Focus Mk2: From beater to base: the project begins

15 June 2017 - Reading time: 3 minutes

When I spotted a 2005 black Focus Mk2 2.0 petrol (145 HP) for sale at just 2,400€, I knew two things:

1. It wasn’t going to be perfect.
2. I was going to have fun with it.

The starting point:

• Decent spec for its age — Xenon headlights, leather interior with heated seats, ESP, and climate control.
• Surprisingly comfortable seats, very close in feel to my old Mondeo Mk3 leather seats.
• But also… a laundry list of faults: heavy oil consumption, rough idle, noisy aftermarket brake pads, cracked windshield, burned-out bulbs, rust on the rear arches, and a dead right rear wheel bearing.

Step one - making it roadworthy

I began with the basics: rear wheel bearing replacement, new brake pads, fresh fluids and filters. The oil consumption was clearly an issue as the Motul 5W30 I initially tried vanished in just 500 km. Likely culprit? Worn oil control rings, a common Duratec-HE problem. A mechanic suggested to try a thicker oil just to slow the loss - no success, obviously.

Taming the idle

A teardown and cleaning of the intake manifold (removing worn swirl flaps), PCV valve replacement, throttle body and MAP sensor cleaning brought instant improvement - smooth idle and better throttle response.

Interior tweaks begin

• Swapped in facelift Level 2 instrument cluster (ROM 512).
• Changed to a four-spoke cruise-control steering wheel, reconditioned leather.
• Matching facelift handbrake gaiter, gear knob, and shifter gaiter.
• Upgraded dome light to top-spec with ambient LEDs.
• Climate panel swap to facelift “asphalt grey”.
• Rebuilt ESP & heated seat switches with new red LEDs to match factory color.

Audio upgrades

• Replaced mismatched CD6000 head unit (which didn’t speak CAN) with Sony units - finally settling on an oval Sony with DAB. Surprisingly, the DAB model sounds significantly better.
• Added a basic mono Bluetooth module and OEM mic.

Little exterior touches:

• Facelift Titanium spoiler in body color.
• Swapped in facelift folding mirrors (signal and puddle lights to be activated later).
• Replaced badly worn antenna and base.

This was the “foundation” stage. The car was running better, looking cleaner, had a decent sound, Bluetooth and ready for more ambitious work…