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Modification Modification
Car: Ford | Fiesta | CX (Mk3) | XR2i | Hatchback
Engine: BUB | 3189 | V6 | (15º V6) | N/A | Petrol

VAG R32 3.2 V6 4X4 (Quattro) Fiesta project

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

2009 will see a departure from the generation 1 Haldex and 2.0T, and see VAG 3.2 VR6(R32) Power and a Haldex Gen2 drivetrain.

The plan is to use the floor pan from a Golf Mk5 R32 and mate this carefully and safely in to the Fiesta shell, making adjustments and reinforcements where necessary. I will be using as much of the Golf equipment as possible without compromising weight, bespoke lightweight equivalents will be used in place of OEM, where savings can be made.

© Mark Stewart, Thursday 1st January 2009

Fiesta Quattro - 2005

10/11/2005

Picked up an RS2000 4x4 rear-end from Barnsley yesterday. DaveRom came along to join me as we watched the chaps at the scrap yard struggle in taking it to bits so that I could put it in the back of my Fiesta :).

I really can't recommend highly enough the Ford Salvage Centre in Barnsley. You kind of expect to be served by ignorant arseholes at scrap yards, get used to it, but these guys were polite and very helpful. The best I've ever dealt with I think!

Anyway, here's the rear end as it stands at the minute. After a few preliminary measurements the whole assembly needs shortening by over an inch.

I am going to use the Escort arms for making the mock up rear end, cutting them, butt weld and then sleeve for a strong joint. What I'll then do is have a complete set of arms made from billet aluminium. I have a source for the drive shafts and will be fitting HD CV joints.

17/10/2005

The Focus ST box has gone to a friend, and in it's place sits (or will when it arrives!) an Audi 22s Quattro gearbox (TT 225). I always wanted a 4WD Fiesta from day 1, and with the power I'm expecting FWD would have been useless.

Next on the list is a decent Torsen rear diff, I want to keep diff locking mechanical rather than electrical. I'm still looking in to the various options for this, I wanted to use the Audi S4 rear but it is open as standard as the Torsen is the centre diff in that configuration (and apart of the gearbox which is longitudinal). It seems Mazda have a nice one for the MX5, but I need to know if it'll take the 500bhp the S4 one will and is compatible with the 22s gearbox.

EDL (Electronic diff locking) will require the use of a CAN bus network (what modern electronic systems use to communicate with each other) within the car which will take a considerable amount of time to install and integrate with mk3 switchgear. It utilises the ABS system (I am using a Mk5 4 wheel electronic system) to mimic true diff locking, however it's no where near as effective as a Torsen diff.

Pretty small update, I should have more interesting things to add once I've made a rotisserie for the car.

05/05/2005

Had a play around today with the Mk5 secondary door weather seals that I ordered from Ford. The photo's to the right show a Mk5 that I have and how they attatch to the car. I really want toa void welding these on mine as My Mk5 is rusting along the seam at only 16k miles. They trap water.

It took an age to line up the seal bracket son to the car, it took a lot of careful bending. The brackets comefrom Ford way out of shape due to how flimsy they are. I don't know how I shall mount them yet, bonding may be out of the question due to how out of shape they are.

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Some wiring supplies also turned up today from Vehicle Wiring Products, these are good to deal with and delivery is fast. I ordered some wiring to build a new OFAB engine management loom, the wiring is thin wall and in the same colours as Ford used.

03/05/2005

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid, I've got exams in 2 weeks so busy with revision. The sunroof will be a while off yet. I've got a lot of welding and fabrication ahead before the '2nd fix' as it were :).

I've bought myself a welder so I can do my own steel fabrication from now on, and also seam weld the shell. It's a powerful one as far as domestic welders go and requires a 25amp supply. The standard domestic wiring installation supports 13amp.

Luckily in our garages we have decent wiring, and in the garage where my car is there are free slots on the consumer unit. I have added a 32amp circuit for the welder (standard MCB sizes are 16, 20 and 32).

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2 spaces in the consumer unit.

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Plug the wall.

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Fit the socket (Blue 16amp socket, strictly this should be a 32a - but will get me up and running on medium power for now).

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Wire the socket.

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Open consumer unit.

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Hager 32amp MCB.

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In place and wired.

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Finished with the live side.

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Attatch the male socket to the welder power lead.

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Attach welder.

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Ready.

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First attempt, not too bad.

Had an hours work on the car today, finished cleaning up the mid section of underneath, this time the O/S.

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As it was.

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Detail.

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Cleaned.

Today I also ordered most of the wiring accessories that I will need for the project. I managed to get hold of reels of wire in colours that Ford used, which is what I was after. I'm now waiting for Webcon UK to get back to me re: Ford engine management connectors, then I can set about making a brand new OFAB engine management loom custom built to my car and it's one off main loom.

01/05/2005

A very minor update. I need to replace the cable actuated Mk3 heater controls as I will be using a Mk5 ventilation system. The mk5 has electronically actuated temperature adjustment.

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I had a play around with an old mk5 heater control panel.

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Here is where I will be mounting it. This was just a 15 minute test fit; the panel will be straightened out and cut to exact size on the final version. When finished it will look like it was there from the factory.

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Test fit of Mk5 instrument cluster in the Mk3 dash.

24/04/2005

Today I stripped the underside of all removable parts; fuel tank, fixings, pipes, heat shields etc.

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The tank was still half full so I siphoned it dry to make removal simpler.

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The spare wheel carrier was also removed, it's gone for good as the new exhaust system will take up all of the rear space. Here are a couple of shots of the install I did 6 years ago, I will get around to updating it at some point.

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Battery relocated to the boot, and false floor for install so that some load space is still functional.

This is the floor as it is now, lots of wax and underseal.

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The mid section of the car is not undersealed. I spent this afternoon removing all of the wax with petrol and a combination of Brillo pad, toothbrush and cloth.

Still a long way to go.

23/04/2005

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I'm going to source a set of Bi-Xenon projectors and carefully mount them in the Fiesta headlamp using the reflectors from another type of car, I'm having new covers made to replace the stock glass fronts. I've worked most of this out and have contacts ready, but the lighting will be one of the last things I do unfortunately. The finishing touches will be done towards the end of the year :)

22/04/2005

I ordered some Scotchbrite pads this week from RS online (be warned there are cheaper places out there, but delivery is fast & reliable).

I'm using the pads to remove all underseal and take the entire underneath back to bare metal, ready for etch primer and new underseal (in specific places).

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Here is the underside as it was, covered in about 1.5mm of wax. When I took delivery of the shell back in 2000 I spent 3 days and copious amounts of Waxoyl making sure it wouldn't rust...

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Here’s what the N/S looked like after 10 minutes with the angle grinder and Scotchbrite pad. I found the electric drill lacking in power and it tended to burr the underseal and not fetch it off cleanly. The drill is only really useful for the hard to reach places..and there are lots of those:

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Long exposure to show more detail.

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I've got limited time to spend on the project at the moment due to revision, so standard Grey Primer was used to protect the exposed metal. This will be removed when I've finished removing all of the underseal and in its place will sit a nice coat of etch primer.

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m1k3_w47715 was kind enough to donate a pair of ST170 hubs to the cause! Big thanks to Mike ;)

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Superflex Polyurethane ARB bushes. This is the only place on the car I will be using Poly bushes, the ARB bushes take some punishment so it's worthwhile in this area.

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Low screen wash level sensor from a Ghia. This will be wired up to my Mk5 clocks.

Some of the Ford parts I need for the project have been delivered, I've no doubt that a need for more will arise though!

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Mk5 secondary weather seals for the doors. At speeds over a ton the top of the doors flex and the result is a lot of wind noise. These strips should go somewhere towards stopping that. I'm going to bond the brackets on, as a lot of Mk5's rust out from the spot welds the top of the rail (it traps water).

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A fresh set of decals for the car, including the engine bay which will be resprayed to match the car colour (Metallic Mk3.5 engine bays were left in etch primer).

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Any parts that are not in 'as new' condition are being replaced along with all the suspension bushes & components just to be on the safe side. Even though most parts have only done 700ish miles I want the car to be perfect:

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The magic button!

20/04/2005

Small update. The rear calipers arrived this morning, very good condition and the pads have still got a lot of life left in them. I've had red calipers before and they didn't look too great against my burgundy car, so I'll strip these down and have them powder coated silver to match the fronts. Replacement Brembo decals can be bought on eBay.

Now I have both front and rear calipers I can begin to determine the square area of each caliper piston, in order to calculate the total fluid displacement within the system (also allowing for pad wear and brake lines). This is used as a requirement for master cylinder size, and the ratio of the SportKA brake pedal is used to determine if adequate brake line pressure will be available. I will post more when I've learnt exactly what needs to be done.

I have also ordered a few Scotchbrite pads to begin stripping the underseal from under the car. I'll get cracking at the weekend. I'll (etch)prime first and I aim to give it a finish as good as the top sides. It'll be my first time painting with a compressor/gun so I'm expecting a few mistakes!

18/04/2005

Well, I've been through phases of wanting to sell her and wanting to keep her. I figure it's not worth anything other than to me, and as it's a fine base to start with I will be undertaking one last 'Fiesta Project'.

The rationale for this project is as follows; I've learnt quite a lot since the last Zetec turbo so the S4 project aside this will be an ideal chance to do something different. I also feel that the car could do with bringing 'up-to-date' as I enjoy learning about new technologies and I have plenty in store for the car.

As with previous incarnations I'm not looking to create the loudest, most powerful and ostentatious car. It's going to be firmly driver orientated and tastefully done. I've reconsidered my original engine spec which would have seen power up towards 400BHP. I want the car to be quick, and that doesn't always equal big BHP so revisions were made, however the engine will be built to allow for safe, future increases up to that amount.

The chassis will be as strong as possible without doing anything radical such as a weld in roll cage, seam welding is a possibility. I'll be making few braces for the running gear and chassis, particularly at the front end. However, there will be a firm luxury element. No knocks, bangs or harshness. Anybody can create a rock hard & unforgiving car, but it takes more thought to create one equally as good that is still comfortable. I like to use the car in 'everyday' circumstances.

Enough of the talk, here are some quick (read poor) preliminary photo's of the components I have amassed to date. There are lots more but I will post when I fully decide what direction I take and Uni is finished.

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SportKA PAS rack. Matched to my ST170/Focus RS PAS pump which has unique valving for sports applications. The Sport KA rack will enable me to run 20mm extra front track and provide a nicer feel on the road.

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Believe it or not this is from a '53 plate car. Lots of farm tracks around here, it'll clean up fine.

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Pedal box assembly from SportKA. I'm performing a hydraulic clutch conversion so that I can run a HD clutch without encroaching on pedal feel. Modifications to bulkhead and steering column required:

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Master cylinder and brake booster from aforementioned KA. Temporary measure until a VAG setup is sourced:

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SportKA front hubs, +20mm lower arms (cast for strength). Also hub carriers with revised gearbox mount, ideal for my gearbox conversion. The S brace is both stronger and lighter than the mk3 version.

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Hubs have integral ABS sensors, needed as I'm wiring in 4 wheel electronic ABS.

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Puma VCT gearbox mounts, may be of some use yet. Not sure at this point.

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ST170 wiring loom. The heart of any modern Ford electronics system is the General Electronics Module (GEM). I'm cutting this system from the ST170 loom to gain radio frequency locking, control of double locks and a security system.

The GEM is integrated with many functions of the car including lighting and wipers. I will be utilising its functionality to the maximum to provide functions such as automatic wipe when wash, rear wipe in reverse, interior light delay etc.

The front brakes, Focus RS 330mm with 4 piston alu calipers. 16" Superleggera’s to cut down unsprung weight. Billet hubs are something I'm looking in to. Front drive shafts are going to be equal length to cut down on torque steer.

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Porsche are a company that takes braking very seriously, look at their top steel systems and the rear calipers and discs are the same size enabling them to have powerful yet controlled brakes. An example of this is on track days, RS4's with Mov'it front 380 6's cant touch GT3's for braking unless the rears are done to compliment

My rear brakes are Focus ST170 front 300mm discs and Brembo 2 piston calipers, with a separate handbrake caliper. A lot of people claim large rear brakes are overkill, this is horse, the rear brakes must be relative in size to the fronts to provide an even spread of torque across the system. A well balanced system equates to shorter stopping distances

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Focus, Mondeo and Golf IV A/C system's. Parts of each will be utilised to improve on the low capacity Mk5 Fiesta system. Wiring will be custom and I will be retaining the Mk3 dashboard.

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Mk5 clocks with rev counter...in black. Thanks to Project for these ;)

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GRS EVO3 I/C and rear strut brace. IC may be changed when the front of the car has been re-worked (tubular front cross member to give clearance for a larger radiator & cooler).

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Electric & heated mirrors, heating will be controlled by the GEM.

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The power plant, ST170 turbo. It will be all steel internals which are still to come across from the states. I've commissioned a custom inlet manifold that has been made a person who works on the US Indy series. He has taken a particular interest in the Zetec. The manifold has been designed around what I want from the engine, which is driveability and effortless torque throughout the rev range.

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ST 6-Speed gearbox. I'm worried about it's torque capacity, Getrag don't put a very high torque rating on the box, but then neither did Ford on the B5. It's a gamble at this stage. The ST gearbox is geared for 185mph at 8krpm in 6th. It'll be flat out whenever the opportunity arises.

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A little dusty..she's been in there for a few years now..Still only on 38k miles..

More updates soon.

17/04/2005

In the scrap yard today helping a friend to get most of a SportKa so he could to upgrade his girlfriends Ka, I got the sunroof on the off-chance it would fit a Mk3. It doesn't, the roof is a slightly different shape. It was no loss though as it sold on ebay for a decent amount.

15/04/2005

Ordered a set of Mk5 chrome sill protectors for the car today, they should fit in theory and they do. I'm not sure about them now though, I think black may look better!

© Mark Stewart, Saturday 31st December 2005
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