Here’s the start of my Series One Restoration. It had been on my mind for a while as to whether to bother to strip it and sell the bits on E bay and call it quits as it’s not exactly cheap when you restore a car

After some hard saving over the past 6 months and with going away with work to Central America till next January I thought I’d bite the bullet as there’s hardly any S1’s left after reading the post on the RS Owners Club website

Over the past few months I have been searching and bidding on E Bay and searching for all new genuine panels and parts. I now have the following parts in my possession or on their way to me.

Front panel
Rear panel with black rubber gromits
Front x member
Headlights
Front indicators
Front and rear bumpers
Bonnet
2 x Doors
2 x Sills
2 x Rear chassis rails
2 x Floor pans
Front wings
Petrol tank


Before I start the pictures I would like to say a massive thanks to Gary Chamberlain aka Gadget for all the work in putting the car together of which he has had a hand in virtually everything that has been done to the car, from the brakes to the engine, gearbox, cossie management and all the other little things


I asked Gary to come round and help me strip the car ( tell a lie , he knows what I am like mechanically and feared for my life so said he’d do it with me as his Bitch )

Making a start




With all the sensors etc disconnected it was time to put the crane on so we could take the bottom pulley off.





Everything disconnected and the gearbox and engine mounts undone it was time for the moment of truth.





It came out with no trouble at all


A nice oil leak judging by the amount of crap around the gearbox and clutch area. Could be the very reason my clutch was slipping like a bitch after the Beds Track Day


Engine to it’s final resting place for quite some time or should I say when I can afford to put the steel rods and forged pistons in it.



Gearbox out


Looks a bit bare



Rear end stripped down


Seats ,harnesses and door bars out


Time for the cage out. This was a fookin tight fit!






Dash out and time to crack on with the wiring loom.






Very bare now, thoughts of whether I had done the right thing now by taking it apart and by the look on my face Gary said.


Didin’t realise how much crap there was behind the dash!




I have to say I am quite happy with the condition of the bodywork considering it’s 20 years old. However the kit hasn’t come off yet.

.

Once again a massive thanks to Gadget for the work as it was a very organised and swift strip down. Spadge would have been proud of us.

However I am concerned about Gary’s mental stability after having a Sunday lunch with my parents and the amount of food that was passed his way.

Need to get hold of a trailer and something to tow it with to the bodyshop in Essex if anyone knows anyone with one

Will update when it goes to the bodyshop

 

Nice one m8
Gonna look good im sure.

Hopefully by the time this is back on the road, Chelle will have hers on the road aswell

 

Good post Dave!! Thanks for the lunch, my waistline is still recovering and for the lunchtime entertainment

Hope you remeber where it all goes though cos i will have slept by the time it needs to go back together

 

Good luck to you mate

 

how did you get the engine out without taking the wheels off?

 

Edited to say the wheels did come off.

 

where you getting the bodywork done cliff? as mine's near ready for paint and welding too

 

Armed myself with these today


Time for some of the sound deadening to be removed from the floor and boot.
You can see most of it here.



A start and it's a bitch to get off


Getting there


All I wanted out


Then just to be a tart I thought I would put it on the scales


Nthorpey (Nick?)
I am getting a bodyshop in Wickford Essex to do the work. They are called Supreme Motor Bodies Ltd. They came upon recommendation from a few people on here such as Grant (Cossienuts) , Nikki and her brother have all had their cars painted there. I took my car down there and spoke to Gary the proprieter a few weeks ago and was impressed with his knowledge.

He also had his own mk2 rs2000 there which he is restoring. From what I can gather and have seen he does quality work and has a genuine interest in RS cars

 

Looking good Cliff, if you have no luck - gimme a shout, i'm sure we can come to an arrangement

 

Good luck matey hopes it goes smoother than mine did
All the shit under the mat will come off with WD40 quite easilly

 

hope you can remember where it all goes though im having that trouble putting the saph back together

 

Cliff S1, good luck mate wiv ur project will b the nutz whens its done

 

do you know that shit that you scrapped of the floor i scrapped all mine off and will need it replacing eventually, you have any idea where toi get it from. If so could you please pm me where

 

Alps Pacino, it's not going back on.
Power to Weight Ratio and all that
That could make up a little bit for my crap launching

 

Good to see its underway ,that crane has had a few turbo lumps on it now will look stunning when complete.

 

it,ll be done before mine at this rate fella

 

wow, a full resto project, sad it isn't winter otherwise with a good cup o' coffee, would ave been fun reading this post.
Good luck, can't wait in seeing what's behind those arches after 20 yrs???

 

looking good mate, just doing the same to my rs1600i at the moment, have a looksy https://passionford.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=130905

for removing the sound deadening an electric scraper from lidl could be just what the doc order, especially for a tenner

 

Well dont mate looks like it being done properly and will be a minter when done.

one of my fav cars on here so be gentle

good luck

 

Cliff S1, what intercooler you been using?

 

Watching this with avid interest mate

TBH, it dont look NEARLY as bad as you have suggested it might be IMO...

Are the front panel/wings original?? do they need replacing

 

Cliff S1, what intercooler you been using?
GRS Twin Pass cooler.

Watching this with avid interest mate

TBH, it dont look NEARLY as bad as you have suggested it might be IMO...

Are the front panel/wings original?? do they need replacing

You're right Damo it doesn't look too bad but little bits of which your keen eye can see were really annoying me. I just didn't want to be continually chasing rust all it's life as I intend to keep it for good.

The bodyshop that is doing the work have said that the front panel and wings are original and they wouldn't like to spoil the nice welds. But can they do the inner wings properly without taking the wings off?

I don't want to chase rust again and all the parts i have acquired are genuine ford parts. I would be grateful of your advice Damo

 

Dont look to me like the "inner wings" need anything doing ... I mean usually they go along the joinbetween bonnet hinge area and where the suspension turret joins wing, you know along that seam, they crack... I would have it seam welded down there at the very least, this can be done from under the arches, or within the bay..

whats the battery tray/bulkheaad like if you look up at them from inside the car?

I'm of the firm opinion as little panel replacement should be done as possible, welding creates heat... heat accelerates corrosion... either way, you can replace numerous panels etc and still have rust creep back a t a later date, all you can try to do is slow the process down... ok the floor is a bit tatty, but again I wouldnt want complete sections put in, unless the inner sills are Łcuked also...

Be nice to see the front crossmember from below and with the front kit off... but I wouldnt Łcuk about replacing that based upon what I can see there... so long as they spend a good bit of time cleaning it all up properly the paint will stick nicely , then give it all penty if waxoil (especially seeing as you aint gooing all bufty).... should be good for another few years

 

I'll take a few pictures of the above areas you have mentioned tomorrow. However the kit is not coming off yet. The bodyshop have been instructed to take loads of digital pictures for me. The car gets trailered tomorrow to the bodyshop and they have been asked totake their time over the car as i am away for 6 months. They are more than happy with this.

 

Car went to the bodyshop today.
A few picture of the genuine panels that I have.
The rest are on the way.

Front wings


Front panel


Back panel


This is supposed to be a boot floor for a mk3 but looking at it the tow bar
doesn't line up with the mk3
However the boot floor is fine and doesn't need replacing.
May possibly be a mk4 boot floor.
Anyone shed any light on what they think it is?


Time to make it's way to the body shop






I went with the car just to make sure it did get dropped off to the right place,
not someones house.

On Saturday the it's getting stripped down to see the exactly what sort of state
it is in underneath the kit etc.
I am going to pop down there on Monday and will discuss with the bodyshop what needs replacing etc.

I will take plenty of pics whilst down there and put them up Monday afternoon

 

be well worth it in the end!!!!

 

Tis a MK4 boot floor, though bar the tow eye bracket they will be near identical

 

 

nice work matey good to see another s1 getting some tlc though it does look pretty good for 20 years old!

 

Nice one Dave

Gonna be awsome when its finished

 

I have decided to go the full Zetec route when the restoration is done.

So the 1,9 lump came apart today as am selling certain bits such as the inlet manifold, head with cam and vernier pulley. The cam cover is going too.

Exhaust manifold off


My T34 with .63 cossie housing, 6 degree cut back blades, 360 degree thrust bearing and maram shaft is staying with me


Head off time and I really am not mechanically minded but thought it really can't be that hard to take bits apart. Out came the Haynes manual to make sure I did bits in the right order




As you can see in this picture one of the valves is white as the headgasket has survived but there is a small gap just below it on the 2nd bore from the right.
Thought I had a suspected head gasket failure but was close. It was the block



Guess this will be going in the bin then

These bits are for sale as a whole if you or anyone knows of someone who wants them.
Bits are all modified for cossie management and have been running on my car.
Fiesta turbo inlet manifold
Cossie throttle body & Throttle pos sensor
Cossie Idle speed control valve
Colant and charge temperature sensors
Fuel pressure and regulator
Efi to Mfi Spacer plate
Accelerator cable bracket

Ł200 the lot

 

Looking good! To be honest though, like people have said, rot wise the car looks good considering its age!!

Nice one not breaking it though, I want one of these one day!!!

Zetec Turbo, will be mental,

Best of luck and keep it up

Scary stuff though, taking a car apart like that, got to do the same to my RSi soon which will be very scary

 

Cheers Ad , but it's the putting it back together that has got me worried

 

full on Zetec, thats the way Cliff just the thing to top off your restore

how did you find the t34 lag wise? what sorta revs did it make full boost?

 

I had a 1.9 Specialised Engine in there with standard pistons and rods.
I ran it at 15 psi all the time as I didn't have it remapped from the stage 3 T3 and it ripped on the Beds Track Day. It pulled just before 4k and pulled extremely strongly up to 6.5k as I didn't want to take it any higher as I would probably blow the engine

Made such a difference the boost coming in later on, less wheel spin and much better traction

 

just wondering roughly how my standard 0.63 big turbo escos t34 will behave, sounds as tho im going to like it going by your description i too will probs only be running 1 bar for now.

 

told you it wasnt that bad dave
keep going

 

Long live the S1's

Good work Cliff

 

Fook me mate you have been busy

If you want a hand nailing it back together at all give me a shout as I'm only 10 minutes down the road from you. May have to chat about some of your for sale items as they may be good for my new toy

 

If you had just got a hammer and a screwdriver, the sound deadening just cracks up and breaks off mate!

It's the underseal under the floor pan which is the c unt to get off, in which case I advise warming the inside of the floor pan while scraping the outside.