September 1998

22.09.98
Re-fitted the brake servo and brake transfer bar. Fitted the Mocal remote oil filter plate to the inside of the front wing. Fitted the inlet manifold to see how much room is left for the twin 40's. Looks adequate.
14.09.98
Pushed the car out of the garage and swept the floor clean. I'm going to try to get some prices on driveshafts soon. Might have to wait until next month, as I've got a heavy workload at work at the moment, so the car will have to take second place for a few weeks.
10.09.98
Bolted the new front suspension to the near side. The five speed fitting kit actually fits! It uses a new bracket (L shaped) that bolts to the front cross member. A new tie bar replaces the original item. It's basically a modified tie-bar, with the forged end removed, and a new bracket welded in its place. The tie-bar uses the Mk2 XR2 bushes where it bolts to the new L-bracket. The really neat part is the strut that runs from the L-bracket to the chassis leg where the track control arm fits. It runs underneath the gearbox, and adds strength where its needed, since the mod to the chassis for the five speed box removed quite a big section of the chassis leg. I'm actually impressed. I've used new track control arms, as the original ones are very rusty. The arms are made from pressed steel, which is in a U-shape section. I've welded some 2mm steel plate to the back of the arms, to beef them up a bit (they're now a proper box section), and to provide a mounting platform for the front anti-roll bar that I'm going to fit. I've also used the new PowerFlex bushes in the arms. Put the wheels back on, and lowered the car back to the ground. Next job is to get some drive shafts.
07.09.98
Ordered five speed gearbox fitting kit and some PowerFlex inner track control arm suspension bushes from the Fiesta Centre. The fitting kit comes with a modified tie bar, as the original one hits the gearbox. I've got two new track control arms to fit, so I may as well replace the worn bushes at the same time.
06.09.98
Removed the bonnet, as I now know that it fits. Fitted the offside front suspension, and the tie bar now clears the sump after I modified it yesterday. Tried fitting the near side front suspension, but the tie bar hits the five speed gearbox. I'll call the Fiesta Center tomorrow, as they manufacture a five speed fitting kit, and I don't want to reinvent the wheel solving this problem. Painted the inside of the car and the front inner wheel arches (left and right). Fitted the Sparco Ally pedals. Looks very cool. Fitted the oil-pressure gauge Y-piece to the back of the block. Its allows the pressure switch and takeoff pipe to monitor the oil pressure together. I'm going to wire a big red light to the oil pressure switch, so if I get any oil-pressure problems, I wont miss them. Fitted the original XR2 radiator. It looks very puny, so I'm going to see about an alloy rad, one thats wider and taller than the XR2 alloy/plastic one. I'm going to get some drive shafts this week. Once they're installed I can worry about the brakes and the exhaust system.
05.09.98
Took several unused parts back to the Ford dealer for a refund. These included the Mk4 front engine mount, crank pulley and V-belt. Bought a new water pump gasket. Drip rails arrived from Fiesta Center. Fitted the water pump drive kit. This involved removing the timing belt cover, timing belt and water pump, and fitting the replacement pump. The toothed drive belt that runs between the crank pulley and the pump is then tensioned by moving the water pump upwards until the correct tension is achieved. The pump is then fastened using the four mounting bolts. I can't refit the timing belt covers because of the pumps drive belt. So I've removed the metal back plate that's used to keep the cover in place. Looks quite sexy now that you can see the timing belt and pulleys. Tried the new inlet manifold, and it fits perfectly. Removed the corner of the 1800 sump, where it was fouling the front offside suspension tie bar. Re-installed the engine in the car. Tried fitting the bonnet, just to see if there's clearance between the oil filler cap and the bonnet. There's loads of room.
04.09.98
Ordered two front wing drip-rail panels from the Fiesta Center. £6.40 each.
03.09.98
C-Spanner has arrived from Demon Tweeks.
02.09.98
The AVO shock absorbers have arrived. Are we talking SEX here or what? They look the dogs, and hopefully will make a massive improvement to the handling. They've come with 200lb springs, which probably wont be enough. Time will tell..

The inlet manifold was waiting for me when I got home tonight. An extremely professional looking bit of kit. I just need to save up for the twin 40/45's now...
01.09.98
Ordered an inlet manifold from Burtons. Ordered two front dampers from Demon Tweeks. The dampers feature 8" x 2.25" springs, with adjustable platforms, are gas filled, and are top adjustable.