Thought i would start thread on my mk4 estate due to popularity of them on another thread on passionford .
Anyway this is the car as i bought it for £400 last christmas ,was a bit overpriced but i tried for months to find one and this seemed very original if not a bit scabby around the edges ,low mileage and family owned for most of its days .






The car was started in march last year and i started to freshen it up ,i will post pics when i can to try bring up to speed as it is now .

 

First on list was sort out any rust issues.
I had decided the front end needed freshing up ,doors were scabby at bottom so these were to be replaced with fresh items .Lady luck came up with a genuine wing and front panel for £40 and i bought the other from the dealership as soiled with 50p size dent in it for £40 ,i sourced new doors from damaged car that were fresh and then started to strip the rest down to see what condition it was in .
engine bay was ok having repairs to usual battery tray area and near fuse box on other side so basically all i needed to do was tidy up the work as it was a quick fix repair .
floors were fine bar a small area on sill/floor on drivers side ,about 2" x 2" plate sorted this out .
Rear lower corners under bumper were not healthy needed inner and outer repairs to both sides

 

Starting with what i thought would be biggest job was the lower rear corners ,i didnt bother buying panels ,probably dont even get them anyway ,i used a g/f sapphire sill which i cut to suit ,the repair didnt have to be amazing as the bumper hides it but as usual all the good welding gets covered up .
I made the outer skin first and then made the inner section ,tacked it in place and repeated on other side ,then gave it a good weld up ,seam sealer and some top coat brush painted on

 

top stuff mate whats ya plans for it

 

Keep reading and you will find out .

Next the front end was stripped down, brightwork,bumpers removed







as the car was still in use late may it was driven around like this for a while until the big work started .

 

Looking good so far

 

come on then whats the big work?

looks top

 

New panels were welded on front and the original running gear removed .
After this was done i treated any rust grinded it down and seam sealed joins on new panels and then stonechipped the whole wheel arch ,lower x member and lower bulkhead and floor .
I then brush painted the lot in eggshell black

 

is it just me




or is the screaming out to be cossied lol



beef

 

Next was the inner wings and rear load area ,i decided on colour change and thought whilst the shell was bare to scotch the rear end ,inner wing and etch prime ready for top coat

 

looking god mate looks in ok condition,mine was in good condition when i 1st got hold of it aswell and mines also a D plate

beefy thats what im doing with mine should be ready mid show season hopefully if i can find a job so i can fund building the engine

 

Looking good.

 

heres the reason that started the project ,i miss my van ,was only a diesel with all rs gear attached but using it as a workhorse i didnt need big bhp.
i went to view it a few months back and its in a bad way would need a full rebuild again so i thought i would try a combi this time .

 

Van looked nice n tidy

 

Love this one, really like the mk4 Estates
I wished I never sold mine

 

The next stage was to top coat the engine bay and load area so i could get away from bodywork and get cracking with the running gear.









I am currently looking for the small metal clip pictured on lower left that slides into indictor and fixes to the wing if anyone would like to sell me one

 

looks good so far mate, think i seen on another site a pic of it fully painted

 

Im pretty sure you can get that fixing from Ford mate.

 

After weeks of haggling and text,emails etc a local free ads wanted ad came up with the donor car ,i wasnt bothered what i got in regards to engine etc as this is going to be a workhorse so big bhp turbo engines etc werent an option i wanted something with a bit of poke that wouldnt be bad on fuel or break under load as im hoping to use it for towing etc.




£200 saw a rare j plate 90 spec xr3i with all the mechanics i needed and a full electric pack loom with e/w ,c/l heated front screen ,fuel computer plus if i ever wanted to turbo it i had the ideal loom already fitted

 

bargian hope ya didn't leave the spoiler on

 

Nice progress!

 

Excellent work there, i really wish i had the time and space to take on my own project

 

Nice to see one of these being treated seriously

 

next phase was fit the 90 spec wiring loom ,which was done along with the efi petrol tank .

The donor car front end was dropped as one unit ,so it was easy to refit in a few hours

I bought suspension and front turbo calipers,goodridge hoses,hubs etc from ebay before i got the donor car ,turns out the brakes were off a turbo but modified for larger discs (cossie i think) ,the suspension was koni adjustable

the whole back end was swapped over to bigger rs/xr rear drums ,treated to new cylinders,shoes and bleed nipples as well as braided hoses .

I bought new handbrake cable ,fitted it up to new handbake lever again from donor car as i plan to fit 90 spec interior with longer centre console and there is a difference between the ages

 

Looking good pal looks like your making good progress
mines that loverly shade of pale blue aswell keep the updates coming

mark

 

Looking good fella.It will look cool when its finished.

 

lookin good mate, shame about the j plate shell, surely the shell and id are worth abit

 

liking it mate im looking to buy another very soon

 

nae bad, i used to have one when i was younger, anyways send me your number in a pm & i'll come with them plastic caps & get some spares mate

 

keep up the good work dude. Used to have a combi years ago which was painted Jasmine Yellow. Hmm making me want one again. Damn you

 

Great project mate

 

would be a shame not to leave it maritime blue!

 

Getting there now buddy.

 

what a great project mate

 

with all the running gear done and car running i found a few problems ,i cut and shut a turbo exhaust to fit the std downpipe but its slightly off centre so will attempt it when i get the chance to put on a ramp as im fed up working underneath ,also the return fuel pipe i fitted from donor car started leaking so i fitted a lenght of fuel hose over it but it seems to keep blowing off ,so must need full new pipe without joins (can anyone confirm this )

anyway the bodywork was made ready for paint and there was only a few bits to fill around petrol cap (slight dent) and o/s lower rear sill ,had been plated previous so i tidied it up .

it was then etch primed and then primed again with regular primer

 

looking good

 

thanks for the positive comments and advise

yeah and the tailgate too didnt find anyone to buy it so i left it on the shell ,spoiler screws were rotten and i thought i may damage it or boot removing so i just left them on
,i have the spoiler caps still ,not that they are any use to me .

the shell and id both went to a good home

 

Great project, looks good allready

 

looking good so far matey!
what colour is she going?

 

looks like a lil treasure trove you got there fella ,

do my eyes spot a mk 2 escort , and red and blue mk 1 fiestas ??


beef