Forest-wreck Escort MK1 trackday car project

[61Flcn]

1968 Escort 1100. Got less than 10 years on the road, then it was shot at with a rifle and a shotgun, chained to a tractor and dragged into the woods, rolled down a ditch, and left for dead.
40 years later I come across a pair of wheels sticking out of a pile of moss. Ran down the hill, and around the pile to see the mangled remains of a MK1 Escort. Called the land owner and dragged it back out of there.






As soon as I got it home I went to work washing 40 years of forest off of it. And removing the few bits that were left. And a quick damage survey. 40 years of resting on the left hand side takes a toll on the sheet metal.










Then the actual work started. Removed the front suspension and refurbished the steering rack, and replaced everything with Capri 1600 GT parts.
Pulled out the welder and sledgehammer to straighten and stitch the car back together and seem-weld the chassis rails to the inner wings and put in the bulkhead to chassis rail gussets I made.

[corblimey3.1]

Looking forward to watching this old girl come back to life, make sure the original owner isn't about to try and take it back once its all sorted

[Salti]

After all the car went trough, it deserves a second life.

Good luck on the restoration

[madragon199]

excellent project ...good luck... cool

[Jimmythedimmy]

a brave man to bring this one back to life. Good luck

[lincolndanny]

If that was the UK, there wouldnt have been anything left!

[raymondmarble]

You sir are a hero! I can't wait to see how this turns out.
As Corblimey says, make sure you have legal ownership of it before spending too much on it

[Joe-Tait]

Great Find

Cant wait to see the finished result

[Gus71]

Hi!
What a find...
The car look suprisingly good after "resting" for so long time out in the forrest.
Great job you've done saving it.
Looking forward to see the car in progress.
Good Luck

Gus

[MegatronUK]

Bonus points awarded for pulling the car out of the forest to save it!

[daniele]

I think the frozen clima helped for the surprising good conditions!

[zetecmk2]

loving this!!!

[mark2cossie]

GREAT find ...... Just look at them (h e l p m e) sad eyes

[M11rf]

Bloody hell! Keep us updated

[Davy]

..You are one brave man!.. Good luck.

p.s Liking the old Majors too.

[61Flcn]

Oh gosh! I had completely forgotten about this thread! I appreciate all the replies, the attention this little project has gotten is nothing short of overwhelming. I have 4 other sites to post updates to so this one sort of fell out. This is the second time I am writing this post so I'll just shower you with pictures from the last year, as the computer froze and deleted over an hours worth of work.
Any questions about any of them just ask. There are also more detailed posts and over 200 pictures on the projects Facebook page for those who would like to see them.
https://www.facebook.com/ForestwreckMK1

Anyway. Here we go!

[61Flcn]

That's how far I've come to date. It ran for a while before I grenaded piston 1 in a burnout, but I have a 205 block that's being built for it this winter.

[61Flcn]

Posted the last post twice apparantly.

[madragon199]

looking like a car again....are you keeping it as is ? or going to paint... cheers mark

[alladdin]

or going to paint...

just spit my tea out

[61Flcn]

looking like a car again....are you keeping it as is ? or going to paint... cheers mark

I'll just leave it as it is, it's part of it's history. I'll just make the shell road legal, brakes, suspention, wheels, put in an engine that won't give the inspector a reason to not allow it to be used. Then take it home, tear the little thing out, 2L back in it.

[corblimey3.1]

Well done that man, hope to see some on road shots soon

[61Flcn]

Put in the Jeep rear shocks today, it got stiff alright! Also started looking for a spot to mount the oilcooler decided on just behind one of the vent holes in the front.



Then I put the front fender back on, and put in the hood pins. I'll be modifying a pair of MK1 Granada hinges so the hood can be slid on/off after opening. With some sort of safety lock on it of course.

[61Flcn]

Put in a fuel filler neck today, from a Dodge Aspen so it obviously needed some shortening to fit into a Ford Sierra tank that's bolted into the back of a MK1 Escort.




Then I made the rails to fasten the passenger seat and put that in. It's a tight squeeze in there now. The gear stick almost hits the seats when it's in reverse for the drivers side and fourth for the passengers side.

[TazzieTlr]

wow. thats amazing. looking forward to seeing more in time

[5tox]

I love the fact you have retained its history, its great to see a battered exterior hiding a power house under the bonnet

[andy-v]

wow

[mk1van]

wow, the strangest resto ive ever seen, picked from the forest floor, brought back to life in some way and will be used again, savage job dude.....

[kierzo-199]

amazing job !!!!!!!!

[61Flcn]

Thanks for all the comments. It's really fun to see the reactions this thing is getting.

Some things have happened since last time. Got a hold of a T9 trans and a parts trans for it, but I'm not sure it's going in the Escort it was free so I might sell it. And the engine didn't like my burnout this summer so it decided to remove most of the compression from the cylinders. It had 50psi at most. But then through the magic of Facebook I found a running 2L 205 block, carb. engine for next to nothing. Considering that I am in Norway, that is exactly what I need to register this thing as an RS2000.

[corblimey3.1]

What would you do to "Age" the RS stripe kit you'd need to finish turning the old girl into an RS, wrap it round a boulder and roll it down the nearest hill
Its just as fun for us to see you bringing it back to life, thanks for sharing

[61Flcn]

What would you do to "Age" the RS stripe kit you'd need to finish turning the old girl into an RS, wrap it round a boulder and roll it down the nearest hill
Its just as fun for us to see you bringing it back to life, thanks for sharing

Haha, I don't think that's the way to go about it to be honest. I was thinking more along the lines of masking, painting and working it with paint thinner and sandpaper. And yes, that is stupidly detailed and tedious work for a body that looks like a scrapyard reject. But I figure my sanity has been questioned numerous times already due to this so why not feed the fire?

[corblimey3.1]

I'm not sure if that colour was an RS option or not but i'd like to see a picture of it with battered RS decals, anyone feeling arty?

[61Flcn]

I'm not sure if that colour was an RS option or not but i'd like to see a picture of it with battered RS decals, anyone feeling arty?

I don't think it was. The colour code on this is H which I've found to be called just Red. I know the RS came in Sebring Red, but that was more Orange than Red.

[Erikmex]

Wow, thats some rescue, hats off to you

[61Flcn]

I'm not sure if that colour was an RS option or not but i'd like to see a picture of it with battered RS decals, anyone feeling arty?

I gave the RS stripe a go myself. It's not exactly what I want, but it's good enough to get the idea.

[61Flcn]

I'm not sure if that colour was an RS option or not but i'd like to see a picture of it with battered RS decals, anyone feeling arty?

I gave the RS stripe a go myself. It's not exactly what I want, but it's good enough to get the idea.

[corblimey3.1]

There's no stopping you is there I reckon it could be made to work, especially the more i look at it, was just looking at pictures of the sebring red version with orange stripes but not sure if a different coloured red would work on yours or not though? got any plans to change the wheels or suspension height?

[NRspeed]

Well done on the rescue!
I think she should be called Christine!

[61Flcn]

There's no stopping you is there I reckon it could be made to work, especially the more i look at it, was just looking at pictures of the sebring red version with orange stripes but not sure if a different coloured red would work on yours or not though? got any plans to change the wheels or suspension height?

With a big enough obstacle I might be stopped. It takes a bit of imagination to see the possibility of it looking the way it should. But in the end I could turn to nature to give the stripe that final touch. Rub some moss and dirt on it or something.
It drops down a lot in the front with the engine installed. There is virtually no gap in between the fenders and tires. And that is more than low enough, there are more dirt roads around here than paved roads and the dirt roads are in better shape than the paved one. As for the wheels I sort of want a battered set of Minilites or RS wheels. The Sierra wheels I have on it now rubs the front struts so I either need skinnier tyres or a different offset wheel.

Well done on the rescue!
I think she should be called Christine!

Thanks! Christine was actually the first name that struck me, but then as I looked up at the red, stitched together front end from the inspection pit it just reminded me so much of Chuky that I went with that. And it even fits with the lunacy of it all.