[Spyder01]

Hiya everyone, my first time here. hehe i never noticed how many people like the focus in Canada until now Seen alot of cool car pics from everyone as well and i have a few questions.

I have a 2003 Silver ZTS with all the traction control/heated seat/heated mirror/moonroof gizmos which I brought last september...I also got their extended warranty for 5 years due to all the recalls i've been hearing. Well, right now, everything is stock...and i was wondering if i do anything to the engine like change the intake, would that terminate the warranty? I've also seen a few pictures of pplz with 01 and 02 focus that got their door handles and side mirrors painted to body color, very cool and i want to know how you can get those handles and mirrors? My side mirrors are heated so im not sure if its even possible to paint...or are there painted mirrors/handles avaiable in the market around the GTA?

Finally, lol, after waxing my focus and staring at the front for like 30mins, i find that front grill hard to accept...lol maybe its just my opinion, anyway, i heard that pplz can buy silver chrome looking net or mesh from Home Depot and add it over or behind the current grill....any idea what I should be looking for? hehe, Hope none of these simple modifications would ruin my warranty.

[paolo]

Welcome to Focus Canada
Mirrors, mouldings n door handles can be painted easily to match your factory colour. As for front grille, you can definately find many kinds out there, but be warned, most of them will delete your front blinkers, and it is up to you to find an alternate "approved" replacement for them.

There are also many other simple mods you can do on your own to make your focus customized to how you like it, like Fog light mod, Disabling the DRL lights, intermitent wiper mod, etc..

By the way, where are you from?

[tdot-zx3]

Changing the intake wont void your warrenty... nope ....

Welcome to the site ;)

[naz]

get better tires, get mach HIDs, call it a day and enjoy your warranty

[Spyder01]

B) Thank you for the warm welcome. Hey, you can just put paint on the current stock handles and mirror?? Its just those cheap black plastic and im not sure if paint will stick on that...btw, anyone know where i can get the 'extact' paint for cheap other than the dealers?

I am from Toronto Canada so taking out the DRL is a big no no here...I thought about switching the DRL to the fog lights though...but it'll make the car look like a neon/sx2.0 from a distance.

Naz, i like the current tires its the 205 16 inch one...i feel glued to the ground. Does anyone know the estimate cost to have the mach HID put in from the dealership? I heard that 2 sides is about $1000cdn...and then the dealership charges like $90cdn per hour :blink:

[paolo]

if u get the mach hids, save yourself the labour, and do them yourself, or get some focus friends to help you, thats what we did.

[Spyder01]

I read the steps from the Ontario Focus Owners Club and it seems very...hard to do... because we need to change all the wiring and stuff... So where can i get a pair of these mach hid? Not really a big fan of internet shopping so im looking for some shop that has them... Anybody from around the toronto area? Do you think those pacific mall modification shops have them?

btw, my focus is silver and if i install the HID, wouldn't that make my ZTS look like a SE from a distance? Because ZTS comes with this black outline in the headlights which i think looks real cool...lol however, i want that HID!! anyone know where i can get them?

[naz]

MACHs are easy to install.. fordparts.com sold stuff dealer cost.. it should be like $255usd per side right now.. unless they jacked the price up even more.. its a great product.. the only better purchase i think is tires...

as for the tires.. you have the stock tires on there? if you do, trust me you are not glued to the ground.. i know no one will ever do it on this board, but getting a set of 14" steelies from a LX focus and putting azenis sport or better tires is the absolute best bang for the buck mod you can do to a focus IMHO..

just IMHO, but don't bother with stuff like exhaust, header, intake.. it doesn't get you enough power to make a difference.. the grip of good tires.. or the excellent light output of HIDs.. there is a huge difference, you won't have to use your butt dyno to see whether you got that extra 2 crank hp the website promised.. haha

[Spyder01]

...the lx/se models all have 14" and 15" and at like 175 or 195....my ZTS comes with 205 16" .... bigger wheel and wider tires though...but im not worried about the tires right now since the focus zts comes with the best tire size right beside with the rsx..

$250usd...that would still be around like $800cdn...plus, i have like no experience with modifications so i'll never be able to install those with all the new wiring that is required..

[Spyder01]

yea, i don't think im going to bother with those intake stuff though yet...just because i don't want to waste the extra $800 on the 5 year extended warranty.

[guilty]

The mach headlights arent that hard to install. I'm sure there's a few Toronto guys with some experience who are willing to help you out if you need it. I did all the wiring on mine myself and I'm no expert by a long shot.

And disabling the DRLs isnt really a big legal issue.. it's illegal for a dealership to sell you a brand new vehicle without DRLs in Canada, but there's no law saying that you cant disable them. I had to disable mine when I put in the HIDs, so I did the DRL fog light mod.. might as well get some use out of those driving lights since I've never used them since I put in the HIDs.

As far as intake/exhaust/etc goes, it's really up to you. You dont get huge gains but it sounds more aggressive. Depending on what you buy, you can get away pretty cheap for some decent stuff. It really depends on what you want out of your car though..

Just take a look around some message boards and some online stores to see what's available for your car..

[Spyder01]

ooo, so do i have to buy the mach hid from the dealership or do normal modification shop have them as well?

btw, if i wanted to paint the door handles/side mirrors/interior vent bezels/dash bezels to body color, do you know if i can just put paint on? or do i need to apply other stuff on the material first?

[guilty]

Spyder01,Jul 15 2004, 12:01 AM Wrote:ooo, so do i have to buy the mach hid from the dealership or do normal modification shop have them as well?

btw, if i wanted to paint the door handles/side mirrors/interior vent bezels/dash bezels to body color, do you know if i can just put paint on? or do i need to apply other stuff on the material first?

the mach HID headlights are an OEM Ford part. You'll have to either get them from a dealership (probably a US dealership) or somewhere that sells Ford parts new, or used from someone.

As far as paint goes.. The rough texture on the exterior needs to be sanded down smooth (for the handles, mirrors, side moldings, etc), and it would probably be a good idea to use some kind of adhesive promoter and plastic flex-primer before the paint.

The interior stuff isnt too hard to paint.. Just remove it all, sand it down a bit (to take the finish off and leave a surface for the paint to stick to), primer (best would be flexible plastic primer), and then paint and clearcoat.

[Spyder01]

ooo that sounds fairly easy...going to get started on painting the door and side mirrors tomorrow..thanks! hope painting the mirrors and door handles would not ruin my warranty, lol which still has 4 years and 2 months to go!!

[paolo]

painting the door handles/mirrors/mouldings will NOT void your warranty, its purely a cosmetical modificatin. If you are really in need of painted handles, you can buy the SVT version, or the Painted Mazda tribute handles, which come painted from the factory, and fit our cars just fine. Just be sure to get the right colour match. As for Mirrors, you can get the SVT mirrors from the dealer, I believe they come primered, so just send them to the paint shop and your done. As for Mouldings, you have a ZTS, they come painted already, no?

The HIDs (a.k.a. Mach HIDs) are a ford OEM part, they were factory option on US spec Mach edition sedan, and SVT Focus. The modification is very easy. I along with other fellow members helped out GapBoyPCS when he first installed his HIDs at one of our meets. I then did them my self to my own car and it only took me roughly 2 hours. If the HIDs are out of your price range, you might want to consider the ST-170 or hella/morette headlights instead.

[MAlby7]

As far voiding your warranty goes, nothing cosmetic will void your warranty. If you want an intake but you're scared of voiding your warranty just put your stock intake back on if you have warranty work to be done. That would be the safest way, but would be a lot of work to do it every time. I painted my interior as many people on this board have done:

<a href='http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v291/MAlby7/Focus%20June%2015%202004/1.jpg'></a>

I'll see if I have a better pics when I get home!

- Mike

[guilty]

Paint wont affect your warranty.. Although it might affect the resale value, depending on how well it's done and who is looking to buy it.

As for the mirrors.. He's some pictures of my european OEM mirrors (They look the same as the SVT mirrors), and some installation instructions: http://www.focuscanada.net/forum/index.p...topic=4595

With the stock mirrors you could paint just the front cover like the euro/SVT mirrors are, or you could paint the whole thing. The differences between stock mirrors and the euro/SVT are that they fold, have the paintable cover smooth and primered, and the surrounding black plastic is glossy and smooth rather than dull and textured.

If you're painting the stock mirrors just make really sure you prep them well. The prep-work is one of those most important things for having the job turn out well, since the mirrors are going to be exposed to the elements, bugs hitting them, and road salt in the winter.

[Spyder01]

I think im going to HAVE to paint my stock mirrors because the ZTS came with the winter package with the heated side mirrors...if i changed it to the euro, its going to be alot of work to get it heated again.

Cool, so i can paint all i want and i'll still have my warranty! btw, MAlby7, that interior looks awsome! i want that interior...did you paint everything? Because from this angle, the whole dash looks darker and more like a real car rather than the stock cheap plastic. I wonder how much it'll cost in cdn to get someone to paint my interior parts? So it'll look OEM

Im like stupid with electricals in my car and all those wirings...so if i do get my hands on a mach, I'll properly need some member's help to get it installed.

[guilty]

Spyder01,Jul 15 2004, 10:13 AM Wrote:did you paint everything? Because from this angle, the whole dash looks darker and more like a real car rather than the stock cheap plastic.

The dashboard is the dark gray color.. You might have the medium gray interior, so it'll look different. The focus came with either tan, medium gray, or dark gray interiors I believe. I've painted all the pieces like Malby has in that picture on my car and also another guy's car. Turned out really good and it really adds a lot to the interior I think.

If you removed all the pieces and took them to a bodyshop I dont think they'd charge you TOO much to get it done, but it's really not that hard to do it yourself.

And as for power heated mirrors.. You could always swap them for power heated european versions, or power heated SVT versions, but that's going to bring the cost of the mirrors way up.

[paolo]

arent the power heated mirrors and svt/euro mirrors use the same harness? i am not 100 percent sure on it, but if that may be the case, then they would be a direct plug n play