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13K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  Blurred Talon 
#1 ·
Well after 4 years of faithful service to me, my 10 year old Chevy Tracker is officially dead.
Here it is in all it's ****ty glory.


How did it die you ask? Well a combination of salt sea air and salty roads in the winter lead to this.


Yup that's right, pretty much nothing holding in the front of that lower control arm. Talk about a scary drive!
I'm done sinking money into a vehicle that has zero return so time for something new.

New car requirements were:
Less then 5 years old
Bluetooth and all that jazz
Moon roof
White
Not be stupid expensive

Now I really wanted a truck but where I'm working away 3 weeks out of a month, there's no point. Plus buying the truck I want would be stupid expensive.
Enter the 2011 Ford Fiesta SES Hatchback. Meets all my requirements and good on gas to boot!



Specs:
6 spd Auto :(
Black leather interior
Sync
Winter Package (heated mirrors, seats, block heater)
A/C
Power Windows/Locks
Keyless Entry
Push button Start
Moonroof
LED Accent lighting
Also has factory warranty until 2017




TMPS light is on because I didn't spring the extra money for a set of sensors in my winter wheels.



First mod!


So far I love driving the car around, handles nice, decent pick up (has to be faster then the Tracker lol) and all the gadgets via Sync is simply awesome for me since I'm a bit of a geek.
 
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#2 ·
I was able to fit all the Christmas gifts, baby stuff (clothes, food, play pen), our stuff, the dogs stuff and a turkey in it last week to drive to Gander.


Found out on said road trip that the OEM bulbs (H11B) are horrid! Quick bit of Googling and I found that H9 bulbs are a common upgrade; just needed bulbs and pig tails.
OEM H11B (white balence was off on the first picture).



New H9 bulbs!



H11B produced 1250 lumens at 55W and the H9 produces 2100 lumens at 65W, a 68% difference in brightness!
I can actually see at night now and this will tie me over till I do my HID retrofit.
 
#10 ·
I was able to fit all the Christmas gifts, baby stuff (clothes, food, play pen), our stuff, the dogs stuff and a turkey in it last week to drive to Gander.


Found out on said road trip that the OEM bulbs (H11B) are horrid! Quick bit of Googling and I found that H9 bulbs are a common upgrade; just needed bulbs and pig tails.
OEM H11B (white balence was off on the first picture).



New H9 bulbs!



H11B produced 1250 lumens at 55W and the H9 produces 2100 lumens at 65W, a 68% difference in brightness!
I can actually see at night now and this will tie me over till I do my HID retrofit.
RIP Tracker, Fiesta looks great, can you post a link where to get everything needed for H9 upgrade??
 
#4 ·
^Thanks!

Some small changes/upgrades.
Bought a set of Weathertech Mats. Keeps the floors way cleaner then the crappy ones I had.



Got the cargo one too.


My V-LED plate and marker/corner lights came in. I'm very very impressed with the VLEDs so far.
They are all T10/194 bulbs.
Hi-Vis Amber in the corner/marker lights and side markers: http://www.vleds.com/6-hv.html
5K White Flanks for the plates: http://www.vleds.com/5k-4-hpf.html

Plate Lights.




Side markers (mirrors).




These are super bright!


Corner Lights.



I installed a Cree XM-L T6 as a cargo light, it's stupid bright.


Today a bunch of T10 LEDs showed up from eBay. These will be my dome light and reverse lights till some new ones come in.


Front Dome light.



Rear Dome Light, this was a bugger because it had to be completely disassembled.




Reverse Lights.




An overall shot of the interior, I love the red LED accents, I can change the colors but red matches the rest of the dash.


That's it for now; next up is some V3 Tritons for my front markers/turns, rear turn, and brake lights; that will pretty much round out my lighting.
I've got my Bosch ballasts on the way for the retro so I will boost those. I also want to make my own clear reflectors for the headlights when I retro them.
Right now it's looking like mid Feb before I start the retro.
 
#15 ·
Done another hitch at work so I've got a couple updates.

Got my Bosch ballasts (ignitors not pictured).
I'll be boosting these of course, a rotary switch will be mounted in the cabin to adjust from 35W-75W.


HIR1 High Beam bulbs, swapped directly in place of the OEM bulbs with no modifications.


Also got some high power LED reverse light bulbs from another HIDPlanet member but hit a small snag when installing them so I've got to sort that out first.
 
#16 ·
I forgot to add.

I took a trip to the pick and pull the other day and found some headlights.


However they were busted up (this was the good one).


Mr. Dremel and I went to town.


So I could get these.


I may not need the wiring but we shall see.
As for the amber reflectors, I'll be making a mold and casting a new clear set of reflectors.
 
#17 ·
Don't think I mentioned but I used a Cree XM-L high power LED as my cargo light, it's stupid bright.



Trouble shot my high power LEDs, not sure what happened with the last one but I've got some new driver otw.
The actual install took a tiny bit of work. The optics wouldn't fit through my bulb hole.


I stuffed a rag in to keep the plastic shavings to a minimum.


Mr. Dremel and I made short work out it. I used some JB Weld Steel stick to hold the bulb in place and seal it all up again.



Here's some comparison shots between the crappy eBay LED (driver side/left) and the custom high power Cree XP-E (x3) LEDs.
Day time.


Night shots, eBay bulb covered. Camera is a Canon Rebel T3i in No Flash auto mode.



eBay bulb, my neighbour's pot lights were brighter according to the camera's adjustments.



Comparison between the two.



Next turn around I'll have both of these working, can't wait.
 
#19 ·
The bulbs were custom made by a fellow HID Planet member however they are all sold out now. They use 3 Cree XP-E high power LEDs per bulb with optics.
I had to trim the hole on the light for the optics to pass through.

Check out VLEDs, they might offer something bright in a 921 bulb.
 
#20 ·
Been a while, here's some updates.

I found some Hella Super Tones for a steal a while back on eBay, the Talon needed a horn and for the price I figured why not upgrade the Fiesta too.
I pulled apart the connector on the stock horn and found that bullet connectors would fit.


I made up a plug and play harness so I didn't have to cut the stock wiring.



Mounted in the factory location.


Quick video.


The Retrofit Source had a group buy for there LED Fog Lights a while back. I bought a set for the better half's Jeep and had to have a pair myself. I'll get these mounted/installed next time I'm home as it was a bit too cold to pull the bumper off right now. I also have a pretty sweet switch location figured out.



Output shot, there's a window in my work shop so it's washed out a bit.


In the same order I picked up some XB LED bulbs to replace my crappy eBay bulbs in my interior.
Comparison of the eBay to the Morimoto.


Good thing I bought new ones as the eBay ones were failing rapidly. This is why it's worth your money to buy better quality bulbs.



The XB also allowed me to put these defusers/shields back in my rear dome light.


I'll have to get an output shot next time I'm home because my car is currently at the dealership to have a transmission shutter looked at.

Since it's getting warmer out I'm stocking up on cleaning supplies for the car. I repurposed an old tool bag I had laying around to hold all the various chemicals.


The chrome/silver trim bits on the car really bug me. For whatever reason yesterday I got it in my head that I have to fix it NOW! A call to a local sign shop and I ended up with a nice roll of 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl.


All the interior pieces removed (minus the steering wheel trim as I was fighting with it still).


Door pulls, stock next to wrapped.


Everything but the radio bezel wrapped.


Steering wheel trim pulled (this was hateful) and starting to wrap it.



All done.


Broke down the radio bezel.


Starting the wrap.


All done, this was the hardest piece by far (next to the HVAC bezel/center console which isn't finished).


LED bezels wrapped.


Interior back together. I still need to finish wrapping the HVAC surround, it's a bit of a bitch. I'm also thinking about doing the trim that goes over the Sync screen and the chrome trim on around the windows.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v87/G2Rac/2011%20Fiesta%20SES/3M%20Carbon%20Fiber%20Vinyl%20Wrap/IMG_2648_zpsa0zshfct.jpg[img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v87/G2Rac/2011%20Fiesta%20SES/3M%20Carbon%20Fiber%20Vinyl%20Wrap/IMG_2650_zpshiovdfvl.jpg


Here's two overall shots of the car, looks much better without all that chrome imo.



Next time I'm home I'll be installing the fogs, finished the carbon fiber vinyl install, remove the hood deflect and ugly ass license plate trim PLUS put the summer rims on yay!
 
#22 · (Edited)
Reference this thread for pulling steering wheel, 10 min job when you know how..you will see my post in the thread lol

http://www.fiestafaction.com/forums/threads/36268-Steering-Wheel-swap

Talon..ALWAYS get your LED from superbrightled.com, I have the same LED bulbs now for 10's of thousand miles and NONE have blown out or broke...very nice job on Carbon !!! :eek: I have been thinking of doing Mach's side stripe in Carbon
 
#24 ·
Yea I forgot, VLED is where I first got bulbs, but I found other link, thanks for props, you can tell when I post I do it as if you are in front of me and I am talking to you, plus I always find tips after the fact I like to share... I am enjoying reading your thread, good mods
 
#25 ·
Got a call from the dealer yesterday, I need 2 rear shocks, clutch packs in the transmission, tie rod end and sway bar end links. All covered under warranty, very happy I've got that. Car will be ready when I get home from work in 2 weeks time.

I was on the Retrofit Source's website this am to check the price of LS460 Bi-Xenon projectors; they were out of stock with a note saying they are unsure if they will be getting more in, oh noes! I hopped on eBay and bought a set right away.


All I need for my retrofit now is clear lenses, bulbs, parts to boost my ballasts and some housings then everything can go to Lightwerkz.
 
#27 ·
Haven't done much with this car apart from my HID projector retrofit (which I am now redoing).




Here's a couple shots to see the difference in the shrouds on either side - I've got a replacement ordered.



Low beams


Bi-xenon and HIR high beams.


I'm also on Twin Clutch number 3! Hopefully Ford finally has these fixed.
 
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