Buying and restoring a classic.

[Guest]

I have bought a 1975 MK1 Ford Escort. 

It's in South Africa. 

It was advertised by a UK based importer to buy at a price including the export/import. 

In his ad he mentioned another car as well. I contacted him for information about the other car. 

His question to me was "what's wrong with the orange one". I said "it's orange". 

He then explained that a top restorer in SA could respray it for next to nothing. 

I asked if that's just a flat and spray or a proper bare metal job. 

Got a new price for a bare metal job. 

Then I asked him about changing the front wings for "Mexico" spec. (These are not the bubble arches, they just have a wider lip). For the Americans, the Escort won at the Mexico Rally in 1970 and the "Mexico" variant was then born. A Homologation special where 10000 had to be made to achieve homologation in the BTCC (British Touring Car Championships). Then I asked about fitting the brackets for anti tramp bars in the rear suspension (something the sporty RS models have). 

Then I remembered a fast escort generally has a 2000e gear box, known as the rocket box. This requires a modification to the tunnel to move the selector back a bit. Sporty escorts had this modification done to a standard shell at the Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations (known as AVO) here in The UK. Those were the cars that started winning a lot and put the escort on the race car map. 

He came back and said they have a 2000e gearbox in stock and could fit it and make the mods. 

Then we agreed on a complete resto. New fuel lines, brake lines, wiring loom, electricals, pads, clutch, new poly-bushes all round, rolled rear arches for clearance, all re-chroming, strip/sand blast/paint all running gear, fit the sporty 6 pot dash and new dash top. 

In South Africa £1 buys what around £2.40 buys in the UK so my money is going 2.4 times as far having this work done off shore. 

Sometime between April and June next year and absolutely mint restored 1975 MK1 escort lands in Somerset, UK, ready for me to pick up. 

I will have a highly tuned race engine (crossflow), single leaf springs for the rear, adjustable coil-overs for the front. Uprated axle with LSD and 3.77 FDR an FIA roll cage and a single piece prop shaft waiting for it. Then I will have a historic eligible race car with over 270 BHP per tonne registered to run on the road. Tax exempt, MOT exempt and ULEZ exempt. Classic status makes the insurance very cheap and I'll be allowed to run black and white plates. 

Here's how it looks now. There will be lots of pictures throughout the process so if people are interested I'll keep you guys posted. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[merciful-evans]

Yep, that orange is a proper boy racer's 'livery' alright. I recall these motors well.

What colour are you going for? 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, merciful-evans said:

Yep, that orange is a proper boy racer's 'livery' alright. I recall these motors well.

What colour are you going for? 

I think gunmetal. Understated and slightly sinister without being as hard to keep as black. 

[slimt]

Thats a cool little unit.   Tough to find here in this area. 

[Guest]

It'll be low, stance much like this one ...

 

But this colour.

Those are the aforementioned "bubble arches" which in principle, look amazing. Except you can never get a road car low enough for them to look good and be even vaguely practical so they end up looking a bit silly. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Farnsbarns

[Guest]

That grey one is an example of the work at the place doing mine. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, merciful-evans said:

Yep, that orange is a proper boy racer's 'livery' alright. I recall these motors well.

What colour are you going for? 

If I may stretch your memory further, Ford started this by making nearly all the twin cams, rs1600s, Mexico's and rs2000s in very bright colours. While black was always an option they never put it on the list so very few got ordered. They did white but not so many sold. People wanted the blue, yellow, orange and green ones. Now it's just a thing to paint a fast ford one of those colours. The black blocks on the bonnet were a South African market thing. Don't see that elsewhere.

 

I shall buck the trend. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Farnsbarns

[merciful-evans]

I really like gunmetal grey. It would be my 2nd choice after white. 

[Larsongs]

Good to see the Collector Car Culture alive & well all over the World! I’ve been involved in it since I was 16.. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by Larsongs

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Larsongs said:

Good to see the Collector Car Culture alive & well all over the World! I’ve been involved in it since I was 16.. 

My father started pre war historic racing development in the 70s with the business based at home pretty much from my birth so I've never really not been around historic motorsport. My older brother now runs that. 

[Guest]

My other half thinks I'm nuts spending 25k on a classic car (it'll be more by the time I've finished). I keep pointing out that I'm buying a perfectly useable car that will only ever go up in value, while she pays for her nearly new car, monthly, with interest, while it rapidly depreciates to 0. All the while she's paying tax, much higher insurance and having an annual MOT (annual inspection).

[Murph]

Yep. You're right.

She's wrong.

[fortyearspickn]

Yes, we'd like updates.   Looks like it's already in almost new condition inside and out !   Drive it like it's stolen !! 

[gearbasher]

7 hours ago, Murph said:

Yep. You're right.

She's wrong.

But, don't tell her that.

[IanHenry]

Takes me back to my youth, my first 'hot' Escort was a 1600 Sport followed by a couple of RS2000's, great fun cars 👍

[Guest]

1 hour ago, IanHenry said:

Takes me back to my youth, my first 'hot' Escort was a 1600 Sport followed by a couple of RS2000's, great fun cars 👍

Cool. Mk1, 2?

[IanHenry]

15 hours ago, Farnsbarns said:

Cool. Mk1, 2?

Mark 2 for the 1.6 Sport and the RS's, though I did drive my brother's Mk 1 Escort 1300 Sport for a while. 

Another interesting car I had in between the 1.6 Sport and the RS's was a Vauxhall Chevette HS which was a bit of a rarity even back then, but it cost so much to run that it had to go (I was still a teenager at the time), so I went back to Ford.

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, IanHenry said:

Mark 2 for the 1.6 Sport and the RS's, though I did drive my brother's Mk 1 Escort 1300 Sport for a while. 

Another interesting car I had in between the 1.6 Sport and the RS's was a Vauxhall Chevette HS which was a bit of a rarity even back then, but it cost so much to run that it had to go (I was still a teenager at the time), so I went back to Ford.

Cool. My only experience of classic Vauxhall's was my dad's Vauxhall Viva and it wasn't a classic at the time. 

[Guest]

My brother spent yesterday evening convincing me gunmetal grey is a mistake. He urged me to choose an original colour. I'm now thinking white which can quickly be made into historic looking racing livery. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Farnsbarns

[IanHenry]

7 minutes ago, Farnsbarns said:

My brother spent the yesterday evening convincing me gunmetal grey is a mistake. He urged me to choose an original colour. I'm now thinking white which can quickly be made into historic looking racing livery. 

Yes Farns, I agree with your brother on this.

 

PS, Ford Venetian red is a good RS Escort colour.

Edited September 24, 2023 by IanHenry

[Larsongs]

I thought I saw a recent Episode on Wheeler Dealers where Mike & Elvis restored a Ford Escort.. As the Show has returned to jolly old England..

It’s interesting to see how popular these Cars are across the Pond.. Here in the USA nobody pays attention to them.. As far as small Cars it’s mostly Japanese Cars they’ve been turning into Super High Performance Custom Cars..

But, the even bigger hobby in the USA is 30’s thru 70’s Mid size & Full size Muscle & Luxury Cars, 2WD & 4WD Pickup Trucks, Bronco’s, Blazer’s. And Sports Cars.. Mostly Corvette’s..

[IanHenry]

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Larsongs said:

I thought I saw a recent Episode on Wheeler Dealers where Mike & Elvis restored a Ford Escort.. As the Show has returned to jolly old England..

It’s interesting to see how popular these Cars are across the Pond.. Here in the USA nobody pays attention to them.. As far as small Cars it’s mostly Japanese Cars they’ve been turning into Super High Performance Custom Cars..

But, the even bigger hobby in the USA is 30’s thru 70’s Mid size & Full size Muscle & Luxury Cars, 2WD & 4WD Pickup Trucks, Bronco’s, Blazer’s. And Sports Cars.. Mostly Corvette’s..

USA made cars simply couldn't be sold over here back then. Plenty of manufacturers found their way over but almost exclusively with different models for the European market. Your petrol was cheap and had low octane ratings so you guys weren't worried about a 5 litre V8 making 200 bhp and dragging half a ton of chrome about, mostly in straight lines. In Europe we were busy extracting 100+bhp/litre, efficiency being important. The cars were lighter and most importantly, had to corner fast like European cars on our twisty, tree lined, country lanes.

Just 2 markets with different needs that didn't suit each other. 

These days American cars and particularly trucks from the 50s have a pretty good following and resto scene. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Farnsbarns

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, IanHenry said:

I have to admit, while I know I'm against the grain, I preferred the mkII with a flat front. The pointy front just doesn't get on with my eyes. Obviously I prefer a MK1 given that I have bought one. 

[Guest]

Pretty sure the decision has been made. Not gunmetal grey, ermine white (an original ford colour, very slightly off white).

Ermine white example....

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Farnsbarns