After finally saving up enough money, it was time to find somewhere to get me my restoration!

The quotes varied immensely, one quote I got was for £1500...JUST for two arches

In the end I went down to a local garage, where a guy I know works...top lad he is, he quoted me £300 for two new arches fully welded in, with both rear quarters resprayed, he soon discounted the price though...and we agreed for £750 he would respray all the paint under the bonnet, the bonnet itself topside and underneath, the car would be delocked, and both door fully resprayed, that both arches and the petrol cap would be done and sprayed, and the battery tray would be replaced, and sprayed along with the rest of the bay - bargain

Soon after though I wanted more and more done to the car, I bought a Genuine Cosworth Front Grill, an RS2K Bonnet, a Lower Cosworth Spoiler, and Sparco Rear Strut Brace.. he agreed an awesome price to me (espicially as they are a small garage)...here is the final list of work thats being carried out as we speak:

Rust on bottom of Doors Rectified
Both Chassis Rails replaced and welded up were required, all rust rectified
Inspection under car, all rust removed and rectified
New Full Arches on Both Sides
New Petrol Cap
Removal of Front Bumper and Inspection/Removal of Rust
Removal of Rear Bumper and Inspection/Removal of Rust
New Petrol Cap
New Battery Tray
Both Rear Quarters Resprayed
Underside of Bonnet Resprayed
Topside of Bonnet Sprayed
RS2K Bonnet Fitted, rust removed on bonnet and plated up
New Cosworth Front Grill Resprayed
Cosworth Grill Mesh Sprayed Black
Door Delocked

FULL RESPRAY including:
Front Bumper
Rear Bumper
Sideskirts
Door Handles
Mirror Bases
Rear Splitter
Rear Strut Brace
Lower Cosworth Spoiler
RS2K Bonnet
All Paint in engine bay sprayed
New Inner and Outer sills replaced
Sills and Arches fully sealed, fully welded, and Waxoyled again after spraying

Then the carwill be MOT'ed

The only downside to the whole job was the time it was going to take, being done on the cheap - £1200 exactly, whereas they would usually charge over £4000 meant they had to take a lot longer doing it...so I have (and still am) playing the waiting game.

On the plus side the work done is incredible, the guy doing most of it used to work for Astin Martin...and he was one of their top restorers working on older cars, so his work is top notch. In fact when he plated up my RS2K bonnet, it was done so well I couldn't actually tell it had been done, he even sanded the INSIDE of the bonnet skin perfectly flat...even though you would need a torch to see inside the skin when the bonnets open pmsl.

Its so far been about 7months since it went in their...and here are some pics of the work when it first went in











Thats mud on the exhaust on floor of the car for all those wondering lol!





The sills were a lot worse than I had thought, there were quite a few holes...and yup these pics are after the sills were ground down - and straightened!! However strong they look, they were infact as flimsy as paper, and the only was was to replace them - so thats what happened! Unfortunately it uncovered a small 1mm wide hole, about 20cm long where the inner sill joined the floor of the car, but that was sorted out as well.
What was the biggest shock was what was underneath the main sill when it was taken off, it was clear Ford had sealed it from the factory, as the top of the inner sill was MINT, not a mark on it - yet there was a dead cert line right across it where the sealent ended, and the rust was dead on its heals...why Ford didn't seal the whole thing I don't know, but I intend to put right the wrongs Ford did!

The only majorly disturbing part was the rear box section, which was completely corroded into pieces, which explained why the sill had folded over...as the sill in that place is supposed to be double skinned to take the weight of the car, but it had rusted off...so there was nothing there to take any weight

This all had to be build up by hand, and was custom done - unfortunately I didn't have a camera at the time...but you will see the progress in the next few pics

The last few pics show it sat on a ramp...and yup it was there for over four months whilst work slowly progressed, was a painful time for me...as I missed it and more importantly I passed my test! So now for the first time in my life, I could get to drive my baby...once I got her back and insured of course...