Mondeo (sr20) Comes Back Tuesday

[G54]

After what seems like an eternity but is, in reality, a short length of time by Thai standards. my Mondeo (SR20) is ready for collection - apparently.

Since the fiasco with the Ford dealership who left the car in such a bad way it had no electrics or steering and had to be taken to BKK on the back of a truck at a cost of 3,000 Baht, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Now the Ford Mondeo has been fitted with a Nissan SR20 engine and gearbox for the sum of 40,000 Baht.

The g/f family friends have done the work and have said 'we want to make sure it is in best condition'. So they took extra time to make it that way. They do not know it is a Farang owned car LOL.

Many thanks to the g/f for getting the price down from 60,000 Baht to a more reasonable 40,000 Baht.

Thanks also to board member Stingray for his advice and his answers to what may have seemed some stupid questions along the way. It was Stingray who advised changing the engine and replacing it with the Nissan SR20 after the ford gearbox packed in.

Tomorrow, I go to BKK to collect the car and see if it is as good as the mechanic says it now is. I'll report back when I have had chance to drive the car and to test it, as long as I do not die on the way home

Now all I have to do is find somewhere that wants a Ford Mondeo 2.0 engine already converted to LPG that was in the car before ther swap

[stingray]

After what seems like an eternity but is, in reality, a short length of time by Thai standards. my Mondeo (SR20) is ready for collection - apparently.

Since the fiasco with the Ford dealership who left the car in such a bad way it had no electrics or steering and had to be taken to BKK on the back of a truck at a cost of 3,000 Baht, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

Now the Ford Mondeo has been fitted with a Nissan SR20 engine and gearbox for the sum of 40,000 Baht.

The g/f family friends have done the work and have said 'we want to make sure it is in best condition'. So they took extra time to make it that way. They do not know it is a Farang owned car LOL.

Many thanks to the g/f for getting the price down from 60,000 Baht to a more reasonable 40,000 Baht.

Thanks also to board member Stingray for his advice and his answers to what may have seemed some stupid questions along the way. It was Stingray who advised changing the engine and replacing it with the Nissan SR20 after the ford gearbox packed in.

Tomorrow, I go to BKK to collect the car and see if it is as good as the mechanic says it now is. I'll report back when I have had chance to drive the car and to test it, as long as I do not die on the way home

Now all I have to do is find somewhere that wants a Ford Mondeo 2.0 engine already converted to LPG that was in the car before ther swap

Nice to hear, that the job is done. Just some more advise. If you pick your car up, just make sure all the waterhoses are tighten up with clamps, check for no leaks, check and proof that the temperature gauge works correctly. Sometimes ford temperature gauge works a little different with a Nissan SR engine. There is nothing to worry about it. It shows a little bit more over half on the scale of the gauge, when the engine is in normal temperature. If it was a Nissan gauge it would show little under half on the scale, for the normal Temperature. just make sure the two electric engine fans works properly, even without the AC they have to turn on automaticly, when the engine gets warm. Make sure they replaced the Waterradiator with at least a 2 core one. 3 core would even better. I would recommend to stay a day or two in Bankok surroundig and just drive arround maybe a 100km , just in case something isn't ok, you could go back easly to the repair shop. Make sure the driveshafts are balanced well. Test the car on Highway, make sure no vibrations comming up. Let me know if something happen.

good luck!

[G54]

Comedy time.

That was fun. The car that was ready on Tuesday, wasn't. A problem with the gearbox & air con. A phone call late on Monday discovered that. 2 days more! Makes a change from yet another week.

Wednesday, phone call to see and they say it is now ready to drive away. OK. OK, we go Thursday.

Thursday. We arrive BKK, after a friend decides he has time to go also. BKK 9 a.m. We discover the engineer does not even know his own address!! Brilliant. After a slight diversion through BKK traffic we arrive at the garage at the correct address.

The bonnet (hood for the Yanks) is up. The boot lid is up. The dashboard is in pieces. Bits of car engine scattered about on the ground.

Quick check on the day. Yep, it is Thursday. Double check on the garage. Right one. Correct car too. TiT.

Enquiries reveal it will be ready for 3 p.m. Not ready now? (Obviously not - see above ) Sigh.

What to do for 5 hours. Go eat then park up and sleep in the shade. Hot in BKK. We sleep a little and go back to the garage. Seems the battery is missing. They say it never arrived with the car. Really??? Phone call to Ford. They say it was with the car when taken away. Phone call to g/f. She talks to her father. He says the battery was with the car when he gave it to the engineer to tow away. Father is not happy he is being called a liar and phones the engineer (family too). Engineer refuses to answer phone. G/F tries. Engineer refuses to answer phone. Things getting a bit tense now. My friend explains (after a phone call from my g/f) that her father is unhappy over the battery.

5 minutes later the battery is 'found'. Was a simple mistake. Uh huh? After 5 weeks or so they discover there is no battery with the car but then find it when they are told how unhappy father is.

OK so we go away again for refreshments. Return an hour later to see if any progress. They are slow. Phone calls are made to the g/f. Calls recieved at garage. More people turn up to work on the car.

2-30 p.m.we go back to look. The car has gone for a test drive.

2-45 p.m. we hear there has been an accident!!

A Toyota Hilux has damaged the rear of the Mondeo. (You have to be f*cking kidding, was my reaction). My posture and voice let them know I was a happy chap LOL. I drove to the scene of the accident. Back bumper was mashed. Boot lid bent awry. Now everyone was waiting for the insurance man to come. 30 minutes later and a lot of dirty looks from me at the Toyota driver, mixed with a few words in Thai he could also understand, the insurance man turned up. Took details and photos. Gave us a sheet to have the car repaired back at home.

As the Toyota driver drove off I noticed his front nearside wing in the sunlight. It was rippled. Looks distinctly like a previous accident.

Back to the garage.

No headlights. 1 rear tail light. 1 indicator off. 2 hub caps missing. Other minor problems. These took a while to fix. Then a dam_n good clean as the car was filthy. Off for a test drive. All seemed Ok.

Now to pay some money. The price had gone up by 5k.

Seems he had to fit a plate under the engine to protect the sump. Had to fit a new style air filter too. New speedo as the old one was not working. Also extra for engine oil and transmission fluid. No real grumbles there though. Extras are extras and the work had been done, they simply forgot to mention the extras beforehand.

A good surprise. The Mondeo engine was LPG. After some confusion with language between the Tha engineer, his g/f on the phone and my Thai friend, it turns out the engineer has also converted the Nissan SR20 engine to run on LPG !!! He also fixed the system so it now runs on auto when starting on 95 Octane & switching to LPG.

So to the car and engine. All looks good (minus the lost hub caps - Oh, and no rear bumper thanks to Mr Toyota w*nker). The engine runs sweet as a nut. No vibrations, rattles or knocks. The new engine mountings are sturdy and well fitted.

The car goes like sh*t off a stick!!! Very very quick and that is on LPG - with the engineer telling us the LPG pump is too small for the new engine). Heaven knows how quick it will be if I fit a larger pump.

On 95 Octane it is like a fighter jet taking off. ( I think a new brake upgrade is in order).

Sme other minor problem that were there before the engineer got his hands on the car were also rectified.

On reflection, a pain in the ass to have to wait so long and to be put off week after week with pathetic excuses. The accident was the other drivers fault not the engineers. A hassle to have to hang around and also to have 'family' pissed off over the battery and the car not being ready as promised.

A couple of niggles. No dashboard lights. No reversing lights. Easy enough to recify though.

The engine. Brilliant. Quiet. So quick. I need a clear road and no police to check the speed out. a spoiler on the rear will be needed too. And the conversion for 'free' to LPG.

A 46k in total still 14k cheaper than back home.

I was not happy before, but I am now with the end product.

The Mondeo has cost abt 220K in total with the new engine included in that price but for that car with LPG and the Nissan SR20 engine it is worth a lot more. Gonna have fun with standing starts with the motorbikes now LOL

Stingray - No vibrations. Has twin radiators. Temperature OK. No leaks. All seems ok after 300 kms so far, BKK & highway driving. I appreciate the advice given all the way through. Thanks