This beauty has sat for many years under a cover and has sadly not seen the road since 1999.
I heard about this Cosworth via word of mouth and went to take a look.
Turns out that it is an origional 2wd Black Sapphire RS Cosworth.
I don't think many of these were made.
It's going to take a while to get her back to her former glory, but that's my plan.

 

Nice find

 

very nice, need more pictures

 

Well done, not many 2wd around in original black, will make a nice car

 

Nice find and only on the road for 10 years.

Whats the story why it was off the road?

 

Nice find there

 

nice one looking forward to the updates

 

First things first, here are a few more photos,







The story with the car is that it was bought by its first owner in January 1990, he owned his own business and drove the car for 9 years.
Sadly, he then saw a new Jaguar that he fancied and parked the Cossie in his garage for several years until he wanted the space for something else and put the Cossie outside, luckily on tarmac.
Owner 2 saw the car outside his friends house circa 2010 and told him it was a shame that it was just sitting there. Owner 1 then offered the car to his friend owner 2.
Owner 2 then had the car for a further 6 years without really doing anything to it and only became the registered keeper earlier this year.
I got to hear about it through a mutual friend, as soon as I knew where it was, round I went, agreed a price and got it recovered home.
Happy me.....

 

Cool story. Hopefully it will see the road again.

 

It is rare in black for a 2wd

I hope it is still solid

 

It doesn't look to bad, whats it actually like in all the normal places?

Is it completely original?

 

Nice find

Good luck with the resto

 

So you doing a full resto in this? I will be keeping an eye on this 1

Subscribed

 

Love the amber flashers with the solid black....so much an 80's look.

 

First place I looked was at the inner rear sills, then chassis legs front floors etc.
So far as I can tell, the chassis looks totally solid.
All of the bushes have badly perished, so they along with the dampers, springs and brakes all need replacing
It is completely original down to the Ford stereo and amp.
First job is to get it running after I have changed the timing belt etc.

 

Blimey, time flies when you're busy. I've done some stuff to the Cos in between my daughter arriving in December, being made redundant and finding a new job.
I have fully rebuilt the engine, did it at work, luckily before my redundancy. I've also had the drivers seat repaired using leather from a very clean rear seat base.
The guy who did the work is amazing, his website/business is The Trim Shed, he is based in Byfield.
Pics to follow.

 

Before,




And after,

 

Some photos of the engine rebuild, the bottom end has been balanced, everything properly cleaned and inspected.
Happily, every component measured up to within the original tolerances, so standard/standard crank, pistons etc.
All bearings and gaskets were replaced with quality items.
All brackets were re zinc'd, I put a couple of them on back to front during reassembly, lol, it was apart for a while.

 

She is now up and running, I will take some more pics of the engine bay, next job is a full recondition of the brakes.

 

WoW looking good, but can I ask what the red marks are for ? is it some kind of width measurement ?

 

great work mate. further than ive got with mine in similar time frame! did you not fancy giving the engine bay a lick of paint while the engine was out?

 

Thats looking well smart.

 

Looking good so far.

 

Great job so far!

But as i quote was thinking this also, about painting the engine bay while the engine was out? Because it looks so fresh mate.

 

The red marks are indeed a measurement.
The Plastiguage is placed between the crank and the new bearing faces in a dry build.
Once torque up, the parts are dismantled and the thickness of the red mark is compared against a key to check the crank clearances are within tolerance.
Very important to do during a build to avoid premature wear or failure.

 

I do intend to get the bay painted, but I wanted to prove the engine, ancillaries and all of the electrical system worked ok.
The engine had not been run for 17 years, lol.
The whole car needs a proper respray to bring her back to her former glory. That will be the final job once I have taken care of all of the mechanical jobs to make her road legal. I will have the bay done then.

 

Wow that engine looks incredible. That workshop looks cleaner than my dentists! Amazing looking work your doing there

 

Thank you for that, see even at 46 years old I'm still learning new stuff everyday

 

Cheers. I used to work for a Motorsport preparation company. That workshop is/was the engine and transmission build room.
Always kept as a clean room for assembly. I used to build/rebuild the race and rally transmissions for a living.