Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

[scoobymike]

Loving this build. As I'm doing much the same but mines gona run RWD .
One question Arwel, regarding h/handbrake. How are u piping yours up. As mk6 fiesta has twin pipes running back along car to rears. Or have u modified braking system. Thanks

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[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Loving this build. As I'm doing much the same but mines gona run RWD .
One question Arwel, regarding h/handbrake. How are u piping yours up. As mk6 fiesta has twin pipes running back along car to rears. Or have u modified braking system. Thanks

Sent from my SM-T560 using Tapatalk

We have a bias valve going in so we should get away with just the one line out of the handbrake and then splitting via a T piece to each rear caliper then. This is what others have done so should work fine.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

There has been a fair bit of progress lately. No photos as of yet as its all been boring stuff really. Fuel and brake lines are now running inside, fuel tank guard has been made and fitted, sump guard is in the process of being made, dash panel for switches and master switch is taking shape along with all the wiring that goes with it. Windows have had the safety film applied and there has been some weight saving going on too. I bought one set of 15" wheels which will be re painted when i get round to them and we have bucket seats, belts and other rally related things on order from Nicky Grist which should be here soon. The only dilemma I have is suspension. As the car is going to be used for both tarmac and gravel I am in need of something that can cope with both. My two realistic options are some fixed Bilstein B8 shocks which are similar to what I had on my previous Peugeot 205 gti which proved to be a good all rounder on all surfaces or I go for the new Avo R1 coilover kit which has multiple damping settings as well as being height adjustable. A decision is to be made on this at the moment.
Our first rally in the car is hopefully going to be the Tour of Epynt on 12th of March so we have a lot of work to do as I want the car finished to is phase 1 spec by the end of February so it can have some mileage put on it.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Plenty of work been going on the last few days. We were hoping to do Tour of Epynt but we wont be ready for that one. Progress so far is the new Bilstein suspension has gone on, the dash panel and all wiring is nearly complete, cage is all bolted in place permanently and the interior has started going back in. Sump guard mount has been fabricated and fitted to. Next job is to get the seats in place so we can see where to mount the nav foot rest and the plumbed in extinguisher.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Last night the car was given its competition log book. This involves it being checked over by an MSA scrutineer to ensure it complies with all the relevant regulations. With the car now log booked we are one step closer. Finishing touches are being done and it will be out of the garage at some point over the weekend ready for an MOT in the week and a few little test runs ahead of the first rally on the 9th of April. Couple of quick picks of the interior coming together and the first set of wheels that we've had done by the Wheel Specialist in Swansea

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Competed on our first rally in the new car yesterday. After nearly 18 months away from competition we were aiming to just get around and get a finish. We managed to finish 15th overall and 3rd in our class which was fantastic. Had one or two "moments" as I started getting more confident with the car and finding its limits and finding my feet again after some time away from competing but other than that it was all good.
Our only issue was that the engine seemed to like oil and we found ourselves topping it up after each stage so I think the engine will now come out for a freshen up and have a few tweaks made for some more power. Couple of images below of it all done and I'll hopefully get some in car footage up later on.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Here is SS1 from the rally at the weekend. First event in nearly 18 months and first competitive run for the car too.

https://youtu.be/ufNdp6MVqig

Here is SS3, I started pushing a little more and finding my feet with the car on this one

https://youtu.be/0n6ZNWVU61w

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Last stage from the rally on Sunday. Think this was our quickest run of the day as we properly started settling into the car.

https://youtu.be/tTfKUTffIYE

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

The rally was a non speccy event and there have been very limited photos from the photographer who was there but here are a quick couple.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

I haven't put much time into the little Fiesta lately but we cracked on with it on Saturday and got the engine out as it needs a rebuild. It always had a little rattle from the top and we found a loose timing chain follower which solves that. However it used a lot of oil on the rally we did in April and a compression test showed that cylinder 4 was 50psi down on the others so we decided to give it a refresh now and add a few more goodies for some more power. Im hoping for a quickish turnaround to get the car back up and running and put some miles on it before its used in competition again.
P.s, Sorry about all the other photos, Photobucket has had a meltdown so Im starting again on Imgur.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Some more updates over the weekend. Engine now completely stripped down and the clean up has began. The big end bearings were toast and we were very lucky not to have a really broken engine on our hands. So new parts will be ordered this week and hopefully next weekend we can start putting it back together.

[JeffWest]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Following the build and have subscribed to your YouTube channel.

The car is looking good, what tyres are you running on stage?

I'm in the market for a decent ST at the minute and looking to do similar events up north.

[capri dave]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Nice little project, these little ST's are very underrated cars...

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Hi guys, we ran the Nankang NS2R on the last tarmac stage we did in April. I was very impressed with them and think they were as good as Yokohama A048. Nice price on them too.

The engine has now been fully rebuilt and is back in the car. We've done some modifications to the head and exhaust so we are hoping for a little bit more power. Initial start up was fine with no nasty noises any more so its a case of so far so good. There's a few jobs left to do before its ready for the running in period but all being well it will be on the road by the weekend.
My plan is to break it back in gently for a few hundred miles and then begin testing as we are doing a road rally on the 4th of November.

[Arwel]

Re: Ford Fiesta ST Rally Build

Quick little update. Did a very gentle 10 miles on Sunday afternoon and on return to the garage we had a little oil leak. More concerning however was a rattle coming from the head. We are hoping its a clearance issue with the valve buckets but will need investigating to find out what it is. Not ideal but rather it happen now than in 2 weeks when the rally is. More updates to follow once we've got to the bottom of the problem.