Katiegan's Garage | Winter Plans

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:lol:! A V8 would be pretty nice to put in him... but a FWD V8? :scared:

Personally, I'd love the 2.5 V6 engine the Zetec S has, or maybe even the 3.0 V6 the ST has, but they might be a bit thirsty, so we'll probably just end up getting another 2.0 Zetec. However, if this Lucas Oil stuff can help him out even more, we may be able to get away without a new engine until next year. Hopefully.

Thanks for all the comments guys, I'm glad to see you're all happy he's staying too! 👍
 
Katiegan
:lol:! A V8 would be pretty nice to put in him... but a FWD V8? :scared:
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Why not? The Cadillac Eldorado had a 8.2L V8 and it was FWD. 400hp and 550lb-ft of torque it was rated.
 
I haven't got the money for a new set of tyres every month. :p
 
Just a small update.

Last night we went over to see an old friend who we used to show with back in Bruiser's glory days. The last time we set off to go over to see him, Bruiser's gearbox blew up. Well this time, we made it there fine. On the way back, at about 3am, we stopped off at a truck stop for something to eat. Got back to Bruiser and he decided he didn't need working headlights. So for about 10 minutes we were fiddling with fuses in the dark and pouring rain trying to persuade Bruiser that headlights were needed. Eventually the persuading worked and the headlights came back on again, and we carried on home. When we got home and put him in the garage, the reverse lights didn't work. Today we tried fixing his new electrical fault, but it seems the fusebox behind the glovebox doesn't like being touched, so the headlights work again now but we still have no reverse lights. My dad is now convinced Bruiser is possessed and is a modern day Christine.
 
Katiegan
My dad is now convinced Bruiser is possessed and is a modern day Christine.
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What exactly does this mean, though? (Keeping/selling/etc/what?)

I'd love a modern-day Christine. (Ok... maybe not. Definitely not.)
 
I'm not entirely sure. He seemed to be annoyed with the car again and saying he's 'had enough', although I haven't heard him say we're selling him again. I'll have to wait and see what he thinks after we've sorted out this light problem.
 
8 pages later, I'm a little dizzy, also that throttle-body pic made me cringe a little, lol (GM tech for a living)

But reading up on the life Bruiser has lived, I can't say I disapprove of anything you've done to him, it's all tasteful-upgrades or changes and it's nothing crazy like rubber-cementing a Auto-Zone hood-scoop to the hood :rolleyes:. (I've seen this more than I'd like to admit)

Has he seen any suspension work at all ?, if not and you like to 'hoon' a bit (like say through some hills), I'd recommend looking into upgrading the sway-bars for starters (does he have any now ?, not familiar w/ Ford), that'll increase his willing-ness to carve-up curves greatly.

I'll have to get my thread up this weekend and show you how a 'Hondurr' does it :lol:
 
Id guess that that fuse is located under the bonnet, rather than in behind the glovebox.
Its a bit more important than the power socket fuse, or the radio fuse.
But I could be way off.
Either way, you'll need to go in there to get your fuse-puller out anyway, right?
They are a common thing on Mondys, fuses.
Used to blow them a lot back when I was driving a lot of mondeos.
And all sorts would go.
Not just the headlights, or powers socket, or radio, but the seats, and the clox, and all sorts of stuff.
It's easy to get despondent, but if you can get a 2.2 or even just a six-speed TDCI130 in there, it'll be a great car to go anywhere in.
Just don't go the way of the Vauxhall, and I'll keep reading your thread.

:irked:👍
 
Kurei
8 pages later, I'm a little dizzy, also that throttle-body pic made me cringe a little, lol (GM tech for a living)

But reading up on the life Bruiser has lived, I can't say I disapprove of anything you've done to him, it's all tasteful-upgrades or changes and it's nothing crazy like rubber-cementing a Auto-Zone hood-scoop to the hood :rolleyes:. (I've seen this more than I'd like to admit)

Has he seen any suspension work at all ?, if not and you like to 'hoon' a bit (like say through some hills), I'd recommend looking into upgrading the sway-bars for starters (does he have any now ?, not familiar w/ Ford), that'll increase his willing-ness to carve-up curves greatly.

I'll have to get my thread up this weekend and show you how a 'Hondurr' does it :lol:
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Thank you! No, we'd never go crazy on him, just tasteful little things. Apart from the sound system... but that was a while ago when my dad owned a company that built them.

At the moment he has lowering springs, which are great for cornering around the endless amount of hills here in the Pennines, however they're a tad too hard and provide quite a rough ride :sick:. I'd love to get some proper coilovers or something, but our funds won't allow for that.

I'm very much looking forward to your Hondurr thread! :sly:

VEXD
Id guess that that fuse is located under the bonnet, rather than in behind the glovebox.
Its a bit more important than the power socket fuse, or the radio fuse.
But I could be way off.
Either way, you'll need to go in there to get your fuse-puller out anyway, right?
They are a common thing on Mondys, fuses.
Used to blow them a lot back when I was driving a lot of mondeos.
And all sorts would go.
Not just the headlights, or powers socket, or radio, but the seats, and the clox, and all sorts of stuff.
It's easy to get despondent, but if you can get a 2.2 or even just a six-speed TDCI130 in there, it'll be a great car to go anywhere in.
Just don't go the way of the Vauxhall, and I'll keep reading your thread.

:irked:👍
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Yeah, we were Googling at the side of the road about fuses and it seems the ones under the bonnet are the ones we need to look at. The headlights work if the wires behind the glovebox are in a certain position, but the reverse lights aren't working at all. We've had the clocks go before now, and that was pretty scary the first time it happened.

Don't worry, I'd never get a Vauxhall. As the old saying goes, I'd rather push a Ford than drive a Vauxhall. :sly:
 
Not at the moment. The headlights are still a bit iffy but they usually work after a few flicks of the switch. Not a lot of money means not a lot of updates! :p
 
No, it's a Greek Mondeo I saw on Facebook and just loved the way it looked. I'm planning on making Bruiser look very similar!
 
Zyla
You've got one great-looking car there, Katie. 👍
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Thanks! :D

I have a small update! Went into town today and noticed at the traffic lights that Bruiser's rough idle is back, and quite badly too. I doubt the throttle body will have clogged up this much since I last cleaned it so it might be the EGR valve... he doesn't drop revs again too although his RPM is below 1000, whereas it used to be just above 1000 after I cleaned the throttle body.
 
Conbon14
Could it be a MAF sensor?
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I doubt it, because Bruiser doesn't have one. :p

I've looked on Google and on a few forums and it could be a vacuum leak, too. I'll suggest the ideas to my dad and see what he thinks. I also really wish he'd check the spark plugs to find out if there's any oil on them, but he seems reluctant to do so. I might end up doing it myself one day if he doesn't. If there is, they'll be no point trying to sort out the rough idle until we sort out the engine first.
 
Katiegan
I doubt it, because Bruiser doesn't have one. :p

I've looked on Google and on a few forums and it could be a vacuum leak, too. I'll suggest the ideas to my dad and see what he thinks. I also really wish he'd check the spark plugs to find out if there's any oil on them, but he seems reluctant to do so. I might end up doing it myself one day if he doesn't. If there is, they'll be no point trying to sort out the rough idle until we sort out the engine first.
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Why dont you check yourself? Removing Spark Plugs isn't that hard.
 
I can't just grab the car keys and do whatever I want with the car. My dad won't let me. Like I said, I'll probably end up doing it on a later day, when my dad isn't there.
 
This morning on the way to school, Bruiser passed 84,000 miles!

533765_607214855996573_1992224760_n.jpg


Excuse the dust, I haven't cleaned the interior recently.

Tomorrow me and my dad will be servicing Bruiser, so hopefully that might help the burning oil problem and the rough idle. I'll also try and get my dad to check the spark plugs, but I have no idea why he won't do it. It's as if he doesn't want to find out the problem, even though he claims to be 'losing sleep' over trying to figure it out.
 
So I serviced Bruiser today...

BUHvm4IIEAA5xdO.jpg


And I checked the spark plugs. And it wasn't good. #1 and #2 were covered in oil, #1 especially, #3 wasn't exatcly dry but #4 was fine.

BUH3e72IUAA9EjQ.jpg


At least now we know it's the piston rings, but I feel it's too late now. If my dad would've actually listened to me and checked them months before, we could've saved up enough money to get the engine sorted in time for the MOT. That's looking less likely now, as my dad was planning on putting Bruiser in early, at the end of November instead of December like it usually is. But there's a very slim chance we can save up £2k from now to November.

On the plus side, changing the spark plugs helped the idle again, because #1 was pretty fewked anyway.

BUH35fhIYAAWbBy.jpg
 
Excuse me while I hurl' around the corner :sick:

Other than the next MOT, what's the plan from here ?, engine-replacement ?, a 'poke-stroke-&boost' or not sure ?
 
Either an engine re-build or replacement is needed for sure, depends how far gone the current one is. After that, it'll be a clutch replacement, and then we'll get to work on the body. Strip down all the panels, sort out the squeeks and rattles, sort out the rust, sort out the paint, and then hopefully new bumpers and lights. A boosted engine does sound very tasty, but we need cheap options. :p Personally I'd like to stick a Focus RS engine in or something, but with the small amount of time to save up, that might be a few years down the line.
 
Katiegan
Either an engine re-build or replacement is needed for sure, depends how far gone the current one is. After that, it'll be a clutch replacement, and then we'll get to work on the body. Strip down all the panels, sort out the squeeks and rattles, sort out the rust, sort out the paint, and then hopefully new bumpers and lights. A boosted engine does sound very tasty, but we need cheap options. :p Personally I'd like to stick a Focus RS engine in or something, but with the small amount of time to save up, that might be a few years down the line.
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Wow, the car seems so healthy judging by how it looks cosmetically. Didn't realize it was so sick underneath the hood. :(
 

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