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Green is the new Yellow. My "new" 02 Grabber Green ZX3

39K views 136 replies 20 participants last post by  2000-ZX3T 
#1 · (Edited)
Since Focaljet is mostly dead, I figured I would post up a few pictures of my new to me 02 green ZX3
to help bring some life back into the site. (Yeah right. :lol:) I bought this car in the spring of 2014 after
selling a Ford ranger I had been driving around in for a month. Wasn't feeling the truck vibe and wanted
to get back into a ZX3 like my old yellow car. Found her on craigslist up in Minnesota. My brother and
I drove up there, I looked her over, liked what I saw, and bought her from an old Army veteran for $2600.
Both of the front springs were broke, the tires were shot, the drives door handle mechanism needed
to be replaced and she needed to be cleaned up inside and out BADLY. But this car was amazingly clean overall
and especially underneath for being a Minnesota car with 111700 miles. There is virtually no rust on this car and by rust I
mean rot through. She reminds me in so many ways of my 00 yellow ZX3. (Hence the title of this thread.) The only
options on this car are cruise control and A/C. Much like my yellow car only I now have cruise control instead of keyless
entry. Besides fixing the things that were wrong with her, I didn't really do much with the car through out 2014. I
just put a 2.25 flex pipe and 2.5 inch exhaust from Mandrel Exhaust Systems (Trubendz) on her. Throughout 2015
however is when she received some tasteful mods. Here is the full list:

Car
2002 Grabber Green ZX3
2.0L Zetec-stock internals
MTX-75 transmission
Exedy stage 2, 4 puck clutch
Massive Speed System lower transmission mount

Engine Mods
FSWERKS Zetec turbo kit-Currently set at 12psi, 91 octane
Tuned by Raffi at FSWERKS
Garret GT28 journal bearing turbo-.86 AR hot side
FSWERKS DV20 diverter valve
Mandrel Exhaust Systems 2.25 Flex pipe
and 2.5 inch exhaust with magnaflow muffler
Motorcraft AZFS22C spark plugs-1 step colder
FSWERKS 8mm spark plug wires-yellow

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels&Tires
Stock Suspension-new Monroe quick strut assemblies up front, new shocks in the rear
SVT brakes up front with 05 knuckles-Calipers painted yellow
05+ balljoints
Centric Rotors and Pads
Massive Speed System rear disc conversion kit-Calipers also painted yellow
Stock 16 inch wheels
205/50 Cooper CS4 touring all season tires

Interior
Innovate Motorsports MTX-L AFR gauge
Turbosmart E-boost Street EBC



Now on to the pictures!

Couple of days after I brought her home:


Notice the missing door handle.









What the shifter used to look like:



Lovely piece of work wasn't it? :lol:

That didn't last very long. I bought a good used OEM shift boot from Matt Rowe at Speedway Recyclers and
found a stock silver shift nob on ebay. I think some young punk owned this car before the old Vet I bought
it from did.

The Result:


Much better!

Now some pictures of how the car currently is.

These were taken at our local park. I like how they look:










I really like how this picture turned out.






Turbo Kit: (Please excuse the dirtyish engine bay. Need to wash. :eek:)










Old boost controller. Boost Valve generation 2



New boost controller. Turbosmart E-boost Street



Intercooler. (And dirty bumper. Damn bugs! :mad: :eek:)



SVT front brakes



Massive rear disc conversion



My gauge setup.



This car is sooo flippin fun to drive now. She just pulls when you get into boost and sounds real angry when you do.
Raffi did an awesome job tuning her. Thanks again Raffi! :thumbup: I wrote a little review on his tune
here->http://forums.focaljet.com/showthre...custom-tunes-post-Randy?p=8086837#post8086837 so please go read it if you would like.

I'm done modding her for this year, but I'm not done with the car yet. Next year I'm looking at picking up an SVT
suspension kit, Massive rear camber and toe arms, some different wheels, probably in black, tires, and maybe
some different seats. I also plan on taking her to a body shop to fix some surface rust and so I can get rid of those
stupid plastic rocker "guards" or as I call them, RUST catchers. Plus it could use a sand down and repaint as the
paint has some scratches and rock chips (on the hood). You can tell it was daily driven, but it must not have been
in the winter because the underneath is remarkably clean. That most likely won't be next year, but some other time
down the road a bit. Will update as I progress. This car is a keeper. She will never be for sale, as long as I can still
drive stick shift. Hope you enjoyed my little post. Please comment, if you would like, and thanks for looking!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Thanks! She is in real good shape for her age and being a former Minnesota car. The pictures actually make the paint look
better then it is. It's not bad by any means, just your typical scratches, rock chips, and little door ding dents on the sides
from being a daily driver for someone. The underneath, like I said though, is very very clean. The subframes don't have
hardly any rust on them and I can actually take bolts out of the rear control arms without getting the hacksaw out! When
is the last time you have seen that from a Focus that has been in the northern salt belt for 13 years? :lol:

Yes, I also like the turbo kit's stealthy style. You pop the hood and you can't tell it is there unless you look around.
The fact that the kit uses the stock header, wrinkle black powder coated piping and the great tune from Raffi, really make
it look and feel like this car came from the factory boosted. Very well designed and constructed. Props to Vik at FSWerks
for that. He did a good job. :thumbup:
 
#5 ·
Thanks. The green color has definitely grown on me. Those bolts surprised me too! Even though it was clean under
the car, I still wasn't expecting the bolts to just come right out. That really make things so much easier to work on.
 
#6 ·
I absolutely love this post and this car. I dug your old Yellow car, this one is a step in the right direction. And green is always the right answer.

You've done very well by this.

- Drew
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks Drew! Selling my 00 zinc yellow ZX3 was a big mistake on my part and something I really do regret doing. That car has never
left my mind since the day I sold it and it played a big part in finding this one. I will not be selling this one, I promise you.

Andy
 
#9 ·
Thanks hEaT! That is kind of the theme I'm going with. Keep it stock looking, but there
is a surprise under neath the hood. :evilgrin:
 
#11 ·
Oh yeah! I would like 15psi! But I need a built engine for that I would think. Don't want to snap the rods with too much
torque. I might do that way down the road a bit. Build the engine for longitivtiy, maybe a ported head, keep the stock
intake manifold and turn up the boost. I'm all about low-mid range torque and response so that is my reason for keeping
the stock intake manifold, even if I'm sacrificing some power. I'd be happy with 250-300whp and that much torque
I also think it wouldn't be too hard for Raffi to tune it by keeping the stock intake manifold in place. I'd have to ask him too
be sure though. That water/meth injection would be nice. I may have to look into that.
 
#12 ·
I see you have a .86 exhaust housing listed. So is it a 2871 upgrade?

If so, that should be a nice slow spooling turbo and keep the torque off the midrange.

Also, if you were going to do anything, an proper intake manifold that spread the torque around would be exactly what you would want, not a bunch of upgrades and then leaving the stock intake. The opposite would work better for you. Lose a bit of a torque spike, but move the power around. Similar to what the Cosworth does for a Duratec powerband.

I wouldn't build the engine for anything under 300whp, a proper tune would be fine, stock Zetecs are stout, just keep the torque above 4k and smooth and it'll be fine.

Water meth will help no matter what, keep the car consistent, cools off IATs and bit of extra octane at all time, it's win win.

- Drew
 
#13 ·
No, it is not the 2871. It is the standard, and only turbo option that FSWerks lists on their site for the zetec turbo kit.
It has been like that since Randy left. It is a GT28 journal bearing turbo rated at 330hp, and has a .86 exhaust housing.
Here is a picture of the side of the box:




At least as far as I know it is the only turbo option. Maybe if you call in to order you can upgrade? I don't
know, but it doesn't matter to me since this is the turbo I wanted. Power starts coming on at 3000 rpms and
everything really comes alive at 4000 rpms. I was surprised myself that it had a .86 exhaust housing on
it when I received the kit. I thought it would have had a .63 housing for better spooling.

Yes, I agree with you on the intake manifold. I really do like what the cosworth does for the duratecs. If I could
find a Ford racing intake, would that suffice? The fact that an upgraded intake manifold would allow me to make
more power while keeping the torque down so I wouldn't have to build the engine, is a plus in my book.
Nice to know the zetecs are stout when you keep the torque about 4k. I trust your advise on this, since you
have been around here way longer then I have.
 
#14 ·
Just got done doing a datalog for Raffi with the boost set at 11psi. AFR was good the entire run so I should be good to go.
Good lord does this car move the hell out now! :eek: I did a wot pull starting in 2nd gear after my datalog run, and I still have
traction! The tires were just starting to chirp so I guess that is a good thing right? Not bad for all season tires. It was
humid here today and will be all week, so when it cools off back into the 65-70s it should really be fun! :evilgrin:
 
#18 · (Edited)
Thanks Chaz! I'm really honored by your comment. I really admire your cars and what you have done to them. Nice
to know my car can be of some inspiration for you. :thumbup:
 
#20 ·
Yeah I know right? It's like a miracle or something! :lol: Talk about luck on my part.
I never get that lucky!
 
#21 ·
NERP is Chaz Edwards, yes. He did a small final batch of manifolds, not sure if he would make more. But i'm sure you could find one used.

I honestly wouldn't do business with Top Speed either, however, a used manifold is still a quality piece.

For the water meth, you'll need a 1/8" NPT bung welded onto your cold side charge piping. I would put it right after your intercooler, or at least 10 inches from your IAT sensor.

- Drew
 
#22 ·
Yeah, the only way I would get a topspeed manifold is if I find one used. Looks like I'd need to find either one used anyway.
Thanks for the advice on the water meth. I'll add it to the list of things to do next year. :thumbup:
 
#23 · (Edited)
It was nice and cool here on Friday, so I decided to record an acceleration video. I started in 2nd gear at 20mph and did a
wot pull to 90mph. You'll notice in the video title below it says 7.8psi of boost. Why 7.8 psi? When I first watched the video, I
thought it seemed a little "slow" for 11psi. So I took my car out for another drive and found my boost was not hitting 11psi
anymore. I hooked up my liquid filled pressure gauge I bought for setting the boost, and it only peaked out at
7.8 psi. I looked things over in the engine bay and everything looks secure and nice and tight. No lines blew off and
AFR is reading like it should, so I don't think I have any boost leaks. I'm thinking the spring in the boost controller
might have somehow bound up when turning the nob tighter to up the boost resulting in a higher psi with less turns
of the nob. Then when I ran the car in boost a few times the spring unbound itself. Either that or the diverter valve
isn't staying shut under boost. I ordered an e-boost street off of ebay and bought an upgraded diverter valve from
FSWERKS so we'll see what happens. Anyway, here is the video. Camera sound is not the greatest, just so you know:




I consistently get 12.47 seconds to 90mph from 20mph when timing this run. I think that is pretty
good considering these cars take around TEN seconds to get to 60mph when they are bone stock. :)
I'll be posting another video at 11psi once I get my new boost controller and get it set up in the car.
 
#24 ·
Nice. Definitely a lot more in it.

It does look a touch slow, but with that low boost level, it makes sense. 4-5lbs on top of that should feel real good, get that compressor into it's efficiency range.

- Drew
 
#32 ·
Yeah, looking forward to playing around with the e-boost street. I want 11psi damn it! :lol: Funny part is it looks "slow"
in the video but it doesn't feel slow when driving it so I'm not complaining one bit.
 
#33 ·
Thanks Steve! :)
 
#31 ·
That would cause piston damage though, not snapped rods.

The car was driven to Detroit and tuned by Lidio at Alternative Automotive, apparently the only option for good tuning back when it was done.

-Steve
 
#36 ·
I like where the torque peeks on that. That be a fun drive with that power band. How ever, torque peeking low in the rpm range
can snap **** if it gets too high on a stock zetec. I bet the wtq at 15psi was near 300 on your setup and with it peaking so
low, I can see why it snapped the rods. Who nows if it was tuned for that high of boost level either. If it wasn't that didn't
help either. :lol:
 
#37 · (Edited)
My e-boost street arrived last friday, so I spent the afternoon hooking it up and fiddling with it. This thing is a very nice
and compact boost controller. Real easy to use once you read the directions which tell you what the on screen abbreviations mean.
You can set two boost groups with this and I had mine dialed in in a few wot pulls. Low boost is set at 7psi and high boost is
set at 11.3psi. You just push the turn nob on the control deck to switch between your two power levels. I love this feature.
Alternatively, you can hook up an external switch to do the same thing. You can also adjust when the waste gate starts to
open to increase or decrease turbocharger response. I left it set at the factory default of 3psi before target boost pressure.
Power now comes on around 3500 rpms instead of 4000 rpms. I'm definitely liking that. This unit also has an overboost
protection and a boost correction function. I'm not using them at this time, so I left the necessary wires disconnected.
Overall this is one sweet little boost controller and I'm really pleased with it. I mounted the control unit on the dash next to
my AFR gauge. Here is a picture:






Outside view. Someone who knows a thing or two about cars might be able to tell this car is hiding something...





Found a perfect spot to mount the solenoid.





After I got that hooked up and my boost pressure set, I went out and recorded an acceleration video with the
boost set at 11.3psi. My shifting could have been a little faster, but it's still a quick run. Here is the video:





I get 11.5 seconds to 90 from 20 when I time it. Not too bad. I do swear the car feels like it pulls harder
at a particle throttle pull then a WOT pull. Maybe it's just me. All I know it's darn fast and fun and that is
all I care about. :) Also, added this to complete the engine bay:


 
#38 ·
Updated mod list on the front page and added a couple of new pictures. Check em out. :)
 
#39 ·
Small update. Just ordered this from Massive:




The Black Friday price was too good to pass up! They won't go on my car until
next summer, but that's ok. It's now too cold here to work on cars anyways and
I need to save some money for a set of 17 inch Team Dymanic PR1.2 wheels to
fit over these big boys.
 
#41 ·
I can't wait to install them either! Should be a nice increase in braking force over the SVT brakes. Two
awesome brake kits released from Massive in the same year. Great time to be a MK1 Focus owner. :)
 
#44 ·
Only one way to find out. I'm hoping for a solid pedal feel with good bite from these big brakes.
 
#48 ·
Thanks Steve!
 
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