[GFXjamie]

Welcome!

One thing like Luke mentioned is fixing up an older car. If you are patient and have mechanical ability, do it! If not, keep it driving and have some fun while saving up for something newer. Unless you have a big budget down the line that you are saving towards.

The third gear grind is a typical focus thing. Third gear syncros are a weak point especially if the previous owner was a power shifter or bad at stick in general. Very few have no third gear grind especially with your mileage.

If you want to take steps to get it into a solid power house, I suggest looking for a low mileage Zetec, do the bolt ons and tune, along with suspension mods as these cars handle great out of the box but amazing with some coilovers or even a well balanced spring and shock.

Once you have the car up to snuff mechanically with some new components, maybe some rear disks and upgraded front disks then you should start to look at the forced induction side of things if your still into the car. The focus with a blower or a turbo makes for an awesome car. Light weight, good power numbers and solid handling make it a hard car to beat at that point for what it can offer.

In addition to all of this, me and a few others have spare parts kicking around for most generation of focus so post up if your looking for parts and pick up some used stuff to save cash