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Page 1: Information on work that the car needed to get it back on the road.
Page 2: Photos of the car as the work listed was taking place.
Page 3: Photos of the car as of August 2003.
Page 4: NEW! Poll Pictures.
Page 5: Restoration news and photos.
Page 6: Photos of the car categorised by month.
Page 7: A bit of fun.

We've recently acquired a set of five supersport Alloys, these are getting harder and harder to find, with only 3000 sets originally produced - after 20 years there aren't that many around.
Pictures on Page 5!

This is the (Mint Condition, slightly modified) Mk1 Fiesta owned by my brother and I:

Its pretty unique, there aren't that many of these cars left, and certainly very few in this condition. With a bit of care, hopefully it'll still be mint in another 20 years time..

Recordings of the car:

About 30 seconds of Mp3 audio - 0.5Mb. Sound may be a little quiet, i needed a bit of distance between the car and mic to stop the fuzz.

Fiesta Power!

Once again, about 30 seconds of Mp3 audio - 0.5Mb. This one is a little fuzzy, but is a louder recording.

Fiesta Power (Fuzzy)!

Latest Picture Upload:

Background:

The car has been in the family since 1981 when it was bought new from the showroom. It had been sat in the garage for around 16 years without being moved, started or even looked at for 10 of those years. The time came to get it up and running again and to restore it to showroom condition. At this time the car had only done 5900 miles.

When we first had a look at the car back in June 2002 it needed a lot of work to get it ready for its first road test and MOT, as it was we couldn't even turn the car over. So, we had to do the following:

Free seized brakes
Strip and rebuild the carburettor
Change the points in the distributor
Set the points gap
Change the spark plugs and set gaps
Change the tires
Install a new battery
Change the alternator belt

After we managed to get it started for the first time, we booked it in for an MOT.

The garage:

Changed the brake pads
Changed the brake hoses and cables
Set Idle speeds and emissions
Changed the rear windscreen wiper motor
Changed the front windscreen wiper blades
Changed the bulb for the drivers side front indicator
Changed oil
Changed the oil filter
Filled washers (with water and no additive)
Flushed and overfilled coolant (with far too much antifreeze)
Bled brakes and changed brake fluid.

After we had the car back we took care of little jobs such as cleaning the chrome on the car. We had running difficulties due to the car being stood for so long; The pulley wheels on the crank, water pump and alternator were stripping the rubber off the belt, requiring it to be changed after only a few hours of running time. We had to make do with removing rust with emmery cloth, and so far have not had to change the belt again. A little later we removed the starter motor and had it reconditioned locally.

For some reason, the car still had trouble starting and often stalled. After a bit of research and testing, we found that the coil wasn't producing the voltage it should. We bought and installed a new coil, and the situation seemed to improve.

After a few weeks of running, the battery stopped charging.. requiring us to bump start the car in various car parks. We removed the alternator and bought a replacement locally.

As our confidence grew, we decided to test the car at higher speeds, after a few minutes of running at around 70 MPH the clutch plates managed to get stuck, making for some fun at a round-about, several miles from anywhere. After a vicious beating with a hammer (Ok, ramming the gear stick), we managed to get the car into gear and limped back home.

To this date, everything seems to be running in a satisfactory manner, though sometimes the starter gears don't engage until the second turn of the key. We'll let it run in for a few weeks before taking a look again. We haven't tried the car at 70 after the clutch incident, though that should change in the near future.

Tredegar Classic car show pics (and more) new on page 5.

For more up to date information on the restoration of the car, please visit page 5.