rs007

So a few weeks back I managed to pick one of these up local after watching for a long time. First one to come up in almost 4 years. I wasn't looking for an Azura specifically, just any decent, clean-enough-to-be-workable Saph, given I've accepted I'll never afford a Cosworth, nor would I pay the money they are going for now even if I could... besides I had great fun with my "Chasseur" model years ago, so this will do the job just fine

Anyway, I got it with the original intentions of doing something interesting engine wise, maybe 2.0 Zetec turbo, or some american V8, welded up diff - you know the idea.

However, after seeing how clean and original it is (70k miles, still on original brake discs!!) I've decided to - for now - restore it to its former glory as an azura... if I decide to modify in the future, any mods will be done on a reversible basis.

I'd say its about 70% clean. Back bumper is wrong, respray has a few areas needing correction (plus roof needing done, why the f**k did they not bother with the roof)... not the best job but I suppose far better than 23 year old paint would have been... underside is in great condition.

Alloys aint too bad, they will get refurbed at some point. Drivers seat needs work, usual wear through, rest of it is saveable though.

Exhaust needs work, pattern parts still available although this being one of the last ones, I think one of the cats may have broken up... will deal with in due course.

Overall it drives as it should bar tired bushes etc, and puts a smile on my face every time. Tail gets just the right amount of slippy in the wet which is hilarious - even on the 1.8 CVH (which is in pretty superb condition, and clean).

Anyway, I'll get to the pics - what I'm hoping for is some help, I want to find the correct back bumper for it, a passenger wing mirror and so on - but parts are damn thin on the ground. There must be folk sitting with these rusting away, or people who know people on here that can help me?? Please!!! lol

Must have tried every scrappy within 250miles, most laughed at me

asha1

Very clean saph you got there mate, love the colour too!

If you're on Facebook, there's a page call "Ford Sierra Appreciation Club", there are lots of active members on there some of whom may have parts you're looking for.

rs007

Thanks mate I'm delighted with it

The colour I'm told is the original, just minus the 20odd years of fade. It really isn't the best job, but far from the worst - I'll block the whole car down in time to remove a few clearcoat runs etc, then I'll be happier with it - and paint the roof!! lol

Cheers for the heads up on that group, off to check it out now

asha1

Sounds like a good plan, I reckon most would be quick to modify (like me lol) - it's good to see you're going back to original with it, there can't be many of these left

They're a good friendly helpful bunch in that group, I camped with some of them at Classic Ford, some good times had for sure! will be on the stand with them for Ford Fair too =)

rs007

I've sent a request

Because its not far away from being spot on I'm thinking if I clean it up I vould maybe go to classic car meets/shows so that's my thinking. don't know how accurate it is but according to some website there are only 19 left registered on the road... I prob will still end up modifying it, but in a reversible manner

Everything underneath is really clean - cleaner tha my vectra daily driver which is 12 years younger... ill be pulling off bits and powdercoating, get it really clean - will help it as a base car whether kept standard or not :-D

Zetec_mk4_XR3i

Nice find that mate - I had one identical years ago as my winter runner and was great fun in the snow

I'm not far from you in Falkirk, and just advertised a blue, one owner Sapphire on eBay for spares or repairs however I don't think there are many bits that would help you. I actually bought it to keep as a spares car for my Cossie but I don't think I really need it!

CheeRS

rs007

You got a link? Had a quick look but couldn't find anything

eagie

Did I see this advertised on bookface a few weeks ago? I'm breaking a 2wd saff if you're needing anything?

rs007

yup you will have done. Been looking for a usable one for a while, and it popped up right round the corner from me - had to pounce! Any pics of the car you are breaking?

anthony lea

That looks too clean to modify

Csm

Brings back memories My 1st Ford was a 92 facelift Tasman Blue sapphire which i owned 5 years. Always loved sierras and owned a 91 J reg pre facelift after that and also a 92 facelift Saph cossie 4x4. Always wanted a 2.9 xr4x4 for fun aswell.

rooos

nice project you have on this one!

i hope you find all the help you need in here...
keep us posted...

rs007

Exactly my thinking, hence why I quickly abandoned my high powered sleeper idea

Maybe I'm getting old (hey, 38 today lol) but I like the idea of going to meet ups, classic car shows etc

However, if I do modify it, everything will be reversible. All the original parts will be getting kept and cleaned up, so it can be put back!

rs007

Same here. Had other fords but my first Sierra was a Chasseur Saph that I got around 15 years ago for the princely sum of Ł200... how I long for those days again. Came MOT time and had no option but to scrap it due to rust and me lacking the facilities at the time to work on it . Still wake up screaming "nnnnoooooooo" over the memory of that. Slightly older revision CVH (R2A I believe) with mechanical fuel pump and fake dizzy... this one far simpler with in tank pump and EDIS, just the right amount of modern tech to make it easy to fix and reliable, but not over-complicated like cars nowadays!!

rs007

Fingers crossed. I love seeing motors saved from the scrappies and going strong long after "they" want you to have got rid of them and spent all your money on something new!

I'll keep this thread rolling, as said above I may well modify it (but fully reversible) and I'm a bit of a mad redneck so how I go about things may be of interest to a some on here who are restoring/working on older cars

Zetec_mk4_XR3i

Hopefully this link works!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262481437412

rs007

Mate if I hadn't picked mine up, we'd be talking right now - thats going to be a cracking project for someone!

Hell if I had the space, we'd be talking anyway, I really need a yard lol

rooos

i'm up to a 1.8 cvh to 2.0 zetec silvertop conversion on my daily sapph right now.
(megajolt, zx9r bike carbs, lpg, welded diff...)
not a turbo one, cause at the moment i can't afford anything but the stock t9 gearbox the car comes with...

about this, i started a thread in here...

https://passionford.com/forum/restor...-thinking.html

i hope you find some good idea for the project you have in mind...

yes, it's a very nice car, too neat to be modified.
also, (my experience) 1.8cvh is a very reliable engine, sloppy but reliable if kept stock and under ordinary maintenance...

but my silly opinion about that, is that you own the car, not the opposite... we only live once.
having a neat car means having a good start for your ideas.
so i really hope you can afford to go on with a v8 in it, lol ...

keep us posted.

rs007

Ahh I have read your thread before - love it, I really like it when an owner gets involved and gets teh job done themselves, fabricating etc - thats how I'll approach mine; its how I've approached all my cars, after being consistently dissapointed with either the cost or quality of workmanship when farming jobs out!

Great thread mate!

Zetec_mk4_XR3i

The photos make it look better than it is mate unfortunately! I'm sure it will provide plenty of useful spares to someone though!

eagie

I'll try get some pics soon, not much of it left though.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Looks a nice car. I like all sierras.

rs007

Me too mate, except now all my mates are tagging me in everything that comes up... wish I had more money, I'd have a barn full lol

The worst is this "bonus ball" craze, so tempting, but I never win owt

rs007

Well a very long but productive day today. Drove from my place, about 30 miles SW of Glasgow, to Yorkshire for some parts.

I know that makes me look a retard, but I also enjoy long drives, and haven't been on one for ages so it was all good - apart from the bit where the A1 South bound was completely shut all day due to a bad accident... someone (pedestrian) got hit by a lorry apparently, must be terrible for those involved so I decided I would be a dick to get too annoyed. RIP whoever he was.

Anyway, 500 miles (and numerous burger stops) later, and I procured a proper manual mirror to replace the incorrect electric one (that wasn't connected, the car isn't fitted for leccy mirrors), another 2006 RDS head unit (OK, I'm a saddo, right?) and a back bumper that while it is going to need work due to being broken plus fully colour coded (ghia perhaps?) is the correct shape and moulding with the single light and the big bump bar. Some repair work, some paint and a new chrome strip (I have a reel of the stuff) and it will - hopefully - look spot on! Pics will go up of the process for anyone interested. All that for the princely sum of 80 sterling, I'm happy.

Really nice guy, I'm not joking when I say a barn FULL of sierra bits, plus panels and bumpers out the back. Not a lot of tasty bits like cossie stuff (although I did see some interior pieces and a saph boot spoiler needing a fair bit of work) but loads of bits all the same. I could have spent all day in there raking about. 2 essex lumps sitting too which briefly tempted me, but its a heavy old lump and doesn't offer THAT much performance for the hassle of fitting versus other options with same amount of work involved.

He doesn't even advertise because he doesn't have time to list on ebay... mostly sold bits to kit car guys and says the sierra demand just isn't there now... needs to let folk know he is there!!!

Anyway, got the mirror stripped, its perfect, just needed a clean - hopefully the previous owner of my car didn't just tiger seal the cover on, and I can do a quick swap tomorrow, so the nieghbours dogs/cats/tapirs and wheely bins will be that bit safer when I reverse out the drive now lol

The head unit didn't come with a code, but thats not an issue; I had a hunch the problem with mine was the tape deck/head and it turned out right. Swapped that into my own unit, hey presto, I now have clapton playing perfectly lol. Added bonus, took two minutes to swap the front plates so now all the illumination works, huzzah!!

Glad it worked out because the stereo in mine is the original for the car, with my registration etc when you turn it on. I'll just keep the other one for spare components.

So jobs list right now:

• Fit mirror tomorrow hopefully, if no tiger seal induced rage.
• Listen to Clapton cassettes.
• Paint cam cover, its really bugging my tits big time - could wait an powder coat but don't think it will fit in my oven.
• Clean/scuff back bumper, stand and stare at it while smoking roll ups and wondering what I've got myself into this time.
• Listen to Bon Jovi cassettes.
• Wheels could do with a refurb, but not bad enough to pay for a proper strip n recoat... might take them off and paint them myself to do until I need new tyres at least.
• bodge/bandage/superglue/mumify centre exhaust box to stop it sounding like a spitfire with a round through the block; yes I could replace it and I will, but its needing more than just that - I'll do it right come MOT time (October)
• change front discs and pads (fairly confident it is still on the original discs, crazy wear lip) and try not to get carried away pulling off bits to clean up.
• Listen to Shirley Bassey cassette... wait, wut???

gcfcos

Lovely car that matey. Love the colour too. Don't know why but I can invision it lowered with black Windows and a naught Zetec turbo

rs007

Trouble is so can I, its like being tenpted to the dark side ffs lol

Cos500

Great looking sapph, been a long time since I saw a standard car as nice as that bar shows etc, I'd keep it as it is and enjoy maintaining it and keep it looking that well, will never lose value now

rs007

Frustrating couple of days.

Because I'm pressing the car into constant service and only recently bought it, I decided to do the timing belt as a precaution. Easy job, was being all clever, ordered timing belt a couple of weeks ago.

Cue me having it in bits and then realising that although listed for my car, the belt was wrong. Round tooth not square, and around 130mm too short.

Then it started raining.

So, to try and remain positive and get at least some feeling of accomplishment, I decided to whup off the rocker cover to redo that.

12 hours later the electro tank got it back to bare metal, just with pitting as expected. Went to get the 2k primer since a couple coats of that would sort it right out.

Out of hardener.

Not to be deterred, decided to rattle on with single pack and worry about the pitting later.

Only to find the rocker cover gasket I bought (also a while ago, thinking I was doing well) was defective. One of the wee metal doodahs had shifted during molding meaning a hole was blocked. Prized washer out, gasket tore a little... could prob still be used but sod it, I went in a huff.

Still, will look alright I suppose and do for now. Far from perfect, but I discovered the cover fits in my oven, so I'll take it off and redo at a future date; JB weld the pits, then powder coat.

Now that bloody heat shield is offending me

rooos

the cam cover came out fine, well done mate !
keep it going...

rs007

It isn't perfect but its a lot better than it was, and will do for now

Cleaned up the pot metal timing cover a little, and as I knew I would, have got the exhaust heat shield off for a refresher lol

Hopefully get it all back together this weekend with new belts, leads and plugs, and maybe get the front brake discs and pads done - still on the original discs by look of the wear lip!!

Dying to get out a drive in it, with my birthday and fathers day recently, family got me a pile of good cassettes to listen to

Reality: When doing front brakes, I'll end up pulling off the callipers to strip and paint, and the car will be off the road for ages hahaha