Hi All,

I hope you guys may be able to help me. I've been a massive fan of the mk1/2 RS2000 since I was a child. My father owned many escorts when I was very young, but had to get rid as the space was needed for a more family friendly car. It's been my dream for a long time to get back in to the classic escorts, and I have been saving all I can for the last ten years to make this dream happen. However in that time the price of these cars seems to have have skyrocketed. Good examples are rare and expensive, and the ones within budget mostly seem to be made of filler and rust. I could spend my time saving further, but nothing so far suggests the price for these cars will stop going up. So I have been forced to look at alternatives.

I spotted on Facebook a page called SD developments. They created an RS2000 shell from almost entirely new Magnum design panels. I believe the only original part was the nose. Alternatively I have seen page on eBay called motorsport-toolsuk who sell an entirely new mk2 shell for £7000, though I have no idea on the quality of these. I theoretically could re-shell the running gear of a car with a rotten body, replacing or restoring any other parts as necessary. And right now this is the only way I can see to get something with "the look" within budget (or at least to spread out the initial outlay).

My experience with car restoration is minimal. I can weld. But that's about it. I have never undertaken anything like this before. Is this even a feasible plan or am I talking absolute garbage? My uncle is a mechanic and has worked with these cars before, so I wouldn't be completely unsupported with a project like like this. What do you think?

Thanks for reading
Dan

Quick image of the Magnum panels car for reference.