Shibusu's '98 Fie-zda 121

[shibusu]

I have recently acquired a “vehicle”, for €250:

It’s a 1998 Ford Fiesta. Er, I mean Mazda 121 GLX.

(Wouldn’t know so because one of my keys literally says Ford. )

For being 27 years old its done only 95.500km, and its in alright condition for its age with only some minor rust on the rear right wheel well. Passed inspection with no faults for the last few years. Engine runs well, and it’s surprisingly peppy with the 75hp 1.25l. Five speed manual, does about 3.000rpm at 100km/h. Fine by me.
It’s not particularly luxurious, since it has pretty much no options besides power windows, power steering and height-adjustable headlights. That means no airbags, no anti-lock brakes and no air conditioning. It does have some surprisingly bright headlights and high beams, no complaints on those.

Came with the original Grundig head unit, and a free rap cassette. Very lucky.

There are various problems, some resolved:

• Power steering fluid low (fixed)
• Brake fluid low (fixed)
• Engine oil level low (fixed)
• Timing belt was last replaced in 2008 (interval is 10 years)
• Interior fan speed 1-3 non functional (fixed)
• Driver’s side power window non functional, driver’s side power window switch connected to passenger side power window (fixed)
• I don’t have any cassettes, am not willing to drive to the plato in Groningen and scour for releases I might like which they probably don’t have, and would like to listen to things on my radio that isn’t FM radio.
• Clock is missing segments
• Last repair shop neglected to glue the clips back on the door panel

Fixed the basic maintenance items. Took a bit of effort and willpower to immediately start disassembling the interior of my car, but lacking the driver power window and forced ventilation at not max speed was kind of bothering.

Turns out the last shop was unable to fix the power window. Took a look at it with my dad (former mechanic) and found out why in about 15 minutes: All the pins on the connector were bent out of position and not making contact, after much diagnostic work of seeing it working with the door panel disassembled, no longer working when reassembled, and then bending the connector at weird angles to see it stop functioning then. With the multimeter we were using in expectation of a much more deep rooted issue we bent the pins back in to place and switched the two connectors around so I now have fully functional power windows. What luxury!

Now the fan speed not working on 1-3 was pretty easy to diagnose, since its a fairly common issue for the resistors, or their wiring, to fail if the blower motor has higher than normal resistance. Speed 4 is wired without the resistor and takes off of its own fuse. Lo and behold the wiring is frayed. I took it out, but put it back in again to keep it around for when I was at the local scrapyard to see if there were any spares laying around. Turned the fans on and it just decided to work…?
I’m guessing the contacts on the wires are bad. I pulled the resistor out of a 2002 Mk4 Fiesta at the scrapyard and am keeping it around in the glovebox for when it inevitably fails again, with a new connector as well. Patched the insulation up for now, it seems to be working and my dad is adamant about keeping the old one in the car to see if its the blower having too much resistance. I agree.

At the scrapper I also picked up a Pioneer DEH-4600BT from 2014. Initially I wanted to put in an actually new head unit with digital radio but I realised that spending €100-150 on a car I only paid €250 for was dumb. So, picked up the fan resistor and head unit for €30, to which I get a USB, CD and bluetooth capable unit for cheap. Pretty nice, much nicer than that Grundig, although my sister did say she had a bit of nostalgia for the old one since my parents owned a 1999 Fiesta when we grew up as well. I’ll probably be sending over that thing to her as a keepsake
I should’ve probably picked the clock out of that 2002 Fiesta at the scrapper as well, but I suppose we’ve got enough clocks in our lives nowadays that it isn’t that much of an issue. Tells the time fine-ish…

Currently that’s all there is to report, since I’m just waiting on the 2x ISO > Pioneer 16 pin adapter and the aerial adapter. Then it will reach Cromulent Vehicle status, at least for me.

[Hilbert]

@shibusu

For being 27 years old its done only 95.500km

The odometer isn’t capable of showing numbers above 100k
Goes to show how much faith they had in these old Fords… or mazdas.

Anyway! Your taste in cars is exquisite. I shall give you three claps for this fine choice.

[Hshan]

Looks very nice for just €250!

[Noporian]

“How do we make this Fiesta look more like a Mazda? I know! Let’s add a horizontal black plastic bar to the trunklid, that’ll show them!”

I’ve looked at car listings in the Netherlands once upon a time and functional old cars are absurdly cheap there. In Finland you’re lucky to get something that runs for 500€ and whatever that is is three breaths from death.

[Knugcab]

Honestly speaking, I prefer the Mazda grille over the sadface Fiesta.

[shibusu]

My clock is missing segments.
So I decided to fix it!

I broke it.

Now it’s missing even more segments.
Great success!

(Someone’s tampered with it before seeing by a broken clip it had, and the display fell right out when I disassembled it. Presumably thereafter making poor contact with the malleable connector it had.)

[Mad_Cat]

What can I say, except

UU

[shibusu]

Radio is in. Previous owner had a taste for maxing out the bass slider and subwoofer settings, that was fun.

Also came with a free Pure Trance Classics CD that someone forgot to eject, probably explains the bass settings. Only the third Pure Trance Classics CD though. Speakers aren’t amazing but they’re alright, not like I can expect much for what I paid for the unit and the car. No handsfree either since it doesn’t come with a mic and I don’t feel like paying extra for hanging up on people because I’m driving.
Just a non-ruined clock to go and will probably change out the timing belt at the next service interval.

[shibusu]

Ripped out the clock from the 2002 Fiesta. Now, I actually have a clock, and it even looks like my car is equipped with a non-functional immobilizer! (I don’t have one.)

To celebrate the occaision, I have washed the car. Now it looks vaguely presentable.
I also hit the curb while parking it. Fortunately, the hubcap on the front right is already fucked so there might as well not be any damage. Not like the value of this thing can go down more, since it’s already done depreciating.

[abg7]

To be fair, the ‘99-’00 Fiesta (with its New Edge facelift) looked much better, but the Mk3 (from which the Mk4 was derived), with its geometric headlights and bottom-breather nose, still has cleaner looks IMO.

[Knugcab]

I agree 100%.

[shibusu]

The temperature dropped a bit and now it doesn’t start anymore after my mother with basically no manual driving experience stalled it a bunch of times after having to drive it since my father’s CX-3 is out of action having an expired APK and waiting for a replacement seatbelt.

Here’s a picture while I wait for the neighbors to come back and help me jumpstart it.

Probably doesn’t help the battery is old as shit too.

[Knugcab]

Well, it was either this or frying the clutch, so be happy she did choose the better alternative.