Cleaned Ibiza FR

So this car has been approved for a while now and you may have seen it in various pictures on the blog and on our FaceBook page but we’ve been a little slack in drawing up a feature for it but we feel now is the right time. Josh Codd bought this SEAT Ibiza FR PD130 as a daily work horse back in 2009 and slowly but surely we’ve seen it develop in to a very clean looking ride. We had a chat with Josh to find out more about the car……

So Josh, how did your ownership of the Ibiza come about?

I was looking for something as a reliable daily as I was (and still am) doing over 350 miles each week with work etc, but I also wanted something with a bit of go about it, so I thought a sporty diesel would be spot but I had no clue as to what to go for, so I did a generic search on AutoTrader for a diesel hatch, under £10K, with a minimum of a 1.9 lump and the first result was a black FR TDi which then got me looking for a red or white FR. By complete luck I found the prefect one in a local garage 3 days later! And after scouring the internet for someone who would insure me at 18 years old I eventually found the only insurance company who would insure me at all before turning 21!

Got a tad lucky there then! What convinced you that the Cleaned/Euro look was the way to go?

Well I originally intended to go down the performance route, going for a good handling set up, with remap and possible hybrid turbo, FMIC etc etc, but doing so many miles each week and not wanting something that would be a killer to keep running I decided against it. I then joined up to Cleaned-UK as recommended by a friend and nearly everything I know about the Cleaned look came from there. Seeing so many Dubs/Euro hatches which looked amazing, I thought I'd take some inspiration from them and do it on an Ibiza, which seem to be fairly uncommon in the Cleaned ‘scene’.

A big turnaround from the original intentions then, we think you definitely chose the right path! What’s your favourite mod on the car so far?

I’d have to say the wheels, particularly the rear 9J’s! Everyone said Borbet’s wouldn't look right on it but I took a punt and made an impulse purchase on eBay of a set of 4 7.5J Borbet’s and loved the look of them on the car so then set out to find 2 9J’s. Since then I’ve had them mirror polished and I really love the way they look on the car!

Can’t fault you, they do look spot on! Anything you don’t like or regret?

Nothing I don’t like as such but the coilovers have been a pain in the arse as this is my fourth front setup and they’re still not sitting quite how I would like!

What shows can we see you and the Ibiza at this year then?

Well so far I’ve only been to Modified Nationals which was a good crack, next I’m planning Trax with Cleaned-UK and possibly Edition 38 in the same weekend and most likely pay a visit to Volksfest Wales as its local!

Sounds good, we’ll make sure to keep an eye out for you then! Any future plans for the car?

Well this is all up in the air at the moment as I’m very indecisive, but most likely I will be selling the car in September as I am moving out and closer to work so will be doing very little mileage, in which case I would look at buying a run about/toy, possibly a MK1 Golf turbo conversion or similar but also considering going over to the dark side with something Jap!

If I was to keep the car, long term it would be 9J’s on the front, back seats out to make way for a build incorporating my subs, amp and spare wheel (also a Borbet A), Porsche Tombstone seats and the whole thing trimmed in red/grey alcantara/leather. Would also look into smoothing the front and rear bumpers, a possible full wrap in a new colour and also a new suspension set up in the form of air or hydro’s! This is all dreaming slightly though and would be long term, but realistically I’ll have a new car come September!

Would be epic to see those plans come to life, but needs must if you need to move on! Anyone you want to thank or give a shout out to?

Well my parents have helped me out with insurance money and bought my first car which helped me to then purchase this myself! As for people who have helped out on the car various friends and the guys on IbizaOC.com have helped with the mechanical side of things! Also all the guys on Cleaned-UK have been a huge help when it’s come to advice and inspiration for the car so a huge thanks to them! Oh and eBay, as I think everything on the car was from the bay!

Well thanks for speaking with us Josh and hopefully will see you about at the shows this year! So then Josh’s Ibiza FR, definitely…..

Full Spec list;

Engine;

1.9TDI PD130

Straight through, de-cat, turbo back exhaust.

Uprated air filter.

Chassis
TA Technix coils on the rear (bottom half of adjusters in only)
AP Coils on the front
Borbet A 7.5x16's on the front with 195/45's
Borbet A 9x16's on the back with 195/45's
Lego valve caps for Lulz!

Exterior
Colour coded side strips
De-badged rear
De-badged front grill
LCR splitter
6K HID's
Lamin-X yellow fogs
Colour coded rear light clusters
Pressed plates
Stubby ariel
Graphite wing mirror caps

Interior
Red air vent inserts
Cupra handbrake
FR mats
Pioneer amp and 2 subs (approx 3500 watts total)
Vibe SEK components up front

Modified Nationals 2011

Modified Nationals is one of the biggest events on the UK car show calendar, and every year it never fails to bring in all sorts of modified metal from all ‘scenes’ imaginable. For 1 weekend every year, Peterborough rings to the sound of back firing exhausts and scraping chassis’. For us, this made it the perfect show to debut Balla Approved, because as you know we love anything that looks the part, whether it’s designed to go sideways or low and slow.

As usual there were a few familiar faces in the top 25 arena and our very own Jeff Creedy’s VX220, proudly representing BA in the Acclr8 arena.

We thought we’d take this opportunity to hunt down some more cars worthy of our seal of approval and we were very pleased with our new recruits to the BA family.

This smoothed Clio may be familiar to a lot of you in its former guise, but now with a new look, some rejuvenated rims and a fresh coat of paint, Sam Coleman’s Clio was looking awesome at Mods Nats and having heard the story of how this car was turned around and the problems Sam faced bringing it back to life, we felt it was very worthy….

Looking forward to more updates from Sam in the near future.

We also spotted a very cool and original looking MK3 GTI, which has been, as owner Ash Morrell explained, inspired by the US scene. We love the nose down stance this Golf executes so well sitting on these rare Super Advans sporting a somewhat ‘different’ colour combo. And after watching Ash plough his way through the fields of the campsite, tearing up chunks of the showground as he went along, we thought he had to get our seal of approval.

Also doing the rounds at the show and campsite were 2 very cool, different generations of the SEAT Ibiza. Gavin Fox’s MK2 Ibiza looked very clean decked on Porsche Teledials and we really don’t think the pictures do this car justice….

On the same stand as Gav was Josh Codd’s Mk4 Ibiza FR, a car which has previously been approved by us and is due to have its own feature in the near future. Mods Nats was the first time Josh was showing off his new 9J rears and fully polished Borbet A’s, which we loved, and having spoken to Josh we love the sounds of his future plans for his interior and other works.

A second Golf MK3 which caught our eye this weekend was Kyle Collins’ 5 door (for more whores) which was sporting some sweet Teledials which really set the car off. Simple, yet effective….

As well as projects nearing completion, we also love those that are right in the middle of a work in progress and after spotting the huge potential behind Ben’s Astra GSi, which is soon to be sporting a fresh, and no doubt very sweet paint job in a stunning shade of purple, we felt Ben’s Astra demonstrates what Balla-Approved is all about, the have a go modifier, not afraid to tear their pride and joy to pieces on the way to building something awesome! We can’t wait for Ben to finish this one off and we’ll definitely be doing a full feature on it when it is….

As well as a load of newly approved cars at the show, we also spotted a few previously Balla-Approved cars, proudly showing of their seal of approval, around the show ground….

Micky Sneath's Euro inspired Fez was looking as awesome as ever!

Jeff's VX220 offering something different for the visitors to see in the Acclr8 arena, and Mods Nats was Jeff's first proper chance to show off his new custom front end in the flesh, and as expected, it looked awesome!

And of course, Jeff was repping Balla-Approved all weekend.

Finally, the real reason why we travel from all over the country to be at these events! If we could give her our seal of approval, we would! Maybe in the form of a tatoo, I wonder how well that would go down.....

Keep an eye out for more full features on some of the cars displayed here plus more, very soon.

Peace out for now, BA.