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Thank you for your interest in my project and this thread
This is not a new project and has been on the go for many years but is probably less than half way complete at the moment, so to the back story/how it all started:
I have been wanting to build a track day/competition car and after lots of failed attempts thought I had bought the right car, but I then made the mistake of looking too closely at it and things spiralled out of control, I was then persuaded not to do what I had planned for the car which meant in my mind the car became more of a weekend road car so the search was now on for a car that nobody would feel guilty about cutting up or modifying and being abused after.
In January 2012 I purchased this from EBay which was described as an Escort Cosworth shell and was perfect for me. If any body knows its history I would love to know it.
What's the plans then, be good to follow the progress.
No work has been done to the car for a couple of years although I have still been buying parts. The plan is to update this thread every couple of weeks showing the work already done and then when the weather is better actually make some progress. Thanks all
will be a great project, good to see the escort being saved, and rebuilt back up, are you keeping the black bulhead panel ? if not i would be interested in buying it
will be a great project, good to see the escort being saved, and rebuilt back up, are you keeping the black bulhead panel ? if not i would be interested in buying it
After looking through the old pictures this panel was removed over 5 years ago and I have no idea what happened to it, the chances of me still having it are very slim, sorry
After spending 6 months sourcing parts I was ready to start on the rear, I ended up with a 7.5 inch rear beam and diff etc. The beam and arms were painted with white hammerite and the hubs needed new bearings, the springs are by Vogtland and the dampers are Koni adjustables. Next update: the front suspension
it looks like it has had the floorpan out of a sierra or sapphire welded into it?
Originally Posted by Caddyshack
Isn't that what Ford did anyway to the escos?
Ford did put an escort mk5 body onto a sierra floorpan to create the escort cosworth, this shell is the same but done by somebody unknown hence the word replica in the title
The front suspension was next and consisted of a cosworth 2wd crossmember, steering rack and hubs with Koni shocks and Vogtland springs, with the addition of a steering column and some wheels it was now a rolling chassis
i just noticed that the fuel tank and washerbottle are different on my escos, i am building a WRC replica as well.
They were probably escort mk5 items and are long gone, this car should have been like yours but ended up quite different.
anyway August 2012 I decided to remove the rusty rear quarter panel, note also the wheels became 18x8 OZ alloys but then unfortunately after that the car was covered up and progress came to a halt
(The car was covered up and progress came to a halt) that is exactly where i am with mine at the moment, under a blue tarp cover, only no snow where i am.
When discussing the work to be carried out I asked for the sunroof hole to be plated over, this did not go down too well with Andy so we decided to replace the whole roof.
The search was now on for a 2 door mk5 or 6 Escort with a solid roof and after several months I had a lucky find, a mk6 in good condition, well it was until it became a convertible.
Keep the updates coming mate a I think it's the best way to go to put hole roof on well unpick them job done
Thank you, here is the next instalment
Whilst trying to find a roof the car was stripped back down to a shell and sent for media blasting.
The roof was then swapped over and a new back panel and sills were welded in, the inner rear arches were repaired along with anything else that needed it.
Both rear quarter panels were replaced with full fibre glass ones and fibre glass front wings, bonnet and tailgate were fitted. Light weight doors were also fitted but the fit was not acceptable so the original steel items are going back on.
The original plan was to fit a bolt in roll cage and I ordered a multi point from Safety devices only to be informed that they had lost the jigs and could not supply one. I then changed the order to a full weld in cage which was fitted and then the interior was sprayed frozen white
I was going to use parts from my other project see "Escort Cosworth ex rally car" but most were in terrible condition so in the end only the rear spoiler and the front grill surround made it onto this car, meaning replacement bumpers and side skirts etc were bought new
I THINK he means it was converted then and recently painted.
Looks ace in that colour...nice car!
Originally Posted by COLEYST200
I just sore you said it was painted in 2015 I really hope you have pushed on with this project
Hello, the shell was completed and painted around February 2015 but the cost of doing it spiralled and ended up being double what I had thought and had in the bank, this put me in some financial difficulties to the point that I was going to cut my losses and put it straight up for sale. I was quite down and despondent collecting and placed it on my drive at home and covered it up which is where it has sat for the 3 years, during this time I have not looked at it!!
The reason it is still with me is that soon after collecting I was offered the chance to earn some extra money working in Germany for 2 months that then led to 3 months in France and lots of time working in Spain.
The plan is to remove the cover soon and do some work on it. Lots of parts have been acquired so its just finding some time.
Hello, the shell was completed and painted around February 2015 but the cost of doing it spiralled and ended up being double what I had thought and had in the bank, this put me in some financial difficulties to the point that I was going to cut my losses and put it straight up for sale. I was quite down and despondent collecting and placed it on my drive at home and covered it up which is where it has sat for the 3 years, during this time I have not looked at it!!
The reason it is still with me is that soon after collecting I was offered the chance to earn some extra money working in Germany for 2 months that then led to 3 months in France and lots of time working in Spain.
The plan is to remove the cover soon and do some work on it. Lots of parts have been acquired so its just finding some time.
Cool, thanks for clarifying. I had obviously mis-understood.
Our hobbies are such emotional things that when they take a bad turn it really does affect us, I sent my little Gti in for £600 of paint and when it came back I had a bill for £3000 as the bloke mis-understood and painted the whole thing...That took the wind out of my sails for a bit.
The cover that has been on the car finally fell apart, it was a stormforce one, quite expensive but nothing lasts forever so the car has been out in the open so to speak. Before putting new covers on I removed the rear axle as it is needed on my other project. Getting interested in the car again so hope to make some real progress soon.
Apart from my daily driver I have six Fords, five are projects
I plan on doing a end of year overview, a sort of "what's in the garage" type thing which should give me and anybody else interested an idea of the current state of play and plans for next year
Replica Escort Cosworth WRC style
