It all started in a pub a colleague of mine was telling us how he bought a scort for his daughter as a surprise, had all the body work done and was just about to start the mechanical work when his daughter arrives home in Mk2 Golf she'd just bought.

Bang when the surprise and the scort was left in his yard forgotten for best part of
five years. A few pints later and my incurable disease for not letting things mechanical go to waste I said, "I'll have it" so the deal was done and folding passed hands. To the car yard with a booster pack & foot pump in one hand and a fresh can of juice in the other and she fired up with a couple of turns of the key With the tyres pumped up, the clutch free and the algae rinsed off the windows we took her back to her new home. The drive home proved that nothing obvious was wrong and she was a pretty sweet motor in need of TLC.

And her she is just after she was parked up in the drive for the first time a 1989 Mk4 Eclipse 1.3 HCS with about 94000 in the clock












In the beginning it was just a case of giving her a heavy service and sort the various bits that didn’t work right. Starter motor wasn't working, wipers wouldn't Self Park, rad was leaking etc etc. But it got to a point that the little niggles spawned other niggles so the plan of action is to methodically go through everything properly.

Many may say what’s the point in going to in depth bearing in mind it’s only a 1.3, and this has crossed my mind usually on a daily basis…. 8O

The reason I got it in the first place is that although I am 28 I haven’t had a car licence very long as I have always had bikes, so insuring something like an RST is out for the next year or so.

So for that reason I will be getting down and dirty with my little beastie, then hopefully in the future I can flog it and get an S2 or drop a bigger lump in this knowing all the hard work is done.

Now all that flannel is done here’s the plan:

1. Full underside resto
2. Get engine sorted with a mild bit of tuning
3. Sort last bits of rust and mank topside
4. RST S2 body work and wheels
5. Drop the ride height a bit
6. Some good interior work, plus some creature comforts

So when all done I will have a spotless 4dr S2 replica with a small but poky engine…. at least that’s the plan


SO THE UNDERSIDE RESTO BEGINS.....

I decided to got with sections at a time rather than all in one go that way I have found I can keep realistic goals and see things improvew quicker rather than do it in one go, (the motivation killer in any project ) So I started with the rear arches








The tierod nut was a bit of grief, loads of Plusgas and a 24" breaker bar all the way of :x



There you go the rear end out * * *







Now to the components that were treated with no mercy with an angle grinder and a wire wheel. Then de-bushed (ooo err) threads re cut and cleaned ready for a good few coats of Hammerite










Back to the arches which were examined for any rust and general mank



Then once cleaned and de greased some coats of red oxide were brushed on ready for the next stage a good stone guarding 8)






one of my other toys in the back ground *:twisted:



masked up ready for stoneguard





And finaly after the shutz has cured a goot helping of Hammerite to finish off, the paint match is'nt bad either * *



Thats it for now will update soon *8)[/quote]