Back in Focus
Danny reacquaints himself with a design classic
The Ford Focus is a classic on the cusp. The earliest cars are almost 25 years-old and, as a blank piece of paper design, they are as good a practical classic as anything ever produced by Ford. The Focus was certainly a worthy successor to Escorts MKI, II and III. The Focus MKI is still considered a benchmark of affordable motoring today, nothing in its class came close. Named one of the 50 greatest cars of the last 50 years by our sister title, CAR Magazine, it was also European Car of the Year in 1999.
Then there were the numbers. When this one escaped from Valencia or Saarlouis in 2000, a year in which over 286,000 Focii were made, it was riding on the crest of a wave and would do so, at the top of the UK charts, until 2004. Being offered a second one in three years, (I had previously enjoyed the services of a 2.0 Ghia, bought from reader Gary Josling in 2017), I jumped at it.
The Focus’ secret is – well – not a secret anymore. Its future classic status is built on the fact that it is a superb car to drive with handling that many cars twice the price would envy. Right the way through the range, from poverty spec to the ST, the driver is king, and that’s why I love ’em.
This 1.8 Zetec hadn’t seen then road since
2012 but, underneath the dust and sludge, it was a 31k-mile minter. Looked after and regularly fettled by friend of the magazine, Tommy Penfold. It had been in Tommy’s yard since his neighbour had decided not to use it anymore in 2013. It had become something of a fixture.
Tommy’s tinkering
Tommy went through the car doing the brakes and other bits and bobs over the years. However, time and age creeps up on us all, and Tommy realised he wasn’t going to be able to get the car roadworthy again so offered it to me with the strict instructions that I should make it good.
Once trailored up from London I got stuck in, first the BIG clean. It was covered in moss and lichen so I let it soak in a pre-wash foam before giving it a blast with the jet washer. This was repeated three days in a row in between other jobs. The engine actually ran! Although it was a struggle. I siphoned out the stale petrol and
filled the tank with fresh, still no change.
I decided to fit a new cambelt before getting into the diagnostics. Tommy told me it had had a new belt fitted just before it came off the road, but that was eight years ago. Sitting idle for that length of time will potentially ‘set’ a belt so far as to weaken it in places. It would be a risk to run the car so a new one was ordered.
On removing the cam cover, the first thing I noticed was how clean everything was. The cam lobes in particular looked new, with very slight surface rusting. Proof that the engine was young in the tooth. The cams themselves looked slightly out of sync however. When the engine ran there was no metal on metal noise, but if either cam was off by a tooth then it would have a detrimental effect. The cambelt change would now also involve a careful eximnation of cam positioning. A step-by-step Zetec belt change is illustrated on the previous page. It went fine, the engine sounded way better, but was still not 100 per cent. Time to pull out the diagnostic tool.
Plug in, tune out
Pete from our very excellent neighbours at Motorvation was in charge of the plug-in and a quick glance at his computer screen showed a sea of red. Mainly electrical and charging faults. New battery required – also an afternoon chasing and cleaning earths to make sure everything worked. Then it was time to send it to uncle Nick at our local MOT station.
The first MOT for eight years was not forthcoming. Brake imbalance at the rear was to blame – plus new tyres required. I knew that would be an issue, so had a set ready to fit.
The brake imbalance saw Pete and the boys take the rear hubs apart again and clean and lube everything (again). Some vigorous testing followed… then back to the man with the clipboard. Pass. With only an advisory for the front number plate. An interior clean was next and the first trip on the road for eight years was a success. The tracking was so far out, it made the bearings howl. Once done I detected the familiar creak of a tired engine mount. It still doesn’t pull like a Zetec should – there’s hunting at idle. Plenty to keep me interested then.