[Blystr842]

So it's time I started a build thread. This will be a slow process for me since I spend a lot of my time and money racing RC (radio controlled) cars.
I bought the car with 97k. It has AdvanceTrac, leather, sunroof, 6 disc, I am the second owner, and most importantly... 5-SPEED!!!
I'm open to suggestions etc, I've been out of the Focus game for a while so I'm a bit rusty on all the new styling etc.
Sorry for the bad pics, all I have is a really old cell phone.

These pics are essentially in order of completion.

At the stealership:

First mod, black side markers:

Then I dipped the wheels, grille, and tailgate strip and debadged:

Tint:

Rolled my first Odo and I'm more than happy I did it in my dream car:

Replaced bad valve cover gasket, plugs, and wires:

Centerforce Dual Friction clutch waiting to be installed:

Volant short ram:

Ram Air scoop:

Changed fuel filter:

Power Slot slotted rotors and EBC Green Stuff pads F&R:

New Konig's and BFG's:

Tomorrow I'll be replacing the old rusted parking brake cables and possibly treating the leather. Interior pics should be coming soon.

 

[Blystr842]

The whole reason I bought this car wasn't just because I've always been in love with the MKI ZTW, but the fact that I needed something with better storage space and MPG's than my 07 Ram. Like I said, I currently drive all over the state (sometimes 8+ hours) to go to RC Pro Texas State Series points races and this thing is perfect for transporting myself and a fellow racer to and from said races.
This is pretty much what my car looked like on it's first outing to an RC Pro event with my stuff as well as econorocketZX3's stuff loaded:

That would be a canopy, 2 tool boxes, 4 RC's, 3 chairs, 2 duffle bags, a suitcase, a cooler, 2 pit tables, 2 spare parts boxes, one spare tire box, one crate full of lights and cords, one transmitter case, 3 extra RC bodies, one hauler bag, and 3 trophies in there. Still had room to spare :thumbup:

 

[maskeet]

Awesome car.

And as a fellow RC enthusiast what do you have?? Haha

 

[REVSWIN]

I also have a '02 ZTW that has a moonroof, Advanc Trac, traction control, and is a 5-speed. This is the only other one than mine I've seen posted on here.

I have upgraded to the Rally brake fronts, and the one time I ever had to stop fast... It stopped on a dime with the Advanc Trac! I could not imagine how good it would be with SVT fronts. I will eventually get SVT fronts or Brembo 305mm brakes. I love my wagon, and yours is equally equipped!

Do it right and get a SVT front, and SVT side skirts for it!

 

[Dracconix]

Don't get me wrong.... Love the car and where this is going.... but technically, the "Unicorn" has a 2.3 Duratec....

However, this is probably the 2nd rarest.... nice job!

 

[focusownerskid]

Dig it.

Don't get me wrong.... Love the car and where this is going.... but technically, the "Unicorn" has a 2.3 Duratec....

However, this is probably the 2nd rarest.... nice job!

Accurate.

- Drew

 

[REVSWIN]

Wait, I read you "dipped" the hatch strip? Please restore the beauty of the chrome piece! The side markers look cheap, OEM orange looks much better. Best thing you can do to make the car look like more of a "finished" product is paint the door handle, and get SVT mirror with painted inserts. Giving you my honest opinion from 10+ years of building this things. Love this wagon the way it is equipped, and love the color!

 

[jwill2489]

Wait, I read you "dipped" the hatch strip? Please restore the beauty of the chrome piece! The side markers look cheap, OEM orange looks much better. Best thing you can do to make the car look like more of a "finished" product is paint the door handle, and get SVT mirror with painted inserts. Giving you my honest opinion from 10+ years of building this things. Love this wagon the way it is equipped, and love the color!

Gerald sell him that bumper!

 

[Blystr842]

Awesome car.

And as a fellow RC enthusiast what do you have?? Haha

Awesome! Always cool to meet a fellow RC enthusiast outside the normal circles.

Currently I run the Team Durango DESC410 4wd short course truck and DESC210 2wd short course truck. The 4wd took some work to get it ready to handle the abuse of the 1/8 tracks, but it's pretty dialed now. I'm fairly new to the 2wd, but it is hands down the smoothest, easiest to drive, fastest short course truck I've ever driven!
I was just about to pick up a 2wd buggy until the local 1/10 track closed so I may look into getting a 1/8 e-buggy.

What RC's are you running? You go to any big races?

 

[Blystr842]

Wait, I read you "dipped" the hatch strip? Please restore the beauty of the chrome piece! The side markers look cheap, OEM orange looks much better. Best thing you can do to make the car look like more of a "finished" product is paint the door handle, and get SVT mirror with painted inserts. Giving you my honest opinion from 10+ years of building this things. Love this wagon the way it is equipped, and love the color!

SVT bumper is a possibility as well as side skirts. Likely I'll hang on to the stock bumper and slap on the Cupra R lip until I get the car running the way I want, unless I find an SVT bumper for cheap. The door handles are also on the list of things to come. Just want to fix all the little things that are annoying the crap out of me. As far as me dipping the rear strip, I don't like chrome, can't do chrome, won't do chrome. Likely I'll paint it red to match the body.

Thanks for the pointers though. All good things to consider! All sound like things that I would def. do to the car :thumbup:

 

[Blystr842]

Don't get me wrong.... Love the car and where this is going.... but technically, the "Unicorn" has a 2.3 Duratec....

However, this is probably the 2nd rarest.... nice job!

Yeah I know, it's not the "true unicorn" though I wish it were!!! It's something I've wanted since I picked up my first Focus (a 2000 LX) back in 2003. I came a little close in 2005 when I picked up a 2002 SE wagon but it just didn't do it for me. So I guess it's my little unicorn

Here are my first two MKI's:

 

[S2FF]

I really enjoy the wagon builds. Thanks for the thread, it looks great! I'm quite partial to the red

 

[maskeet]

Awesome! Always cool to meet a fellow RC enthusiast outside the normal circles.

Currently I run the Team Durango DESC410 4wd short course truck and DESC210 2wd short course truck. The 4wd took some work to get it ready to handle the abuse of the 1/8 tracks, but it's pretty dialed now. I'm fairly new to the 2wd, but it is hands down the smoothest, easiest to drive, fastest short course truck I've ever driven!
I was just about to pick up a 2wd buggy until the local 1/10 track closed so I may look into getting a 1/8 e-buggy.

What RC's are you running? You go to any big races?

Nice RCs. 1/8 scale buggies are sweet my friend has one.

I run a brushed Emaxx, bandit, and HPI sprint 2. I also have a brushless slash 4x4 and a team associated RC18R.

I don't have any big competitive races near me, the place I go is small and we all just go for the love of the sport.

 

[PDXZTW]

Looking great so far! I'm doing some more work on mine as we speak!

 

[Cobrawannabe]

My three big qualms are the hatch strip, side markers, and wheels. Don't get me wrong, the car doesn't look bad, but my taste would point me in different directions. Since you're so open to constructive criticism, I'd suggest clear sidemarkers to better match your stock headlights, a set of OEM wheels (left in their original silver finish), and a return to chrome on the hatch strip. I know you're not a fan of chrome (I know many people with your phobia, and I can't say you're crazy because of it), but since you're unable to get rid of all of it at once, I'd say continuity with it is a good stop-gap until you have the resources to do it all at once. ST170 headlights, a GOOD set of coilovers, short-throw shifter, some matching anti-roll bars, a 2.5" exhaust system, tune, and some silver aftermarket wheels would make this car an awesome daily driver in my mind.

Keep up with doing things right, that Volant intake is something I really wish I could have! I look forward to seeing your progress.

PS: I've always though wagons looked great on SVT 6-spokes if you're looking for a budget-intensive wheel choice.

 

[Blystr842]

Looking great so far! I'm doing some more work on mine as we speak!

What are you doing to your wagon?

 

[PDXZTW]

Baking, opening up, and restoring a set of ST170 headlights (some moisture got in them from the previous owner and are a little faded), making a wire harness so I won't have to cut any wires to install them and finishing up some maintenance stuff... like tps sensor and trying to chase down my cooling fan issue.

 

[Blystr842]

My three big qualms are the hatch strip, side markers, and wheels. Don't get me wrong, the car doesn't look bad, but my taste would point me in different directions. Since you're so open to constructive criticism, I'd suggest clear sidemarkers to better match your stock headlights, a set of OEM wheels (left in their original silver finish), and a return to chrome on the hatch strip. I know you're not a fan of chrome (I know many people with your phobia, and I can't say you're crazy because of it), but since you're unable to get rid of all of it at once, I'd say continuity with it is a good stop-gap until you have the resources to do it all at once. ST170 headlights, a GOOD set of coilovers, short-throw shifter, some matching anti-roll bars, a 2.5" exhaust system, tune, and some silver aftermarket wheels would make this car an awesome daily driver in my mind.

Keep up with doing things right, that Volant intake is something I really wish I could have! I look forward to seeing your progress.

PS: I've always though wagons looked great on SVT 6-spokes if you're looking for a budget-intensive wheel choice.

Thanks much!

Yeah constructive criticism is exactly what I need. I like seeing options through other enthusiast's eyes. You guys will open my eyes to things I may not have seen on my own. It's welcomed and requested for the development of what is essentially my dream car.

I'm looking at black housed headlights now to try to wipe the last bit of chrome from the ride, but I do remember still having my clear side markers from my 2nd MKI lying around somewhere so I may slap them on the ZTW and peel the Dip off the rear strip to see what it looks like.

As far as the wheels go, they were not my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or even 10th choice. I found out that one of the stock wheels was bent and the new looking tires were dry rotted as F. So I went and pulled my old 17x7 Konig Holes wheels from the closet and was told I had 2 of them bent and it would cost $300 to fix. Discount Tire just happened to be having a special that weekend on sets of wheels and tires. Buy 4 wheels get a $100 Visa card, 4 tires - $100 card, use their credit card and get additional $50 for wheels and $50 for tires. So my GF offered to buy the wheels for my birthday and I picked up the tires and as a way of saying thank you I offered to give her all of the Visa cards I'll receive.
I really wanted the SVT EAP wheels. Still do. Eventually I will have them. I actually used to have some of the TSW Saleen replica wheels but my ex destroyed the face of one wheel so I sold them last year.

Thanks for the pointers and all the mods you mentioned... they're all quite literally on the list of things to come

 

[Blystr842]

UPDATE:

Clutch started slipping today. I have a clutch ready to go in but don't have the money to get it installed. Plus I may have to buy a flywheel which will set me back a few more bucks. On top of that, on the way home from the gas station my truck decides to start downshifting into 3rd randomly and the engine light comes on. So now I'm stuck riding around my Ninja with a "For Sale" sign on it until I can get the ZTW rolling again...

 

[Blystr842]

Finally got the ZTW rolling again! Now it's sporting the Centerforce Dual-Friction clutch and a Massive Speed Systems motor mount!

I couldn't be happier! It's shifting perfectly and drives like a champ. The only issue is it's making quite a bit of "tractor" noise. I've had some local Focus owners say they have had the same issue with the noise but had no mechanical problems. I hear it's the transmission, not the clutch. Any ideas what I can do to shut it up?

Next fix is the parking brake cables then the timing bet service. After that I'm probably getting the CFM UDP kit. If I sell my motorcycle anytime soon I'll be picking up a cat-back and short-throw.