Just wondered who else has one of these trusty warhorses.
Here's my 55 van, bought this about a month ago, 2 owners 90k on the clock. It was all panelled out when I got it but I removed all that and got some carpet in the back, got hold of the bulkhead grille and changed the seats for a pair of RS2000 recaros. I'm not going to go mad with it, just a few little mods to make it tidy.
It's a 1.8 non turbo diesel so it's not exactly fast to say the least, but it's great for when you need to carry something big around and I looked at loads before I got this, and bought this one because it was really tidy and not dented up all over and not been thrashed to the moon and back.

Anyway, comments welcome and I'd love to see pics of other people's vans, whether standard or modified.

 

just about to buy one meself. want a turbo one and needs to year 2000 or 2001.
They seem to hold their value like wont drop much more than 800.. The only thing I hate bout these vans is they eat wishbones, and the cambelts need doing quite regularly.
yours looks clean was it on ebay ?

 

Yes, I would have preferred a turbo, because the non-turbos are a bit gutless, but they seem very few and far between and the chances of getting a turbo and it not having been knocked about are quite slim, whereas there are absolutely loads of non-turbos to choose from. There is a heck of a lot of crap out there though, basically because they are just bought to do work and people don't care about them. I think I was really lucky with this one. It wasn't cheap but I wanted a decent one.
It was off E-BAY but it was actually a proper car dealer selling it.

 

dam that looks tidy trev

 

Thanks mate, yes, it's quite a nice one for it's age. If you do look around for these there are some absolute horrors, but I'm pleased with this one.

 

Just sold my TD van last week, 3rd one i have owned and love them for what they are

 

thing is also if you can get a non turbo they are piss easy to drop a turbo diesel engine in, and even better is yyou can get escort and mondeo donar cars for peanuts to

 

trev that looks well smart in the back proper clean one too, i really want one of em

 

Cool!

 

They are very handy mate.

 

i would whack a zetec turbo in the front though proper sleeper lol

 

Always tempted to buy one just for a hack. A friend's dad is a courier, and his has done over 400,000 miles. Had a new gearbox as the old one was a bit whiney, apart from that it was completely reliable!

 

Yes, it is a bit sedate compared to the Mondeo or Cossie. And when you quote it's 0-60 time you have to just say, yes it will get to 60.

 

i ran round in a black one for a few months, most reliable, economical thing i've ever owned fooking brilliant as a daily dog

 

got rid of my escort van for one of these. much quicker and not as obviously a rattly van as the ford.

 

i had an escort diesel van non turbo very good on fuel ,but wouldnt pull the skin off a rice puddingnow have a transit connectvery good all rounder ..... dont think i would part with it

 

Looks tidy trev! Iveh ad a few, same shape, and i have to say i would never have another non td again

 

i had a J plate escort for courier work years ago ,pile of crap..........swopped it for a new VW Caddy........pile of crap

 

just sold my escort van it had done 162000miles and it needed a bit of welding to say the least

DSC02147.jpg?t=1254671503

55d with no power steering

i swaped it for a Ł1200 snapon tool box

 

sold mine week before last





on the look out for a combi or mk5 fiesta van now.

 

Mine HAS got power steering, it just hasn't got any power. Useful tool though, and I use the Mondeo when I want daily power.

 

Very cool.

 

Heres a couple of my GTI van .....

 

Ooh, now that is very nice!

 

Here's my Rs2000 Van - For Sale on ebay -http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Escort-Rs2000-Focus-Rs-Alloys-RS-2000-Van-L-K_W0QQitemZ260486005463QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobi les_UK?hash=item3ca62d02d7&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

Ooh, that's nice.

What did you get those door cards off mate, because I've got the standard black ones, but I've got the same RS2000 recaros as yours? Are they off a 5 door?

 

I was looking for an escort for months.Finally got a 51 plate minter in white for Ł1000.
I fitted electric windows & mirrors for a bit of comfort.




Tried to fit 17,s but i couldn,t get them on the back.Tried spacers,longer studs but still rubbed.

So as my brothers escort work van had died ,i sold it to him and got this.

The next generation of ford modded vans.

 

here's a few of my van

 

top pic is when it was a bit dirty

 

the dealer was there a choice of 2 or 3 escort vans..
Cos i think its the van i was looking at on ebay even though it non turbo i saw how clean it was.

fair play, those pics show its clean, like u said most people buy them and abuse them.

 

They did deal in vans, so there might have been more, I just thought this one looked the cleanest.
Oh yes, I must have looked through hundreds, and most were battered to death. Funny how most of them are low owners, I guess they're bought by companies a lot and kept for quite a while.

 

i have 1 its a crap box like but got us all the way to spain last year when we moved there for work and all the way back 5600 miles in total and has 249,000 on the clock lol

this is it all packed when we came back at christmas
weather was crap lol

 

Are you sure you couldn't get a bit more stuff in there mate. Great little thing for doing things like this though.

 

stoppit! ive got a damaged rs2000 in the yard and i was going to repair it, im now having unclean thoughts about reshelling it into a van!

Ryan

 

well i tried to get a cup of coffee and 2 slices of toast to have on the way but just too tight a squeeze pmsl

exactly right what you say though perfect for everything used her to scrap a motorbike with 2 flattys fit nicely in the back with the doors bungee strapped lol and perfect for all my tools as im a self employed plasterer fits everything in genny mixing drill hand tools the lot with plenty of space to get the shopping in lol starting to get poorly now though needed new brakes a clutch and cambelt got that done and was fine for a while but seems knackered now time for a zetec petrol engine i think

 

i was thinking of doing this with my series 2 lol

 

if you put this and my old van together you wouldnt be able to tell the difference. still got the looks

 

mine, all mine whahahaha. now with some subtle changes. pics to be added when the weather brightens up.

cudos on the previous owner

 

There's some really cool stuff here. I love my van, in fact I'm using it more than my car now.
I've now got RS2000 recaros in mine, and the GTI/RS2000 steering wheel, and I'm sorting out the stereo too. Got some 6x9s in the back now, but I've bought some of those boxes like sub boxes you can get off E-BAY and mounted them on catches so I can just whip them out quickly if I need the load it up with stuff.

Some of these must have taken a lot of work to get them where they are, very cool indeed!

 

My old one!