Not so long ago I bought myself a '96 F 1.8 mpi nice and cheap as a temporary runaround. Well, before Id even picked it up Id bought some polybushes and it hasnt stopped since then.
So far I have put in a new standard air filter, fully synthetic oil and filter, iridium spark plugs, 8mm silicone ht leads, cat, cam cover gasket, cleaned the IACV and given the underside engine a bit of a degrease. I've also managed to crack the rear window in about 7 different places, fail an mot and get a shifty note from work about parking. Biggest downfall as i see it is the engine, only the mpi and with 125,000 on the clock I may be looking to convert it at some point.
I've also been spending money. In the garage and waiting to be fitted this week (if the kids dont get in the way) are red and black leather seats, tf doorcards and t-bar, a new hood, full polybush set, new calipers, discs and pads for the rear, hub adaptors and black 17" compomotives and a tf steering rack with new tre's, a new wing and boot. With Hel hoses, on their way Ive got a busy week ahead.
On the todo list are:
Throttle body
Front brakes
Polydipping
Air filter
Cleaning up the underside
Chip in the windscreen
Generally clean up the car
Track it!
Im not sure whether to bother with an exhaust, seems a lot of money for not a lot of gain.