Hmm, an intro thread and a plea for help.

Hello from sunny North London. I've not long bought a Mk4 Escort 1.3L on an '87 plate and I am really pleased with it. My mum had a brand new one of these in the same year and the same colour. So this is a bit of a nostalgia trip. I had a new in '84 Fiesta 950cc Pop Plus and then a 4 year old Y plate Sierra 1.6L, 1979 Mk2 Escort 1.3GL and a 1980 Capri 1.6GL. In more recent times I've had a few Mk2 and Mk3 Granada's.

My family have a bit of history with Fords even though I haven't had a Ford on the road for a good 12 years or so. I've been waylaid by old Triumphs, Daf's and an MGF!

My dear old dad was a General Foreman at the Halewood plant where said Escorts were produced for many years. He was at Fords from 1963 until his retirement in 1988. He was in charge of the body panel press shop and when he was on shift he ensured that the line workers ground away a small tang of metal that was superfluous on the wheel arch panels and which never seemed to get the proper coating of paint. This extra bit (as far as he was concerned) was what led to a number of Escorts suffering with the crusty wheel arch that we know and love.

This Escort has no rust issues there, what might be the odds of this being one of 'his cars'. I like to think so as it makes me smile, especially as both of them have since passed away. I never had the chance to own my mum's car as it was given to my nephew as his first car. I have lost touch, so I never knew what became of the car and I don't really want to check if I am honest and this Escort is the nearest I can get to Mum's old car. It seems a little surreal to see such a car outside the house and in my mind I kind of do a double take - just for a split second.

Anyway, back to my Escort. It's in decent condition but there are a couple of spots to sort out. Nothing major. I just need to change the rocker cover gasket and try and sort out a very wobbly and vague gear change. It's a 4 speed box and each change is akin to stirring a bowl of porridge. I've been told a couple of reasons for this, from a missing spring to worn bushes. I haven't had the chance to check yet. I've also been told that the linkage from a Puma will fit with a small modification. Is this still the case for a 4 speeder?

Any advice, upgrades, hints and tips and 'how to's' will be very, very gratefully received indeed.

Anyway, here are the pics! Hope you like the old girl:











Oodles of boot space:



The interior is a lot more brown than this, oddly I think the flash 'bleached' it out a bit, interestingly the interior in Mum's car was actually grey:





Bits that need attention:







Cheers, Ken,

 

Forgot to add that the nasty outer weather strips have been replaced by a set from a Mk4 Fiesta. It seems to work well enough even though they aren't the same profile obviously.

 

Nice example of what seems to be becoming a rare car, I had a similar spec/colour mk3 years ago. Fascinating story too!
From memory, 4/5 speed linkages were different for the bushes, but sure somebody will know for sure...

 

They used to be so commonplace, mind you, so did most of the older cars on here at one point. Hey ho, such is life. Thanks for the +ve. Hoping someone might have a definitive answer at some point.

Cheers

Ken