New addition - and another!

[Ratdat]

Ghias had the same spec engines as Sports-Twin choke Weber,4-Branch manifold etc.I think the rare ones were the 2-door Ghias,had the chance to buy one many years ago,but it was only a 1300 so I didn't bother

Yeah, I noticed it had a four branch... I wasn't sure if that was stock or not.

[Mike D]

That Escort is lovely Ed. 5 looks smart too

[Ratdat]

That Escort is lovely Ed. 5 looks smart too

RWD GR8 4 DRFTN M8 Did you get my email?

[55bloke]

That escort must be a very smart buy- if it's a reasonably solid shell, it's going to be worth silly money in a few years, surely? I never really liked the Mk 2 Escort, it always struck me as a non-design! I.e. it looked like Ford had selected the design perametors- stuff like length, height, wheelbase, etc, and then just joined the dots with straight lines, whereas the Mk 1 looked like someone had actually bothered to consider the aesthetics too! Having said that, the passage of time has slightly changed my view- it's a nice, simple, tidy and well proportioned little motor. Vastly preferable to virtually all the modern "family runabouts."

[Owain-328i]

Doesn't the Escrote auto carry some extra points with the rally boys for having a larger transmission tunnel?

yes thats very true, this has the very desirable larger tranny tunnel (GR8 4 COSWORTH CONVERSIONS), if it were a 3 door, he'd be looking at retiring sometime around next week. Still a nice find though. Only thing to watch on that engine is the timing belt, get the waterpump done while youre at it!Lovely car.

[garycox]

if it were a 3 door

...it would be an estate

[155V6]

Timing belt on 1600 ohv engine?

[Owain-328i]

if it were a 3 door

...it would be an estate

Oh ok then a 2 door smarty pants!

[Ratdat]

Only thing to watch on that engine is the timing belt, get the waterpump done while youre at it!Lovely car.

It's a crossflow so no need to worry about those new fangled timing belts. For some reason I always thought these would be pinto powered. Just shows how little I know about Fords

[155V6]

I think the Mk 2 Mexico was the only Escort with a 1600 Pinto,I could be wrong though

[Ratdat]

Anyone know what the difference would be between the Mk2 Escort Ghia crossflow and one from a Mk2 Cortina 1600E? My local scrap metal merchant has a 1600E engine sat in his yard which might be a useful spare.

[155V6]

Engine should be the same,not sure about sump etc?

[Owain-328i]

Only thing to watch on that engine is the timing belt, get the waterpump done while youre at it!Lovely car.

It's a crossflow so no need to worry about those new fangled timing belts. For some reason I always thought these would be pinto powered. Just shows how little I know about Fords

Oh its a crossflow is it!! yes i too thought it was a pinto!

[Richard]

Pinto doesn't fit in the Mk2 without a modified sump. I think the RS models had an alloy sump but the bodge method was to bash the sump with a hammer so it would clear the crossmember.

[Mr Lobster]

Excellent car buying skillz there! R5 looks lovely, seller definately didn't describe it well enough on ebay. Andrew who runs www.r5gordini.co.uk might be worth contacting for parts as he certainly did have a lot!

 

Liking the Escort, £375 seems very cheap even though it needs a bit of work.

[Split_Pin]

B-H thats a great bargain - love the lower spec R5's.Would spottage of an early dash-shift one be classified as 'grail'?

[wuvvum]

The new motors seem to be coming thick and fast this year. I've just agreed to buy another I local fella stopped outside my gate this morning and made me an interesting offer. Went round to check it out a little while ago and have now agreed to but this for £375. Needs a few bits of rust fixing, a bonnet and a headlight but is generally quite sound and fairly low mileage...

 

 

Now I just have to find the £375

That's identical to my old one (XBR313R, wonder where it is now?), 'cept for mine was a manual. That old thing went like shit off a shovel and left many a Corsa and Saxo eating its dust. Eventually melted a piston at 110mph (indicated) on the A47 (think the previous owner had been running it on 95 octane unleaded, although I used 98 plus Millers VSP) and swapped it for a Vanden Plas 1500 auto, which was, erm, not quite as quick...

 

Looks like the values have gone up even for four-doors though - I paid £350 for mine with T&T, about three years ago.

 

[mr-reno-139]

no good me commenting on fords either but will add a few words on stuff i am familiar with firstly all mk1 1108 tl and gtls 5s with 5sp box had deeper bumper as standard (late 81on models)next NB,s offer of his r5 steelies wont clear the disc calipers or disc mounting bolts as his R5L is 845 with front drums any way excellent purchase and may also have bits lying around or advice should you need it

[Guest Kyle]

Anyone know what the difference would be between the Mk2 Escort Ghia crossflow and one from a Mk2 Cortina 1600E? My local scrap metal merchant has a 1600E engine sat in his yard which might be a useful spare.

From memory it was just the sump and pick up.

[Ratdat]

next NB,s offer of his r5 steelies wont clear the disc calipers or disc mounting bolts as his R5L is 845 with front drums any way excellent purchase and may also have bits lying around or advice should you need it

Damn Could do with a right hand tail light lens abd a left number plate light if you have them!

[mr-reno-139]

should have both will check sat now need to know make of rear indicator/tail lamp Cibie or Frankani oh and is it no plate lense or base you need ?

[Ratdat]

should have both will check sat

now need to know make of rear indicator/tail lamp Cibie or Frankani

 

 

oh and is it no plate lense or base you need ?

I'll have a look at what type they are in the morning. The black plastic part of the number plate late light has distorted a bit, presumably from having too high a wattage bulb in it...

 

 

Also need a left hand sill trim, a right hand headlight and a decent grille. The chrome bits are bad on mine. There's a whole list of bits I'll probably need TBH

[Mash]

Now you see what a mistake it was to clear all that space - the temptation to fill it with old tat is just too overwhelming!The Scrote looks a damn good buy to me. I always liked the Mk2 Ghia. I nearly bought one a few years ago from a guy my dad knows but he just wanted too much money for it - not because of scene tax; he just thought it was worth a lot more than it was. Mind you, he'd had it since new so I think it was quite a wrench.

[Ratdat]

Amazingly, I do actually now have enough space to get both of the new 'uns indoors with the others. The only cars outside now are the Mazda 323 and Renault 11. Bernie is about to start using the latter as a daily and the former is getting sold. That'll just leave my Terrano R3M, Pony and Vel Satis outside, none of which need to be stored indoors. The Terrano will also be getting sold soon too. Must be the first time ever that I've actually managed to get every single old car I have indoors! After some major tidying up I even managed to get five cars in my parts shed!

[retrogeezer]

Escort is a top score - well worth £375 as you well know.A mate of mine when I was younger had an R reg 1.3 Ghia in Signal Orange. His dad was MD of the local Ford garage and it was traded in by and old fella with about 10k on the clock (this was in 1988ish) Lucky barsteward.