Hi guys just thought i'd show all the work that i've done to my much loved mk4 estate over the past few months...

I'm a big ford lover and had many in the past, i saw this on ebay and had to have it. have also got a fiesta turbo locked away in the corner of my workshop.

The price on these has shot up as i sold a diesel one a few years ago and only got £170 for it. Ended up paying just under £600 for this and it was almost out of tax its a 1.3 and has done 82k.

Its my daily drive so my plans are to replace all old parts and make it nice a tight drive - turbo diesel - maybe power steering and just anything else i can think of to make it nice to drive everyday. Am going for the full s2 arches - 90 spec bumper rs bonnet - rs interior

I have 99% finished the car and have taken lots of pics in the meantime so will upload them in stages with a brief rundown on whats going on.

Anyway on with the pics.. here it is the day i bought it




I've decided on mondy 16" alloys for it, Found a set not far from me in need of a refurb so picked them up and spent the weekend getting them mint and painted them in ford frozen white.. also fitted with 4 quality new tyres

.

The bodywork wasnt to bad at all on the car just a few small rust patches and a few small dents. I work in a busy bodyshop so dont have much spare time, I got 1 maybe 2 panels done in the evenings and primed them individually (as you may see in the pics)

Had to try the wheels on to see how they look





The front panel had already had some plates welded with the slam panel meets the wings and it looked abit shabby so grinded it right back - welded some new plates in then smoothed both sides completely in. Then got abit carried away and though i'd go for the smooth slam panel look and welded all but one of the sqaure holes up.





I let the primer sit for 10 days so it hardend right off as i didnt wanna paint it then find a few bits had sunk. Also smoothed the passenger lock off (properly done - welded then filled)






I'll leave it there till tomorrow and will update abit more then..... Any comments welcome - thanks for looking

 

Tidy... I like MK4 Escort Estates.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Thanks RS GRANT
update...

I spent a good 2 days blocking down the primer then 500 on the softpad - even primed all the door shuts (pain in the ass to rub down)





Finally got it in the booth ready for its new colour....







Thats how i left it, all ready for my partner to paint as he's a PRO painter (as you will see) i'm mostly a panel beater and part time painter.

i came in the next morning to find this









what do you guys reckon on the colour? is very radiant

got it straight out the booth and fitted the doors..







.

 

Just look how straight it is, am really happy with it. Have re alined the door since, was a quicky to get it out the way.











Heres my dashboard, has been painted black. Proper paint was used and is really nice in person. was degreased and red scothced then plastic primed then painted. the paint is for painting black arches etc so hasnt filled the grain of the plastic in at all it litterally looks like a black dashboard and no chance of the paint flaking off.

While the dash was out i fitted a brand new cobra alarm







Heres it is with a couple of other jobs we had in at the time, can see my fiesta tucked away at the back

 

My 90 spec bumper arrived, was said to be mint but i wernt impressed. Ended up stripping it right back to bare plastic the priming again to get it proper mint.

Also the rest of my kit was painted and the bonnet arrived so cracked straight on with it. I didnt want the ford badge so that was welded up and smoothed in. Spent a day on that alone to ensure proper straight and no signs of their ever being a badge.



Got abit carried away and forgot to take pictures till i got to this stage, the skirts are only resting on for the picture.

 

Wouldnt have gone for red but it does look nice!! Love the wheels aswell

Wouldnt mind selling my cab for one of these!

Keep the pics coming!

 

Interesting rebuild, keep the pictures coming

 

It was either white or red but the last 2 mk4's i've had where white so i went for the red, thats also why i went white on the wheels as i think its looks good on a red car.

Thanks for the comments will upload a few more at lunchtime.

 

looks great mate! Just nearly finished my one which is red as well!

Will keep eye on this!

 

i really like that m8 well done

 

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Escort Bayan

 

thanks guys...

Next step was to get the old 1.3 beast out (got £100 for it on ebay)











I did strip it right bare to a bare engine bay but as per norm i got too carried away and forgot to take pics.

 

Looks nice that.

 

Keep up the good work. Lovin it!

 

I bought a late mk6 escort with a endura de turbo diesel fitted and just 79k on the clock for £200. It had the late mtx box fitted and didnt wanna go down that route so i used a mk6 diesel van box and flywheel as it had the early b5 box then used my 4 speed mounts and brackets.

I couldnt find a mk4 escort diesel top engine mount anywere so i ended up making one - 5mm thick steel plate cut and shaped to bolt to the back of the engine then some thick box section big enough cut and shaped to go round the brand new rubber mount part i found on ebay then welded the 2 together and it works really well as good as a proper one (i wish i had taken a picture as i was well cuffed with it).

I Done alot of research on these newer diesel engines as they have management to run them unlike the older ones, Firstly i cut a small bracket piece of the diesel pump so i could remove the 3wire pats solonoid then fitted a new older style 1 wire solonoid. I didnt want any management on my engine for simplicity so to get around the electronic andvance - retard setup on the top of the pump i just undone the 3 bolts and manually retarded the pump just a fraction so it sits right in the middle.

Have done 5k on the new engine and it runs like a dream and hasnt missed a beat, I get 52mpg round town and on a run i done 500 miles to 37 litres of fuel - 61mpg

When i first drove it with the new engine i was so amazed at how well it goes, its a 90bhp engine in something that wieghs alot less than a mk6 escort.

To compare it - it goes better than an xr3i and would keep up with a standard rs turbo till about 90 and even then if you put your foot right down at that speed you still feel it pulling hard. I havnt taken it flat out as i'm not a flat out merchant, i'm also not stretching how well it goes.. i own a 1.8 zt frst and a skyline gtst so i know how fast things are if you know what i mean lol.

Anyway heres the engine all fitted... just to add the standard airbox would'nt fit in the bay so had to use a cone..





If you look close in this picture you will see the glow plug relay hiding behind the airfilter - has been done properly with decent guage wiring and teminals

As i said above i've done alot of reserch on these engines and they can be tuned for next to nothing, mine is boosting at 14psi standard yet some guy on the internet is running 22psi the diesel pump wound in and getting 145bhp with 180 ftlbs of torque. I'm not going to run that kind of boost as i want my engine and gearbox to last but i'm definatly thinking of a front mount cooler and 18psi of boost, When that happens i'll tweak it up myself then take to a rolling road to set it up properly as there a few places not far from me.

 

car is looking great mate,love the paint finish
i see its a early C reg aswel so one of the first mk4's to be out

 

Thanks mate... ye paint finish is great up close to and thats straight out the gun not even been polished yet.

Ye, early mk4 still had signs of the mk3 in it as it had the mk3 washer bottle and mk3 plugs on the back of the clocks. All original panels

 

What a turnaround mate, credit to you

 

Looking great there mate and well played on being different with the engine choice

 

Thank you, means alot after how much work i've put into it.

ye cheers, I have petrol guzzlers to burn about of a weekend in, from the very start i wanted this as my everyday drive so i thought why not.

I do get a few peeps saying its begging for a petrol turbo.

 

Really is a lovely looking estate now it's been cleaned up.. good old skool daily with the TD engine too.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Stunning work mate and cudos on going tdi.

Get a front mount intercooler on it and tune it up for 140bhp+. (hit me up for info how if needed, pretty basic knowledge and a few simple adjustments)

 

this was so fulla win as i was scrolling down the page...until i seen the derv lump

but respect for a cool looking daily!

 

Id love it as a daily. Good engine choice i reckon! Stick with it and get it to around 140 and it'll be mint!

Cheap, reliable fun and simple

 

Hello, I have got mondeo alloys too and want them in white aswell But I don't know what tyres would be best for those wheels. Considering 195/45 or 205/45 :/ What tyres do you have?

 

I'm running 195/45's as anything wider and the steering gets abit heavy,, but 195's offer no protection against kerbs. You may say learn to park better but i have to park next to a kerb every single day and after say a 12hr shift parking gets abit sloppy.

Thanks for the comments and yes I'm sticking with the engine

 

Thanks, Oh and i forgot to mention at the top of the page... aswell as it being cheap reliable fun its only £120 a year FULLY comp insurance

I think its that cheap as its over 25 years old.

 

Thanks for reply. I will take 195/45. Can take some Pirellis or Continetals for good price than with 205/45. And with kerbs I don't have any problem

 

Is the engine declared? Is it on a classic policy?

 

Yes engine declared, Have now added it to my trade policy. It was on classic insurance.

 

List of other work and new parts fitted....

New battery

New track control arms and poly bushes + new tie rod bushes on the back

x2 new rear wheel bearings + rear brake cylinder + new brake pipes all round

Mondeo v6 front brakes new 278mm discs and pads(stops loads better)

Full rs turbo stainless exhaust joined to the 2 1/2" TD down pipe (is not loud but burbles nicely sounds just like a petrol turbo from behind)

Rs turbo system technology shocks with 40mm springs + new genuine ford top bearings and rubbers

Electric windows + with proper ford wiring

Electric mirrors + proper wiring

Central locking including the tailgate

I tinted the windows with a very light smoke tint - not the chavvy limo stuff

Lockwood white dials (pain in the ass to fit as it is a c reg and had the mk3 plugs on the back of the clocks)

Here is how it looks as of now....













my little touch on the new plates

 

If this was a different colour id be in love!

but saying that it is mint!

Not sure on the tints

 

love it mate, you've done well there.

 

Ideally you need a scoop to feed air to the top mount but if your going fmic then fair play Rst stuff will help you out easy

 

Done abit more geeky research on the internet on power steering conversions....

Easiest option i reckon is the corsa electric power steering so i bought one of these

corsa c coloum and ecu



I spent a few evenings measuring cutting and welding and come up with this









Here it is all fitted



all wired in with proper wiring and 50amp fuse



I have a few years experience in welding so no chance of any of it coming apart, was double pinned and lots of high temp welding to be over cautious

I bought one of the corsa rally sensor switches off ebay to go with it

Have done nearly a thousand miles with the new steering and it is absolute brilliant, its the best thing since sliced bread i cant big it up enough with words lol. can either be realy light city steering or can be heavy for faster driving, am going to incorperate it into the speed sonsor off the gearbox at a later date.

What you guys think?

 

Epic, you could sell some of the epas to some of the boys on here

 

Yeah you wana start making a few of these, soon sell them!

 

i like it lots....

good work

 

Nice car.I like the idea of the steering column.

 

great conversion from the humble start, liking the ps too