Anonymous

Ok after the board crash the old post dissapeared So here we go again.. should be a bit more organised this time round.

I was looking out for a cheap car in standard form to spend some money on. After looking at a few VW golf rust buckets and a whole manner of shitty cars one jumped out at me from the auto trader! A mk3 escort ghia. I bunked the day off work and went to have a look see As soon as I clapped eyes on it I knew it was what I was after.. completely standard, obviously owned by a grandad who has been the only owner since new. Garaged all its life so sod all rust apart from some very minor bits. 60 000 miles and only £500 nicker. SOLD!
It came with every MOT and recipt including stupid things like bulbs!.

Took it for its MOT and it failed Only on a wheel bearing tho, so I sorted that and it sailed through. The tester even commented on how rare it is to see such an old car in such good orginal condition

Heres a pic of a Ghia same as mine but in nasty green, so we all know what we are dealing with:


Yuk

First thing was to get some wheels:


Ive always liked S2 RST ones, so on they went. The rear sus isnt that high its because I just fitted the back wheels before the pic, suspension haddnt settled. Its still like a monster truck tho

New rubber waiting to go on:



One wheel refurbed... just 4 more to go



The headlights and grill were a bit manky so I refurbed them and bought some fogs:




Minty RS1600i spoiler from ebay:



Talking of ebay, I bidded on and won a twinchoke 34mm DMTL webber carb and K&N, When I picked it up I had a stroke of luck! The chap was selling all his mk3 bits from his car as it got written off whilst parked after recently having it resprayed Some silly cow went into the back\side.. Shit luck for him poor bloke but sweet luck for me! £275 bought me:

New Stage1 head with piper 285 cam + vernier pully
Lightened and balanced bottom end
The carb + filter
Janspeed manifold
Janspeed system
+ Loads of gaskets and silicone hoeses etc..



The exhaust had some surphace rust, the head was mint, the carb needed a minor clean.. But the bottom end looked a bit manky. Heres some pics:


The carb after a clean up


The mani's orginal condition


After a good clean up


Finished!


Rear section cleaned and stripped


Finished! with powerflex rubbers. Janspeed were even kind enough to supply me with the orginal stickers (not fitted in picture)

Hammerite rust remover and lots of wire brush action done the exhaust proud. I really cant rate the hammerite stuff highly enough:



The bottom end was the only part that wasnt dry stored, heres what a year of brittish weather will do, even with a tarp over it Luckley he left the oil in it so the internals are like new still



But now:



De-rusted to the same standard as the exhaust, rust converted and painted

EVERY part other than the internals has been ordered new and should be here in a few days. So thats new:

Water pump
Oil Pump
Oil pressure switch
Rear main oil seal
Cam belt
Head bolts
Cam tensioner
Every gasket
Oh and EVERY nut bolt and washer

Big up to Brampton motor spares for the above!!

Bought an RS1600i rocker cover from these boards in exellent condition:



But refurbed it anyways :



Got a fancy blue billit ally oil cap on order thanks to Streetsleepers knolege that a mk2 golf oil cap is a perfect fit!

Heres a photo chop of how I would Like the car to look when finished:



Lowered (probally go for new G-max around a 30-40mm drop, I dont want it too low)

Xr4x4 Disks all round, S2 calipers up front and xr4x4 ones on the rear

De-striped

De-locked

De handled.

XR3 rear arch\sill trims (not pictured)

Im either going to go for a rs1600i front spoiler to match the rear one, or try and fit a S1 bodykit on. The later will be a bit of a nightmare due to the rear doors but im sure it would be over come.

Thats about it for now! Engine is going off to be completely rebuilt soon, while this is going on I'll drop the orginal engine, get a few new pannels weleded on then I'll be doing a full respray. I cant even imagine the light at the end of teh tunnel at this point let alone see it

NUTS RuS

iTrader: (35)

Top work so far

Anonymous

Ta m8

My old man came round today and quite rightly told me not to be such a pussy and rebuild the bottom end myself So thats what im going to do

Going to fit new rings and shells even though they dont really need replacing, would still feel happier with new ones! Also going to hone and lapp the block. The only work on the bottom end im going to get done by the shop is polish the crank and run a small weld where the oil pressure switch goes as theres a crack




Still should save me some money aint like Ive got buckets of it to throw at the car, plus its much more satisifying doing stuff your self with the added bonus you know its done propper The heads still going off to the shop tho

cosevo

what did you use to refurb the rocker cover ?

Anonymous

Wire brush, 800 grit wet and dry, white spirit on toothbrush\green scouring pad and some spray paint.