Well the last thing i needed was another project seeing as my saph cossie isnt even half done yet.

So i went out and bought another project.

Sold my old mk1 escort just over 3 years ago to put the money towards my 3dr cossie.
Missed it ever since, it was just a standard pinto in a 4 door but it was the most fun car ive ever driven.



Got told about a little 1300xl that was sitting in a garage local to me. The fella bought it 8 years ago to do something with and got as far as buying a front panel for it.

A mate of mine went round there and bid him a silly low price on the car which was turned down. Once i was told about it i went round there and offered a bit more and she was mine.

Handed the money over straight away and 20 mins later she was on the back of the recovery truck.

In the Garage



On the truck



Got her back to my workshop and had a good poke around, underneath is very good. Just needs a couple of small bits in the front footwells.

Chassis legs and all the floors are mint, sills are good and original.

Before the old lady sold it she had a bit of a smack which fucked the front wing and bent the front panel.





Interior is near mint, just the drivers seat has a split.



And then this happened



The strut tops had both had repairs, which consisted of new struts being tacked over the top of the old ones, so they got chiseled off.



Over the moon with the condition of the floors



Both wings off as they were rotten





And got the new front panel trimmed up and in place, this time with round lights! Hate the square ones.




Thats up to date, picking up 2 strut top panels, 2 top flitches, one flitch, and one wing rail in the morning and then its time to get welding!

 

Very nice!!

 

very nice had a xl in the 80s

 

Nice motor get yourself over to www.oldskoolford.co.uk! Floors look really good!

 

Nice purchase .
Looks mostly solid ..
Steve

 

nothing wrong with square headlights

 

Nice one Jim was out in a HPE mk1 last week and put a huge grin on my face

 

Thats very cool matey. Are you putting a pinto in this one too.

 

Very nice! Looks like its in good nick too.

 

Cheers for the comments, plans are.

2.1 pinto 45's etc
Type 9 box
Mex wings
Superlights
Colour change

The drivers side is now pretty much done, will update soon. Just been busy welding chassis legs back in my Cossie!!

 

Attacked the strut top





Had to repair the cup



Then fitted the new strut top and new front wing rail





New flitch fitted also repaired the front of the floor pan and the top flitch part by the scuttle



Car is on the back burner for now, going to push to get my saph done first

 

Good work mate, looks like a cool project

 

YUP, nice job

 

so jel
looks a lovely little project
good luck il be a follower

 

Well after a 6 month break I'm back on this as of today, aim is classic ford show next year

 

Nice repair work! Spec sounds good too, the sort of thing I'd like to do with an escort, mexico wings might be a bit of a mission to find though?

 

got lucky with a great shell there mex wings have never been cheaper in years https://www.gartrac.com/shop/mk1-mexico-front-wing.html

 

Blimey! Still it was only a matter of time before good repro items were done.

 

Yea the wings are readily available, but I'm not paying Ł600 for two front wings. I've got some very good used genuine ones.

 

I've been doing odds and sods on this over the past few months, not made a great deal of progress though.

Engine etc came out, and welded in the leg to bulkhead strengtheners



Strut top plates done



Front end mocked up ready to be welded on



Then it was time for my pet hate, doing wheel arches. But I just got on with it and took my time, inner and outer were rotten.



New inner fitted



Ready for the outer



Slowly welding it in





All done and ground back





Chrome window trim holes welded up



Got a set of shagged old superlights and fitted a set of 175/50/13s so I can use them
To mock the car up and not worry about damaging my brand new wheels.

Also made a start on bare metalling some panels









So that's as she sits now, over the next few weeks il be cracking on with finishing the welding, stripping the car and getting the engine etc fitted.

Was supposed to be in paint by now, but fingers crossed I can get some good progress over the next few weeks

 

Looks good. I'd love an old mk1 or 2

 

I didn't realise how nice the 4 door mk1s look.

 

Mega work

 

Cheers for the comments, thought I would post some pics of the parts I have gathered over the past few months

All new rubbers



Springalax replica wheel



Braided lines



Full gaz suspension and lowering springs



Silicone hose kit



Pair of sparco bucket seats



Roller bearing top mounts and shortened steering arms



Brand new indicator and rear light lenses



Single piece prop



Stainless 3 piece hpe exhaust manifold



Ralloy breather tank



Single leaf springs



Double width kit to go with my twincam arb



Bias pedal box



Half cage



Lowering blocks



Seat bar kit



Brand new superlights and quarter bumpers



Electronic dizzy and coil



Twin 48 webbers, fuel pressure reg and pump



Very light flywheel



Got a few more bits, got my engine, a big spec hpe head, 5 speed type 9 etc.

Welding is coming along well, should be finished by next Tuesday all being well.

 

A few nice bits there! Nice welding work too.

 

blimey thats some serious shopping there, at least we all know this project will be going in right direction for sure, shows my age as at first glance I thought your ralloy breather was a radio

 

good work jim

 

Been working hard to get the welding finished on this

Rear panel had a bit of damage and I wasn't really happy with it, so that had to go and be replaced with a new one





All done



Offside inner and outer wheel arch was next to do



Cut out



Inner fitted



Outer slowly welded in



Inner and outer spare wheel well we're rotten so replaced both parts with new panels



Got the shell down to bare metal





Car is a bit further along than this now. I'm happy with the condition that car was in, it was a fantastic shell overall. But it's your typical old dears car, not a straight panel on it, dings, dents and knocks all over the body.

 

Coming on good, you keeping it the original colour or going for something else?

 

Looks ace. What's the deal with ''decambered single leafs'' out of curiosity?

 

I've got a big update to do on this.

Car is having an inside and out colour change

Single leafs are just better than multi leafs

 

Great looking project you've got there.
I never realised how much I like the mk1's until I started putting one together for someone.
I've got a few questions if that's ok, do they just have one stalk on the steering column? If so what are the functions of it?
I have one here but the white tell tale is gone from it, I've got a brand new full car Mexico loom that I had on the floor trying to work through what's what as the car is a bare shell and I'm working from boxes of new bits.
And what fuses are in the fusebox? I've got no fusebox just a bunch of wires for it so would be handy to know what the wires are lol.
Cheers, Gary

 

Well we've been flat out on this over the past 3 weeks to get it in colour

Drivers side repaired





In primer



The into the passenger side





Then into primer



Guide coated and pushed outside



Mock up engine fitted



Gearstick hole moved back



Seat bars and cage fitted



Sierra battery tray welded into the boot



Pushed outside to have the underside washed off



Masked up for stone chip







More updates later

 

looking good so far jim

 

Well I might as well get on with updating this build.

Got the paint ready to do the underside



In colour





Then it was hours and hours of flatting, re primering and more flatting

Bay ready



And the boot



And painted





Then the outer shell was hit with another 4 coats of primer and a heavy guide coat. We the wet flatted this all down again







Then it was un masked and dried out ready for the final mask up



Nice shine off the primer



Masked ready for the colour



And in colour









So nice to see the car in colour, just got to put it all back together now. Was a very long 2 weeks, with some very late nights. But worth all the hard work

 

Some pics of the shell after its flat and polish







Love this pic of my workshop, my business partners 2dr mk2, my mates 2dr mk1 ive just colour changed for him and my mk1 in the background



Couple of pics of the mk1 ive just done for my mate. He took the car away yesterday

How he gave it to me







And all done a couple of days ago

 

loving the work and the colour Jim , well done fella as it shows hard work does pay

 

Cheers Steve, she will be on the road for the summer. Hoping to have her on the road around the time of the passionford ace cafe night

 

Looking good!! Going to be another amazing finish once it's done!!
It's the work that you've shown that's gone into this shows why the cost of proper full re spray would cost that bit more than just a blow over!!
Is it Le Mans green?

 

Awesome work!