a guy has offered a straight swap for my escort xr3i convertible for his sierra saph running a 2.0 pinto. never been welded or painted all original shell but engine is blowing a lot of oil out the exhaust.

not too worried bout that as i have another pinto lying in my garage from my old capri if worst case is an engine change, but what else should i be looking out for with one of these? basic checks for the body, rust spots on them etc?

not sure if im going to do the deal or not but i may do if its clean enough. good base for a cos rep (awaits mutterings, 21 years old not enough wages to run a proper cosworth yet as wage and hour cuts have killed that chance just now)

 

Check very carefully for rust, rear arches, sills, front floorpan, outriggers, rear spring platforms, as well as generally.
tabetha

 

Yep check everything, especially underneath for signs of corrosion.

If it's rusty on the top it will be even worse underneath.

 

looks clean on top mike he's sent me about 3 dozen pics of the interior and outside and looks clean enough, but as always pics dont tell the story fully.

anything i should be on the look out for other than rust folks? just gerneral condition wise the same as everything else?

 

As stated above if your not worried about mechanicals, then bodywise worst places would be spare wheel well, chasis rails at back, front jacking points under the car that are right underneath the drivers and pass footwell, as well as the strut tops underneath the bonnet where it meets the inner wing.

 

cheers people am waiting on better pics coming and then i'll let you know if im going to view the car, its in aberdeen that he stays so a couple hours drive to go see it, if its good enough though then i'll swap, always said i'd prefer rwd to fwd fords

 

Check check check. Especially underneath. had one myself that looked ok on the surface but actually needed a new floorpan, sills etc. scrapped it in the end after taking anything worth keeping off to put on my second one. also, if a bodykit is fitted it will hide an awful lot if it is rusty. if its all good tho go 4 it. rwd is the way forward friend (and backward sometimes too!)