19 year old's Mk1 Granada 3.0 Ghia project
04-03-2014, 05:12 PM
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19 year old's Mk1 Granada 3.0 Ghia project
Yeah, the majority 18/19 year olds are messing on putting Redtops in Corsa's and all that sort of stuff, but I've picked this as my weapon of choice.
A Bit of a background story -
RTY 358S was bought many moons ago by my Dad, it was rotten, but cheap, and being green with a green velour interior, it was a pretty rare beast! So we ended up with it. The previous owner paid a fortune to have 'welding' done on the car, which all turned out to be just fibreglass'd into place. We have no idea how he got away with it, but the previous owner could not afford to get the work done, which is when we bought it. We don't have many pictures of it like this, but here's one to give you an idea...
A full nut and bolt restoration was carried out, and although it was mainly standard, it benefited from white wall tyres, clear indicators, and a green vinyl roof, so it ended up looking like this...
In 2006, my Dad passed away, and the car was passed down to me. It was my pride and joy, even though I couldn't drive it...Fast forward to when I was 17 and passed my driving test, and for some reason I still don't know, it was the only car I could get insured on...
So, i passed my test at 11:00, and was insured by 12:00...the amount of petrol I used that week, and the next few months was unreal. I done atleast 8000 miles in 4 month...how I afforded to run a 3.0 'Tank' at 17 and do that many miles I do not know. Anyway, I was young, it was rear wheel drive, roads were slippy...I ended up chucking it 'round corners and...basically blew the engine up...It lay for a while till I found some space for it, but now I've cleared some of the garage...Fast forward to now, and I've sourced and engine, and had some ideas, so the rebuild is on! Here is what I started with-
This is how it look at the minute, it needs a few bits of welding, and front door cards (If anyone could find me some green Ghia front door cards, I'd be hugely appreciative!), a spring, and a few other little bits.
After seeing these cars, I've decided to remove the chrome trim, and fit plain chrome bumpers from a Consul - The plan for the car is to be smoother, cleaner, wider and an inch or two closer to the ground - I know the orange Coupé isn't to many people's taste, including mine, it's purely to show what I mean about removing all the chrome -
So, the plan?
- Remove all the chrome trim from the body and fill in the holes
- Get the welding and bodywork done
- Full respray in the original colour
- Refit the clear indicators
- Proper black vinyl roof
- Custom made lowering springs
- Decent, but discrete sound system
- Clear rear lights, if I can find them...
- Banded 8J Sport steel wheels with 195/60/14 tyres - See the picture below of the car that inspired me to do this!
And that's about it for now, I'll keep you all updated on this, and it WILL get done, as it will be in Memory of my Dad.
Thanks for looking!
A Bit of a background story -
RTY 358S was bought many moons ago by my Dad, it was rotten, but cheap, and being green with a green velour interior, it was a pretty rare beast! So we ended up with it. The previous owner paid a fortune to have 'welding' done on the car, which all turned out to be just fibreglass'd into place. We have no idea how he got away with it, but the previous owner could not afford to get the work done, which is when we bought it. We don't have many pictures of it like this, but here's one to give you an idea...
A full nut and bolt restoration was carried out, and although it was mainly standard, it benefited from white wall tyres, clear indicators, and a green vinyl roof, so it ended up looking like this...
In 2006, my Dad passed away, and the car was passed down to me. It was my pride and joy, even though I couldn't drive it...Fast forward to when I was 17 and passed my driving test, and for some reason I still don't know, it was the only car I could get insured on...
So, i passed my test at 11:00, and was insured by 12:00...the amount of petrol I used that week, and the next few months was unreal. I done atleast 8000 miles in 4 month...how I afforded to run a 3.0 'Tank' at 17 and do that many miles I do not know. Anyway, I was young, it was rear wheel drive, roads were slippy...I ended up chucking it 'round corners and...basically blew the engine up...It lay for a while till I found some space for it, but now I've cleared some of the garage...Fast forward to now, and I've sourced and engine, and had some ideas, so the rebuild is on! Here is what I started with-
This is how it look at the minute, it needs a few bits of welding, and front door cards (If anyone could find me some green Ghia front door cards, I'd be hugely appreciative!), a spring, and a few other little bits.
After seeing these cars, I've decided to remove the chrome trim, and fit plain chrome bumpers from a Consul - The plan for the car is to be smoother, cleaner, wider and an inch or two closer to the ground - I know the orange Coupé isn't to many people's taste, including mine, it's purely to show what I mean about removing all the chrome -
So, the plan?
- Remove all the chrome trim from the body and fill in the holes
- Get the welding and bodywork done
- Full respray in the original colour
- Refit the clear indicators
- Proper black vinyl roof
- Custom made lowering springs
- Decent, but discrete sound system
- Clear rear lights, if I can find them...
- Banded 8J Sport steel wheels with 195/60/14 tyres - See the picture below of the car that inspired me to do this!
And that's about it for now, I'll keep you all updated on this, and it WILL get done, as it will be in Memory of my Dad.
Thanks for looking!
keep it true to how your dad would have done it
04-03-2014, 06:15 PM
#5
looks like 1 of the last, mk2 started on the R plate. i prefer to leave the body standard but its yours so good luck with it. body panels are hard to come by, try the owners guild for parts.
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04-03-2014, 08:04 PM
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Awesome mate,my dad had a gold mk1 3.0 ghia auto with a black vinyl roof....guh11n ...always remember the exhaust snapping just after the downpipe on the way home from my nans at 9pm,I thought it sounded Awesome,woke up one morning and someone nicked it.
Last edited by marcgj; 04-03-2014 at 08:05 PM.
05-03-2014, 01:56 PM
#10
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I loved these and had a few of them years ago. You could go flat out everywhere and a tank of fuel was, well, a lot cheaper than what it is now
Can't remember seeing many, if at all, of that colour.
I loved these and had a few of them years ago. You could go flat out everywhere and a tank of fuel was, well, a lot cheaper than what it is now
Can't remember seeing many, if at all, of that colour.
05-03-2014, 03:41 PM
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Thats mint matey. Well done for looking after the car for your dad. Where abouts in the north east are you from.
I love mk1 granadas. The amount ive seen been smashed up years ago when I used to go and watch the banger racing is unreal.
I love mk1 granadas. The amount ive seen been smashed up years ago when I used to go and watch the banger racing is unreal.
10-03-2014, 08:01 PM
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Well, after a lot of shouting, swearing, hitting things, and more swearing, we finally got here...
After the pictures were took, the seats, carpet, bonnet and boot were removed - 99% of the stripping is done now, bodywork wise, just the engine to come out now!
...things get worse before they get better? I hope so!
After the pictures were took, the seats, carpet, bonnet and boot were removed - 99% of the stripping is done now, bodywork wise, just the engine to come out now!
...things get worse before they get better? I hope so!
10-03-2014, 08:02 PM
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Well, after a lot of shouting, swearing, hitting things, and more swearing, we finally got here...
After the pictures were took, the seats, carpet, bonnet and boot were removed - 99% of the stripping is done now, bodywork wise, just the engine to come out now!
...things get worse before they get better? I hope so!
After the pictures were took, the seats, carpet, bonnet and boot were removed - 99% of the stripping is done now, bodywork wise, just the engine to come out now!
...things get worse before they get better? I hope so!
12-03-2014, 04:50 PM
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it is, but it's worth doing, so it's getting done, it's priceless, so the cost of the build is no problem..it's just getting the finds that's the problem!
15-03-2014, 10:33 PM
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That's going to look incredible when it's finished. 
Regret to say I don't think I've ever seen a MK1 driving about in real life. 
Your Fiesta looks cool too, there seems to be a lot of MK2s cropping up around my neck of the woods lately.
Regret to say I don't think I've ever seen a MK1 driving about in real life. Your Fiesta looks cool too, there seems to be a lot of MK2s cropping up around my neck of the woods lately.
16-04-2014, 06:34 AM
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Sorry for not updating for such a long time, we've been moving garages, so that has taken up most of my time, not leaving me any time for the Granny But we're moved now and pretty much settled in, so the next set of updates hopefully shouldn't take too long...
But we're moved now and pretty much settled in, so the next set of updates hopefully shouldn't take too long...
11-06-2014, 06:53 PM
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Well, the engine and box are out, and my wheels are ready for banding...now I just need the money to get the new engine painted/re-gasketed/cleaned up and get the wheels banded...
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