Should you be willing to accept this mission.....

[John F]

Lonsdale?

[purplebargeken]

Noooooooppe!

[messerschmitt owner]

A fiat brava

[purplebargeken]

Nope. It is beige though, so should fit in perfectly and is a hatchback. 

[purplebargeken]

I went over to sunny Waltham Cross today to pick up the latest addition to the stable. The journey from my place was so brief and mundane it really doesn't warrant a story. I haz Mk4 Escort 1.3L in my life.

 

It's an '87 4 door, 1.3L and is virtually identical to my old mum's car (kind of why I bought it). It's dead easy to work on and is solid in all of the right places (including the rear arches). I can tell you a little story about Escort rear arches. Want to hear it?

 

Oh, okay then. My dad was a General Foreman at Halewood where said cars were produced for many years. He was at Fords from 1963 until his retirement in 1988. He was in charge of the body panel press shop and when he was on shift he ensured that the line workers ground away a small tang of metal that was superflous on the wheel arch panels and which never seemed to get the proper coating of paint. This extra bit (as far as he was concerned) was what led to a number of Escort suffering with the crusty wheel arch that we know and love. This Escort has no rust issues there, what might be the odds of this being one of 'his cars'. I like to think so as it makes me smile, especially as both of them have since passed away. I never had the chance to own my mums car as it was given to my nephew as his first car. I have lost touch, so I never knew what became of the car and I don't really want to check if I am honest.

 

There are a couple of immediate needs for this little car (which ran rather nicely):

 

Wiper blades

The window weather stripsfor all 4 doors

Rocker cover gasket

and the gear change is a little sloppy and imprecise, I believe there is a kit that you can get but all I have seen are for the 5 speed boxes.

 

Over the next couple of weeks I will go over it properly and give it a clean (even though it is quite tidy). It is MOT'd and taxed, so no immediate worries there. Photos to follow.

[Rocket88]

cvh lump [which always sounded like a large amount of scaffolding collapsing.................] ?

[purplebargeken]

That's the one. Indeed.

[John F]

Sounds like a good purchase, and a nice little story attached to it too.

[purplebargeken]

Photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oodles of boot space:

 

 

The interior is a bit more brown than this, I think the flash 'bleached' it out a bit:

 

 

 

Bits that need attention:

 

 

 

[garycox]

That's mega-grim. Nice work.

[purplebargeken]

Thanks, I think.

[purplebargeken]

Right, had a little play around with the Escrote today and have resolved the non-main beam O/S headlight flashiness, t'was just a dirty connection. All happy again. New wiper blade inserts fitted as well.

 

The outer weather strips are mostly replaced with Mk4 Fester one's. The Fester front one's have no notch for the fake rear 1/4 light pillar, so I just have to cut a section off and job done. They obviously aren't the same profile but it looks a whole lot better already.

 

Just got to find the spring that is supposed to be fitted to the gear lever somehow that stops it all being fluffy and vague. Should be an easy fix to either refit if it came loose or fit a new one, provided I can find one. 

 

I'll do the little body work odds and sods once summer decides to arrive........ at some point.

 

All good so far. 

[purplebargeken]

Arrgghhh! Can anyone help me out please. I urgently need two more front outer weather strips from a Mk4 Fester, doesn't matter if they are from a 3 or 5 door car, the lonegr one's will just get cut down. The rears aren't right but the fronts fit just dandy with a wee bit of surgery. The local scrappies don't have any and the one's on ebay only want to sell me a complete door. Yeah right.

 

Obviously happy to cover petrol, postage and payment, can do PP or send you a cheque or whatever. 

 

Cheers

 

Ken

[purplebargeken]

Got some. Crisis averted, normal service resumed.