Hi guys. Just signed up as im getting back into my fords after owning a rover coupe turbo.

Ive always loved fords, started with a 1.1 mk1 fiesta,mk1 xr2,mk2 xr2,mk3 escort cab 1.6,escort mk3 1.3,s2 escort rst then left fords for a while with mr2`s,family crap,back to mk4 xr3i,family crap,rover coupe turbo and now just bought a 1987 s2 escort rs turbo in diamond white.

Ive bought the erst off my nan (yep its true). Its got mot till nov and tax till oct.Its got 130k on the clock BUT she has had it from brand new!!! Completely original apart from the stereo (which i replaced for her about 3 yrs ago) and some nice looking black stripes down the side.It was motd last nov and she has done 10 miles in it from then.In the last 3yrs she has done 300 miles in it.Just sits in the garage!!
I paid £940 for it and pick it up around lunchtime.Yep, thats why im so excited and up at 4am this morning!!!!

The car is gonna need some work for next mot but im hoping to restore it. It had a full respray a couple of years ago.Its had loads of welding done already as it seems every mot it needed something plated.
Like i said its completely original and i believe on of the earliest s2. It didnt have any optional extras as far as i know (no recaros,elec windows etc).

I have done a bit of work on cars but only things like suspension,brakes,engine service etc. Im quite good at electrics (im an electronic engineer by trade) but have quite a few m8s who know what they are doing.

Its definitly going to need new rear arches and im going to hammerite teh whole underneath and in the wheel arches (once done) with white hammerite.

A few questions (well,many actually):

Is hammerite the right stuff to use to prevent furthur corrosion?

Because of all the welding,would it be better to reshell it?I like the number plate too so id want that transfered on to the new shell.
Or keep the original shell and make it as sorted as possible?

The car has only got a crappy alarm that keeps going off so hopefully going to get the cheapest cat2 immobiliser as poss and put my own alarm in it as soon as funds allow.Whats the best cat2 immobiliser and where in swindon,wilts is best to go?

As the car is original, whats the best thing to do with the engine at the mo?

My plan is to run it till nov (or oct when the tax runs out) then take it off the road to restore it or at least fully sort eveything out.

What mods (subtle please) would you recommend?
Obviously being used to the rover coupe turbo, this rs is going to be alot slower. What mods (without ruining the originality)can i do to get around 200bhp?

Obviously funds are going to be tight (about £150-£200 spare a month) so what order is best to do these things in?


I will put pics up as soon as i get it.

Thanks in advance.

Mark D

 

your gonna have to try and fix the shell mate as trying to find an original rst shell with no rot going cheap is a no go zone. as for modding the engine if its done 130,000 miles its gonna need a rebuild! put ya foot down and you could be seeing what once was a running engine turned into mush!!!!!!

 

Bit of an old thread and alot has happened so find the rest of the story here:

https://passionford.com/forum/showth...&highlight=d77