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Thread: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

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    Post 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Allo chaps & gals, first time posting here. (Also made a post on passionford)


    I post most of my stuff to a build thread on fiesta-mk1.co.uk, thought I'd share it here. Hi sam.


    1978 Mk1 Fiesta Model 950cc 45HP project, swapping in an ST170 with a Escort Mk5 TD / Orion 5 Speed MTX75 gearbox. Will be driven daily. Acquired the car in mid 2019 and drove it for a few months, then my brother put ideas of a Zetec turbo in my head & it wasn't long before I picked up a complete St170 + 6 speed getrag box for £200. First thing we did after getting the car was swap the front suspension out for modified corsa coilovers, quick hit up with the die grinder got them on and modified the top mounts to suit. See pictures.


    Started doing my homework on how to approach it all & finally found the gearbox I wanted at the end of 2019. Rebuilt the engine over the last winter and earlier in 2020 I pulled the Valencia engine out to size up the St170. Cut the chassis rails on both sides and reinforced them with 3mm steel plate, made my own mounts with the help of my brother and father. The rubbers for the mounts are from the leaf spring setup on the back of a transit so they are plenty man enough. This was after I modified a existing CVH mount but just didn't like it in the end. Bought brand new Focus driveshafts for use with the gearbox, the half shaft is now mounted on a modified Focus mk2 bracket. Runs true. Making the exhaust manifold right now with the inlet manifold partially cut out of 45mm ally tubing, just needs tigin' together.


    Next big hurdle is turning the driveshafts on the new lathe I recently setup, I've got a plan for it. After that its just the usual manifolds, breaks etc.


    Engine Management: Motorsport Electronics ME100 / Speeduino. Both will be on a common loom so I can run the ME100 until I've finished writing the cam sensor decoded to run the VVT correctly in the speeduino firmware.


    All of the work installing, making/designing, painting is done by myself, my brother & my father. We don't have access to any fancy water/plasma cutters or CNC mills, so my brackets may look a bit rough and ready but when the time comes I'll draw them up and order some proper looking kit to tig up when the time comes to paint the car next year.


    Parts list thus far:
    2.0 St170 Engine 110k Miles
    Escort Mk5/Orion TD MTX75
    1.8 Zetec Silvertop sump + oil pickup
    MTX Rod Gear remote
    Valhalla corsa coilovers modified to suit (DIY)
    Zx9R Carbs with a preinstalled jet kit
    Zx9R fuel pump
    Mk1 Focus OEM Lightened flywheel
    Mk1 Focus brand new drive shafts
    230mm clutch kit
    ME100 / Speeduino
    AEM AFR Sensor + gauge
    Brand new zetec waterpump
    Billet reverse waterpump impeller
    45Amp Denso alternator
    Clutch arm for gearbox (was missing)
    Brand new Airtec Mk2 XR2 Radiator
    4 pot breaks for the front
    Mk1 Focus rear hubs to attach to the rear axel for disc breaks on the rear (soonish)
    God knows what else at this point


    I only recently got a new camera so the early photos may be lacking in quality, sorry about that. WARNING: HELLA TON O IMAGES AHEAD




















































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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Would look superb as a sleeper.

    Exactly the same interior trim as my old Mk1 Fiesta back in the early 90's. Haven't seen one like it for a long time. Loved that car!

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    Racer Decade Plus User wildo105e's Avatar

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    love a mk1 fiesta, i had a 1300 sport, supersport and xr2 and a mk 2 xr2 geat looking project

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    World Champion Decade Plus User alladdin's Avatar

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    nice to see something a bit different and some great diy too

    whats the story behind alternator mount ? looks interesting.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Quote Originally Posted by alladdin View Post
    whats the story behind alternator mount ? looks interesting.
    First thing that came to mind was a sort of claw that wraps around the top with an adjustment slot, it sits in place of where the power steering pump would be on a Focus.

    The belt is a stretch belt from a more modern fiesta, so there is adjustment there just its not needed. Getting it on is a tight squeeze down there, you gotta line up the grooves on the alternator and crank pulley then heave the thing onto the water pump pulley.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    I may be speaking out of turn but the WP pulley doesn't appear to have any grooves on it for the ribbed belt? If so - you are turning it backwards as the belt should go flat side to flat pulley. Only query it as I had to reverse the impeller in my Zetec pump and add a grooved pulley for it to work correctly!

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Got a billet reverse impeller fitted, its got a ton of pressure on it and isnt going to slip any time soon. If it does become an issue I'll grind a tool for making the grooves, then make a custom pulley on the lathe.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Quote Originally Posted by CCS View Post
    Got a billet reverse impeller fitted, its got a ton of pressure on it and isnt going to slip any time soon. If it does become an issue I'll grind a tool for making the grooves, then make a custom pulley on the lathe.
    Good to hear about the impeller. Too much tension could ruin the WP bearings? although running off the pulley could more likely!

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    The belt will stretch before that happens

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build


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    Spanner Monkey

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    thats awesome man


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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    2 week deadline to being on the road. Got my brother to weld up the manifold, the tig is problematic but this is good enough just to get on the road.






    2 weeks to go, this all needs doing. Foregoing brake upgrade depending on if I can get them machined in time.

    1. Finish exhaust, find a silence that can fit under the car etc.
    2. Plug the air balance holes on the carbs (solves an issue with a deadzone at mid-high revs)
    3. Throttle cable + choke cable
    4. Install the ZX9R bike fuel pump, wire into original loom
    5. Combine the ford focus and fiesta drive shafts on the lathe., weld them up
    6. Modify the break servo bracket to clear the gearbox when installed
    7. Add connectors to engine loom, install the ECU with 12v from the ignition switch.
    8. Finish making the header tank, turn fittings on the lathe, weld etc
    9. Coolant hoses, measure, cut & install
    10. Fire it up, tune carbs roughly.
    11. Pull the engine and gearbox out, finish any fabrication that needs doing inside the engine bay.
    12. Engine and gearbox back in, final nut and bolt check. Drive it out onto the road and rag the living daylights out of it while also not going too fast on those dinky little xr brakes..
    Last edited by CCS; 02-06-2021 at 21:40. Reason: image tag

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Good to see your using the std bike rubbers for the carbs and not the danste rubbish

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    Mechanic beeRS's Avatar

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Great project. Will make a fantastic sleeper.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    It's nice to see some good old school engineering work going on. Good luck and enjoy your first drive.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Brought some wilwood 4 pot powerlite calipers, I'm going to attempt to tackle the brakes in time depends on if the machined parts in time. Using vented XR2 240mm discs for now as at some point im going to put on escortmk5/6 gear in the future or designing the knuckles in cad to suit escort mk5/6 MTX hubs with bigger bearings accordingly. They haven't arrived yet so I cad designed the adaptors from known measurements and have the 3D printer making them now so I can test fit them, before having them machined. Done some math of the PSI required for the brakes, due to limitations on the size diameter of the brake servo I'm going to get a mazda MX5 servo and master cylinder; it should produce sufficient pressure to have a good feeling brake while staying efficient and within the size limitations I have due to the bloody massive MTX box being in the way, 13 degree angle on the whole lot shot keep it out of the way (got the ratio from xr2 inside, numbers check out). Unhappy with the plastic manifold, it dosen't kick up close enough to the engine soon enough so whipping out the ally flange I had as a backup, worked out a way of spacing them, going to make a jig. Ally filler in the gaps and match the ports with the die grinder, then some 20mm straights at the end with a bead of ally around the ends for the original bike rubbers to clap solid too. They are great rubbers so going to use them. Was at a car show in Norwich today, and picked up some handy bits like some more beefy tie bars from another ford to cut the ends off of so I can reuse the original mounting hardware modified. The metal on my original tie rods is really iffy and brittle. Planned out the wiring loom and marked where things have got to go, tested out both of the ECUs I have; electronics side is all good and ready. Engine will be running at the end of the week even if I dont finish the new ally intake manifold, I can still use the plastic setup to my distaste (airfilter doesnt fit due to clearance, fack.)

    In the event that I dont get the new brakes ready, I've modified the original servo mounting brackets to sit closer to the bulk at a 12-ish degree angle, this brings the servo backwards and upwards away from the hulking MTX75 box with a satisfactory amount of clearance without modifying the pedal range. Had a quick measure up of the drive shafts and a plan of attack on how to deal with the differing shaft diameters, a simple turn down to match the size of the original shafts to sleeve on a 10 inch tube (so 5 inches of the focus shaft turned down to the diameter of the fiesta shafts) should be more than strong enough for road use. If and when I replace the hubs with MTX spline'd hubs, custom shafts it will be. Mocking up measurements for a custom rollcage that will still allow me to use the back seats and not cut into the dashboard.

    Not a lot of pictures as the past days have been lots of measuring, researching & spending money. So here is a picture of the manifold being planned, all of the fiddling about with the servo and master cylinder was a two person all hands job evolving some contortions to get the measurements, checking angles etc.
    (original rubber in the background, small stubby but by far the best solution)
    So I'll cut the straights, tac them together to get the correct separation and then I can adjust the roll/yaw of the runners to line up; flatten the tops and tac the rest in place before blasting it all up. Words cannot describe how awkward these carbs are. I also went and tig'd up the middle (air ballance?) holes on the inlet side of the carbs, sorts out an issue with a dead-ish zone between mid-high revs on zetecs. My brother did the same thing on his 2.1L pinto sierra with good results so I'll do the same.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Quote Originally Posted by lowscorts View Post
    Good to see your using the std bike rubbers for the carbs and not the danste rubbish
    The rubbers you see on the plastic manifold are actually 51mm to 45mm reducers, they fit great but I'm unhappy with the setup as a whole. If push comes to shove it will go on the road with the modified original manifold but the clearance issue with the bulk means getting a decent size PX500 air filter on is a problem; I want to be able to have some big trumpets underneath as I'll be running a customs setup on the VVT so I can move the powerband around to make something ridiculously responsive, so I really need the carbs as close as I can get to the head. I may cut the plastic manifold down into a spacer (delete the runners) to act effectively as a heat barrier between the head and the ally manifold I want to make, keeps the carbs happy and cool.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Huh well shit, uhh. Looks like brake upgrade will? Happen? Maybe? Wilwood powerlites. Picked up a brand new old-stock tiebar from a autojumble/carshow in Norwich on the weekend for £7. Made a new nearside tiebar to clear the gearbox completely. Exhaust manifold is finished. I cant get the adaptors machined yet so I'll just DIY them for now, when I move to bigger discs (sierra ones I think, they are at our other workshop). Just some delphi 240mm XR2 vented discs for now.






    Primer and some paint later, spent nearly 4 hours cleaning up just this one knuckle and hub. Most of it with a semi-blunt blade and a wirebrush all by hand.


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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Blocking off the Air Correction Port is definitely a good choice. I am running bike carbs on a Pinto and could not get the AFR to the correct ratio when they were initially fitted, as they were running way too lean at higher rpm.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Off-side tie bar all done. Use the threaded end from the new-old stock bar and the original bolt in end. Two into one with a sleeve.
    Putting a gusset in on the near-side tie bar just to guarantee it cant budge as there is a lot more leverage on it. Rouge curbs etc.




    I got a MX5 master cylinder and servo courtesy of a friend, its pretty much perfect for the job. I believe its from a 1.6 so not the double servo but I can upgrade to the Mk2 version that was used on the 1.8vvti cars if I need more grunt from the servo. Nice to have an upgrade path.

    The uhh crab air holes tig'd. put a bit of filler rod inside and just did a low 65ish amp hit on them.


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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Nice work. Like others have said, good to see something different
    Jumping ahead, will you keep it in the blue ?

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    To be quite honest I don't think I could ever imagine it in any other colour, the paintwork on the inside is just fine its the outside that has all sorts of issues. Its gotten so bad around the edges where the bonnet sits that it just falls off and the primer under it shows. It wont get painted this summer as there is a chevy C10 coming in for paint work, hence why I gotta get this out and ideally on the road. We use the far end of our garage effectively as a paint booth, plastic covering is on spools that drop down from the ceiling to seal it all in.

    I believe it Bermuda Blue iirc.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Extra gusset added in on the nearside tie bar at the front as a precaution.


    Now onto a very interesting bit, the brake situation. The MX5 servo and master cylinder fit an absolute treat with the perfect amount of travel on the pedal and a 10-20mm gap between the end of the pedal floor in a maximum stompy-stompy pucker factor 9000 moment. It feels good and if I need more assistance for increased pressure I have access to all the modern MX5 goodies for that and they will bolt on.

    No modifications to the brake bar were required, just the bracket to clear the gearbox. I'm quite chuffed to bits on this one. Now I can add another vehicle to the list of parts that went into this.




    "Looks good, try the pedal", "no fuckin' way", "what?", "its spot on"



    Finished mount, going to pop it off and clean it all up + paint tomorrow. Had a crap day at work so time for some stella I think.

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Quote Originally Posted by CCS View Post
    Off-side tie bar all done. Use the threaded end from the new-old stock bar and the original bolt in end. Two into one with a sleeve.
    Putting a gusset in on the near-side tie bar just to guarantee it cant budge as there is a lot more leverage on it. Rouge curbs etc.




    I got a MX5 master cylinder and servo courtesy of a friend, its pretty much perfect for the job. I believe its from a 1.6 so not the double servo but I can upgrade to the Mk2 version that was used on the 1.8vvti cars if I need more grunt from the servo. Nice to have an upgrade path.

    The uhh crab air holes tig'd. put a bit of filler rod inside and just did a low 65ish amp hit on them.

    Dynojet do air correctors that just knock in, saves ruining the carbs....

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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    I doubt they will ever see a bike again, if and when I do replace them they will get used on a 2.0 Pinto or another zetec. I could have jumped on the lathe and turned some bungs for it but im pressed for time and lacking in decent offcuts to make them out of in the first place.

    Had to modify the original hubs to fit the XR2 discs, the discs have a taper leading to the flat face on in the inside. A careful amount of fettle with a file to add that taper to the hubs was done and it fits perfectly. The final radius of the hub was not touched, double checked by fixing a bit of plate to the knuckle and pushed against the outside edge of the disc, span it a full 360 degrees and had no gaps created so it runs true still. Wasnt aware I'd have to do this but I'm happy with the results. I could have put this in the 4 jaw on the lathe but i really dont have the time to sit down and true it all up. Next up over the weekend is the brackets for the calipers & driveshafts. Just no time to get machined ones made so I'm going to push onward. The other knuckle has been stripped down and ready to be painted after attacking it non stop for 3 hours, along with the servo and the servo bracket. First thing ill do tomorrow is strip down the brake bar and prime it for paint.

    See the last image, that final lip inside the disc is the taper I was talking about.



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    Re: 78 Mk1 Fiesta L - ST170 MTX75 Daily Build

    Well slightly annoyed but I've gotta kick the car out of the garage early right as I was about to start offering the loom up and putting the headlights in. God damm that down pipe is brutal. Planning to run a pair of tubes from the original cradle mounts to act as a skid plate so I dont end up clunking the lump into something. Work really isn't helping as the business I work for has changed hands so now I'm doing overtime all the time. Right on the one god damm week I wanted to spend hashing this out.





    Dont think I ever posted this, but I wonder where this came from? Mike got his compound turbo back on the road recently.

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