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An Audio Guru
Active Member
So back in September I lost my "love"..no not a wife or gf...well I dumped my gf...but meh not the point nor do I care. Point is, shortly after, I lost my baby....my Ford Focus ZX3(An Audio Guru on Focusfanatics.com )
I shall have another one day. Believe it or not or maybe it was the others inability to drive what they own but I was able to beat a couple of GT's with just a 4 banger...not sure how but like I said maybe it was bad driving on the others part. I bought the thing brand new all cash out the door. Drove it all over the place, it was my road trip car and it 6 years I racked up 138k miles on it. When It was totaled out by an idiot Honda driver who decided he wanted to park his car in my trunk on the interstate I decided I need to go back to have something that I can haul stuff around in and something that was a little more durable for Atlanta driving and the rough roads. So I bought Bruiser(the truck is black and blue bc of the replaced body panels since it had been in a fender bender...literally...see album). Played $1000 for it with only 103k miles as a farm truck. It needed some massive work to it but I am decently handy at most auto repairs so I decided this would be something I could tackle and enjoy in the process. I think I may had gotten in over my head at one point but as of a couple days ago it became my DD. The list of replacements/repairs follows: Pull a Part - pass fender, front bumper and brackets, headlight/bezels, spare tire, grill, tail light, alternator, whole rear axle(old locked up), whole ebrake assembly from pedal to drums. Autozone - valve cover gasket, stop smoke, other small things(oil change, coolant flush, plugs/wires, etc), battery, window sealant, front shocks, drum rebuild kit, oil pressure sending unit, had no shift knob..lol..got a new cheapy. Other - rewired interior lighting(dash-to-curtousy), all new radio speaker(original owner did a chop job on the harness and wrapped with Quack tape..idiot!!!), New seat bolts(most missing), seat would not lock in place=fixed, new exhaust from y pipe back(can you say Flowmasters!!!!!...giggitti)
Continuing problems : Blower not working, emissions not cooperating(need 2nd cat), funny smell and not sure what it is, temp reading a little cold, rattle at hard accel, vibrate while braking, needs alignment, wearing on inside of driver front tire, needs a paint job.
That's all I can think of for now. The existing problems list is dwindling as I find time to tackle them. So hopefully in a short while I will have my 3rd reliable Ranger. My first was an 85' Red 4banger single cab stripped down 5 speed long bed(fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a concrete bridge). That one was royally FUBARed when I got done with it....bent frame, mangled front end, bench seat in the roof on the pass side. My 2nd was a 89' V6 Single cab green XLT. That one survived me and gave it to charity before the tax laws changed days before I got my Focus. Tax law in 04' was that you got back what the vehicle could be sold for if given to charity...not the blue book value like it is now. Blue book placed it a $900 bc of mileage, dents, faded paint. I ended up getting $1936 in my taxes for it a few months later. Well worth the wait!!!
Well that's it for now...since ^^^this is ramble on. Now my eyes hurt and feel sorry for you poor bast@rds reading this. Full warning !!!! I will be asking for advice time to time trying to get Bruiser back up to its former glorious self. Thanks in advance for the warm welcome I suppose I will get.
I shall have another one day. Believe it or not or maybe it was the others inability to drive what they own but I was able to beat a couple of GT's with just a 4 banger...not sure how but like I said maybe it was bad driving on the others part. I bought the thing brand new all cash out the door. Drove it all over the place, it was my road trip car and it 6 years I racked up 138k miles on it. When It was totaled out by an idiot Honda driver who decided he wanted to park his car in my trunk on the interstate I decided I need to go back to have something that I can haul stuff around in and something that was a little more durable for Atlanta driving and the rough roads. So I bought Bruiser(the truck is black and blue bc of the replaced body panels since it had been in a fender bender...literally...see album). Played $1000 for it with only 103k miles as a farm truck. It needed some massive work to it but I am decently handy at most auto repairs so I decided this would be something I could tackle and enjoy in the process. I think I may had gotten in over my head at one point but as of a couple days ago it became my DD. The list of replacements/repairs follows: Pull a Part - pass fender, front bumper and brackets, headlight/bezels, spare tire, grill, tail light, alternator, whole rear axle(old locked up), whole ebrake assembly from pedal to drums. Autozone - valve cover gasket, stop smoke, other small things(oil change, coolant flush, plugs/wires, etc), battery, window sealant, front shocks, drum rebuild kit, oil pressure sending unit, had no shift knob..lol..got a new cheapy. Other - rewired interior lighting(dash-to-curtousy), all new radio speaker(original owner did a chop job on the harness and wrapped with Quack tape..idiot!!!), New seat bolts(most missing), seat would not lock in place=fixed, new exhaust from y pipe back(can you say Flowmasters!!!!!...giggitti)
Continuing problems : Blower not working, emissions not cooperating(need 2nd cat), funny smell and not sure what it is, temp reading a little cold, rattle at hard accel, vibrate while braking, needs alignment, wearing on inside of driver front tire, needs a paint job.
That's all I can think of for now. The existing problems list is dwindling as I find time to tackle them. So hopefully in a short while I will have my 3rd reliable Ranger. My first was an 85' Red 4banger single cab stripped down 5 speed long bed(fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a concrete bridge). That one was royally FUBARed when I got done with it....bent frame, mangled front end, bench seat in the roof on the pass side. My 2nd was a 89' V6 Single cab green XLT. That one survived me and gave it to charity before the tax laws changed days before I got my Focus. Tax law in 04' was that you got back what the vehicle could be sold for if given to charity...not the blue book value like it is now. Blue book placed it a $900 bc of mileage, dents, faded paint. I ended up getting $1936 in my taxes for it a few months later. Well worth the wait!!!
Well that's it for now...since ^^^this is ramble on. Now my eyes hurt and feel sorry for you poor bast@rds reading this. Full warning !!!! I will be asking for advice time to time trying to get Bruiser back up to its former glorious self. Thanks in advance for the warm welcome I suppose I will get.
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I miss it. But I will be a Ford man til my dying day 
one way or the other!!!
