Back in january i bought a fairly clean mk3 escort ghia, with an indicated 27000 miles from new with mot certificates to match. 100% standard 1.3 cvh, bodywork was ok and solid underneath. everything works even down to the variable intermittant wipers.

















Ive recently put a full mot on it and slowly been collecting parts for it i.e suspension, clear indicators, new rear lights, rear disc conversion, 2 new front wings, rs1600i rear spoiler, replacement drivers front door etc. I then heard from a mate that he knew of a mk6 escort si estate for sale which i thought would make an ideal doner car for the engine and gearbox. it had a slight running problem which turned out to be the air flow meter. already got a 2.0 throttle body and 2.0 cams.









as you can see it has tints and some nice wolfrace alloy wheels with yoko prada 2 tyres.

this weekend (03/07/2010) me and my best mate who happens to be a qualified panel beater started work on it, starting with taking the drivers front wing off and replacing the front door. the inner wing needed a couple of patches but nothing to bad.







as you can see its been stone chipped for a bit of protection. next up was fitting the front wing, considering it was a second hand pattern part fitted a treat. we then started on the repair to the o/s rear arch where there was a rusty hole. we cut the rust out ans made a couple of patches to be welded in.







after all the welding had been done my mate set to work on the filler work which was needed in a few places. a small bit in the new wing which we smoothed the wing into the front panel.







then the door haha





after sorting the door out it was time to fill the rear arch where we had patched.



after the gettign the filler just right nd looking mint was time to start on the rear quarter around the boot lid and rear light.









all the body work on the o/s of the car is now mint, just to stop the weather getting into the filler we just sprayed on some matt black paint.



hope to get some more done next weekend and try and get the car in some primer.

 

Top work mate keep up the good work.

 

it was now time to sand back the bonnet and fill where needed. slowly working our way round the car. still waiting for a n/s wing to arrive.



a small patch on the roof



then it was time for the rear drivers for to be sorted. grind off the tabs that hold the old chrome moulding on then a little bit of filler and do the same to the tailgate.





well that was saturday out the way so then after the grand prix, instead of having a lazy afternoon we decided to go and get my wheels sorted. was time for the primer for a start.



then onto the top coat which is ford frozen white and after a real professional job done by my mate james lawson we got a real deep shine to the wheels





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hope to get a bit more done in the next few weeks

 

Looks like a nice project

 

looks wicked mate

 

looking good mate!
body work is a pain,good look

 

well a little bit more got done this week, new wing on the n/s this time and a small whole in the front panel got sorted too.





as you can see a few patches needed for the inner wing.





then a small patch on the front panel.



the car now has a new wing welded on and is properly solid

 

looks good mate

 

will be watching this one..

 

 

Great Job.

 

Looking good keep the updates coming

 

good work mate

 

on thursday this week i was working away but my mate who's doing my welding and body work for me decided to fo a bit more before i got back. after puitting a bit of filler in i had previosly asked if he could take a look at a couple of rust patches on the rear arches. the first one was ended up alot bigger than we first thought.



a bit worse for where a patch was made to fit perfectly, welded in and looking good.





then just needed the weld grinding down





now for the other side which wasnt quite so bad but still we patched it and all is good







now for today ( saturday ) it was time for alot of filler down the near side rear 1/4, the 2 doors and the wing. also in the repairs made on wednesday.















while my mate james was filling the body work i took it upon myself to strip the rest of the car as it was better than standing around. here goes theres alot of thing gone.











not bad for a 26 year old escort as the front and rear window apertures were clean as a whistle. Then came about i started stripping odd bit off the engine which was fun.





that was all i could really do to that so back on with ripping the interier out which in doing so revealed a bit of rot down the inner sill and drivers floor pan, nothing too hard.







after all the discussion on how to repair it my mate decided he would mix some primer up and get the bonnet ready for flatting down.



hope to get more done tomorrow.

 

looking really good mate. looks an exciting project! good luck with it

 

Nice project mate, surprising how anything can keep this well after 26 years of british weather lol.

 

looks a realy good project mate, looking forward to seeing how you progress with it.

 

 

whilst i was away working my mate got the car all masked up and ready for primer. the primer went well and was then for flatting it all off.









now for the flatting it off with p180 pads then with some p500 grit on a DA sander.















the shell is now ready for paint apart from the engine bay as we havent taken the engine out just yet.

 

cracking project there mate keep up the good work and the updates!!

 

Nice project. . . keep up the good work

 

even more work got done this week starting with the thursday wen we managed to get the mighty 1.3 cvh out.









then off come the suspnsion



we were pleased to see that the engine bay was rot free apart from the battery tray.







then out cam the dash.



after the busy nite we then did a bit more on saturday starting with taking the zetec out of the mk6 escort, to make life easier we cut the front panel off and started to dismantle, after a couple of hours the engine was free and up on the engine crane. we were then left with the empty engine bay.



then a light engine degreaser was needed but came up ok ish.



as with the putting the the zetec in as afew people know you have to tinker with the rear engine mount, we then fitted the zetec alternator and bracket minus power steering and air con. wen the engine was sat in the bay we fitted the hoses and new manifold.









its a nice snug fit but does foul on anything.









after everything got fitted it was time to get in out and get the engine bay ready for paint. including the tiny patch on the scuttle.







hope to get more done tomorrow.

 

Very Good.

 

well its sunday and its a good day, the first bit of paint went on the actual car. after the 2 hours scotching the engine bay down last nite, we have primed and seamsealed the the engine bay.







after an extended tea break and waiting for the sealer do go off we put on a ford frozen white base coat just to get the bay all one colour.





then came the good bit of putting on the ford olympic blue, which if a dare say looks fooking ace.







enjoy people updates soon.

 

u dont mess about do u. car looks mint all the best with it

 

well wat a start to the week all the anti roll bar and gearbox mounts were taken off and painted, the brake servo cleaned up and put back in. the wiring loom run around the bay, the rad tidied up and put in and the steering rack cleaned and put back.











a while back i bought some second hand PI suspension front and back so they got cleaned up and putinto the freshly painted hubs, then just for a change im doing a stud conversion all round so they got put in with a bit of lock tight.



then bolted them back on the car



then as we got carried away, we got the front wheels put on. freshly painted wheels look ace.



that will do till the weekend.