most of you have probably seen the feature performance ford mag did a while back, with their 'project bonus' car, a car that evry1 can relate to and any1 could build with limited funds and time.

well thats pretty much exactly what iv dun, altho my project has taken me 4 years of spending as and when i can, and wrking on it around college and uni and a part tiem job.

my car started out pretty much like this:


(i have no pics of wen i got the car, so this wil have to do, just imagine it with 3 doors, and thats exactly wot i started on)

ford escort 1.3 popular, passed dwn to me 4 free from my very generous sister, never any intentions of keeping it, but u know how the story goes.

1 year dwn the line i had it looking like this:



i used up all my funds, all my spare time, and i did all the prep wrk and fitted all the kit, basically did evrything except spray the car, which i managed to get my uncle to do, nice having a relative who sprays range rovers 4 a living!!! lol. not bad 4 a budget cruise car, all show and no go

then whilst waitin 4 the age where i could insure an rs turbo conversion, i occupied myself with a few home built stereo installs:







then as soon as i turned 21, about a month ago, i decided the time was right to get rid of the rattly OHV 1.3 lump, n go for a bit of RS turbo power. i bought most of the parts 4 the conversion off people on here, you all kno who you are, so cheers lads












conversion took a total of 8 days, and iv gotta say im about as chuffed as could be

n heres the car as it stands now, with a few more bits and bobs added, such as full koni adjustables with lower springs, cossie disc conersion with rs calipers, full safety devices cage, etc








well, ok, a bit of a lie, these r the most recent pics, but they r a tad depressing, because within an hour of gettin home frm jamsport after a day of setting up and gettin a proven 200bhp, my m8 sadly drove into the bak of me and did this:



bit of hammer and block of wood and chisel and screwdriver wrk got it lookin a bit nicer:



new back end on the way, and whilst im at it a bit of a freshen up all over really, going 4 a full respray and some subtle tweaks here n there to bring it a bit more up to date

this is all as soon as i get the engine bak in 1 piece, as its currently going thru a headgasket change due to a burst water hose causin havoc 4 me, not good:



overall, like any project its had its ups n dwns, cost me far too much, took far too long, but theres always sumthin to carry on n look 4ward to, n i hope to have the car bak on the road and beta than ever asap. wil get sum more pics up when iv got the engine bak together because im planning on havin a gd session with sum spray paint to freshen the bay up a bit, then its off 4 the prep wrk to the body so its all resprayed and gleaming ready for ford fair.

hope u all like what iv dun, i kno it begs the question why didnt i just buy an rs turbo, but i have no answer 4 that, i just love my car far too damn much i guess!!!! lol