Hi, I'm new to this forum so I guess I'll quickly present myself.
My name is Barnaby, and I'm about to turn 17 this February. I'm originally from Essex but my parents moved to France when I was very young. My biggest passion is older vehicles, working on them, fixing them up etc...

Anyway, about 2 years ago, my dad told me that one of his clients had an old Escort in his barn, and that he was willing to give it away to him for nothing.
So my dad offered the car to me, and I gladly accepted the offer (I had actually already seen that Escort sitting in that barn and whished it was mine lol).

A bit of history on the car:
She started off her life in Belgium in December 1988, and was then imported to the UK in the mid 90's by John, the man who gave her to us. (hence the left hand drive with the UK plates). John then drove her down to his farmhouse in France, with the intentions of driving the Escort when he came down to France. This never really went to plan however, and she just ended up sitting for over a decade.

Before we get into the project, I must admit that unfortunately, for some stupid reason I forgot to take pictures of lots of the stuff I did... So I'll try my best to explain as much as I can, and I'll post as many photos that I can find.


Here she is in the barn she stood in for over 12 years



Overall a very tidy unit for the age, the undercarriage itself is actually in exemplary condition (very very rare), the only rot is on the wheel arches, and there were some holes on the front crossmember (under the headlights), that I sorted out last August.

I chucked 5 litres of petrol in the tank, installed a charged battery, and after a bit of turning over she fired right up. The first thing I noticed was the thick blue smoke from the valve seals leaking... Not an uncommon problem with CVH's to say the least.

Anyway, there was no way I was driving her over 50kms to my house, so first thing was to get her transported to my house, so that I could get to work.


A picture taken 2 years ago of her next to her proud new owner

First job was to change the valve seals, so I ordered the spring compressor off of Amazon and got to work:

In the process of doing the valve seals, put tissue on the oil return holes in case the valve collets decided to be uncooperative...

After that there was no more oil burning, so that was one thing sorted

Then, I had to sort out the clutch pedal. While parking the car, I noticed a loud click as I lifted my foot of the pedal, and then no more clutch pedal... I instantly new the clutch ratchet had just somehow given up, so I got to work and changed that. This was a massive headache, but I eventually figured it out (the plastic hook that held the clutch pedal spring had snapped off).

After doing this I noticed that I couldn't engage any gears when the engine reached operating temp, this was actually do to the clutch not disengaging properly, let me explain;
when the gearbox oil was cold, the clutch wasn't "grabbing" enough to spin the main shaft through the thick oil, thus the main shaft stayed immobilised thanks to the oil, even though the clutch wasn't disengaging all the way - I had no problem changing gears at standstill. However, when the oil got hotter and thinner, the main shaft had nothing to stop it from spinning, and gears were crunching everywhere, reverse was literally impossible to engage (although I didn't insist), and all the other gears were very stiff.

Needless to say, I then took the gearbox off to change the clutch

Gearbox off


I blocked off all holes, put the driveshafts back in, and took the gearbox to the car wash. It actually came out quite nice! Compared to what it was anyway.

new LUK clutch on

New through-out bearing, primary shaft greased

I put everything back together, and was relieved when the clutch pedal was very smooth and all gears engaged correctly.

Next was the brakes, unfortunately I don't have any pictures but I'll explain what I did:
-new master cylinder
-new rear brake shoe/wheel cylinder kit
-new brake hoses all around
-new rear copper brake pipes (the ones that go from the wheel cylinders to the brake hoses) - the old ones snapped as I undid them
-i checked the front brakes, and everything was in very good (almost new) condition, so I made sure the callipers weren't stuck, and left all that as is.

I then bled everything and now the pedal operates as it should.

I also changed all the ball joints (steering and suspension), put new standard bushes everywhere (at the front), and changed the top strut mounts (again no pics sorry).

Ok I'm gonna stop for tonight, I'll post some more tomorrow evening, thanks for having interest.

 

Impressive work for a 16yr old!
Is the plan to keep it 1.4 for now and just enjoy it?

 

Hi, thanks! I've been very much into older cars for the last couple of years, and have learnt a lot just from the internet.
I've also got an apprenticeship as a mechanic, which has taught me loads in the practical side of things as well.

I wouldn't mind upgrading the engine to a 1.6 or something but the problem is that it's a massive hassle in France, the paper work involved is very long and expensive (more so than the engine swap itself I'd imagine), so I think I'm gonna leave it as is for now.

I'll try and post some more updates this evening when I get back from work

 

As promised, here is some more progress:

Next, was to sort out those rust holes under the headlights, so that it would pass the "Control Technique" (french MOT):

Initial inspection after having removed the bumper



Both sides seem to be affected in more or less the same areas



All rust cut out, rust treatment applied



All panels fabricated by myself thanks to an angle grinder, a hammer, and a bench vice... Not the best but good enough. I applied a coat of zinc (weld through) primer



Zinc primer applied to the car



Close up view



First panel welded in



Second panel welded in



Welds ground down



Welds ground down on other side. I applied a coat of zinc rich primer to these freshly welded areas as well



This is probably the shoddiest bit I did... Still better than what it was though



Next panel welded in



Other side



All panels welded in, ready for a nice coat of paint



All primed up



Gray top coat applied



I didn't bother grinding the welds down as 1) you can't see them when the bumper's on 2) It just weakens the welds



Other side



New radiator fitted (the old one had a very slight leak when the engine reached operating temperature)



Europe headlights fitted, bumper back on, vintage french reg plates riveted on. A nice picture, especially with the J5 and LT35 in the background lol



The passenger side door is a bit scuffed up, looks worse in person. I'll have a go at that next summer I reckon, hopefully I'll have a decent compressor and spray gun by then.

Anyway, that's that sorted, although I did forget to put seem sealer over the joints/welds... Doesn't matter though as I'm planning an engine bay respray at some point, so I'll apply some then.

I'll post some more pics tomorrow at some point, again thx for reading

 

Keep up the great work, its good to see younger hands working on these old cars, keeps the oldskool spirit alive!