Chris’ 1980 Fiesta
I bought this Fiesta new in 1980 from my cousin who owned a Ford dealership here in Denver for 40 years. It replaced a Pinto!
I drove it through my college career, and up until 1994. I courted my wife in this car. I travelled all over the country in this car. My first born rode in this car.
The Fiesta was great on gas, but chose to break down at the oddest moments. Once in Tuba City AZ its H2O pump went out. I changed it out in 110F degree weather, but with the pollution controls and junk in the way, it took 4 hours. I would’ve given anything for a quarter inch air ratchet. I also tore the gasket and had to wait 2 hours for a parts runner to get one from Teec Nos Pos ( a ways away). Later on (2 years later) I needed to replace it again. I took a short cut and cut a 4″ hole in the fender well to access the pump, definitely easier. I made a cover for the hole out of some galvanized and sealed it with silicon. The only other problem I had that was chronic was a vapor lock problem. It was solved in 2 ways. One way to remedy this was to put a secondary electronic fuel pump on a toggle switch. When the car bogs down or refuses to start, just switch on. The other way my step brother (Cert. Ford Mech.) found was to take a razor knife and put small slashes on an O ring around the fuel shut off. It apparently lets out built up pressure but keeps gas in.
With it’s 1600 crossflow engine that powered such legendary cars like the Lotus Super 7 and Cortina, it was a great car to put my friends with their Celicas and Saabs to shame. Those guy’s never saw the service that I did from those cars. The car was traded in at 386,000 mi for a Contour. It’s a “nice family car” but I should’ve kept the Fiesta. I think that the guy who bought this got one helluva deal.
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