Derek's MK1 front end rebuild

[oddy]

Evening all,
Next in the workshop is this nice mk1,
It's in for full length strut tops, top bulkhead panels, slam, rad, lower X member and front panel to name but a few,
As she arrived,


Loaded on the jig ready for some surgery,

Doors and wing off,

Working through the layers,


Vertical's have had some interesting repairs,

Full length strut top first trial fit,

Inner wing trimmed ready for fitting,

That's it for today, thanks for looking and plenty more to come!
Cheers,
James

[trig]

Another cracking job there buddy

[rusty wreck]

looking good,might help me get my drip rails on in te right place good work.

[pablomills]

Hmm... PM on its way as this is exactly what mine needs!

[Longman]

Will be watching closely, Looks another good one to get your teeth into James

Adam

[exboyracer]

Blimey, looked ok before you got into it!

[davblue]

looking good there

ds restos

[oddy]

Morning all,
Full length strut top fitted,

So yesterday did'nt get me quite as far as planned, Derek pre warned me that all though the car looks very pretty, it has had a fair few repairs over its years and has quite a lot of filler in the front end, spent most of the day grinding off the previous repairs around the door pillar, bulkhead area, almost ready for a good welding season today!
So this is what we achieved,
Heater bubble off,

Bulkhead side off,

Trial fit,

Still a bit more to do here!

Looked like it had been snowing in the workshop as there was so much dust!
Hopefully there should be a good update later today, thanks for looking,
Cheers,
James

[Adam B]

Nice work so far

[wildo105e]

Its always amazing to see how a good looking car can be full rot. It looked ok when it waiting the knife.

As usual top work.

[happysnappy]

This was a Retro Ford feature car and has had a couple of trophies in the past including one at the Lakes Tour.

[turbospud]

This was a Retro Ford feature car and has had a couple of trophies in the past including one at the Lakes Tour.

it will proberly win more when its finnished looking at the progress so far

[happysnappy]

Doubt it, don't intent using it for shows. Just want a nice escort again. Had this one for about 19 years.

[oddy]

Evening all,
Update time!
A pillar welded in,


Door back on to check and adjust the gaps,


Bulkhead/scuttle panel next, after cleaning up old plates we where left with this, lip was very thin,

New lip welded in,


Bulkhead panel on,


Have left enough on the new lip to fold the little return edge and will repair the centre section when the otherside is on,
Bit more in a mo!
Cheers,
James

[oddy]

Back again!
On a roll now! splash panel on,

Bonnet hinge,

Bit of etch as nearly finished here,


Waiting on a couple of panels so time to tackle the drivers side,

Hmm, some interesting repairs,


Working my way through the layers,


More tomorrow, thanks for looking,
Cheers,
James

[trig]

[evans2822]

Great work there mate

[pablomills]

Why do you work through the layers? Can you not just chop the full-length top over no matter how many layers, or is it to protect the good bits underneath?

[dodgyknee]

Christ wish mine looked half has good top top work

[tezscort]

Great work there mate.

[KOWALSKI]

Very good work there fella! What engine is going in when its done?

[happysnappy]

Very good work there fella! What engine is going in when its done?

Pinto power.

[oddy]

Why do you work through the layers? Can you not just chop the full-length top over no matter how many layers, or is it to protect the good bits underneath?

Hi Paul,
You need to get down to the original suspension cup otherwise you will end up cutting the inner wing in the wrong place, if you imagine all those layers probably end up being 5mm thick, so would end up with the cut 5mm out, hope that makes sense?
Carrying on from yesterday, burnt the grinder out getting through the welds on the cup! all trimmed ready for welding,

Welded on,


Las bit for today, first trial fit of top bulkhead panel,

That all for know, Thanks for looking,
Cheers,
James

[5tox]

reminds me of mine, i had 3-4 layers above my n/s top cup.

whats that panel called each side of the heater bubble where the bonnet hinge is welded in?

are they much money and where can i get one from? my n/s is rotten

cheers

[happysnappy]

reminds me of mine, i had 3-4 layers above my n/s top cup.

whats that panel called each side of the heater bubble where the bonnet hinge is welded in?

are they much money and where can i get one from? my n/s is rotten

cheers

Get the panels from Expressed panels. £41+vat+postage. Called pan sides on the web page.

[5tox]

cheers mate

[Longman]

Top work again James,

Bet its nice to have a strut top which just fits as opposed to how mine was!!

Ad

[exboyracer]

Love watching your work James, just excellent

[davblue]

brill work james.
good to see u useing ur talent .
always good to see.

ds restos

[oddy]

Morning all,
Still beavering away on this, taking a bit longer than usual as normally you drill the spot welds out to remove the panels, but this one has had already had replacement panels so everything is migged, so it's out with the grinder to remove the panels!
Yesterday was spent prepping the A pillar area,

Two A pillars!

Rusty lip,

Repaired and Zinc primed,

All ready for welding today,

Another update tonight, thanks for looking and all the comments,
Cheers,
James

[cossymax]

James, Excellent workmanship my good man

I love watching how a really nice looking car in the first place, gets shown for when is hiding underneath, and then transformed into a mint all metal shell.

Loving your work fella

[oxb1l]

Repairs in the past that aren't to people's standard now I'm sure this will be the case with lots of cars


So many people forget that our toys are 30 plus year old

Keep up the good work

Bill

[oddy]

Evening all, back again for another update!
A pillar all welded on,


Door back on to check and adjust the gaps,

Bulkhead/lip has been patched up before,


Trimmed,

New piece,

New top lip,


Moving on to the bulkhead area/scuttle area, Derek has asked that all the previous repairs go as they are not brilliant, which means this needs to go,

Once it was trimmed we have a bit of a gap,

Luckily Derek bought a second hand bubble with him which still had the panel underneath so used some of this for a repair panel which is all tacked in ready for tomorrow,

So that's it for another instalment! once again thank you for all the comments,
Cheers,
James

[5tox]

Thats a fantastic guide and will be a valuable resource when i get round to my bulkhead

The workmanship is second to none

[oddy]

Evening all,
We are getting there! bulkhead repairs all finished,


Just about make out the folded lip so it looks nice and original,

A splash of etch,

Be rude not to try the bubble back on!

Starting to look like a Escort again!
Thanksfor looking,
Cheers,
James

[Ratters]

Good stuff dude

[evans2822]

Looking good that

[gorilla1q]

Top notch work as always

[IJ65]

Hi James,
I'm slowly (very) doing a more door shell. Very impressed with the work on the inner wing tops. this has got me thinking thats the way to go with mine i was therfore wondering how do you weld the new to old without causing heat distorsion ? Any tips would be gratefully recieved
Cheers ian.

[oddy]

Hi James,
I'm slowly (very) doing a more door shell. Very impressed with the work on the inner wing tops. this has got me thinking thats the way to go with mine i was therfore wondering how do you weld the new to old without causing heat distorsion ? Any tips would be gratefully recieved
Cheers ian.

Hi there,
Tack weld all the way along and then very carefully weld a small section at a time, cool with a air line and then move to another area, time is key with these, take your time and they come out well.
Cheers,
James