Mk1 Escort Home Resto (wish me luck)

[Mad Max]

Hi,

The rust on my Mk1 has got to a point where it can no longer be ignored. I've owned it for 5 years and its finally time to attend to the body. Its always been a rolling project but with plans for a zetec I was no longer happy with the overall strength so took the plunge and stripped it.

This was the car when i brought it in 2000





I was 20 at the time and cut my teeth on cars with it. I got it looking like this with a 1600 xflow



Roll on a few more years and projects its time to do the car some justice and put it back to factory. Some of you may have seen my thread where i was weighing up what to do as it needs so many panels. I decided to get the shell blasted to see what i was up against. So after a nail biting week i collected the shell and thankfully it wasn't any worse than excepted. Bare in mind I didn't have high expectations :P








The place i used was call Airblast in Gosfield, Essex. It cost £350 to do all the floors, tubs and engine bay. Not sure if this is a good deal or not but the guy there was very approachable and helpful. Would recommend.

As you can see the shell has had a few patches in the past. They are absolutely everywhere! My brother has a spit i can use and i have done a fair bit of welding on minis and the likes so although this is a massive project i think its worth it.

My plan is for a whole new floor, middle chassis rails. Most of the front and all the rear bottom along with patches where needed.

My plan of attack was to do the floor first. I don't know whether to do the floor or chassis rails first as it all needs replacing and don't want to cut to much out in one go.

Also because it has been patched so much over the past i don't know what the original should look like so thats another issue.


Eventually it will have a 2l Zetec with the RX8 box and a few other basic upgrades just to get it driving nice. All comments welcome and any advice will be gratefully recieved.

[clarky205]

I used Airblast for my MK2, they are really helpful and know their stuff. Good luck with the resto.

[Mad Max]

Also as i am about to order my panels I was wondering people thoughts on the complete inner wings that are now avaliable. Whats the fit like? is it worth the extra or would i be better off buying all the individual bits and assembling on car?

Also do the mk2 rear wheel tubs fit a mk1 as magnum don't seem to do mk1 tubs and i want to keep the back seat standard.

[oddy]

Hi there,
That's looks better for a blast!
I would get a big list of panels together and contact TJM Motorsport, very good prices, I get all my panels from there.
The complete inner wings are alright, unless you have access to a spot welder that is the way to go.
I would personally do the front first and get some strength back in the old girl before tackling the floor.
Cheers,
James.

[freddy686868]

This looks a brilliant little shell to start with. I have seen some right pigs turned into minters in here so you should have no problem turning this one round

[andy-v]

how did ya buy it in 2000, but only owned it 5 years, be watching the resto

[Mad Max]

Lol, sorry meant 2010, just sorting out an order with TJ motorsport. Then stick a load of bracing in and get cutting.

[madragon199]

good choice ..will be watching...cheers mark

[freddy686868]

Lol, sorry meant 2010, just sorting out an order with TJ motorsport. Then stick a load of bracing in and get cutting.

tj motorsport are local to me and everyone gets their pannels off him he's the best around. I'm looking forward to seing how this build is going to go.

[rwd_paul]

Tj motorsport got me all my parts for my estate. We fitted the complete innerwings and they are a very nice fit

[Capri-X-pack]

Good luck with the build bud

[Mad Max]

Been putting it off but i finally got the courage to start cutting.



First cut is always the deepest.



Pretty sure this part is only suppose to be one sheet thick


mmmmm......


So first question.

I didn't realise that this part of the chassis rail is double skinned and looking at it from outside you can see where it has bowed out

And it has also bowed on the inside suggesting that there is a big pocket of rust inside.

Also there is several other parts along the chassis rail where one or other skin has rotted through


I reckon the other side is going to be worse so do you reckon i should replace the front whole chassis rails? If so shall i just cut the whole lot off and replace it all at the same time or should i slowly work my way round keeping as many reference points as possible? My thinking is that its all probably moved over the years anyway so not going to gain anything from the reference points as they have probably moved anyway.

[LAWRENCEM]

wow your brave!! im in the same boat as you in needing a new floor so i will be watching this with interest.

Did the cost of the blasting inc primering the areas as well?

[Mad Max]

No,he could prime it but considering it's all being cut out I didn't see the point

[andy-v]

be all worth it in the end least ya gonna know ya will have a solid car, look forward to the updates

[LAWRENCEM]

thanks max ive emailed them

[Mad Max]

So continuing on with the front i have made up a jig that locates the front chassis rails at the crossmember.




Before i lop the whole lot off i have taken a load of measurements to triangulate the rails so hopefully they will go back in square. Is there anything else worth doing?

In the mean time i thought i would have a look at getting the drivers A post sorted.

So peeling back the patches



No my problem is i don't know what this is suppose to look like as its been mess with so much. Can i cut all that out leaving just the hinge panel? Do i need to brace anything here or since there is still lot of metal in the bulkhead and floor can i leave it?

[Mad Max]

As i am now looking to move this project on i will stick some up to date pictures just to show what little progress i have made :p

[madragon199]

Great read...i have the same problem..mines rusted away ...so trying to work out what each part looks like and does is a bit of detective work...but every time you do a part ...the motivation increases...cool project ...keep the pics coming...cheers mark

[MegatronUK]

Crikey, some one has put patch on op of patch on top of patch there! Did they never think just to replace an entire panel, rather than 2x4 repair patches all over???

Kudos for doing it properly, that car is probably breathing a sigh of relief as someone is now giving it proper attention now!

[wepeeps]

Crikey I thought mine was bad good luck mate wee bit at a time is the key

[KOWALSKI]

You might struggle repair that hinge panel matey! Try ex pressed panels in Yorkshire....unless you can get a decent second had panel and clean it up.