this restoration started in about May last year. I'm cut and pasting from my band message board.



Well, here it is the start of the restoration to my beloved Series 1 RS Turbo. It is going to recieve the full works, strip down, body repair, respray, and refit with as many new parts as possible, while still using as many old parts as possible.

Heres some pics of when I first got her/him ... looking minty, but hiding a multitude of sins ... called Brian as number plate ends in Eno. Geddit?





And heres some ones that I took today









under the bonnet....



battery tray is fooked ...



and rest of inner wing..



front o/s crossmember borked, other side in perfect nick



other inner looking pretty shabby





passenger footwell needs some work, although not quite as bad as I though it might be



a whole mess of wires (I had the interior out last weekend)



drivers foot well with 2x6" hole :O



other side of drivers footwell...



passenger seat rear mount gone...



doors in good nick, still had original plastic cover on inside...





under rear seats



more drivers side floor near sill



another view of driver footwell.



spare tyre well in good nick



drivers side bulkhead



guess I need a new scuttle panel then



my dog being as helpful as ever



this project will , and already has, involved lot of blood, sweat and tears. But I can't WAIT to get out driving it again. Reckon it's gonna take about 2 years. All depends on how quick the body work is sorted. [/img]

 

took wheels off to have a look under, make sure I could actually get the wheels off, and coat evey bolt I can find in WD40 to help shift em eventually...




outside of the tyre well not quite as good as the inside. fuel pump looks like it would disintegrate if I sneezed :O


chassis leg....


arch off, arches not great, but have seen worse.


side skirts off... not too bad...











gave it a bit of a clean, got rid of some greeness.





it's gone from green to brown

 

got a bit more done today...

N/S under arch.



evidence of a previous botch job on bottom of footwell.



bumper off, reminder of a small accident with muntjack deer



bit of a hole on the inner wing :O



oops, shouldn't have poked that rust.



driver side. all bolts getting a good soak in WD40



rear O/S arch looks like another not quite finished job done here




look what the body kit was hiding for me





front O/S sills



all under bonnet wiring, all marked up ready for recondition

 

more today.... was going to start on the wiring loom inside, finished off underbonnet wiring loom, then got carried away with more underbonnet stuff. Can always to the inner loom when it rains

got inlet and exhaust manifold off, drained brake fluid, got the front anti-rollbar off, radiotor, washer bottle, and other engine bits...

At one point I also fitted on one of my brothers Escort Cosworth wheels, and it looked lovely. Need to get an arch to see if the tyres stick out too much?


bit more room to get engine out.





the bits I got off today....



hmmm, were am I gonna put this? it's all one bit :O



looking less and less like an RST all the time

 

bit more of an update needed. :doh:

Put my name down ages ago on the Housing Association list and completely forgot about it. Then in November got a letter saying one was free. :thumbs:

Got most of the wiring loom out the back of the car, lights, spoiler, window mechanisms etc.

Next job to build me some dollies, so I can wheel the car back out and open the doors to get the loom out of there. Then engine completely out, suspension and tank out, and time to start rust busting!

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.
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Home made dollies. (fook paying Ł90 a pair!)


In the garage, and wheels off.


Engine out....






Rear suspension off.



Front suspension off.

 

fair play kid stick 2 it

 

kid

I wish

 

Graham, looks like you've got a fair bit to do there but it'll be worth it. Good luck.

I was looking through some of the photo's the other day that I took of mine when I stripped it, brought back memories.

Colin.

 

Hi mate,

Glad another classic is being kept alive Fair bit of work there, will be well worth it in the end

 

Looks like mine... good luck we'll need it!

 

love series 1's,,,

dont give up on it mate,,,,be nice to see the end result

 

Looking like a hard job mate, but kudos to going for it! Can't wait to see it finished

 

well glad you met "rusty" our common friend.
good luck woith it me dear, i am on the better side now, rust is all gone
cheers m8y

 

wow some project there , and i thought mine was bad, will be mint when you have finished though, keep up the good work.
cheers mark.

 

more pics

 

To be fair it doesnt look to bad. it looks more grubby than rusty. looks like its been sat for ages though

 

ding, one to to Wutang.

yeah, not too many big holes, mainly surface rust.

 

update update

 

got a few more hours in today


Out for a bit of sun for the first time this year. :O





Brake servo, fuel meter, rack, lines.. all gone





Wiring loom out next job to come.


Recap of problem areas.
Driver side front wing, inside.


Battery tray... I've seen worse. Most of it's still intact.


O/S top cross member. Completely disconntected


Rear o/side sill.


Top of front o/side wing.


N/side inner wing.


Front of n/side wing/chassis leg?


Reasr n/side arch


Passenger seat mount. Only one borked.


Rear footwell, n/side


Driver footwell.


Driver sill. (Crack running along length.)


Passenger footwell.


Behind battery tray.


Tucked back in for now.
[/img]

 

Good to see another one being saved Graham

 

Bloody Hell mate

You've got your work cut out there!!

By the looks of things your car has spent most of its life in A) The sea or B) in a salt mine

Good luck and mucho respecto!

 

Couple more hours this afternoon.

Wiring loom "moved" (nearly out, need to remove headlining to finish.


Quarter windows out.


Soundproofing gone, little more brown stuff revealed.


To do...

Windows front/back out
Headlining out
Finish removing loom
Remove all odds n sods nut's n bolts and photo for reference

Then the fun begins.

I have a feeling this project is going to start accelerating quite quickly. getting more time to spend on it now.

 

Keep it up maet, excellent work

 

good luck with the project mate!!!

be worth it in the end!!!

 

Good luck fella

 

jesus mate you have a challenge on here but good on ya for going for it

i love these cars and its good that people are restoring tyred examples

good luck look forward to seeing the finished product.

 

Best of luck with the project

 

Gotta say respect for doing something like that, it'd just be like a bad dream to me.

 

good luck mate

 

once i have done the 3dr cossie(which is nowhere near as bad as your shell )i am going to do an S1.............dude ,you are an inspiration for what your undertaking........keep it up.......keep updating as i am watching this one with massive interest..it will be definatly worth it



Pugo

 

thanks for all the encouraging posts chaps. this project will be sporadic in it's progress unfortunately. mainly down to cost. but hope fully this will be kept to a minimum doing as much prep as I can myself. might need some welding help if anyones interested.

 

Hi Graham

I am just about to start the same type of project keep up the good work.

If you are in Amersham (just off J17 M25?) I only live 25 mins away (J11 M25) and could come and give you a hand with bits and bobs if that's any good to you?

Let me know, either post on here, mail me at richard.hanley@edsgfs.co.uk or call 07730 530 765

Speak soon

Cheers

Rich

 

cheers bud. I'm off on holiday for a week, but I'll get in touch after that.

got any pics of yours?

 

Just started taking it apart today

I have taken some pictures but I have no idea how to add them on here

enjoy your holiday

Catch ya later

Rich

 

got another hour or two in yesterday. may get the wire brush attachment out today

Windscreen out. Going really well until about 3/4 way round and it cracked.



Wiring loom out. And I'm sure that holes got bigger.

 

Graham S1, good luck with ur project mate

 

Keep up with the good work
There aren't many left

 

top stuff fella keep up the good work

 

jan feb mar april may jul
.stick with it matey good luck will be mint

 

any updates graham?