Lovin that response Gary - touché
All being well, this time next week, she'll be straight again
Lovin that response Gary - touché
All being well, this time next week, she'll be straight again
Last edited by PaulAlex; 10-11-2010 at 08:29.
Yes that maybe be so my lanky friend (no Paul not you ) but where is she then???? Painted???? On the road????
Noooooo I didn't think so.... So I claim the rights to first one ON THE ROAD So Ner
Look forward to seeing her all straight again......Kebab next week then? Oh yes
Monday I think lads
I'm famous
you made neils local paper paul
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk...bush_trial___/
From what i heard today glen it's monday daytime now
Furry muff, I may pop over for lunch then
I've been instructed to be there early, and its getting the RetroMotorsport overhaulin treatment
I'm just trying to find that Benny Hill theme music to have blasting out over the stereo all day
Bring on the cholesterol - sounds like greasy breakfast, lunch and kebabs on Monday
ermmm brunch .. its brunch .. so have a slice of toast before you come because brunch is at 1:30 pm
And theres a big box here with your name on it
Hi Paul,
Quite an eventful first outing, i bet your glad you did this one first and not one in Ireland!
Shame about the pictures in the trees every where, but the one that Mervhill has found makes all the hard work worth while. The car just sits so right, it looks fantastic!
Thanks Paul - to be fair, it probably wouldnt have happened in Ireland, as you generally can't get lost and go the wrong way on the stages out there
I've obvously had a load of stick over it, but in the long run the its done me a favour. We're widening the scope of the repair slightly to cover many of the aspects of the car that I didnt like before, plus taking a little more weight out of it, and making it easier to maintain at home. It'll definitely be prettier and fast when you next see it complete.....
Yesterday marked day one of the rebuild - mainly about "the nose job", but as is always the case with these things, things got a little out of hand and we ended up doing other stuff too
Gary (ultimate respect!!) pretty much didnt stop all day - in fact, on the way home we worked out that he only had three cups of coffee all day - which has to be a record for someone who has a coffee-drinking smilie named after him ?! The result, is that the entire front end is now straight again, and its half way to being in "bolt-on" spec which'll mean we can have easier access to everything, get panels touched up from time to time more easily, and save some weight in the process We also discussed a couple of other mods in the engine bay that'll be coming in the next session - mainly to make it look less cluttered, and to open up the option of running a proper air-box in the future.
Next up, and unplanned, we took the opportunity to sort the drivers door out - which has been bugging us since we've had the car. Basically, it never fitted/hung brilliantly, and was hitting/damaging the paintwork at the lower rear corner. Well, that is all now a thing of the past, and the panel gaps are much more like they should be. Admittedly, it was a 2-3 hour distraction, but well worth it we think....
Finally, Shaun of SP Race Paint and Prep arrived at around 6ish - supposedly to to price up the paintwork, and have a kebab and natter. However, the big bag of tools he bought with him was a good sign, and ten minutes later he was working his magic on the damaged n/s rear quarter. A couple of hours later, and the panel is virtually mint again - without even painting it, you'd struggle to see any damage if I drove by at 5mph!! We all agreed that its a mystery how someone can hammer a panel so hard for so long, and it end up so straight Shaun - you're an absolute legend mate - in my wildest dreams I wouldn't have thought that damage could end up looking so good in such a short time
It didnt end there though - Lee and I spent the trip home thinking of some more changes (its dangerous when we get talking!!), and we've agreed on one or two other changes We finally got the car back home at about midnight, so its tucked away for a few weeks while I save some pennies for the upgrades, and do some overseas work. Next installment will be around Christmas time, then more upgrades before paint in February hopefully.
A massive, massive thanks to Lee, Gary, Shaun, Matt and Smiffy for all their help and encouragement since the litle ding - I'm massively endebted to you all.
Oh yes - and a big well done to Smiffy for his feature in Classic Ford. His motor is lovely
Cheers,
Paul.
Last edited by PaulAlex; 16-11-2010 at 09:53.
Coffee i need coffee...
You've had more Ideas???? ohh no
I must say.. Shaun on that 1/4 was brillient, if headache inducing .. ' ding, ding, ding bang, bang bang bang bang ding ding ding ding ding bang bang bang bang ,,, ' for 2 hours..
brillient piece of shrinking there Shaun
And Paul .. Cheers for my prezzie .. its effing brillient
Pictures..... we need pictures!
http://escort.accelerator.org
1968 MK1 Escort 1300GT
1969 'Big Wing' MK1 Escort
1972 MK3 Cortina 1600XL
1984 Sierra XR4i
And other junk I don't like to talk about!
Fantastic effort yesterday Gary, Paul and Lee, it's great to see her back to looking straight. Shaun certainly did a good job on that rear quarter, If I hammered a piece of metal for that long it would look like..........a piece of hammered metal
Last edited by cossie matt; 16-11-2010 at 19:27.
Glad to hear the first stage of the repair and new mods went so well Paul and sounds like a very productive day by all , and if you are planning even more new ideas for the car you are certainly thinking on the positive side .
Sounds like you have got plenty of able helpers but if there is anyhing I can do to help , even if its just making the coffe to keep Gary happy , would be happy to help
Good to hear that the repairs/improvements are going well.
Your times on the Adrian Barker Rally were really impressive. To get so close to Dave Willetts times in his 2.3 Duratec was incredible.
Dave Willett is one of the fastest Escort drivers I've seen, and is a bit of a legend up here in the north.
What are your plans for next year - pick and choosing events, or a championship?
Thankyou very much for the kind words.
Whilst I'd never met Dave Willett before, I was aware of his excellent reputation/results - so to limit the time loss to around 0.5 secs per mile over my final 4 stages was very pleasing indeed.
Plans for 2011 obviously revolve around funds, but I'd hope to get out on some national-level events before doing a full series in Ireland in 2012.
Cheers,
Paul.
You should see me now, i'v been banging realy hard for 5hrs and she still wants more love!!!!!!!!!!!, well Paul C picked his car up on sunday with a big :-) and i must say me and gary's work go hand in hand we are like two peas out of the same pod,the day steve moves out of your work shop is the day i move in but you can get rid of his shit first and do't moan about ya back Lol .Im working every hour i can paul to get you in mate. As Paul C's went off on the trailer i pushed the next one in and got the airsaw going,but i had to stop for me roasty and pud :-0 yours will be the first of 5 escorts book for 2011 can't wait!!!!!!!! Thanks chap's for putting up with the noise AND NOT RIBBING ME ABOUT MY RACE CAR xxx thank's guy's , well you no what thay say, Rome was not built in a day but fking Thamesmead was Lol
Last edited by Retromotorsport; 23-11-2010 at 08:47.
Same as that , I'm in the Midlands of Ireland , and go to most rallies , so hopefully I can be of help too.
North Tipp , Birr& District MC . First Tarmac rally next year will be ours AFAIK... Galway's looking dodgey.
Hi David/Tristan, and thanks for the offer of help....
Car will be off the road until around the end of Feb, after which we need to get both the engine and gearbox mapped/setup to get rid of a couple of small issues that showed up on the single venue event (and to suit any spec changes that might occur).
It sounds a long way off, but I'm not to worried as my Irish co-driver always warns me off Galway anyway because of the weather. So, being realistic, I guess we'll maybe aim for a gentle run around Epynt in March perhaps, and then something in Ireland - probably leaning towards the Rally of the Lakes (30th Ppril - 1st May) if we can get an entry.....
Cheers,
Paul.
Good morning guys - Happy Christmas.
Well, I managed to get home from China in time for Christmas, and have now got the Escort back to its spiritual home in Essex (RetroMotorsport!) where its having the rest of the damage repaired, plus a few upgrades so that we can all say that it really did get rebuilt better.
Yesterday saw one front wing and a drip rail sorted, plus ages spent discussing which front arches to put on the car. Previously the car had standard arches on, which didnt leave a great deal of clearance when combined with 15" rims and lots of castor, so I ordered 15" tarmac arches (10mm wider and bigger radius), and also some "McRae specials" (huge!) like the great man used on his Mk2. As expected, Gary wants one set, and we want the other, so I now cant leave him alone in the workshop until the right ones get fitted
We're also making a few changes to the dashboard layout, some fairly big changes in the boot, and have a slightly unusual idea on how to complete the front end damage.
I'm running out of things to do (as most of the car is stripped at the moment), so today I'm chief coffee maker and in charge of coming up with more "different" ideas for Gary to make a reality
I'll get some more pics as the work progresses...
Cheers,
Paul
Hi Paul,
Just read all the updates.............it's going to be good.
Sounds like you were absolutely flying until the little off............still it's highlight the potential. looking forward to the mods.
Oh, and do like the photo of the car - sits perfect.
Thanks Steve - I'm afraid man-flu is stopping play this week now but by leavinb it in Gary's capable hands I know it'll be looking good again soon.
As well as the shell and interior mods, we're also changing the oil/water cooler arrangement, having the engine and box mapped again at Bruntingthorpe and will be messing some more with the brakes.
Its going to be a busy couple of months!
Cheers,
Paul
This car was the nuts before mate,phase 2 sounds like it'll be 10 times better but if you're going upgrade it after each event it might become a little bit expensive,but needs must if we're going to irelend to play with the big boys
I really enjoyed reading this... thanks for posting.
Well done Paul. Have you got any plans for the next event ?
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