After cleaning up the bay last year and getting some good feedback on the state of my car overall, I have decided to try novice concours next year .
I started taking the car apart yestarday,( 2 days after it's Fast Ford photo shoot when it looked the best it ever has up until this point) and so far have taken off one wheel arch liner,front bumper, the airbox and pipework,lights, side repeaters, turbo heatshield etc.
Below is a pic of how it looked before I decided to do this







Bumper wheel arch liner,undertray and airbox off



Lights off



The engine bay is going to have a tidy up and good clean as it had an overhaul last winter,some parts will be repainted that weren't done last time and the last remaining old bolts will be replaced for new shiny ones.

This is a bit of a step into the unknown for me as I haven't done this before, thanks to everyone for their help and advice so far, I am sure I will need plenty more
I will update as and when Bits come off or are cleaned.

God help me

 

Absolutely love your car mat,keep us posted with the progress m8.

 

Mat, your car is gorgeous, and i dont even like mallard
Good luck with the cleaning and keep us updated with loads of pics
God, all these bufty's :gayflag:

 

nice car mate

 

Good luck ,piccys please on updates

 

Thanks for the kind words guys it's things like this which will keep me going when it's bloody freezing out and I cant be arsed!

Small update, I got the degreaser out today and gave some dirty bits a good clean, it was actually surprisingly easy to get it looking nice again.

How I am going to regret saying that at some point soon

inner chassis rail-this was filled with oily dirt and bits of leaves etc




Right hand light surround



Left hand light surround



right front wheelarch under airbox-this came up very nice, I am currently letting some polish dry to see how shiny it will go-then I will stick a big airbox over the top and nobody will be able to see it



under the bonnet soundproofing



Brake resorvoir



Does anyone know how to give this a really good clean please?



None of this is finished yet however I am pleased that it has been a relatively painless experience to get it looking half decent so far

Bring on the rest

 

looks good, Good luck

 

More cleaning today-took the scuttle off and the windscreen wiper motor and polished the linkages, took the battery out cleaned it and cleaned under and behind it and cleaned the under bonnet sound proofing too
These are not the most interesting of pics-but atleast it's all being documented.









painted and polished



battery out



the work in progress



next will be the right hand side of the bay as you look into it and the plenum and ancillaries.
Have also ordered a polished wiper linkage cover from Auto Specialists, this will be joined by a new map sensor bracket, throttle cable bracket and possibly a fuel rail cover-but I am undecided on this at the moment.

 

top car whats it like underside it painted or that

 

Brilliant stuff mate I would love a garage so I could do something like that with mine.

 

No it's not painted and I am not doing that this year-you dont have to for Novice Concours-thank God

 

looking good mate

 

good work mate, keep us updated

 

be seeing you next year then mate novice concours for me too

 

Keep up the good work Mat

 

Im sure AUTO GLYM engine cleaner with clean that sound proofing up, also need a soft brush

 

Good luck
Have you started to prepare yet?

 

Funny you should say that as thats what I used yesterday, it's standing by one of the radiators in the kitchen drying as we speak
Not sure if it has worked but does look good at the mo

 

not yet mate wont look at it till at least march, car was put away straight after Ford fair, it never sees rain so wont be to bad keep the updates coming matey

 

looking good Mat i may have to ask you some cleaning tips for mine

WD40 seems very good at removing grease and grime from the underbonnet paint.. Is this a bit harch on the paintwork though

 

John I have been using Autoglym engine cleaner it can be used on paint (although I wouldn't recommend you hose it on) it breaks the crap down really really well-but then my engine wasn't that dirty to start with-worth giving it a go for the price

 

Looking good Matt, take your time mate and don't loose any nuts and bolts

Leigh

 

Cheers Leigh-most nuts and bolts are being replaced anyway
To be honest it's going really well at the moment and I wish the missus would let me out in the garage more-but weekends only (If I'm lucky) thats why I started so early as it will probably take me 6 months

 

your car looks fucking spanking in the first few pics

love escort cosworths, shame i'll never have the cash for one

keep up the work mate, i know its cold out and at time ya cant be assed but ya got to keep it going other wise near a year on ya still wont be finished, like me

 

Thanks mate

 

credit where due mate

 

will be more than a minter..

 

Looking good mate. Im hoping to have a go at novice concours next year too so no doubt ill see you there.

Let us know if you sort the soundproofing out. Ive tried a few things with not great results. Was thinking of having it dyed black.

 

hows your prep going ?


Ignore that I've seen your car and it is super clean

 

Mat, you'd get to that battery tray better............................


IF YOU TOOK THE ENGINE OUT!

Doing well dude, VERY clean Escy!

 

Thankyou Jason
That engine is staying in this year

 

Good choice mate!

Where were you in bloody April to tell me the same!

So just a tidy up or a little more power?

 

No more power just a tidy up

 

Im not far off to be honest. Just need to re-paint the arch liners as there started to shell off slightly from when they were done before. Im just debating whether or not to have the bumper and side skirt front sections painted as theyve picked up a couple of chips this year. Never really had a proper look at the concours cars at the shows, buy i assume they are 'totally' chip free.

 

Well mine wont be chip free ,I'm doing the bonnet and front wings but thats it

 

Right




Sorry for stealing the above but it was just too good not to share.

I have been able to spend a good few hours today taking the car apart and it's been very productive
I have modified my airbox for a better flow of air (Thankyou Jas ) removed, boost hose, coil cover,header tank,cambelt cover, throttle cable bracket, ignition amplifier bracket and the cam belt cover riser bolts,painted the under side of the wiper blades as they are now visible in the reflection from the new wiper linkage cover
I don't think I like the wiper linkages polished or at least not the way I have done it so I am either going to A. get them polished properly or B. get them painted as I think this will look
I am replacing the coil cover as I cant be arsed to repolish it (see above ) and I will also be replacing the throttle cable bracket and bolts, the ignition amplifier bracket and bolts, the map sensor bracket, the screws for the header tank, the header tank cap, the power steering tank cap, loads of bolts that I didn't do last winter, the front light water jets in the bumper, the side lights, the indicators and the side repeaters-there will probably be a lot more but that was just from looking today

Without further ado, here we go
The new and improved 'Franco/Mike R' airbox mod





Header tank off










underside of wiper linkage painted






because of this





Soaking the header tank
Hi I'm Barry Scott







More bits removed to be replaced with new shiny bits







New thermostat housing outlet















The coil underneath the cover










the garage mess today





Looking down towards the driveshafts etc





A little bit of elbow grease to see how hard it would be to clean and ..... not too bad-should clean up very well





How I left it

 

Looking good matey

I've taken the front end apart to fit my rs500 intercooler and ending up doing the same sort of thing . There was no way i was putting it all back together knowing how dirty it was under there

 

i envy you mate, having a gargae to do this in, i got my frst outside lossing interest a bit as it gets colder but i'll press on.

shes gunna look good mate.

oh you dont fancy donating the old bumper washer jets to a mere frst owner with a cossie bumper do ya

 

You robbing bastard!!

Not only dd you nick our airbox mod (Ps which if its still out, put a slight hole at the lowest point for water drainage! )



But you even nicked my update pic i made!!


Doing well Mat!

 

Sorry Jay but it is just too good to hide in 'my photos' any longer

I will put a little hole in the bottom too-cheers