New Fto enthusiast, possibly owner soon too!!

[richardc9052]

Hi guys n gals,

Well just to introduce myself and to give a reason for my being on this forum...

My name is Richard (my username doesnt give much away) I am 20, live in Co. Limerick, have a 2 month old baby girl and a wonderful girlfriend!

I was born in the UK, but moved over here when i was 5/6 and the first "NICE" car i saw in Ireland was, you guessed it, a silver gpx fto.
I still have that image in my head, and i cant exactly remeber much from back then!
Anyway, the thought of owning an fto kind of left me because i stopped seeing them on the roads (probably because the Mivecs are the same insurance group as a porche boxter!)

So i have owned 2 corrolla saloons an opel corsa, and a pug 106 in the past..
More recently i became a short term classic car owner ( i had a mint Mk2 fiesta, i will link pics if ya want to see)
I then bought a bmw... It startd as a 316i, but i had an m42 engine from an e30 318is put in it, still running on the 1.6 gearbox n diff, it was quick enough keeping to 325's... then i welded the diff and experienced that for a while... the baby arrived so i sold it, and now drive a 1.4 almera that for some reason can do 130mph..

Anyway, i visited my local jap garage to see what he had in so kick start my need to save and there, when i walked through the gates was a red fto gpx i fell in love again almost instantly!!!

The only problem i had was that it was an auto..... until i drove it, the auto is not like any other auto, the constant sport mode means kick down is harsh and fast and although i am a manual kinda guy this auto felt amazing! My test drive went like this, i pulled out of the garage and drove down the road easily, came off the roundabout onto a nice straight, all the time telling myself that i would take it easy, then a jeep came up behind me and was practically touchin the bumper, so i dropped the hammer and went from 50km/ph to 140km/ph in what was a very fast few seconds, looking, but back the jeep was way off into the distance... my father sitting next to me blank, the first words out of his mouth when we got back to the garage where, if you dont buy it.. I WILL!!!

So all i need to do now is give a deposit and save for a feww weeks and she will be mine!
Before anyone asks she is going for €1500 and is nct till the middle of next year but from what i can see she would def pass again, car was garaged fro almost the full 2 years it was nct'd...

Any tips on what to check would be great just to over confirm she is mint!

Also 1 thing i noticed was the rpm clock doesnt work, is this expensive to fix or just a simple issue??? thanks everyone and hello from myself!!

[Dragonheart]

Welcome along Richard, nice to hear someone backing up the tip mode. I agree with you, it is totally different from an auto, I myself never use the auto mode on my tip box and find it very responsive. You will have a slight difference in the manual though in that the revs kick in straight away instead of a slight loss of power which is lost through the transmission. But I wouldnt for one second diss the tip box, manys the time I've stood up for it.
If you wanted to see a few different mods on FTOs come along to the southcourt in Limerick on Saturday where we're having a bit of a meet.

[richardc9052]

Ya the tip gear change is very tight and is quite an amazing pull for just 4 gears, i would imagine the facelift fto tip gbox would be a bit quicker, nearly as fast as a manual with the 5 speed tip? Also, i dont think i will use the auto mode on the box either as i have been warned away from doing this on a tip box, cant remeber why now!! Look forward to meeting some of the nice people on here and hearing some V6 madness, ill do my best to be around on sat!

[CJ]

Welcome to the forum. Please remove the large image from your signature, stick to the dimensions set out in the forum rules.

CJ

[gfalls]

Hi guys n gals,

Well just to introduce myself and to give a reason for my being on this forum...

My name is Richard (my username doesnt give much away) I am 20, live in Co. Limerick, have a 2 month old baby girl and a wonderful girlfriend!

I was born in the UK, but moved over here when i was 5/6 and the first "NICE" car i saw in Ireland was, you guessed it, a silver gpx fto.
I still have that image in my head, and i cant exactly remeber much from back then!
Anyway, the thought of owning an fto kind of left me because i stopped seeing them on the roads (probably because the Mivecs are the same insurance group as a porche boxter!)

So i have owned 2 corrolla saloons an opel corsa, and a pug 106 in the past..
More recently i became a short term classic car owner ( i had a mint Mk2 fiesta, i will link pics if ya want to see)
I then bought a bmw... It startd as a 316i, but i had an m42 engine from an e30 318is put in it, still running on the 1.6 gearbox n diff, it was quick enough keeping to 325's... then i welded the diff and experienced that for a while... the baby arrived so i sold it, and now drive a 1.4 almera that for some reason can do 130mph..

Anyway, i visited my local jap garage to see what he had in so kick start my need to save and there, when i walked through the gates was a red fto gpx i fell in love again almost instantly!!!

The only problem i had was that it was an auto..... until i drove it, the auto is not like any other auto, the constant sport mode means kick down is harsh and fast and although i am a manual kinda guy this auto felt amazing! My test drive went like this, i pulled out of the garage and drove down the road easily, came off the roundabout onto a nice straight, all the time telling myself that i would take it easy, then a jeep came up behind me and was practically touchin the bumper, so i dropped the hammer and went from 50km/ph to 140km/ph in what was a very fast few seconds, looking, but back the jeep was way off into the distance... my father sitting next to me blank, the first words out of his mouth when we got back to the garage where, if you dont buy it.. I WILL!!!

So all i need to do now is give a deposit and save for a feww weeks and she will be mine!
Before anyone asks she is going for €1500 and is nct till the middle of next year but from what i can see she would def pass again, car was garaged fro almost the full 2 years it was nct'd...

Any tips on what to check would be great just to over confirm she is mint!

Also 1 thing i noticed was the rpm clock doesnt work, is this expensive to fix or just a simple issue??? thanks everyone and hello from myself!!

Welcome... How much did you get for the baby..??

[StewyD32]

to the club.

That is a nice pic of an FTO, except the eyebrows. I think the vast majority of people hate them.
We actually made a guy in peru burn his. Lol

If you can come to the meet at the weekend that Would be great. You get a feel about the club and the FTP club. Not to mention some of the best FTO's in Ireland

[richardc9052]

Hi guys n gals,

Well just to introduce myself and to give a reason for my being on this forum...

My name is Richard (my username doesnt give much away) I am 20, live in Co. Limerick, have a 2 month old baby girl and a wonderful girlfriend!

I was born in the UK, but moved over here when i was 5/6 and the first "NICE" car i saw in Ireland was, you guessed it, a silver gpx fto.
I still have that image in my head, and i cant exactly remeber much from back then!
Anyway, the thought of owning an fto kind of left me because i stopped seeing them on the roads (probably because the Mivecs are the same insurance group as a porche boxter!)

So i have owned 2 corrolla saloons an opel corsa, and a pug 106 in the past..
More recently i became a short term classic car owner ( i had a mint Mk2 fiesta, i will link pics if ya want to see)
I then bought a bmw... It startd as a 316i, but i had an m42 engine from an e30 318is put in it, still running on the 1.6 gearbox n diff, it was quick enough keeping to 325's... then i welded the diff and experienced that for a while... the baby arrived so i sold it, and now drive a 1.4 almera that for some reason can do 130mph..

Anyway, i visited my local jap garage to see what he had in so kick start my need to save and there, when i walked through the gates was a red fto gpx i fell in love again almost instantly!!!

The only problem i had was that it was an auto..... until i drove it, the auto is not like any other auto, the constant sport mode means kick down is harsh and fast and although i am a manual kinda guy this auto felt amazing! My test drive went like this, i pulled out of the garage and drove down the road easily, came off the roundabout onto a nice straight, all the time telling myself that i would take it easy, then a jeep came up behind me and was practically touchin the bumper, so i dropped the hammer and went from 50km/ph to 140km/ph in what was a very fast few seconds, looking, but back the jeep was way off into the distance... my father sitting next to me blank, the first words out of his mouth when we got back to the garage where, if you dont buy it.. I WILL!!!

So all i need to do now is give a deposit and save for a feww weeks and she will be mine!
Before anyone asks she is going for €1500 and is nct till the middle of next year but from what i can see she would def pass again, car was garaged fro almost the full 2 years it was nct'd...

Any tips on what to check would be great just to over confirm she is mint!

Also 1 thing i noticed was the rpm clock doesnt work, is this expensive to fix or just a simple issue??? thanks everyone and hello from myself!!

Welcome... How much did you get for the baby..??

Verrrrrry Funny!!! haha made me LOL in work! i got a few stares hahaha, didnt get it at first hahahaha brilliant..

[Dilogoat86]

Welcome along Richard.

Few things to look out for:

Rust in the arches above the front wheels. Can be hard to spot but usually it's right beside the PAS resevoir and under the fuse box on the other side.

Check for oil patches where it's been parked and around the head.

I don't know much about the tip boxes but I'm sure someone on here can point you in the right direction.

Dilo

[richardc9052]

Welcome to the forum. Please remove the large image from your signature, stick to the dimensions set out in the forum rules.

CJ

Sorry about that, i didnt think..
I am not too sure how to make sure that is the correct size, but i have majorly resized it... if it is still too big let me know and i will just remove it..

[richardc9052]

Welcome along Richard.

Few things to look out for:

Rust in the arches above the front wheels. Can be hard to spot but usually it's right beside the PAS resevoir and under the fuse box on the other side.

Check for oil patches where it's been parked and around the head.

I don't know much about the tip boxes but I'm sure someone on here can point you in the right direction.

Dilo

Thanks Dilo
Will do!
I checked for oil patches and it was fine, and engine bay is cleanest ive seen!
The car was stood for nearly full 2 years only getting moved around every now and again since it was nct's so id say most parts should be near perfect..
Rust is my only worry, its one of the first things on my list to do! under seal ftw

[optical illusion]

Welcome to the forum, if you ever see a woman driving a black FL fto around Limerick, that'll be me!

[TopCat]

Welcome along Richard, great to see someone about to get a car they've wanted since they were a kid.

You should pop along to the Meet this weekend, will be a good spot to meet the members and see a few very nice FTO's, should give you a good idea of what a well maintained one can look like. You might even get a spin in one.