i give you props…those escorts/focus always handled pretty well out of the box…makes me miss my escort gt a little bit
This is something I would build on Forza 4 just to race against othe people and wreck them
So continuing with my DIY fashion, I played around with my OEM RS wing on lunchbreak…and I noticed a few things I didnt like. Mine’s damaged (bought it damaged on purpose) so I won’t feel bad bastardizing an OEM RS part to make something my own(as with everything else in this build). The mounting points don’t line up with the USDM focus holes in the hatch, so new holes have to be drilled. One of the mounting studs is already busted, and it would be pretty hard to mold the wing in a way that I could retain these in reproductions anyways…so I’m going to grind them off and attach it with screws instead. I also don’t like the way the wing goes “on-top” of the hatch, rather than feathering out to the edge of the hatch to look like its PART of the hatch rather than an add-on.
SO, I’m going to make it mount like a stock USDM wing, and feather out to the edge of the hatch-top…then reproduce it in Carbon Fiber 
Oh, and the grille fit like GARBAGE, so I sent it back for refund. I intend now to make a proper-fitting RS style grille by molding my ST170 grille(OEM ford-UK part) and making a fiberglass shell that I can put some wire mesh into and acheive the RS grill through DIY methods but still have an OEM fit/finish.
I wish I had some vacation time so I could spend a few days in the garage getting some production work done on all these parts lol.
UBER EPIC MEGA HUGE UPDATE
After I finished up the side covers on the bike, I decided to clear some room in the garage and pull the focus in so I could really tear into it. Then Pirite(Luke) and Checko(Nick) showed up and really lit a fire under my ass to go nuts wrenching today. This is the result of a super awesome epic 14hr wrench-day.
For starters, I realized the RS wing requires a specific brakelight (discontinued and ridiculous to find)…and the mounting points are different than stock US Focus’s…so instead of cutting up my hatch(Well, sort of) I decided I was going to MAKE the RS wing fit…afterall, I bought mine damaged and only spent $50 on it so I don’t feel bad for a second chopping it up.
Step 1: cut off mounting tabs
Step 2: mark where original holes are to mount with screws, drill pilot holes, mount up (shit, I still have to do a little cutting)
-This is what I had to cut to gain access with a 1/4" rachet for putting in screws
Now that’s settled…time to address the brakelight issue. Some quick thinking, I decide to make a quick mold off the stock SVT wing so that I can retain use of the standard US focus 3rd brakelight.
Trimmed it up, chopped the shit out of the RS wing so it’d have a home, and temporarily mounted it to figure out how I’m going to blend this in.
Sweet, I like the way it’s coming out…going to set this aside for another day…once I have it all finished I’m going to make a mold of this wing and make CF versions for resale.
OK, so we moved on to yanking out the entire rear interior to gain access to the rear hatch glass.
and removed the hatch itself…mine is badly rotted, so I’ll be scoping the junkyard for a replacement.
Then we attacked removing the glass. This was a royal pain, thank god there were three of us! probably took about 2hrs, but we got them out without damaging!
(couldn’t get a good pic of the other side sorry)
SO, now it sits and waits for me to whip up the fiberglass panels and start doing bodywork and paint.
I’m pretty damn excited. Awesome day in the garage regardless of the ridiculous heat.
:bigtup: to some huge progress today. I’m enjoying watching this progress.
I’m liking the progress and V6 turbo AWD ideas…
Wayyyyyy better than a caterham build 
lol
That glass fucking sucked.
Now that’s progress.
Do work, son. :tup:
I see what you did there… 
All of this will be awesome IF it has great performance. I can’t beleive no domestic companies sell anything great here in the US. I guess they don’t mind missing out on the STI/Evo market. :gotme:
I completely agree…but lately it seems the “big three” have been paying attention to forums and Jalopnik and the like…Dodge with the colt and speaks of AWD with that, Ford now has the Focus ST at 252hp…and plans to do a Fiesta ST here, and talks of a possible new Focus RS that would be world-wide…
historically Americans won’t pay a premium price for a smaller car. high gas price do have one upside, they are changing this and allowing cooler small cars to show up.
Just wanted to let you know I ran into a X-type in a junkyard in Brockport. Was Automatic and AWD I believe. Prices there seemed reasonable. PM me if you want the number of the place.
Thanks for the heads up…I won’t know what I need off one just yet…but I kind of need the donor to be manual trans…the parts car I found is manual trans but the trans and engine have been removed (I’m hoping that means the PTO is still attached to the driveshaft)…if I need a PTO I’m 90% sure its the same on the automatic version and then I’d be interested in a phone number…
Wow. Awesome build man.
That AWD swap will be great; I’ve always wanted to do it for my car but never seen anyone able to do it. Looking forward to seeing what you can make out of it.
This is going to be awesome!
Spend a couple hours today and got one fender laid up.
Assembled the mold for the passenger fender:
I forgot to take pictures after mold release and gel coat, so my apologies for that bur here’s the final layup:
5 layers of 1.5oz chopped strand matt
Not a TON of progress, but I’m going to chip away a little at a time, I’m pretty burnt out from my cafe-racer CB550 build so I’m not exactly hyper-motivated to be in the garage a lot lol.
Looks awesome keep up the good work nick!