kishy's 2004 Focus - Another Parts Car

[kishy]

In keeping with my past habits of documenting my parts cars, I'd like to introduce you to a 2004 Ford Focus ZX5 (4dr+hatch) I picked up on the evening of the 16th.



This has the 2.0L Zetec, a completely distinct engine from that in my 05. It has an automatic trans. I paid $300.

• 160k km
• Decent condition winter tires
• Good battery
• New front brakes
• HVAC blend doors do not stick and cable mechanism is not broken yet
• Overall in reasonably decent condition but some things have already been pulled by previous owner, like interior door handles.

It was only $300 because:

• Transmission: only has first and reverse. Not likely an easy or cheap fix, because P.O. told me when he bought it, the fluid level had been very low and it made bad noises.
• Catalytic converter: P.O. removed and sold it separately, to enable him to drop the price on the whole car. This would be an expensive item to acquire to put on the car, and is a completely different design of part vs the 05.
• Subframe: is quite rusty and previous owner says it has failed (rusted or cracked through) and isn't roadworthy.

All of which is quite unfortunate because it passes as a decent condition car.

As I may have mentioned in the 05 Focus thread, a fair bit varies between 04 and 05, but a lot of the stuff I need to make the 05 better is common between them. Some things I have my eyes on:

• Exterior door handles, as the ones on the 05 feel sloppy
• Seatbelt height adjusters, as the driver one in the 05 is broken
• The wheel and tire combo
• Maybe put the new brake parts in a box for the future
• Battery
• Heater core housing with blend doors
• Miscellaneous interior pieces and hardware
• Failure-prone items like window motors/regulators
• If it looks easy to do, maybe the front side windows, as the 05 has tint and the eventual destination of that car (my mom) would prefer to not have tint on the front side windows. This might prove to be easier than de-tinting it myself, and certainly would be cheaper than paying someone to de-tint it. On top of that, the people in line who want the 05 if mom eventually decides she doesn't want it would prefer that it does have tint.

Not sure exactly where scrap is at the moment, price-wise, but I think I've done well on this deal. At the end, I'm sure it will work out to me having paid essentially nothing for the items I take from it.

[GM_Guy]

Seats look nice. =-)
Friday scrap was ~$300/ton in this area, seems like you have come out well ahead.

Garbage bag & windex tint removal. Painfree, cheap & easy DIY. Check the youtubes.

[kishy]

Seats are indeed nice, front and back. But so are the ones in the keeper car, so not sure what to make of that. It does look like these seats will sit flat instead of needing weird different heights at each corner, so that might make them useful for something.

The situation with the tint is that, if mom decides the 05 isn't for her (being stick), the tint can then be reinstalled for essentially free. All interested parties want the car to have tint except her. So if the windows look like an easy swap, that's what I'll do. If not, de-tinting the front windows is on the table then.

I spent the evening pulling apart the dash, to try to get to the HVAC plenum (box containing the blend doors). I did get to it, but I can't work out how to actually remove it, and it's not clear that it's possible without undoing AC lines, which I'd been hoping to find a workaround for.

I was able to verify that the flaps do in fact have rubber overmolding on the edges, as the internet suggests. The flaps all work nicely in the parts car, vs sticky in the keeper car. It looks like I might be able to cut access holes in the keeper car to get in there, but it'll be tight...not intending to remove the dash in the keeper car. Way too much opportunity to introduce squeaks and rattles plus it's a lot of work.

[kishy]

Some time ago, I scooped up a set of 14" steelies with non-roadworthy tires, with the intent of putting my 14" winter tires on them for the 05 Focus. But then I found this 04 parts car which has the same 16" wheels as the 05, and has usable winter tired on it. Lots of tread but a little cracked, probably run them year-round including this winter and then they'll be done by next winter.

Today, I removed the front two wheels from the parts car, and put on the two steelies that are holding air. The two removed from this car will go on the 05 at the completion of the front end work I'm doing in the other thread. I'm also swapping lugnuts between the cars as this has fully steel nuts, while the 05 has the aluminum-coated steel ones which expand and a couple of them were very hard to get a socket onto.

Since the other two tires are not holding air reliably (flat within a day or two), they'll go on when it's time to move this to scrap it.

In the course of doing this, I identified that 04 and 05 have different front brakes entirely, and while the rotors and pads on this 04 are brand new, they won't work on the 05, so they won't be pulled.

Adding to the list of things to maybe take from this:
-Battery cables if good condition and usable on the 05
-Rear drums if they turn out to be better than what's on the 05, and are the same

[kishy]

As mentioned in the 05 thread, found this has brand new rear brakes. Already moved the drums over, and have decided to take the shoes and everything, but haven't moved on that yet.



The stripping has progressed:

Removed spare tire, jack, lug wrench. The other car has 'em, but as this is not a bolt pattern my other stuff uses, another spare isn't a bad idea. Filled the hatchback and rear seat space with some other scrap I had hanging around (a sink, some rotors, the control arms off the 05, etc) as well as all the plastics removed from this car that I certainly won't be reinstalling.

Removed outboard rear seatbelts. The rear belts in the 05 have been chewed by a dog at some point and are kinda ratty. Not sure if the hatch and sedan can share belts but I'll find out when I get there, I guess. I know the centre belt is different so that'll be a junkyard item if deemed necessary.

Stripped the doors. Removed speakers, exterior door handles, exterior mirrors, door latch mechanisms, window glass and window motor+regulator assemblies. Overkill? Yes. But I have access to it now, and I want to be rid of it soon, so that's how it goes. With the window glass being gone, it won't be hanging around much longer.

The ignition lock cylinder jammed. No idea what exactly went wrong, but that key would not turn anymore. Pins felt a little stiff, shot some oil in it, worked it over, still no turn. Brute force destroyed it and gained access to the column lock so I could release it. The car can still be started by operating the electrical part of the ignition switch with a screwdriver, as long as the chip key is near the PATS receiver. It definitely looks stolen now, but the chip key matches, so that's something.















Still to get:

• Empty the fuel tank as it's pretty much full.
• If the fuel tank is in better shape than the 05 (sorta rusty), will take it as they're surprisingly expensive to buy.
• Front lower ball joint protector shield thing. Tiny stamped steel part that one of my new control arms for the 05 was missing.
• ABS tone rings from the rear drums (those themselves being off the 05)
• Battery
• Possibly battery cables - they look to be in good shape but their routing may be a fair bit different from the 05
• Rear brake shoes etc.
• Dremel out the side of the HVAC plenum and practice techniques for repair on the 05
• Aren't the fog lights on this considered a desirable choice for mods on certain years of 98+ Panthers?

[GM_Guy]

>Aren't the fog lights on this considered a desirable choice for mods on certain years of 98+ Panthers?

I think they might be. Might as well grab them and their brackets also.

[kishy]

>Aren't the fog lights on this considered a desirable choice for mods on certain years of 98+ Panthers?

I think they might be. Might as well grab them and their brackets also.

Verified, yes, they are the right ones. However, the passenger side one is broken upon closer inspection, so no real point saving either of them now. The keeper car already has fogs and the 05 facelift makes them quite different.

Today, popped a front ball joint out to get the metal shield piece...seems to be a protector for the boot, probably a heat shield due to proximity to the rotor. One of the new control arms for the 05 included it, and the other did not, so it seems wise to maybe add it to the 05. The originals were destroyed in separating the ball joints.



I then set out to get the drum brake contents - shoes and hardware. It all came out as an assembly on each side, so it looks like installation on the other car will be dead simple. Very nice.



I then removed the ABS tone rings from the drum-hubs. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb8QIHWurac





Installation will be when the 05 trades places with the 04 in the garage, which will likely be when the 04 goes for scrap.

I listed the car on Kijiji (akin to Craigslist) and have had interest in buying the rear hatch. Parts Galore pricing would be $64.99 + $5 core USD, so about $90 Canadian. I'm going to ask $100 for the hatch, as it is in properly good condition and the wiper and power latch both work. Seems to me that the weight loss of it not being on the car is going to "cost" me a lot less than that on the scrap scale, so I'll come out significantly ahead doing that.

Fuel tank: I looked at application data for an 05 fuel tank, which is sold new but expensive, and found it applies to 03-07. Great!
Looked under the 04 and found it has a plastic tank. Even better, but this means the application data is more nuanced than I had hoped...

Dug in and found that 03-04 with a Zetec engine use the plastic tank. 03-04 with a 2.3 Duratec use the steel tank. The steel tank is indeed the same as an 05-07 2.0 Duratec. There must be a change in the evaporative emissions system to cause the downgrade from plastic to steel on the newer engine. That being said, it looks like I will be dropping the plastic tank and hanging onto it, because if there is a way to make it work properly in the 05, that will significantly extend the life of the car before rust becomes a concern. The 05 does have some flaky rust happening on its tank which is not an issue yet, but might become one, and between the steel tank being expensive and junkyards puncturing them...this seems like a wise item to pull in the comfort of my own garage. This will of course seal the deal on the car not running anymore, so I'm not rushing to get that item done yet.

[kishy]

Kinda forgot about this one...

1/02 I took some updated walkaround photos to try to find any interest in buying the remainder, and had no bites. It had really clean doors and usable fenders, kind of a shame.








1/16 I set about removing the fuel tank as prep for scrap. As noted in the '05 thread, that car has a steel fuel tank, which is a little rusty. 04 still uses a plastic tank, and the change probably related to evaporative emissions, but I'm not quite sure why. I did verify physical fitment should be the same, so the plastic tank was worth keeping until I can better evaluate the steel one.

The straps totally disintegrated when I started touching them.






2/02, sitting outside awaiting its fate




Sometime in late February, a neighbour complained to the city about both my property and my neighbour, with respect to "old cars" on the property. Of course, "old cars" are not a valid basis for a complaint nor are they against any bylaws, but this results in a bylaw officer attending to investigate.

I did receive a notice about bylaw infractions; the Focus being in visibly inoperable condition was one. I was really only waiting for the weather to nicen up to get rid of it, but this put the heat on, so away it went.


2/26: trailered away by my friend who subsequently scrapped it. Yes, the contents were well-secured for the journey.




So closes the chapter in my virtual book of cars that is the 2004 Focus parts car.

[jaywish]

I am sure your neighbor feels really good and empowered now.

[friskyfrankie]

I am sure your neighbor feels really good and empowered now.

One of the worst things we encounter today are folks that just HAVE to get into someone else's business! Ratting someone out is becoming a pastime. Soviet Union of the 20's and 30's anyone??

[GM_Guy]

Bingo. Time to invite your friends to park some plated and insured hoopties on your driveway and on the street for a while.

[DerekTheGreat]

Hmm. You know, I once shared that opinion and disdain for those who'd complain. Now? I'm not sure. At least once a year I've been towing home trash that looked worse than the Foci, and every time they get a call. But I see their point.. It occurred to me one day as I was driving down my street that I'm "that" guy. Everyone else keeps their yard & house pretty nice, no shitty cars in the driveway (save for the new pot head, pot grower scuz guy across the street) except for me. Although my driveway and garage aren't in some secluded place in my back yard, everything is visible unless I store it behind the garage. At which point the neighbors to the rear of me would complain because there are no fences. I've sold all the trash, redid the front yard, laid some sod and now I rather like it looking tidy.

Am I getting old? ..I really feel like I should just wait until I retire or move away somewhere secluded to start working on junk again out in the open. That or build a building in the backyard- code won't allow it though. Guess it's all relative. They complain on me for my cars, I pop them for their shitty late, loud parties and friends who park illegally.

[Tiggie]

This event spurred me to check the code in my locality. I am currently in a county and there is no code on yard junk. Next year, my property gets adsorbed into the town. No more yard junk, plus double the taxes.

I keep my property nice but I also appreciate the freedom to have a vehicle on my property in whatever state of repair that I wish.

Ready to move. Very ready but there is basically zero inventory out there.

[friskyfrankie]

Hmm. You know, I once shared that opinion and disdain for those who'd complain. Now? I'm not sure. At least once a year I've been towing home trash that looked worse than the Foci, and every time they get a call. But I see their point.. It occurred to me one day as I was driving down my street that I'm "that" guy. Everyone else keeps their yard & house pretty nice, no shitty cars in the driveway (save for the new pot head, pot grower scuz guy across the street) except for me. Although my driveway and garage aren't in some secluded place in my back yard, everything is visible unless I store it behind the garage. At which point the neighbors to the rear of me would complain because there are no fences. I've sold all the trash, redid the front yard, laid some sod and now I rather like it looking tidy.

Am I getting old? ..I really feel like I should just wait until I retire or move away somewhere secluded to start working on junk again out in the open. That or build a building in the backyard- code won't allow it though. Guess it's all relative. They complain on me for my cars, I pop them for their shitty late, loud parties and friends who park illegally.

Certainly all valid points but "they" at least chat with you first or just hide behind an anonymous phone call?

[DerekTheGreat]

No, just a city code enforcement person stops by. If I don't answer the door, there's a cool sticker on the door for me. I think I'd be rather rude if they did ask me to change though. I'd ask them to muzzle their loud dogs, obnoxious children and stifle their parties in return, which I currently endure. Or pay me to compromise my lifestyle. I don't know. "The dude abides."