I should be going to see an 88 escort rs turbo soon, any ideas of things to look for? Any particular problems I should keep an eye out for, I know rust, battery tray and filler cap area, are they the common areas?

Any other advise would be good!

Thanks.

 

Rust areas - Boot floor, boot, arches, sills, battery tray, front panel, sunroof, floors for damp.

Then the usual mechanical problems whe buying a normal car, look for smoke from the exhaust to, for signs of wear on the turbo. Check oil filler cap for a mayo, take it off when running also to see if the engine dies down. Check all hoses if there standard, as they tend to go soft and crunch up under load.

Whats the spec on the car?


Have you got any friends that might go with you, always best to have a 2nd opinion.

 

It's endless mate, best to check the rsoc website for a buyers guide as you really need to take a list over of things to check.

In the main, make sure you see it from cold, check for smoke, rattles or knocks from the engine.

Check the usually oil, water, leaks, etc etc

Make sure the car can idle for a good while and not overheat.

make sure it pulls well out on the road and make sure it isn't smoking on boost etc - perhaps have a mate follow you.

Braking, does it stay true or pull all over the shop or judder??

Look for chassis number in the floor pan, are they there??? (by the driver seat) is there any suspect welding around the numbers.

Look for rot everywhere, you need a goor 15-30 minutes looking for rot, work carefully from front to back, top to bottom. Sills, boot, floor pans, arches and arch lips (kits hide sins), sunroof suround and roof, door bottoms, inner and outer wings, crossmember, around the screen and scuttle panel - RUST MEANS LOTS OF CASH!!

Look for poor panel gaps, most will have been sprayed by now, but is it a good job??

Is the history correct, does it tally up -ie old mot milage and dates, compared to service record and bills???

After the test drive, recheck for oil leaks, headgasket etc - some sellers will hide the signs, but after a test drive they will be present - oil leaks, water leaks, milky mayo oil in cap/dipstick etc.

Hopefully that will give you a bit of stuff to go on mate. Rot is the big killer, most mechanical bits are easy to sort.

Matt

 

best advice dont go see it,keep your money and buy a motor ur not gonna throw endless amounts of money at lol
or as above if u must

 

Oh, and gear box, and clutch, is it going into gear, any crunches - will be a rebuild most likely and not "it just needs the oil topping up" bollocks

Any whining on the drive?? - rebuild time.

Any slipping of the clutch, put you foot down and the revs rise but no actual go iirc

 

Oh, and the BIGGEST advice, don't view it:

In the dark - you'll not be able to see all the horrors
In the wet - make shat paint look mint
Alone - makes it hard to look while the seller is ratttling on and you end up getting carried away, a mate will be cooler, keep the seller chatting and stop you buying a lemon.

If you ignore the above, you may wake up in the morning, go outside and think WTF have I bought.

 

Check EVERYTHING that should be metal for rust.

Then double check everything that should be metal for metal.

If the car is less than 10% filler, it's probably a good 'un.