Project XR130 Fiesta XR2 Weblog

20/11/07

Not done a lot on car recently but have noticed a few problems. The oil leak is back! it could be another leak but my guess is that it will be the sump again. Also the gear box doesn't seem to be handling the power very well. Its always been dodgy as it crunches abit and doesn't really feel good. The car has always felt restricted to me and I've thought it could be the box but it also has a slight fuel problem, mixture or something. The previous owner said he fitted a part worn gear box in it and I'm starting to think it may have been a standard fiesta box and not an XR2 one. gonna look into both of these problems soon.

22/10/07

Fitted the seats today, really easy job just used the same sub frames and replaced the old leather look seats. Like I say really happy with them and forgot how comfy they are too. see pics!

21/10/07

Finally got my escort RS turbo seats back that I sent away to be recovered. It took awhile but I'm really happy with the end result and no longer have to grip the door every time I give it some jip on the corners. Had them recovered in fake leather as real leather would of leathered the budget (bad pun) and been worth more than the car lol. Gonna fit them soon. see pics!

21/8/07

Fitted the kent cam today with a friend, All went well until we started it up after Fitting and it stalled, we thought it was just a timing issue and messed with that a few times, still no joy, then we thought we had the wrong cam as the car wasn't getting any fuel and XR2's have a manual fuel pump from cam. We rubbed our heads for a while and then discovered that while taking the cam out the fuel pump rod had snapped and a bit of it had fell of thus causing it not to get fuel, A quick visit to the back garden and the red one saves the day again lol. Replaced the fuel pump rod and it started fine and all seems well, how it snapped is a mystery as its a thick metal rod?????weird??? Thanks a lot Gilly for all the help :)

see pics!

18/8/07

Swapped the carburettor from the red XR2 I have in my back garden to this one, all went well and it only took about fifteen minutes and was very easy to do. Did notice that the fuel pipe in slightly worn due to age will have to replace it! see pics!

14/8/07

Exhaust arrived a few days ago, fitted myself the oldskool way using a couple of bricks to hold it up. Struggled a lot due to the bur's of metal where the pipe fits together, learnt the hard way that your best removing these before trying to fit the exhaust. Got the exhaust on but couldn't get back rubber to fit properly as the exhaust has not gone fully together and is slightly longer than it should be. Had to take it back to garage to have it adjusted slightly. Whilst there they picked up that the carburettor has a fuel leak. Will have to pinch the one of the red XR2. Exhaust is sorted know and sounds good.

see pics!

9/8/07

Ordered the full exhaust system, Car exhaust is blowing worse everyday. Didn't really want a full system due to I didn't want the car to be really noisy but things change so it should be fixed soon.

6/8/07

Car went into garage to have sump repaired, asked them also to fit the four branch manifold. The sump was repaired and no longer leaks, the four branch was fitted but I forgot to get the flange piece that fits to the standard XR2 exhaust, so they had to chop it and bog it in with exhaust cement. The exhaust now leaks but its my fault for not supplying all the parts, Think I will order the full system to resolve this problem.

1/8/07

Kent cam and four branch manifold arrived today. Four Branch manifold will be fitted first probably get mechanics to fit as the car is going in to have the leaky sump repaired.

26/7/07

Ordered the kent cam and the four branch manifold, they should be delivered in a few days. Went for the stage 2 cam CVH22K as its the easiest fitment and I'm not after going too mad on this project.

18/4/07

I'm thinking now that the car never had an oil leak on the sump and only had a leaky oil sensor which could of been fixed with a spanner. I should of payed closer attention myself but I was very busy at that time, and it still doesn't excuse bad workmanship. I feel because the car is old it sometimes gets disrespected by some mechanics as its not worth a lot of money and its not superior like there BMW or AUDI lol. I feel this is an unprofessional attitude as I pay the same money as the next man and really don't give a f*** what you think of my car or me and just expect a proper job doing when I pay for one.

17/4/07

Slight corrosion fixed and under seal applied, the car has previously been under seal but a few spots were missed. I Asked a mechanic to take a look at the oil leak, he told me it was the sump which shocked me as I've had many xr2's and none have ever had a leaky sump, leaky elsewhere lol but never sump. I asked him to do the job as I've only ever done it once before on an escort mk4 that had a bunged up pressure problem and it was a total nightmare as the seal would slip as your trying to put the bolts in. The job got done and the car came back, I decided to test it using a light colored blanket and parking the car over it, sure enough it spewed out oil worse than before! I took it back to the mechanic and told him to take another look, he told me that it was the oil pressure sensor and he had replace it with a new one. The car still spewed oil so I took another look and saw that the sensor had been replaced but still leaked oil, so I tightened it until it stopped but this wasn't the end of it as another blanket test revealed that the sump was leaking from both sides! That's some shoddy workmanship!!

16/4/07

it passed its MOT, went straight threw without needing any work. There were a couple of advisory notes about signs of corrosion and an oil leak.

7/4/07

Fitted vapor sheets as the car came without them, this caused the door card plastic to peel away from the cardboard

Also fitted some sony speakers I had hanging around! see pics!

2/4/07

MOT time coming up very soon.