Xantiaman's Blog

[XantiaMan]

It looked tidy but it wasnt even close to your Activa Chris!

I'll never have a Montego again, no good cars exist now..The Maestro will eventually have some work done, i know the interior will fit in the attic now, so this will be stripped out and a section welding into the roof and we can start the repaint then!

Fair to say I wasnt expecting much of the Fiesta when I got it, but its very well damped and long distance travelling is not a problem, it resists understeer very well and communicates every step of the way, completely unlike the old Mk3 Fiesta which had a diabolical chassis.

Would love to try a Puma 1.7, not lots of power but you dont always need lots, just look at the Activa..

[lexi]

Good new on little Fiesta.
A mate of mine was Havering about V70 est and done all the homework. He backed off after delving in deeper.
Chasing constant problems..........life is too short.

[XantiaMan]

Good new on little Fiesta.
A mate of mine was Havering about V70 est and done all the homework. He backed off after delving in deeper.
Chasing constant problems..........life is too short.

Thats the conclusion i came to. I started to not enjoy it, totally defeating the purpose of the car.

This is what it looked like in the end.





In total i must have put about £1k into it, when the new owner picked it up he was fully aware it needed a few bits to finish off, after a week he emailed me saying he was furious he had to put a new balljoint and exhaust hanger on it Tough s**t is what i say, i told him everything the car needed, putting the purchase cost into the equation i lost £1200 Lesson learnt.

Here is the little Fiesta -





There are so many dogs out there, so i'm pretty reluctant to move it on when we need something bigger because the overall condition is exceptional and its a real testament to how well Ford could build a small car when they tried, and main dealer servicing too. Of course, being in a garage overnight most of its life helped, and a caring owner..

[Citroenmad]

Would love to try a Puma 1.7, not lots of power but you dont always need lots, just look at the Activa..

Ive driven a couple and thought about buying one many times, they drive very nicely and the engine is very revy. The steering I liked, very direct and weighted just right.

In total i must have put about £1k into it, when the new owner picked it up he was fully aware it needed a few bits to finish off, after a week he emailed me saying he was furious he had to put a new balljoint and exhaust hanger on it Tough (-expletive removed-) is what i say, i told him everything the car needed, putting the purchase cost into the equation i lost £1200 Lesson learnt.


There are so many dogs out there, so i'm pretty reluctant to move it on when we need something bigger because the overall condition is exceptional and its a real testament to how well Ford could build a small car when they tried, and main dealer servicing too. Of course, being in a garage overnight most of its life helped, and a caring owner..

I would never knowingly sell a car with faults, though if the seller is aware of then fair enough. I would be furious if someone bought a car from me and rang to complain about having to replace a balljoint and exhaust hanger! If they dont want to replace bits of a used car, they should buy a new car ... with a warranty. I bet you wish you never bought it now, £1200 is a noticeable amount to lose in such a short period.

Your Fiesta looks stunning, you don't often see them that clean now, even some early Mk6s are starting to look a bit ropey. Just shows its all down to how a car is looked after and used.

[XantiaMan]

Update on the Puma.

I repaired and repainted the rusty arches





Passenger side wasnt half as bad! So it ended up without rusty arches which is unusual for a Puma!

Fitted brand new, genuine Ford discs and pads, genuine Ford exhaust system, oil change with fully synthetic 5w 30 and genuine filter, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs etc.

Then i gave it a full polish and valet.












And then i sold it!! Not because i had to, or wanted to, but a friend of mine at one of the dealerships i do work for wanted a good car for his other half, who has been looking sometime for a decent one, so Friday night, off it went!

Didnt really get much chance to enjoy it, but i loved it, great buzzy engine and brilliant handling out the box, very very very under-rated!!

It has been all change recently here, as i changed my van last weekend. The 54 plat Transit was getting pretty ropey underneath and i was struggling to justify/find the time to spend on keeping it looking good, kinda important when the business i run is meant to keep your car looking mint!

I finished paying for my Mondeo in December so there was a bit of budget available for a newer van, so i got this -



2008, 2.2 TDCi 85PS which has already been remapped to 115PS, it has A/C like the old van, parking sensors in the rear step, bluetooth pack that works with the OE radio/CD which also has an Aux in for my iPod, hillassist, ESP, ABS, only thing it doesnt have is electric windows or cruise control!

I've fitted the higher spec wheel trims like my old van, stainless steel tread plates for the front bumper, and side body mouldings, which very few Transits had.

Once i've sorted out a few bits and pieces of bodywork ( it is a commercial so not mint like a 4 year old car) it will be signwritten up. Also planning on painting the front bumper section like higher spec models.

I got some pukka seat covers for it too, to keep it as clean as i can.

[Citroenmad]

Top work on that arch Gareth, looks better than new!

Your friend no doubt got a very good Puma there, not many have such fresh arches and I bet it was a good car in all other areas too. They are cracking cars to drive and for bargain prices.

Your new van looks very smart, silver is always a better colour than white for a Transit. Hillassist, what does that do then? Is it where te brake stays on for a few seconds between you taking your foot off the clutch and putting it onto the accelerator? Can you not add cruise control to it?

[XantiaMan]

Quick post, hope the picture does the talking..

[Citroenmad]

Fiesta Zetec-S, looks nice Gareth

Any interior shots?

[Deanxm]

Is this instead of or as well as the Puma? looks very tidy anyway.

D

[XantiaMan]

I sold the Puma, so it's instead of. No interior shots yet, it's not clean!

[Citroenmad]

I sold the Puma, so it's instead of. No interior shots yet, it's not clean!

So this is to run along side your Si? Your getting quite a fleet

What do these come with? AC? Leather?

You just need to drop a 1.7 Puma engine in and it will be a nice track day car.

[XantiaMan]

The Si is going ! Will be very sad to see it go it's been flawless tbh.

This one has working ac, electric windows, abs, traction control, leather wheel with blue trim and leather gear knob, 6 cd dash changer etc, it's 1.6, 103ps, not much faster than the 1.4 but handles tighter which is what I was looking for, plus I love the look!

[Citroenmad]

I didn't expect it to have traction control or a CD changer, are those options?

Does it need its rear arches reworking or are they tidy? Looks good in the pic.

[KP]

Not bad and not much less grunt than the 1.7 and a filter and exhaust could soon have it up there im sure

The van looks tidy Gareth Do they do Cruise Control on these things yet as its not something i've seen in the brochures last time i looked, a few years ago admittedly but still the same shape

[XantiaMan]

CD changer built into the head unit was standard at this late build, low speed traction control was also standard.

The arches have small amounts of bubbling but if i catch it now and keep it tidy it shouldnt need new arches yet.

Performance wise its not a rocket ship, it has a useful amount of extra torque over the 1.4, its not much slower than the 1.7 and with a PCM reset and full service should perform well enough to leave it standard.

Cruise control was available on Trend spec Transits.

I've had it sign written now



It also sports a colour coded front bumper section.