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Thread: My '74 Mk1 Resto

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Hi all, I thought it was about time for me to start a restoration thread of my own. I've owned the car since late 2008 and in that time have swapped the original 1100 for a 1620 xflow, fitted a Mk2 sport gearbox, upgraded the front brakes to vented discs and spaced calipers and just generally tidied the interior up a bit. It's been a blast driving it around but unfortunately about 18 months ago I started to notice some filler lifting on the rear passenger quarter and the bodywork starting to look tired. Here's a few pictures

    18 months ago






    1st sign of something going on underneath!



    Should there be a gap between the inner guard and front panel?













    Last edited by Pikey15; 14-07-2015 at 11:13.

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    The A pillar is pretty rusty



    But the inner sill isn't to bad.



    I've not done anything like this before, but plan on completing all the panel work myself. Any help or tips would be very welcome.

    Cheers

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    looks good so far..carry on the way you are going...finish one thing before you start the next..(unlike me..i get a bit carried away cutting out the rust...lol)

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Pikey looks great and relatively rust free! Once you've prepped spend the money on weld through primer and later fish oiling.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Not much progress, but did start on stripping the underseal off the floor, it's not looking to bad.







    Spotted one bit so far that needs attention.

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Progress is going a lot slower on this than I'd like but I did manage to get a few hours done on the weekend.
    Stripped some more underseal off and couldn't resist trial fitting a guard I'm repairing and the 6 dial dash metal work I managed to buy a few years ago






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    Racer Decade Plus User rallyrob's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by Pikey15 View Post



    That line of seam sealer there, I cant work it out. Is that line of sealer where the inner wing was joined to the front panel, between the headlight hole and the little hole?

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Yeah it's on the drivers side and was where the inner wing joined the front panel, it was filling up quite a large gap between the panels, which I don't think should be there. I managed to get the outer wing and front panel off in one piece if that helps.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Ok. Well mines still all original an doesnt exactly fit very tight....

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Ah apolgogies... Double post
    Last edited by rallyrob; 27-07-2015 at 09:43.

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    My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by rallyrob View Post
    Ok. Well mines still all original an doesnt exactly fit very tight....
    Cool thanks for that, that's good to know

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Still chipping away at this, not as quick as I'd like, but I guess each bit I do is a step closer to getting it finished.

    I had a go at removing some of the paint that someone had painted the floor with:

    Before


    After, (I must admit I'm pretty happy with the results)


    While I was doing this I noticed some rust directly under the bonnet hinge bracket but inside the car.


    Which lead to this




    And this is the underside of the hinge bracket.


    This is my first serious bit of repair/welding on the car so I had a go at making a patch panel and tig welding it back in


    All welded in


    And I've started to clean up the bracket now as well


    Any hints or tips would be very welcome.

    Cheers

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    With skills like that you're going to fly through this
    Hexham and District Motorclub

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    She'll is great for her age and doing a good job, keep it up and keep us posted on progress

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Looking good mate, any updates? Our of interest, how did you cut the round edges in the hole under the bonnet hinge? Cheers

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Looking good m8 ... Keep the updates coming

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by modz View Post
    Looking good mate, any updates? Our of interest, how did you cut the round edges in the hole under the bonnet hinge? Cheers
    Hi, thank you, you've reminded me about this thread From memory I had to file the rounded corners in, I don't like welding on a sharp corner as they can burn away on me. The fit up of the patch took a wee while as I'm tig welding it and didn't really want any large gaps between the panels.

    Now you've reminded me about my thread I'll add some more progress pictures.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by Pikey15 View Post
    From memory I had to file the rounded corners in, I don't like welding on a sharp corner as they can burn away on me.
    Completely agree, that's why I was curious. Sharp edges tend to hold the heat and 'turn up' at the edges....learnt that the hard way back when I was using gas welders.

    Very tidy car tho, keen to see progress.

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Right, as modz has kindly reminded me that I have a thread for this car, here's some more progress pictures.

    After finishing the passenger side sill and door hinge panel I thought I'd have a look at what was happening with the drivers side. I expected this side to be worse as rust had broken through the outer panel and there was a hole in the end of the sill.









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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    After removing a bit more of the sill this is how the inner sill looked




    I was a bit concerned as to how the water had got in so traced it back and found a tiny hole in the area that is lead loaded at the base of the A pillar.


    Cut out part of the scuttle to get access to the rust.


    Rust sorted and new panel welded back in and part way through metal finishing it.


    Next is to re-lead load the base of the A pillar and then hopefully finish off the driver's side sill.

    Another area I worked on was the end of the drivers side inner guard.


    Came out quite well I think


    And I have to repair some grot in the drivers side rear quarter window and someone's previous repair where the window hinge would go


    Last edited by Pikey15; 28-03-2017 at 06:14.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Looking good! Glad that A-pillar wasn't worse. A quick tidy up and rust-proof and she'll be better than new in there

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    looked a great car to start with....as they all do.....what are your plans for the car? it was sitting nice n low....what suspension set up had it on before you stripped it? where did you get the spot weld drill bit? any pics of it? ive got some here at home but mine are like a drill bit....

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by mk1van View Post
    looked a great car to start with....as they all do.....what are your plans for the car? it was sitting nice n low....what suspension set up had it on before you stripped it? where did you get the spot weld drill bit? any pics of it? ive got some here at home but mine are like a drill bit....
    Hi, yeah a few people have said the same thing you never know what's lurking underneath do you.

    I had Gaz inserts in the front with 2 inch shorter 190lb springs and Gaz shocks on the back with 2 inch lowering blocks and the standard leaf springs.

    As for the plans for the car, I'll be fitting AVO style front guards, a 6 dial dash, Anglia van rear axle with 9 inch drums, Type 9 gearbox, possibly front coilovers and single leaf springs in the back.

    Engine wise I'm really not to sure and keep changing my mind between XFlow or Pinto. I have the original 1100 (probably not going to use that), a 1620 xflow that I ran for a good few years but it's in need of at least a better cam and may be a set of 1300 pistons and a 2.0 Pinto which is in need of a rebuild.

    I've never driven a Pinto powered Escort so don't know what they go like or handle like. The car will mostly be used for the usual, road use with the occasional track day or possibly hill climb if I'm feeling brave

    The spot weld drill bit I use is very similar to this image I found on Retrorides http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...-weld-removing

    I bought it from a local engineering hardware store here in Christchurch but I've since made one from a 8mm standard drill bit and just ground the end to match the one on the image. They work well, but I tend to drill a small shallow pilot hole in the centre of the spot weld for the little pip on the end spot weld drill bit to locate into so that it doesn't wander around on you.
    Last edited by Pikey15; 04-04-2017 at 02:06.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Top class work mate , decided on the pinto or crossflow ?
    I reckon go pinto power , I ran a standard pinto in my racecar for a whole season and it had plenty of boogie to have some fun, plenty of sideways and peel a nice smokey burnout with no sweat. Cant beat that pinto torque

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto


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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by Pikey15 View Post
    Hi, yeah a few people have said the same thing you never know what's lurking underneath do you.

    I had Gaz inserts in the front with 2 inch shorter 190lb springs and Gaz shocks on the back with 2 inch lowering blocks and the standard leaf springs.

    As for the plans for the car, I'll be fitting AVO style front guards, a 6 dial dash, Anglia van rear axle with 9 inch drums, Type 9 gearbox, possibly front coilovers and single leaf springs in the back.

    Engine wise I'm really not to sure and keep changing my mind between XFlow or Pinto. I have the original 1100 (probably not going to use that), a 1620 xflow that I ran for a good few years but it's in need of at least a better cam and may be a set of 1300 pistons and a 2.0 Pinto which is in need of a rebuild.

    I've never driven a Pinto powered Escort so don't know what they go like or handle like. The car will mostly be used for the usual, road use with the occasional track day or possibly hill climb if I'm feeling brave

    The spot weld drill bit I use is very similar to this image I found on Retrorides http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...-weld-removing

    I bought it from a local engineering hardware store here in Christchurch but I've since made one from a 8mm standard drill bit and just ground the end to match the one on the image. They work well, but I tend to drill a small shallow pilot hole in the centre of the spot weld for the little pip on the end spot weld drill bit to locate into so that it doesn't wander around on you.
    Try grinding that little flat spot on the end into a point by gently touching both sides on the corner of the wheel and making a point. You won't have to pilot anymore.
    Tried taking a picture of mine but can't get it in focus on a close up!

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by Escort74 View Post
    Top class work mate , decided on the pinto or crossflow ?
    I reckon go pinto power , I ran a standard pinto in my racecar for a whole season and it had plenty of boogie to have some fun, plenty of sideways and peel a nice smokey burnout with no sweat. Cant beat that pinto torque
    Thanks Elliott, the restoration is going way to slowly for my liking but still working away at it.
    That's great to hear that you've had a good experience with the Pinto, I've managed to pick up a couple of 205 blocked engines so one of them will get a rebuild and put into the car

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    Spanner Monkey Pikey15's Avatar

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by davemk1 View Post
    Try grinding that little flat spot on the end into a point by gently touching both sides on the corner of the wheel and making a point. You won't have to pilot anymore.
    Tried taking a picture of mine but can't get it in focus on a close up!
    Thank you very much, I'll give that a try on the next set of spot welds
    Last edited by Pikey15; 10-10-2017 at 00:44.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Still very slowly chipping away at the Mk1

    First job over the weekend was to tidy up someone's previous repair on the drivers side rear window hinge area


    Remove old patch





    It's not perfect but shouldn't make the seal bulge out like the previous repair did

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Another area of the car that has had some previous repairs is the base of the fuel tank well, it had just been patched over but the old rotten metal was still there.





    The patch was just a flat piece of steel and didn't have any of the details that the original had, so I had a go at making something to match the original.





    It fits quite well and the swaged details match up with the original, just got to weld it in place





    I'm really enjoying the whole process of learning how to make panels, albeit with minimal tools which takes quite a bit of time and trial and error.
    Last edited by Pikey15; 15-10-2018 at 01:00.

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Nice looking shell that

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Nice job so far Mate

    First picture reminds me of the '73 Mexico I had from 1976 to 1980. It was an ex-police car, and when I eventually sold it it was immaculate, sold it for £650

    It's still going according to DVLA
    You can never have enough Ford toys

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  46. #33
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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    Quote Originally Posted by Mash View Post
    Nice job so far Mate

    First picture reminds me of the '73 Mexico I had from 1976 to 1980. It was an ex-police car, and when I eventually sold it it was immaculate, sold it for £650

    It's still going according to DVLA
    That would be a rare car nowadays, good to hear that it's still going though


    Here's a wee bit on the restoration for the car above http://www.rs2.co.uk/liverpoolpolice.htm

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    Re: My '74 Mk1 Resto

    That was one of it's brothers, mine was 894L ! It had the holes in the roof for the sign electrics, so I had that sorted then did the rest myself.

    It used to be a traffic patrol car on the East Lancs Road. It had the zipped headlining and the calibrated speedo, and I still have the speedo, having just installed it in my Pinto engined MK Indy. Must see if i can dig a picture out of it.

    Just checked DVLA again, and it turns out it hasn't been taxed since 1985, so it looks like it's gone now
    You can never have enough Ford toys

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