2004 Focus SVT - Street Touring Build

It looks like I'm about to embark on a journey (finally).  I say about, because as of this post I have no actually signed any papers or paid any money for the car.  But... the car is being held for my at a CarMax until I can fly out to Denver and drive it home.  We've been looking for this car for awhile.  We've found a few, but they were all in terrible condition.  This one is not.  It's a 2004 Ford Focus SVT ZX3 in Infra Red / Red with 157K miles.  Here's some pre-purchase pictures:

The vision for the car is Street Touring (STF... edit: apparently not STF, maybe STS/H/X) autocross, track days, and just enjoyable driving.  The first order of business is figuring out what I have bought, sorting any existing issues and then tweaking.  I have a long list of possible mods, but I'm keeping them to bolt-ons.  The order is most likely going to be determined by the needs (wear items) of the car over personal desires.  So, here's the high level list:

• New clutch + flywheel
• KYB Adjustable shocks
• Cat-back exhaust
• Slotted rotors + performance pads
• Short shifter
• Performance air filter
• Front strut tower brace, rear stress brace
• Wheels and tires
• (Maybe) Custom ECU Tune

All that is down the road away.  First things first, got to get it home.  I'm planning on flying out and driving it the 2,000 miles home from Denver.

What would you take with you for the trip to be prepared for the unknown?  TSA tells me I can check tools shorter than 7", so I am a bit limited on what I can take.

I'd just give it an intense check over in Denver, fix anything obvious there, get the top level AAA membership, and roll out.

screw traveling with a bunch of tools.

When I fly and drive I ship my tools. 

Side note: I assume you work for carmax since they are willing to hold the car.  Did they PPI the car? 

 

Fix what's broke, then get Tom's Tune. It fixes the tune (check the Focus forums, everyone swears by it, i've just read about it)

Professor_Brap said:

When I fly and drive I ship my tools. 

Side note: I assume you work for carmax since they are willing to hold the car.  Did they PPI the car? 

 

I know a guy who does... they did do a PPI.  Has a CEL for o2 sensor.  I'm planning on having them fix that, and perform some basic maintenance (oil change, etc).

FunkyCricket said:

Fix what's broke, then get Tom's Tune. It fixes the tune (check the Focus forums, everyone swears by it, i've just read about it)

I'll likely do Tom's tune after the breathing mods (intake / exhaust).  He tweaks it on a car by car basis.  

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but STF has been gone for a year now. 

bobzilla said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but STF has been gone for a year now. 

Shows how long I've been searching for the right car... oh well... I'll find another class.

STS and STH absorbed all the STF cars. Throw in a diff and go STX.

BradLTL said:

FunkyCricket said:

Fix what's broke, then get Tom's Tune. It fixes the tune (check the Focus forums, everyone swears by it, i've just read about it)

I'll likely do Tom's tune after the breathing mods (intake / exhaust).  He tweaks it on a car by car basis.  

Assuming you have 93 Octane where you live Tom has a good tune. But if you only get 91 like me Tom’s tune is too aggressive. I tried to get a custom 91 tune but he wanted to datalog my car with the wrong tune which was detonating like crazy. Fswerks is a good  option

Of  of  course the this assume SCT tunera are still legal. 

redline is nice addition to trans plus upgraded dogbone. Watching thread eagerly. 

If you have a really loud vibration your motor mounts are shot. Probably at that mileage. 

Ok, so I had CarMax do a full diagnostic, and for the most part it was what I expected.  There were a few wear&tear type items, but here is the list that I'm having them fix before I drive it home:

• 4 wheel alignment
• Replace the clutch
• Replace the o2 sensor
• Replace oil pan gasket

I've elected  to replace the clutch with an OE clutch.  I wanted to do an aftermarket (ClutchMasters Stage 2 + aluminum fly wheel), but the price difference was ~$700 parts.  It was hard to justify since I am not planning on any huge power adders, and haven't even driven the car on a stock clutch.  Am I going to regret that choice?

onemanarmy said:

I'd just give it an intense check over in Denver, fix anything obvious there, get the top level AAA membership, and roll out.

 

screw traveling with a bunch of tools.

This. And then if needed find a Harbor Freight.

Ok. What exactly is the record for the shortest build thread?

I got a phone call this afternoon from the tech at CarMax as he was about to start the repairs. The dreaded word... rust. The muffler, the cat, the bolts. They can’t order parts, it would all have to be aftermarket. Price check with shipping put it right around $1000 (not counting labor). That’s on top of the $2000 I had already committed to, and the price of the car. Plus the parts would take awhile to get there and the work wouldn’t be done on my original schedule. The tech described the car as “rode hard and put away wet.”

I didn’t want to do it, but I called off. I paid them for their work and canceled my flight. Patience will hopefully pay off and a better (rust free) car will show up. 

You probably already know this, but only use Motorcraft o2 sensors. 

If it’s been a CO car it’s whole life, I highly doubt it’s truly a “rusty” car. I’ve had multiple Fsvts and all of them have rust on the cat/bolts. The cat bracket is always broken. So much that someone makes and sells cat brackets on the Facebook page. 

Usual protocol is to cut the cat/flex bolts and re weld new captive  nuts. But Carmax techs are no doubt parts changes and not fab oriented. 

I've been a fan of these for a long time. I'd wait for another one too. I know I'm stating the obvious, look at States where it doesn't snow. 

Cheap option

Here's another