mk1 escort 1300e purple warior

[trig]

Did'ny know you had a thread going mate.

[exboyracer]

That's looking much more solid, nicely done

[gringo!!]

looks good mate, keep at it. almost there...

[bodger rogers]

thanks lads ive got a bit of enthusiasm back now so hopfully get some more sorted out

[bodger rogers]

i tried to save the front panel for a while but it was making the repairs to the front chassis rail and rad crossmember really difficult. i had allready cut the bottom off as it was quite rusty, so today i got fed up and chopped it out to gain access to where i needed it. fortunately the front panels are fairly cheap if you get the round headlight ones but i dont know if these are the same as the square headlamp front panels [that seem to go for a lot more money] accept for the headlight holes obviously?

some more rusty metal hits the floor.
stage 26 001.jpg
the rad side support was rotten at the bottom
stage 26 003.jpg
thats easier to get in there now
stage 26 002.jpg
another big hole to fill in
stage 26 004.jpg
other side already done
stage 26 011.jpg
a bit more crap to cut out
stage 26 009.jpg
thats better!
stage 26 015.jpg
crusty previous repair
stage 26 008.jpg

[bodger rogers]

i made a start on the chassis repair aswell, made up of more box section the same as the other side.

stage 26 006.jpg

[gringo!!]

[gpcmatric]

Nice work

[bodger rogers]

i got a bit more done today almost ready to be all welded in tomorrow hopefully

stage 27 005.jpg
stage 27 016.jpgstage 27 008.jpgstage 27 006.jpgstage 27 009.jpgstage 27 014.jpgstage 27 012.jpg

[justinveal]

that is coming along brilliantly now

[bodger rogers]

thanks mate i will just be glad when all the rust repairs are done!

[trig]

Is this andy bowins old car ?
Sorry just had a brian wave.

[bodger rogers]

yeah thats right, bought it off him it was the only one i came across in the bristol and i really couldnt be arsed to travel to get one . i didnt know what i was letting myself in for though!

[bodger rogers]

i put in a few days on her and did this

stage 28 023.jpgstage 28 015.jpgstage 28 001.jpgstage 28 006.jpgstage 28 026.jpgstage 28 020.jpgstage 28 008.jpgstage 28 017.jpgstage 28 003.jpg[ATTACH=CONFIG]41762][/ATTACH]stage 28 019.jpg

[bodger rogers]

i got my lazy arse out in the cold and managed to do this lot

finished off the rad crossmember, made a cut out for a bigger radiator just incase.stage 29 012.jpg
stage 29 010.jpg

[bodger rogers]

whoops ill try again

[bodger rogers]

cut the front panel off but i needed to keep the square headlight holes so had to cut the top off

[bodger rogers]

im still getting used to this new uploader

ive finished off the rad crossmember then offered up the new front panel. i couldnt get a square headlight one so had to get a round light one and then cut the top off the panel off. i got it to fit pretty good so was happy with it, so welded it all in. ive got quite a few holes to fill in around the front edge of the wings but that will all get sorted out in good time

[exboyracer]

Good work, but those pictures are huuuuuuuuuge

[justinveal]

tidy progress, i know how hard it can be to motivate yourself in these doom and gloom months

[bodger rogers]

I’ve taken all the headlamps out to sort out the front panel but in doing this found some more rust. This time nothing to bad though, it was just the headlight surround that had rusted badly and had holed in some places but they were paper thin in other places making them irreparable. after spending a lot of time surfing the net I could not source them new and new/old stock was rarely showing up and when it did the prices were ridiculous so that was it, I was going to have to make them myself. After taking some considerable time with some sheet metal a vice and a hammer this is what I came up with which im quite happy with. wacked some hammerite on them now there good to go!

[Ratters]

i made some for mine for a quick repair a few years back - strictly temporary though

good to see you still getting on with it mark

[markjabber]

[bodger rogers]

ive welded up all the holes around the headlights striped all the black paint off the front panel and then wacked a bit of filler on it to tidy it up a bit, it looks better already still needs work but getting there.















has anybody got any close up pics of where the front panel meets the wing under the headlight, so i can get the shape sanded down right?

[bodger rogers]

are these pictures coming out okay? cause there masive when there on the uploader then they go to a better size when i post them. it all looks good on my computer but someone said the pics are too big on theres?

[exboyracer]

The pictures are big, they come out as 3072px × 2304px but firefox scales them to 800px × 600px in my browser.
They take ages to load though, the page is very slow.

Resize them to 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 pixels before uploading them mate

[4drmatt]

they are very big files. getting on for 2mb each file. 800 x 600 is best as not everyone has a big enough screen resolution for 1024 x 768

[bodger rogers]

it looks like my engine is screwed i took ages to get it started and when it did run it almost gasses me in the garage. it was running on one one cylinder at one point
and then it gave up and died completely and refused to fire at all .my guess is that the piston rings are well gone?
im going to get spark plugs, h.t. leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, condenser and points and have another go. i might need a coil aswell. plus my battery wont hold a charge
one little question when i took a look inside the carb there is a y piece inside that shoots a jet of petrol in to each of the venturys [acelerator pump y piece] when you acelerate. but on mine the passenger side has no hole to let any petrol in and it doesnt look like there was ever a hole in it as its cast in alluminium i thought that it might be a crap casting and nobody has noticed over the years, or is it supposed to be like that?






christine trying to gas me!

[dobuy]

hmmm, not a good look, hope it is not too serious

[exboyracer]

one little question when i took a look inside the carb there is a y piece inside that shoots a jet of petrol in to each of the venturys [acelerator pump y piece] when you acelerate. but on mine the passenger side has no hole to let any petrol in and it doesnt look like there was ever a hole in it as its cast in alluminium i thought that it might be a crap casting and nobody has noticed over the years, or is it supposed to be like that?

It's meant to be like that, the accelerator pump jet (as its called) is there to enrich the mixture when you step on the accelerator, when the mixture would go lean otherwise. It's only present on the primary barrel of the carb.

Your engine might be smoking because it's been stood for a while, take the plugs out, clean and re-gap them. Check the dizzy cap, points and rotor arm. have another go!

[bodger rogers]

ill have another go soon but i thought i would turn the car around so if it does smoke it will go out off the garage instead of filling the garage up. its amazing but it seems that ive put in so much time on this restoration and it still looks like a piece of shite








im not happy with the arches there coming back off then being bonded on and smothed in at some point after its road worthy though. a front bib and a fibresports rear boot with ducktail spioler i dont give a toss about decend paint at the moment i just want it useable. i want to get it on the road and all working then take it off when i know everythings okay then strip it right down again and respray the whole car

[johnnynewmonic]

Your nearly there mate some good work you`ve done just keep at it.My ones still on the spit,

[Ratters]

oii!!! chin up mark
you've done a lot of work on this matey & it's come on a long way i'm sure it'll all come together soon. i sort-of feel at the moment i'm not getting nowhere with mine but you just need to keep at it!!!

[bodger rogers]

thanks lads but i just got on a bit of a downer when the engine died and when i thought of all the extra work/time/money it was going to take to rebuild it . but the truth is that im really starting to like where i am now on it with most of the major rust repairs sorted i much prefer doing machanical work so hey ho, lets get on with it! ive ripped both front callipers off today as they were slightly siezed on making a bitch to move about. now i can strip them down and see what there like

[madboy]

coming on a treat mate love the roof rack get it on the road use it ,abuse it and get it side ways all legal of course

[Ratters]

is the car at your house or local mark??
if i get a spare hour i'll try pop over take a look at the engine if you're that bothered?? i got a few spares here in anycase.

[bodger rogers]

ive taken the callipers apart tonight to check them over, which was a bit of a pian in the arse as i dont think they have ever been apart since 1971. the pistons were well siezed in the calliper and looked like they wouldnt budge. after much head scratching and a cup of tea later i had a plan. the haynes manual says to release them by attatching a foot pump to the inlet and pumping them out, so i thought i would go one better and use my compressor and an air gun but on doing this there was no movement what so ever. so in the end i found that if i used a hammer to tap the piston back in by tapping gently arount the edge of the piston that it moved back inwards completely .
surely with this amount of movement it would ease the removal? well you could say that!
i went back to the air gun pressed really hard into the inlet to try and seal as much air leaks as possible and gave it a good blast with the air to no avail, shit i thought now i have it completely jammed in fully no chance of getting it out!
with the air gun still blasting air into the calliper i decided to tap the piston with a hammer again, next there was suddenly one all mighty pop and the piston fllew out of the calliper like a bullet from a gun, coming stright at me i swung to the left as the piston skimmed my right ear and hit the roof behind me! fooking hell that was close!?!
needless to say i was a bit more carefull with the next three, but using this method they all came out quite easilly afterwards
and i lived to fight another day! so be warned if you do it this way to point them away from you and place your hand over the top of the piston and ease them out a bit at a time
the first pics show some previous damage to one of the pistons, just got to get a rebuild kit and they should be good!

[Stringpants]

Love the thread...finish the car....you will be better off for it,

Russ.

[bodger rogers]

is the car at your house or local mark??
if i get a spare hour i'll try pop over take a look at the engine if you're that bothered?? i got a few spares here in anycase.

thanks lee got a spare engine? the car is quite local and ill be having another look on sunday if you wanna pop over and see what you think. i need to get some h t leads, spark plugs and a dizzy cap. you have my number so give me a bell if you can make it.

[bodger rogers]

the caliper repair kit that i got the seals are quite a lot smaller than the old ones and wont fit and there supposed to be for a mk1 escort 1300?
has any body got any idea if these calipers are escort ones or they might be capri ones. the last owner told me they were 2.8i capri front struts. i thought that 2.8i struts had vented discs? or might be just the struts and he kept the original calipers ? i hope that somebody can tell by these crappy old pics thanks.