This is what I have been advised, however Im not sure if its right enough or not, so please correct as appropriate:

In 1986, the first series 2 Escort RS turbo was made and registered on a D. The car at this point was manufactured in Germany until 1987 therefore as was some early E registered. The german metal gave a strong shell and cars of this period of time ere found to have shown little signs of deteriation. In late 1987 they began manufacturing the Escort Rs Turbo in Spain until late 1990. The spanish metal wasnt as strong and has been found to be more prone to fatigue. By 1991 they realised this, and went back to using the german metal for the final year of manufacture in 1991.

So basically saying the D & H regers have better shells? Enlighten me...

 

Not too sure on where they were all manufactured, i thot dagenham? anyway, i usually find F plates are usually good cars with the most solid shells!!! I know of a mint one for sale as it goes, but the owners a perv

 

ive heard that before, but every d plate rs and xr3 i ive had/or mates have had the floor pan and sills were like a patch work quilts

 

some were built in germany, i know mine was

 

If its white PM ME

 

I thought that all rs turbos were made in Germany (mine was, G plate).

Although my sister had an E plate escort made in spain and that had rot on it everywhere and that was when it was about 8 years old.

 

ive heard the eralier ones were made in dagenham and were shite and the later ones were german which were stronger, but i can tel you mine is a 1991 and is made in germany and my bros in 1990 and made in germany hope that helps

 

They were all made in Germany. The early versions didnt have wheel arch liners which gave problems. The main things to look out for are sills and chassis legs and bulkhead. It's just luck mainly.

Rick.

 

ive got 2 of them , both red rst too

 

what code on the chassis plate/vin number tells ya where it was produced??? and what codes stand for what country/location????
as mines a H plate and so far has only surface rust in minor places
cheers
daz

 

Julia, Its grey, but a very clean car! no bull.

 

im 99% sure all rst where made in germany
it was just all boggy models (orions and scorts) from d to e that used the crap metal. ford brought out a six year protection scheme on the F plate cars to convince lost customers back.
so much for that idea

 

Well said that man. IMO tottally how the car has been looked after as to its current condition

 

The VIN differers (first 3 digits) depending on where it was made:

SFA = United Kingdom

9BF = Brazil

XLC = Netherlands

WF0 & WF1 = West Germany

VS6 = Spain

UN1 = Ireland

TW2 = Portugal

 

I've got a D plate from 86, manufactured in Germany. One of the first ones. The lack of arch liners does account for the shitty condition of non-restored wings around the top corner where it meets the windscreen panel & around the side repeaters.
They did change the metal as well as include arch liners in the later cars so that's why they are holding out better than the early ones.

The chassis legs & floor pan on mine are both ok (bar 2 bits on the floor where it was jacked up in the wrong place , but are repaired very well). Sills are one to watch on all the cars, not just the oldest RSs.

 

sad but true, its made of steel and its a ford. rust should be something everybody should be wary of! it can happen to all cars made of STEEL. ive seen d plate boggo escorts that have been well looked after and arent showing any external rust yet ive seen T- plate mondeos with rusty arches!! they just need looking after!

 

Post of the week

 

lol!! jus sorta makes sense!

 

Yup all S1's and S2's were made in germany. Plus there were a few C PLate S2's. But you won't see many.

 

similarly theres the odd s1 on a 'D' plate and the odd s2 on a J plate. saw a genuine j plater at FordFair last year.

 

I saw one on ebay J reg in white went for £4400 it was in as new condition, u had to see it to understand.

Theres a black one J reg in Dundee

 

The lad with the black J plate used to come on here,if its him that still owns the car anyway.I remember he put it up for sale a while ago though

 

Grant, he has the j reg.

There is rumoured a couple of K reg's have been seen!

Nothing special about any of these cars of course, just late registered, sat in a field somewhere until they were registered a year later or whatever

 

yup Grant from dundee, ugly coont he is got a very weel fitted GRS on it tho

 

There were one or two C reg Series 2s built as well, there was one for sale on ebay sometime last year.

 

I saw that too, iirc it looked a bit rough

 

i know there were cabbys made in germany and they were double silled and yes the metal was much better. some s2s were built out there but they wernt double silled. 30% is down to metal but 70% is down to garage store or how there lookrd after but the fact is thin metal and water dont mix

 

fact is dont matter how they were built if you dont look after it they gonna get rusted sooner or later people