New to me, from Maine to Indiana

[Behn77]

Found this 2018 FiST on CarMax and bought it back in June. Excited to get into it! I've been having a ton of fun driving it around as my daily.

~40k miles, lived most of its life in Maine, was listed for sale in Maryland, & had it shipped to me in IN. A little bit of rust as expected but could be worse.

Stock as far as I can tell except tires. Previous owner seems to have swapped tires a lot per the maintenance history, presumably due to northeast winters. I thought maybe it had been lowered some too, but I don't really know

I've been reading through a lot of old threads on here since I bought it. Trying to get familiar with the car and community! Also trying to get used to some noises, figuring out if everything is normal, etc. I've definitely noticed the "Darth Vader" induction slurp, but I've also got a similar but kind of slower repeating whoop/squeak at slow speeds and low revs that I'm not sure if is normal.



Pics are from when I first bought it. Don't worry, I've taken the CarMax vanity plate off

First planned addition is definitely an OCC; I was surprised to see it was run for so long without one.

After that, maybe going down to 16"s and slightly thicker tires; I've been looking at white sparco terras and BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2s as a year-round setup. Also maybe some more cosmetic changes like weather guards, new fogs, etc. No real plans to increase power any time soon.

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[XR650R]

Welcome, fellow Hoosier!

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Welcome to the forum!

In case you’re curious how white Terra’s look on a black car, here’s mine. I personally love the look.

 

[tri-pedaler]

Welcome! I’m not a true Hoosier but live in Indy. Not sure where you are in the State, but there are some great roads in the south. Worth the drive.

Enjoy the car!

 

[Behn77]

Welcome to the forum!
View attachment 58481
In case you’re curious how white Terra’s look on a black car, here’s mine. I personally love the look.

Wow they look great, thanks for posting a pic!! The roof bars and mudflaps work great too! Did you have to change anything in the suspension to accommodate the 42mm offset, or did they fit okay?

 

[Behn77]

Welcome! I’m not a true Hoosier but live in Indy. Not sure where you are in the State, but there are some great roads in the south. Worth the drive.

Enjoy the car!

Thanks! I'm not native to IN either, but I am in the south; I should take a drive out to the knobs

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Wow they look great, thanks for posting a pic!! The roof bars and mudflaps work great too! Did you have to change anything in the suspension to accommodate the 42mm offset, or did they fit okay?

Nope, they fit fine without any rubbing.

 

[ronniec687]

Welcome to the club enjoy. From CT. Nice color!!!

 

[tri-pedaler]

Thanks! I'm not native to IN either, but I am in the south; I should take a drive out to the knobs

Google the Indiana Nürburgring/ Schweinefiletring (“pork tenderloin trail”) for some amazing roads around Brown County. The route was created by the Lotus Club and has some incredible sections of corners.

 

[Frisk]

where does the rust start? I've heard that the rocker panels (and by extension the mount points) are kinda notorious as they collect water. I'm in Michigan and still havent driven mine in winter, but I might have to eventually.

Also, regarding oil catch cans, see the Stratified blog Blog : Stratified Automotive Controls

I'm not running one because I see more potential downsides than benefits, but I am also not doing much for engine upgrades. Either way you're still gonna have to clean the valves, and the most scientific evidence I've seen has been negligible in the amount an OCC helps with carbon buildup.

 

[Behn77]

where does the rust start? I've heard that the rocker panels (and by extension the mount points) are kinda notorious as they collect water. I'm in Michigan and still havent driven mine in winter, but I might have to eventually.

Also, regarding oil catch cans, see the Stratified blog Blog : Stratified Automotive Controls

I'm not running one because I see more potential downsides than benefits, but I am also not doing much for engine upgrades. Either way you're still gonna have to clean the valves, and the most scientific evidence I've seen has been negligible in the amount an OCC helps with carbon buildup.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check this out and see what I think before I install anything!

I'm not sure exactly where the rust started first, but I've noticed it in a lot of places. Especially on the suspension components, in the wheel wells, and even in the joint in the steering column down by the petals. I'll attach a couple of photos here. In those places, the rust seems to be most prominent on the bolts and welds. I think the wheel wells are rusty in part because the plastic covers don't fit perfectly against the body work; there are some gaps between the shields and the outer metal for water/salt to get into and get trapped. I'll get a pic of those gaps if i can later; i don't think I have one handy.
1) the rusty joint in the driver's wheel well; I believe this is the steering column?


2) a rusty front lower mount

It's worth noting I haven't gotten the car up on a lift and looked at the undercarriage myself yet, so I'm not sure what the rust looks like under there. I did take it into a dealership during the first month (Carmax's return window) to make sure there was no structural rust or anything catastrophic. They gave it a clean bill of health, but I'm not super confident they were as thorough as I'd like based on my conversation with them afterward.

 

[Behn77]

Google the Indiana Nürburgring/ Schweinefiletring (“pork tenderloin trail”) for some amazing roads around Brown County. The route was created by the Lotus Club and has some incredible sections of corners.

I'll definitely check that out, very exciting! Maybe I'll go out for a drive this weekend. Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Frisk]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check this out and see what I think before I install anything!

I'm not sure exactly where the rust started first, but I've noticed it in a lot of places. Especially on the suspension components, in the wheel wells, and even in the joint in the steering column down by the petals. I'll attach a couple of photos here. In those places, the rust seems to be most prominent on the bolts and welds. I think the wheel wells are rusty in part because the plastic covers don't fit perfectly against the body work; there are some gaps between the shields and the outer metal for water/salt to get into and get trapped. I'll get a pic of those gaps if i can later; i don't think I have one handy. View attachment 58505 View attachment 58506
1) the rusty joint in the driver's wheel well; I believe this is the steering column?

View attachment 58507 View attachment 58508
2) a rusty front lower mount

It's worth noting I haven't gotten the car up on a lift and looked at the undercarriage myself yet, so I'm not sure what the rust looks like under there. I did take it into a dealership during the first month (Carmax's return window) to make sure there was no structural rust or anything catastrophic. They gave it a clean bill of health, but I'm not super confident they were as thorough as I'd like based on my conversation with them afterward.

Yeah, nothing you're posting is too surprising. Some folks' cars (according to reddit anyway) shipped with a rusty steering column, but I'm sure driving around with salt and snow on your boots doesnt help the pedal box. For the knuckle mount, i'd probably start doing a liberal application of PB blaster before the winter. It doesn't look like anything but surface rust, so if you have an angle grinder and a can of rustoleum you could bring it down to bare metal and paint it again. That's what I'd be tempted to do since we love our salt.

Keep an eye on your pinch welds, those might need some attention too. If you've got the money to spare, I'd consider some kind of underbody treatment if you plan on driving it all year round. The engine might never die, but the body will succumb to rust if you let it.

 

[Behn77]

Yeah, nothing you're posting is too surprising. Some folks' cars (according to reddit anyway) shipped with a rusty steering column, but I'm sure driving around with salt and snow on your boots doesnt help the pedal box. For the knuckle mount, i'd probably start doing a liberal application of PB blaster before the winter. It doesn't look like anything but surface rust, so if you have an angle grinder and a can of rustoleum you could bring it down to bare metal and paint it again. That's what I'd be tempted to do since we love our salt.

Keep an eye on your pinch welds, those might need some attention too. If you've got the money to spare, I'd consider some kind of underbody treatment if you plan on driving it all year round. The engine might never die, but the body will succumb to rust if you let it.

Will do, I appreciate the advice! I was definitely concerned about the rust but wasn't super sure how to go about treating it or preventing more

 

[Frisk]

If there's rust on it, it needs to be ground back to bare metal and painted/sealed. Fluid Film and Waxwool are popular rustproofing treatments, but again, if there's already rust there, it needs to be dealt with first.