First post - XR2I restoration
 

Hi guys,

This is my first post (of hopefully many) on here.

I have been into cars for years but have always swayed towards modern cars. I have had a Porsche Boxster since 2008 and a BMW X5 V8 for a few years. Both are ultra low mileage, mint examples which have been fastidiously looked after by a trusted independent dealer

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My Dad recently retired and decided that perhaps we should buy a classic car to work on and potentially show. I work offshore and have long periods at home an we have recently inherited a large garage, so it was decided we would buy an XR3i convertible. We worked on this throughout 2013 and showed it for the first time in June 2014. It's not concourse, bit it is pretty impressive and very original

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Please note that neither my dad or I are mechanically trained, so all of what we have done is self taught and through trial and error!

Here she is on arrival... Bought blind and probably overpaid for, but I don't care lol.

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So the car is a 1990 1.6XR2i 8 valve with 74k on the clock. It is in fantastic condition, unmarked interior, great wheels and excellent bodywork. It has a tiny bit of superficial surface rust on the drivers door and near the fuel cap, but I will be getting this sorted as a priority.

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The engine bay just needs a clean....can't wait to get the steam cleaner out:

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Keep checking back for more updates

Aly :)

hi and welcome,
I came here looking for a fiesta and got an escort cabby lol
hope you enjoy your stay


there it is. you were teasing.

This is back in March when I got the 3i to a stage where I could send it for a full respray. This is my garage which makes it so much easier to carry out work on the cars. I now have a raft of tools, compressed air, shelter, water and electricity!

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And introduced them to each other:

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As time was drawing in on me I decided to do the quick job of prepping the boot well. I was really disappointed by this when I got the car as it was filthy, covered in dust and all sorts of rubbish:

Cosmetic corrosion and 24 years of dirt:

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Thoroughly cleaned with BH SURFEX HD (best cleaner ever) and treated with BH Hydrate 80:

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Some of the early, dirty work which went on between March - June 2014

- New clutch
- Flywheel cleaned and reinstalled
- New track rod ends
- New drop link arms
- New suspension arms

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Firstly, let's get those front arches sorted...lots of surfex HD, Tardis, a steam cleaner and crap on my face.

Lots of superficial surface rust....nothing to be too concerned about:

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Surface rust removed with a Dremel:

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And treated with BH Hydrate 80:

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The boot well was also ready to prime and paint:

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Initial hit with BH highbild:

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Then a quick dust with White Stone Chip:

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This will be flatted back and finished in Diamond White....once I can work out the correct paint code!!!

My friend Scott came across from Liverpool from the current 20000t oil tanker project we are working on.

Lots of parts in a box and bits being removed can only mean one thing....the engine is coming out :)

Fan and housing removed:

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Coolant system drained and radiator out:

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Hoses, pipes and lots of ancillaries off:

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Leaving us with the main block ready to remove this morning:

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Aly

Out!

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Leaving the engine bay pretty much empty and ready for cleaning:

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Front x-member:

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Can't wait to clean this:

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I started to steam clean the engine bay.....it's going to take a while!

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Exhaust manifold before:

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And after :)

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Bumper and headlights removed to aid cleaning up the engine bay:

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And then onto the indicators....when will the "removal" of parts stop lol?

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Cleaning of the engine bay / arches / front valance is coming on slowly, using a mixture of steam, Tardis and Surfex HD. The problem is, the more dirt I find, the more parts I remove in order to make sure it is super clean for painting / engine refit. Today, while spending 2 hours laid underneath, I noticed that the front wheel arches / valance had been partially waxoiled, so I decided to start removing this. Then I noticed that the car has had new wings fairly recently (not a bad thing, saves me doing it!) but they are just finished in primer, so I now plan on applying white stone chip. Keep checking back for updates.

Aly

I've been doing quite a but to the car since finishing my last offshore project last week, so I'll post up some pics ��

I decided to take the air inlet manifold apart to clean and paint it.

Before:

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And afters, all internals, connectors and pipework cleaned and painted:

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Inner wing painting process

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Made some real progress this weekend and got the car pretty much rebuilt.

New suspension at the rear and new handbrake cable and brake shoes. Drums were in good condition so not worth changing them:

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My dad also did a pretty awesome resto on the rear axle, cleaned, corrosion stripped and treated then painted satin black:

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And after hours of cleaning, prepping and painting the bay was ready for the engine to be dropped back in:

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Alloy wheel now refurbished and refitted. Really pleased with how these are working out:

Damage prepped and sanded:

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Primed:

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Done:

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Boot well now repainted and ready for the carpet and arch liners to be refitted

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Began to clean the bonnet area in preparation for painting the hinges which are looking tired:

Bonnet cover removed... Dirty, but no rust.

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And now clean:

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This gives an idea of the condition of the hinges:

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Prepped and primed:

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My Dad decided we should take out the rear seat today to repaint the rear seat backs and to check the condition of the floor. It's a really simple process with only two hinges holding the seat rears in place and three screws for the bench. I was a bit worried as I removed it in case I found corrosionoon the floor pan. Here's what I found:

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Thank the Lord! No rust, just 25 years of dust and junk

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The floor was then hoovered and cleaned and the seats taken out to prep for paint:

Fresh!!!

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There was also some paint flaking on the front cross member around where the headlights sit, so these were removed in order to rectify this:

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The front end is now looking super after being painted and the new headlights properly fitted

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However, the bonnet area is missing it's original decals, so I have sourced these at great expense. Here is the asbestos warning decal for the front cross member, along with front and rear new Ford badges to replace the faded ones

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The seat back were quote heavily scratched, so they were sanded back with an air sander

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And then primed in prep for satin black paint tomorrow

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The boot popper had never worked since I got the car. A thorough cleaning of the contacts sorted this out:

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Seat rears repainted and very carefully refitted:

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The boot area looks amazing compared to how it was when I got it :)

And everything refitted

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Loving this thread mate.

XR2I looks top notch, i do like a clean and tidy standard 2i

Keep up the good work buddy! :)

Nice project cars, mint size garage aswell

Wowzers!

Amazing work, a real credit to you and your dad. I love mk3's, so I'm really happy to see another saved :)

Looking good, keep the updates coming

Smart looking little car. Don't see many of them out and about now