Topic: My next project, a Mk1 Escort (Read 43589 times)

caley64 · « **Reply #30 on:** June 26, 2008, 10:52:05 AM »

Hey Biggles,
Shell is not too bad for the age of the car. My brother bought one of these about 1982 and it was in worse condition than yours. If you lifted (soaking wet) carpets, the floor looked like a tea bag.
Be good to see it when's it all done.
Steve.

biggles · « **Reply #31 on:** July 08, 2008, 11:00:04 PM »

Got a good days work put in today, shell is now totally stripped (except for the pharking recalcitrant friggin doors that won't leave their hinges) waiting to be sandblasted...

Found a few more holes in the usual places (spare wheel well) and I explored the damage to the floor a bit more an found that the RHS inner sill is munted, just as well I brought a spare from the UK on my last trip.

Going to put the car on the spit tomorrow, then off to be sandblasted Ferret.....

to find a few more holes.

Looking forward to start of welding

Northern Ferret · « **Reply #32 on:** July 09, 2008, 09:43:49 AM »

I think if you blast this car you will just be left with a steering rack and nothing else...

Will speak to Martin today for the blasting info...

Ferret...

roger ramjet · « **Reply #33 on:** July 09, 2008, 06:18:49 PM »

Unkind - Ferret, I've seen the beast & beg to differ: The roof has a lot of promise as well!

biggles · « **Reply #34 on:** July 09, 2008, 08:27:05 PM »

Yes but at least it will be a quick rack.....

Awaiting your call Mr Ferret

gareth · « **Reply #35 on:** July 10, 2008, 12:57:10 AM »

looks good ive got a lot of bits here a lot of bits !!!!!
cant wait to get on with mine
il give you a call tomorrow

biggles · « **Reply #36 on:** July 15, 2008, 11:23:51 PM »

Got another couple of days work done, bit slow going but some good progress.
Decided that the wings had to come off. What a pig of a job, the headlight front panel welds were easy enough but the wing to A-panel bulkhead welds were a sod. Took a full day even with my new best friend the pneumatic hacksaw to get through all the welds. Hard as fook they were

Drip rail was cut easily enough, hope I can put the new ones back on half as easily

So on to the job I was really dreading, the doors, which as you can see from the pics above I managed to get removed with the hinges still intact. The Draper tool that I bought was useless, but as I had the wings off, I decided to make up a tool that would allow me to use a FBH with a bit of force

I cut a notch in a cheapo pry bar I had lying around and bugger me if the pins didn't drift out nicely. A couple of them took some good thumps to move but job done, well happy.

So with all the major components off now, just tidying up a few of the obvious bad patches with the angle grinder before blasting. This one below was a bit special, what kind of

would just plate over a hole like this without even trimming it up.

biggles · « **Reply #37 on:** August 01, 2008, 04:23:19 PM »

So decided to fix the hole before I sent the shell off for blasting. Trickier than I thought, getting the current and wire feed right for thin sheet is not easy, it really wants more current, but that just pops holes in the steel. Anyway its not the best welding but there are now 2 plates instead of one, as per the original build. Smear of filler and it will be alright.

As the shell is off getting blasted (hopefully) decided to sort out the 2.8i McPherson struts that I bought on eBay and get them ready for coil over conversion.

Struts all cleaned up & stripped

Treated with Kurust

Painted Billie Blue(ish). I will have to strip a bit of the paint to do the welding of course. Now just have to clean up the hubs a bit.

That's it for now, off on a work trip to NZ for a week, then holidays for the rest of August :woohoo:

gareth · « **Reply #38 on:** August 02, 2008, 01:28:47 PM »

Are you going to wedge the struts as well as convert them to 2 1/4 ?

biggles · « **Reply #39 on:** August 03, 2008, 04:51:40 AM »

Probably, yes. But I decided that I would wait until either my welding had improved with practice or someone with a bit more finesse happened to be in the neighbourhood

I know the Kiwi's (were the car may end up eventually) are not keen on suspension mods and inspect/crack test welding of original components.

Don't see it as much of a problem to grind off a bit of paint and plop on a couple of wedges

gareth · « **Reply #40 on:** August 31, 2008, 07:46:22 AM »

Quote from: biggles on April 09, 2008, 11:37:23 PM

These are examples of what I am aiming for, lots of chassis mods required to get to this level, I reckon the only thing left from my purchase will be the body and glass

:bugerit:You will have to take the glass off the above list

biggles · « **Reply #41 on:** September 06, 2008, 10:23:59 PM »

Well holidays are over, back to work on Svetlana..
Managed to get the car up on the spits (modified engine stands). I copied some ideas from Gartrac for the spit mounts, using the rear number plate holder and the bonnet latch bolt location to reduce flex of the panels when the car is on the spit, seems to work well.

While I was on Hols, I had the car stripped, media blasted and primed. Not the best job in the world, but considering the inherent quality/communication disconnect here in Dubai, it is enough to get going. As always, the blasting has shown up more areas that need a bit of renovation.
Nasty previous repair to rear panel

Cheesy floor, not bad but needs repaired

Boot floor looks bad but have repair panels to fix

Previous repairs, might need a bit of a tidy up

Rear sills and arches, planned steel bubble arches and inner tubs fillets will fix a lot of this

Cut out driver side floor pan rot and sill. Most of sill is good, not sure if I need to replace or patch it

Rust hole in chassis rail, should be easy to fix

Desert Dawg · « **Reply #42 on:** September 07, 2008, 09:28:21 AM »

It's great to watch the 're-birth' of this car Biggles.... A bit like watching 'An MG Is Born' on Discovery Channel, with Mark Evans....

Waiting for the next episode, Biggles.....

Northern Ferret · « **Reply #43 on:** September 08, 2008, 09:52:03 AM »

Biggles,

You are getting far too carried away with your plasma cutter and hacksaw

By the time you have finished you will be left with a "ROOF" which you will be able to turn upside down and use it as a sledge up at Ski Dubai...........

biggles · « **Reply #44 on:** September 10, 2008, 09:49:37 PM »

OK so got started with the driver side floor and sill. Cut out all the rot from the inner sill, cleaned it up, weld-thru zinc primed it and put the repair panel on top. Was fairly easy to fit, but has (like they all seem to) a big cut out for the seat cross member.

Also patched the RHS kick panel and then put in the floor repair panel. Struggling with getting the welding as neat as I would like, but it is getting better all the time, so by the time I have got to the aesthetic parts I should have the hang of it. Also repaired the nick I put in the chassis rail with the angle grinder :O

Finally put in a plain patch to fill the space where the seat cross-member was as well as the sill cut out.

So that is one side done, except for the gearbox tunnel :woohoo:

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caley64

Re: My next project, a Mk1 Escort

biggles

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Northern Ferret

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roger ramjet

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biggles

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gareth

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biggles

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biggles

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gareth

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biggles

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gareth

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biggles

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Desert Dawg

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Northern Ferret

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biggles

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