring seats had seized solid and all I achieved was two damaged C spanners 😠. Add new Coilovers to the to the parts list.

So with the coilovers not budging I tackled the front bumper instead. After removing the head lights and a few nuts and bolts the bumper was off.

This revealed some pretty shoddy repairs.


 
See less See more
11
#4 ·
My bumper isn't much better if I'm honest the same dodgy repairs and the prices of a replacement are extortionate your looking at £350 for another used damaged bumper and £700 for a reproduction.

The price of used parts really has put me off ownership I've only had mine 6 months and it's already up for sale I can't justify putting anymore money into it knowing I'll never get it back and having come from a mk2 ST it's a real eye opener at just how raw the RS is from the opposite ends of the spectrum compared to the mk2.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Small update.

Due to work and prepping my other car for sale I've not had much time for the rs, but have managed a couple of hours here and there. First off the front bumper is still in my garage and I've almost removed all the old repairs. So far I've found 9 cracks that need repairing and I'm yet to rub down the right hand corner where there's a few more. I have managed to rebuild the left hand top corner that hat a hole in. I used fibre glass sheet and resin layered up to back fill and reinforce the area.





Whilst the front bumper has been off I've been able to have a good look at the brackets that the charge cooler rad is mounted to. These are definitely in need of some attention.





Next up was the sills. I had noticed some slight bubbling above the side skirts so with a little persuasion the skirts were removed which revealed this.




Not as bad as I was expecting on the passenger side with just two small holes that need welding up. This sill has definitely been replaced looking at the nice big line of welding.

The drivers side was a different story however and definitely in need of attention.



Lots of what I hope is just surface rust.

Plans for this weekend are to clean up the sills read for repair and protection.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Update on the sills. I started on the drivers side which I thought was original. Turns out there was so much surface rust it was hiding the evidence this sill had also been replaced. Here's some pics.




The metal cleaned up nicely. But upon further inspection it turns out the original sill has not been cut out and the replacement sill has just been welded on top of the old one😠.

This obviously is causing a moisture trap so I'll probably have to have the sills replaced. I'll make sure its done properly this time!
 
#18 ·
wow, thats shocking! lovely cars but that welding looks nasty. i cannot beleive how crusty these are. great to see its getting the TLC it deserves. a neighbour of mine has one with 33k and FFSH, i was tempted to buy it as he has mk2 rs2000 low miler and his wife wants him to sell the Mk1 RS. just goes to show you what can be lurking behind sills etc.

good luck!
 
#20 ·
That's some shocking welding but it's obviously been done that way as it's covered by the body kit and from what I've seen its the norm and there are far worse out there.

I saw one a couple of weeks ago that was having some "rust repair" where the owner had said he couldn't afford to have the rust on the arches cut out and replaced (anpther area prone to rusting is the o/s rear arch) so they simply filled it full of filler so in 6 months time it'll just bubble through again totally pointless to me.

Your doing what plenty of people would dread uncovering horrors under hidden trims
 
#22 · (Edited)
Another update on the sills. Had a guy come round today with a good reputation among triumph owners. He gave me a quote to replace both sills which was alot more than I was expecting! The sills are go going to have to wait for a while though as it's insurance renewal time soon so money is tight😒. I'll keep looking to see if there's someone else who can do the job for a more reasonable price.
For now I'll crack on with the bumper which is coming along nicely and has only cost me £30 so far.
 
#23 ·
More updates and some pictures of fords excellent corrosion protection 😆.

Firstly I found someone else who can replace the sills at a more reasonable price. Its another person in the classic car resto business so has plenty of experience with this kind of work.

To get the ball rolling I have removed the inner arch liners front and rear and also loosened the front wings to save on a bit of labour. I have also bought the new sill panels and have primed them with bilt hamber electrox.

Now for some pics of what I discovered when I removed the rear arch liners and proof that fords idea of corrosion protection is erm....sh##!!!!





Rear of the car stripped out for better access to the areas that need repairing.

.

That's it for now. I'm waiting for it to go into the work shop then it will probably be time for some new paint
 
#25 · (Edited)
That, unfortunately, is going to need a lot of metal work.

Just don't understand the build quality issues with these. I've seen similar issues on them though.

To be brutally honest fella, I'd get it assessed before you do too much work on it. I wouldn't want you throw good money after bad. It may end up needing far more work than it appears. Such is the awful way of the tin worm. Given the 'quality' of some of the work seen so far, I'd be wondering what other delights are awaiting discovery.......

Sorry.
 
#26 ·
Cheers for the heads up👍 As said I'm waiting for it to be taken away and assessed/repaired. Like you say depending on how bad the rot is will dictate how far I take improving the car.

From my investigations so far the rust seems limited to the sills and rear inner arches. The boot floor seems to be in good shape and the front end what you'd expect for a car of its age.

I hope I'm not being naive and when it does finally go to the workshop it's not all bad news😓
 
#32 ·
No worries. I just wondered if it as worth keeping in the back of your mind once you figure out the position.with your.shell.

If yours is saveable, then it might well be a source of panels/metal you can cut out to repair yours. If your turns.out to be too far gone, you could perhaps reshell yours into that....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top