The Ka Klub Family!
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you’re an outsider to the Ka Klub, this section is designed to help you
identify some familiar Klub Kas . . . and maybe the people behind, heh!
One
of our newest members chats to Dervy about her Ka.
Hi Sparkles; and welcome to the Klub. You must be the newest members!
How did you get your Ka, when, from new?
I got my 1998 S-registration “Limited Edition Ka2
Blue” on November 9th 2002, as an early Christmas present from my hubbie, Joe.
Right, a Kristmas Ka? What do you like about it?
I like the fact that she’s so small and nippy. She’s a doddle to park too. I love the responsive little gearbox and the
way she’ll give whatever you ask of her, without complaint. The power steering
makes her easy to manoeuvre / park. The
driving position is very comfy and all the gizmo’s are within easy reach. I love the
sweeping curves of the colour coded dash. The sound quality of the CD player is also quite good. I wouldn’t be without the electric windows,
and I really, really like the clock!
Phew!
So is there anything that you don’t like?
The A-pillars are too chunky and make tight bends tricky
to negotiate as you can’t see what’s coming towards you - there’re blind spots.
You can blame modern safety standards for
that! Have you modified yours, yet?
I’ve done nothing to Katie. She’s a PureKa, as you’d say.
Do you have anything planned?
I’d like shiny scuff plates on the door sills. The high stop light is going to be fitted in
a couple of weeks - many thanks for that, Dervy. I need new wheel trims ‘cos the originals are all scuffed and
kerbed (not all my doing I might add).
I’ve seen a really wicked paint job that’d look totally kool on Katie,
but 
it costs
mega bucks. It’s the one that changes
colour as you move around the Ka. The
one I like turns from electric blue to a deep pearlescent purple. Yummy!
You’ve only had Katie for a few months as we
chat, but have you had any problems with her?
A few, sadly. The steering rack had to be replaced - under
warranty. The tappets were noisy and
needed to be adjusted. I asked the
‘warranty’ garage to do this for me and have had nothing but trouble ever
since! Katie now revs hard and surges
between gear changes. She’s idling rough
and the tappets are still noisy!
She also stalls when she feels like it too. I’m hoping to get this sorted when she goes in for her
service. At Dees I might add.
That sounds like the idle control valve /frowns/
but at least things seem to be in hand!
Do you have any funny Ka tales to tell me?
How about the day I took Katie ‘sailing’? I did have a bit of excitement in the first
few weeks. Well, okay then, I was
terrified! I decided to take the car
when I went to the doctor’s - kids’ booster shots - because it was absolutely
pouring down. But because I don’t like
using the car for ‘super short’ journeys (it’s literally round the corner!) so,
when we came out, I thought I’d give her a longer run. So we left the surgery and went for a drive
. . . but the rain had been a bit heavier than I’d anticipated and when we
arrived at Gravel Hill, I had to use the outside lane to avoid the ‘river’
running down the inside lane. Okay, so
I decided to keep on going, and everything seemed fine when we got to the first
roundabout for the Kent Gateway - affectionately known as the Mad Mile - so we
carried on. Unfortunately, everything
wasn’t fine when we got past the second roundabout . . . About 100 yards past the roundabout,
everyone dropped to a crawl. I carried
on, thinking that maybe someone had broken down. Then I saw the water and thought
‘oh heck!’ There was deep water
across part of the road and I was sitting in it. A few cars decided to do U-turns, but the water they were turning
through was really deep and I didn’t fancy trying to turn Katie round in that,
thank you very much! When we got
another few hundred yards through all the water, I REALLY wished I had turned
when I had the chance. The water kept
getting deeper and deeper, and the traffic was getting slower and slower... I
don’t think I used second gear more than once or twice for the entire journey!
By now, the water covered
the entire road and it was still rising! So, there I was, an inexperienced driver ( only passed my test in
August and been properly driving since November - having had an op in September
which prevented me driving) all by myself with the kids in the car and no hubby
for guidance. Gulp!! There was no turning back, so all I could do
was go forward and pray I didn’t get water in the engine.
I’d travelled this particular road in the rain many times
before and never once had I known it to flood.
I had all these loonies barrelling through the water towards me and
making huge waves, as well as thoroughly drenching my poor car, and I was
stuck. But... there was worse to come!
I passed a Vauxhall
Astra conked out on the grass verge.
Then the other cars all started moving into the oncoming traffic and I
started getting a little panicky. We
all had to get round a broken down Citroen BX who was in our lane but he was
facing us! Don’t ask! And that’s when I
saw it....
/DervMan chuckles, then regains his
composure and looks serious again/
The water extended over the curbs at each side of the road
and about three feet onto the grass verge on both sides. I was watching the wheels on the oncoming
cars to try to see how deep it really was.
It was halfway up their wheels and lapping at their undersides. Now I was really panicking. After all Katie is a reasonably low slung
car and I now had visions of getting wet feet.
But she was coping valiantly thus far, so I kept on crawling
forwards. Then a big white van came
surging towards me, making a huge wave in the process and I really thought
Katie would conk out for sure.
But she didn’t!!
She kept going! We passed a
Volkswagen Golf . . .
/puttup!/ Oh, sorry, carry on, Golf moment there.
. . . Stuck slap bang in the middle of the ‘lake’ and had
to stop - pretty difficult when your brakes are sopping wet - for an oncoming
driver to U turn and then we were at the final roundabout and we’d left most of
the flood behind. I couldn’t believe
it. It took us an hour to travel a
piece of road that takes about 5-10 minutes in normal conditions, but Katie was
a trooper. She didn’t let me down.
I used the next bit of road to gently accelerate and brake
repeatedly to dry off my brakes, then headed for home. I was shaking when I got out of the car and
vowed to avoid that road at all costs from now on, if it’s raining.
Heh heh heh! It sounds like you had some fun!
Well, many thanks for your time, and I hope to see you at a Meet real
soon!
Stunty
Dervy catches up with one of the UK Ka Klub founders.
Hi Steve!
I’ve seen the articles, I’ve seen the Ka, but now I’d like to know a bit
more about the whys and hows with your Ka!
Did you buy it new?
When the Ka came out I thought, “hmm, that’s
different.” A little time passed and
the Puma came out, and I thought “hmm, that’s very different . . . and with
power too.” At the time my mum was
going to help me buy a new car, so I tried, in vain, to persuade her to help me
buy a Puma . . . . but she wouldn’t I started looking at Kas; found this tidy
black one, ex-demo, completely bog standard and thought, “I’m going to make
that turn more heads than any Puma.”
What did you like about it?
I liked the quirkiness
of the Ka, the fact that it stood out, the fact that it appears special, even
in standard guise. Economy and low
insurance played a part too, but it was more about what I could make it.
So it was the potential of the Ka? Is there anything that you don’t like about it?
When I got the Ka there wasn’t anything I didn’t like
about it. It’s a good size car for me (I’m rubbish at parking), it made me
smile every time I drove it. Actually;
it still does! I could also see its
huge potential in terms of modding.
You have done quite a lot to your Ka – could
you summarise for me?
Where do I start?
First off, for the outside, 17” alloys, sideskirts and a spoiler, a
meshed grille, smoothed boot, tinted glass, a centre exit exhaust, de-cat,
Superchip, induction kit and different final drive ratio. I’ve also got some under-Ka neons, oh and a
nitrous system, too.
Inside, I’ve got two bucket seats, changed the steering
wheel, put in a quickshift, a Puma centre console and interior light, and
retrimmed the headlining. There’s also
a noisy stereo and a rev counter. I’ve
probably missed some things off, but you look like you’re nodding off.
Hardly!
Surely with this much done to the Ka, you’ve finished the project now?
Nah, I’ve always got more ideas for the Ka. I’ve plans for a few new things for the interior
in the near future and a couple of changes under the bonnet too.
Kool!
Have you had any problems have you had with your Ka?
Nothing major, just the usual niggly, almost inbuilt
problems that Ford gave us in the Ka, like the 
problematic
idle air control valve, things like that.
Oh, and trying to get full lock with 17’s on. /Stunty
chuckles/
Have you been anywhere exotic in your Ka?
Funny you should ask!
I took the Ka for a bit of a run last year /2002/ to Romania. It was a fantastic experience, from the
point of view of seeing half of Europe through the windscreen of the Ka, and
the reaction to it, wherever I went was huge.
I’d do it again, though to somewhere different, for the experience, the
stamps in my passport and to spread the Ka word. In all the Ka’s done about 80,000 miles with me behind the wheel,
and every one of ‘em with a grin on my face.
Great stuff! Thanks very much for your time!
Now just a few photographs for the album . . .
Quiettype
“Don’t
give him beer!” The crowd roar, but Dervy discovers that this isn’t necessarily
true.
Mr. Quiettype! So is it true that I can’t give you beer? /Dervy cracks open a
bottle of root beer/
Absolutely not! /Quiettype
hits “START”/. You have much to
learn in the Ways of the Gran Turismo.
On your marks!
<Dervy “accidentally” turns the plug
off> So tell me about your Ka
experience. When did you get yours?
Well my current Ka is actually my second. Back in 1999 I
bought a R Reg Amparo Blue Ka2. I loved
it, but unfortunately I wrote it off in a silly accident.
Instead of buying myself a new car I bought my parents a
new car and drove their old Cavalier estate until it broke down. Then I had a 1996 Rover Metro, but you know,
I missed the Ka so early in 2003, I started finding out what was
available. After some searching I
decided that I wanted a new Panther Black Collection.
One day when walking past the Ford used car centre I
spotted a ten month old Panther Black collection. I took her for a test drive and the rest is history.
I didn’t know that
this was your second Ka! So what did
you miss – what do to like about it?
A lot! The last real small cars. they can go almost
anywhere, like monkeys. They handle
nicely, windy roads are their homes, although on Motorways and dual
carriageways they’ll happily cruise along.
Actually, I guess that’s their strength – their versatility.
I do love the power steering!
These cars look fantastic, after seven years they have had
no major redesigns and that says it all really.
Monkeys?
Heh. Is there anything you don’t
like about the Ka?
Well sadly, there are problems, but it doesn’t really ruin
what is a good quality budget car. The
first one is being able to lock your keys in.
This is due to the boot release being key operated only. A good security measure, but if you put the
keys down when the doors are locked, and then shut the boot...
Mud flaps are not standard equipment. This is more a Ford thing than a Ka problem. It does seem odd that you have to pay extra
for something that with many cars has been standard for years.
When you open the bonnet, you find that the layout of the
engine doesn’t match the handbook. You
compare your engine with another Kas, and lo and behold that one is different
again from yours. Ford swap parts
between models, this is a money saving exercise. However it does mean that the interior doesn’t match the
book. Given that so many 
people
are not totally clear on what part is what of an engine, you would think that
Ford would at least keep the books matched to their engines.
Gripe over! I'm
mostly narked as I nearly made a fatal error when consulting the book. Good thing I know the symbols!
Hermione has a few subtle modifications,
could you detail them – and of course what you’re planning to do?
Hermione has had mostly cosmetic mods done. The first one was the removal of her B
pillar decals, something I wouldn’t have done had I not seen it on the Dervsite
first. /Dervy blushes/
In 2003, I’ve put more effort into the Ka – I’ve gone for
Ford’s 13” alloys and a new number plate.
Yes; I’m a Dr Who? fan!
I've upgraded my stereo to a 6006 six CD Changer, and very
recently added the indicator mesh.
For the future, well I suppose I’ve a huge amount planned,
though for the time being I’m sticking purely to the cosmetic. Engine mods will eventually follow.
I would
like to continue removing all colours other than black! The side repeaters will change, as will the
rear clusters. I would like a spoiler,
and I may replace my front grill (the only way to completely remove the ford badge). Otherwise, I have to admit that the Ka is
one beautiful car!
Have you had any problems with her?
Only one problem – after ascending Sutton Bank, the
coolant decided it didn’t want to stay in the bottle, at Charlie’s Birthday Meet in
September, 2003. No harm done, that I
know, but it would have been your fault if she died <mwahahahahaha>.
Wibble!
On that note, many thanks for your time. One more race?