Project: Driveway 4-Door

[merp0]

Ah, what a loverly colour Weren't they gonna run that as a trials car? hence the ride height.

[cortinamk1]

good luck mate

[olly22n]

Ah, what a loverly colour Weren't they gonna run that as a trials car? hence the ride height.

Yep, all easily reversible though, bolt on stuff.

I can see escorts being my downfall though, I bought this one under strict orders to sell the silver one. I now want to keep it. I have an itch to buy another one too.

Maybe a nice red one??

[olly22n]

good luck mate

Thanks buddy, how are/is your(s) coming along??

[cortinamk1]

teething probs now matey.ill have to pop over

[olly22n]

If you need a hand give me a shout.

Wil let you know when I'm changing the engine etc etc, could do with another pair of hands!

[cortinamk1]

anytime mate

[dangerousdave]

I dont get it the silver one looks a lot smarter (that could be down to the dodgy ride height and black bits mind!) And the silver one is rusty but nothing you couldnt sort in a couple of long days. I recon as long as it takes to swap over all the running gear between the two and fix the bulkhead

[Stu.C]

Either which way ... nice cars

[olly22n]

I dont get it the silver one looks a lot smarter (that could be down to the dodgy ride height and black bits mind!) And the silver one is rusty but nothing you couldnt sort in a couple of long days. I recon as long as it takes to swap over all the running gear between the two and fix the bulkhead

In part you probably right, but that silver one has a lot of bad work on it, the rear aches are nearly 2" thick in filler. All the doors are rusty as are the pillars. Don't forget this is my daily driver and I can keep taking it off the road to repair it, hence the yellow one. If i tried to do the silver one, i imagine that it would have been like dominos, and it would be off the road for years! This way i can take my time, learn how to it right and not rush whilst driving an escort daily!


(hope that made sense!!)

The other reason is i was on ebay and well, the rest is history



Up early Stu???

[dangerousdave]

Ah i didnt realise the silver one was that bad in which case its a no brainer Just lose the odd black bits and a few inches off the height and it will look a million times better

[merp0]

I like the off road look

[olly22n]

it may well be mot'd at that height!!!

[4drmatt]

Looking good!

What's happenning with the silver one?

edit: just looked back a page... how much are you looking for it

[olly22n]

Looking good!

What's happenning with the silver one?

edit: just looked back a page... how much are you looking for it

I don't know mate - i want to keep it so I can learn to weld etc etc on it!

May have to sell if money gets tight though!

[Dan]

have to admit the more i look at mine i wish i hadnt spent all my cash on the engine, as it really needs the rot sorting out... hopefully last me over the winter and then start patching it up.. but definatly makes sense to swap everything into a sound shell

i like the height, just needs some chunky mud plugging tires and a snorkle kit and youd be away

[olly22n]

Small update, not many pictures as i've been working on my own and have needed to crack on...!

Heres the plate that we're putting under the heater bowl, will be fluted etc etc to channel water rather than holding it like Fords design



My mate is a much better welder than me!!




That will be finished off tomorrow night.

Next job was the steering column, now the car had a mk1 item installed (for what reason i am not sure!!). So I purchsed a mk2 from GS escorts



heres the mk1 in situ



I changed this so the 'cockpit' can remain as it should be with the mk2 shrouds and the ignition barrel!! Can't stand cars with 2 keys....

SO i changed them over, and realised that the MK1 goes through the bulkhead lower down, and the mk2 does line up, so i had to reserve the mod to allow the mk1 column in.... The basically involved enlarging the hole in the plate that covered the cut out and then patching a plate over that....

Cross member was also changed, as the one on the car had been modded to mount the TCA's lower down, so this was changed, nice and easy this job!

Old on top!



While the suspension was partly dismantled I thought I amy aswell remove the space plates between the strut and the strut plates...

Fuck me, if there ever is a nuclear meltdown, there will be cockroaches and these, very substantial in other words





Car now sits 2" lower now!

You can just make out the difference with the struts top hats in this pic...



Moved into position ready for the engine swap next weekend!!!
Pictured with my step daughter who is lovin the retro fords!!





Today - no photos unfortunatelt, I got the fan and raditor out and mock fitted in the yellow one and started on the wiring loom....still looking good for the engine swap next weekend!!!


If anyone has a free hour or 2 on fri sat sun or mon next week, I will provide tea, bacon and beer

[olly22n]

got a new toy today!!!





One reactive welding mask!

Engine swap starting this weekend!

[olly22n]

right, got some progress today!!!

A few hold uos but nothing major....well maybe!

Colin came round (cortinamk1) who was a great help, cheers mate!!

No many pictures as we were cracking on in the sunshine today!

Got all the wiring diconnected, prop off, exhaust (what twat that was...)







Colin pretending to be dead!



Anyways, the anchor was soon ready to remove, so wheeled in my engine crane!



And ot the engine came, without too much trouble. Getting it on the engine stand was nearly too much though, much head scrathing later the simple task was completed!!




And an empty bay...



Next the removal of the olf cortina sump and installation of the rs one, but the pick up pipe was wrong!!

Can i modify the cortina one or will I have to buy an RS one??

Thanks guys!!!

[Scouse]

Could you not find a bigger crane? I bet you must have struggled with that one!!






Scouse.

[olly22n]

the crane just about coped

Got the welding finished off today,so just need to sort few bolts and a pick up pipe and its sorted!!!

[tom burgess]

with that sort of crane you had better make sure everything is disconnected or it will do it for youLooks a good days workAs for the pick up i would say buy an rs one as you have to be quite accurate with them or its bye bye engine

[Trevor_A]

olly- how did you get your heater bubble to bend up mine won't budge at all, and its a lot more rusty than yours?
cheers
Trev

[olly22n]

olly- how did you get your heater bubble to bend up mine won't budge at all, and its a lot more rusty than yours?
cheers
Trev

If you have ever played rugby against stmaford town then you'll know!! Our hooker called no-neck bent it with one hand..

Not the best way of doing it, best to do the spot welds on the scuttle too...

[dangerousdave]

Once you have drilled out all the spot welds around the bubble lip ping the bubble up with a screwdriver and you will see that it will spring on the scuttle grille then just lift that right up or unpick the welds along the window channel and leave the scuttle on the bubble if need be

[Trevor_A]

must have some more spot welds to remove somewhere then

[dangerousdave]

Oops i lied! Unpick the scuttle from the bubble, seem to remember there are 1 either side under that at the top of the bubble lip Then you can just bend the scuttle up enough to get the bubble out

[olly22n]

will take some pics tomorrow for you trev, or could pop round if you want?

[Trevor_A]

thanks guys - will give it another go tonight- I was pulling on it but it's that rusty at the bottom I think it will split off and I'll be left with half a bubble!

[olly22n]

Lots of work today, no photos though, was on my own and on a mission (its rare i get the whole day on the car and wanted to make the most of it)

Jobs done:

sump fitted (hope it doesn't leak!!!)
rear suspension stripped from silver car and fitted to yellow car
bulkhead repair kursusted and primered
2" lowering springs removed from silver car and ns fitted to yellow car
couple of other jobs that i' too drunk to remember....

on reflection it sounds like the square route of fuck all done today but it was a solid 9 hours today....

deadline put back to mid october due to lack of time due to work (which pays the bills and for the car)


Getting closer........

[olly22n]

Rescued from page 6!!!

well, managed to get it running, but none of the electrics are working, and then it got wet and cold

And..................................................


I got this to play with!!








So the escort in on th back burner until it gets warm again.

May even get to the pod show if i pull my fingerout!!

[olly22n]

well what to do?

I have completely lost interest, but can't quite bring myself to sell the damn thing. I don;t have the means or the cash to get it to the level i want. So do i store it until i cna be bothered, as most of the bits are there or there abouts, or get rid to release some much needed fundage??

Need some inspiration guys, or some pound notes under my nose....

[4drmatt]

don't sell it...

I went through this phase not too long ago... even tried to sell mine a few times, but my price was a bit unrealistic, maybe I didn't actually want to sell.

what I have found is only work on it when you want to, not because you feel you have to. try and make working on the car enjoyable. beer and loud music helps me. maybe get someone to lend a hand? productivity might go down (at least it did for me), but it would be a laugh.

I moved my car to somewhere where it doesn't matter how long I take. I too am short of cash so I just left it sitting for a couple of months until I got my motivation back and a lump of cash saved.

[mexicotait]

nah dont sell it mate get working on it now the sunshine is coming out again