well, after the sucessful negotiation in the summer for ownership of the series 1 after many tried and failed(!), i got myself a new garage sorted last week so thought it was time i got the old girl home...
the car is completey original and standard, never seen a welder before either altho sadly thats about to change...
only has a stainless exhaust and for some reason a set of series 2 seats, other than that, its how it left the factory!!!! oh, and the cibies... first thing to come off, lol

this is what she's looked like for about the last 8-9 years...




so paid the man some money last week after having a trawl down the back of the sofa, lol and arranged to collect it today...
and this is how it went...
tyres pumped up n out on the road...



got her into her new home....


plan was to not do anything with it till me red s2's finished (click me sig to see how thats goin, almost there... ) but had to have a proper look round plus the carpet was soaked so had start operation dryout....

so far, so not too bad really considering....


only hole in the floor...


altho the front looks bad, its only surface luckily, metal is all good still, phew!!


just started on the rear panel, still ok tho, easily saved...



rest of it looks pretty good altho its gonna need a battery tray n a scuttle...




tailgate is mint inside n out, cant believe it!!!




havent took the bodykit off yet but pretty confident itll be ok, previous owner had it all off n rebonded so hoping its done it a favour...

this is how she looks last thing, just gotta wait for it all to dry out now...


thought id better form some sort of plan, found out the expensive way wot happens if ya dont have a plan!!
originally wanted to do something outrageous with it but sein as its in such good nick, will leave it as a nice sensible road car methinks...
gonna run the red s2 around for a while then once the s1's bodywork is sorted, gonna chuck all the running gear from the s2 into the s1 and presto!! one nice sensible road car!!!
can unleash the crazy plans on the s2 then, wont feel so bad about "altering" that one...

gonna keep us busy for a while...

 

Good luck with it matey!

 

How much did you pay for it??

 

dunno if i should say, dont like to see grown men weep, lol

 

go on, tell us!

can pm me if you like. lol

 

come mate how much ,make me cry cant beleave how good it is for sitting that time

 

ok, well, put it this way, i could've only bought 1 and a half ps3's instead....

 

Good to see you got it at last

 

love seeing these saved
ive broke one( _ about a year ago and still have a few bits left, mainly interior so if your short try me

how much is a ps3 lol?

 

That is going to make a really nice car. Can't believe how solid it looks. For the money you paid you got a bargain

I love Series 1's, please leave it looking standard

 

Good luck with it mate

If it turns out anything like your Series 2 it will be mint


Brian

 

very good mate how did u find it?

 

just as many cars as me

 

Looks good mate lets just hope that when you take the kit off its ok as the last two iv worked on there was not a lot left under them. all the best with it

 

yeah, well pleased mate, been a while comin but all good things come to those who wait, lol!!

well, prob gonna need some seats mate if ya can help...?
a ps3 is about Ł300 i believe...

hope so mate, it looks an easy save.... (famous last words!!)
gonna leave it standardish but have a bit of an idea for a colour change, everyone's got a white one..!!

gonna try me best mate...

its a pal who had when we all had one back in the early 90's, he never bothered to get rid of it!!! think he'd planned to keep it n do it up but there ya go....



yeah, righto...!!!
not far behind tho...

thanks mate, pretty confident it'll be ok tho, the backs of the arches are all solid plus kit seems to be properly bonded on so hopefully will have kept most of it out... fingers crossed...

 

bargain mate im n the look out for one myself, but why would someone put those ugly cibie lamps on the front there hidious !!

 

they were trendy 20 years ago!!

 

and another one being saved


keep up the good work and does look like a bargain

 

all the best with it man

 

Nice to see it being restored.

 

what are you like

 

Good luck with it mate, doesn't look like too much work! Have seen ALOT worse put it that way!

A nice decent spec engine and standard looks suits these down to the ground!

 

thanks mate, its gonna be standard looking..... ish!!

old enough to know better....



cheers for all the comments peeps....

 

No way they are still cool now

Old school



What colour are you thinking of going for then mate?

 

This will be good

 

lol, theyre gone mate, first things off!!!
think some nice sensiible standard spots will be more appropriate...

as for color, bit of a secret but i never seen any car this color, only a large german one!! hoping its gonna look ok...
as a bit of a safegaurd tho, im gonna do the engine bay, inside and underneath white... just in case!!

hope so mate, got some cool plans...

 

bodykit off today... not too bad i guess...

front wings and crossmember all look good....




forgot to take a pic of drivers side front for some reason... its all good tho...

bit nastier round the back tho, couldve been worse tho...
little pile of rust...!!


arch ok tho...


drivers side not so good...



lookin a little sorry for herself now...


thats about it then, battery tray, bit of outer sill and a bit of rear arch, not too shabby.... couple of other holes n bits n bobs to repair, coulda defo been a lot worse tho...

engine bay strip next.... cant wait!!

 

you slag!!

 

that was just a rumour....

 

lol na fair play looks like you got a bargain mate u going for a full scale rebuid 1 or just a budget??

 

My rear arches had gone there! Not quite as bad but same place Strange how they all go the same.

keep em coming, i prefer watching other folk progress than doing my own

 

good ol mk3's, gotta luv em...
hoping i can get away with just repairing rather than replacing, would like to uphold the "all original panels" crown...

got 24/7 acces now so got no excuses...

complete repaint/restore inside and out, then when ive had a bit of fun with the series 2, gonna drop all the running gear in here...

nice easy swap over...

 

nice 1 mate

looks like you got a cleanish 1

think its best you do have a plan, know what your like

 

lol, thought it best...

 

lovely mate, mine was totaly fooked when i took my arches off, i have a few brand new panels left if you need, like both inner sills, drivers side outer sill & driverd side floor panel, gis a shout if you want them

looking good anyway mate, if my eagle eyes deceive me is that a mk1 escort under the cover at the top of the page?

 

thanks mate...
already got floor pans tucked away somewhere, just need an arch n passenger sill i reckon, cheers for offer tho fella...

you must eat a lot of carrots mate!! that is an original mk1 mexico under the cover, been there even longer than the series 1..!!
it was his first ever car, used to drive it with L plates on...
i did say to him everything was for sale at the right price, he agreed so i asked what would turn him but he still wouldnt say, reckons he's gettin round fixin it up one day...
hoping he'll see what a great job ive done with his turbo when its finished, he'll be beggin me to take it off him, lol...

 

Hmm that sounds interesting. Go for it. You can always change it back to white if it doesn't look good


It doesn't that bad at all now you have got the kit off. I think everyone who's ever worked on Series 1 has seen worse

Keep at it. I can't wait to see how it turns out

Oh yeah the Cibies still rock

 

yeah, i reckon i got off quite lightly, all things considered, much less welding than i anticipated...
sadly tho, i think the cibies are beyond repair....
one is ok but water has got in the other one and rotted all the reflective stuff away...

got an idea for a back up color as well, in case the first one looks shit..!!

 

You won't know if it looks good in the new colour unless you try so there's only one way to find out.....

I really expected the shell to be in worse state especially considering the first pictures you put up. Standing around never does cars any good. With a bit of tlc she'll be sweet

Shame about the Cibies. Well I think so anyway, I'm sure everyone else just thinks that the bin is the best place for them

 

glad to see another being saved! such a shame to see them going to waste sitting round when you know they can make such a nice car, keep up the good work and good luck!
cheers mark.