Ownership Verified: 2003 Ford Focus SVT

When I bought the car I put the front plate on with double sided emblem tape so I didn't have to drill a hole in the bumper. The tape started coming loose so I needed to find a more permanent solution. TO THE WORK SHOP!!

I couldn't find a thin piece of angle in the shop, so bent the bottom of the plate at a 90, wedged it between the lip and the bottom of the bumoer, then used a couple bolts and some washers to stand the plate off the mesh in the bumper. I think it turned out alright, but looks a little ricey. Not sure if I will leave it like that, but here it is for now:

 
you would get a ticket over here.

plate dimensions are mandatory, and you can't go around bending them...
 
bone said:
you would get a ticket over here.

plate dimensions are mandatory, and you can't go around bending them...
Click to expand...
At least your plates are "thin".

The stupid North American designs make for really mangled appearing front bumpers.
 
The leak in the rack had become bad enough that just keeping the fluid topped off was no longer an issue, plus the power steering pump was starting to leak. I ordered a rebuilt rack and pump, got a set of low mileage springs from another SVT Focus (mine were sagging bad in the front), then took the whole mess to a friend of mine that runs an auto body/repair business and had him install all the new parts, plus a new belt. I dropped it off on Monday and had it back Tuesday morning, I then took the car straight to a shop to perform an alignment. The car now sits higher, rides nicer and doesn't pull to the left. This was all completed in time for me to take a 800 mile round trip to Pacific Junction, Iowa for a few days of timing system installation. We were replacing a Compulink, which is supposed to be the standard in drag racing, but is really just outdated junk.

The car did great on the trip, but I could hear something loose in the right front. I looked several times and couldn't find what it was. Finally this morning I was able to get the front up in the air to find that one of the bolts holding the right front control arm to the car was loose. I'm not sure if it was the alignment shop or my friend that left it loose, so I guess I'll just chalk it up to experience.

I also have just turned over 121,000 miles on the car today, meaning a mere 18,000 miles that I have put on the car in 31 months. An average of only 580 a month. I'm not sure if I should be proud of that or not...

Here's the car at I-29 Dragway, the first photo was Thursday after I had put new decals on the Compulink tree. I switched the relays out so the Accutime could fire them with lower voltage. The second photo is early yesterday morning when we arrived after a short night's sleep to finish up the install and train the employees on how to operate and care for the system.






Lastly I was able to get a photo as the odo switched over to 121,000. Yes it really does buzz that high in 6th gear at only 60. Cruising at 70 it's turning about 3,000 rpm and 80 brings it up to 3,500.




Bonus post-roadtrip dead bug photos below.





 
2500 rpm at 60 mph isn't bad, my MR2 is at ~3200 at that speed. Nice Focus btw.
 
Forgot to post this...

How many tires can you fit into a 5-door Focus plus 2.5 humans? 4? 6? 8??

Nope, 9 tires. That's 8 205/40-17 (4 with Mini wheels) and one 27 inch NASCAR slick.

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OMNOMONOMON
 
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