The Autoshite holy grail is now one of us!

[Felly Magic]

Rear lamps seem to be rocking horse poo as well, found a n/s one at nearly £70 for a NOS example

 

 

http://www.retrofordinternational.com/ford-sierra-mk1-new-rear-light-5875-p.asp

[Felly Magic]

I've got a link here to Imperial at Castleford that lists a few Sierra bits, you never know like

 

http://www.autopanels-castleford.co.uk/webpages/Ford/ford%20sierra%2082-87.htm

[BorniteIdentity]

Not easy to come by mk1 dash Ive been looking too

This is because they are the same as the Cozzeh.

 

Expect to pay in the region of £800 uncracked.ie More than the whole car.

[fordperv]

There's a bloke on passionford that repairs them

[Parky]

I spent some time on it today with Rich. Rocker cover gasket was as thin and crispy as a Pringle and would have enjoyed similar oil retention capabilities. Plus some of the bolts were pretty loose which wouldn't have helped much either. Time will tell if the new one does the job.

 

No sludge in the engine though! Was expecting to find gunk and crap everywhere but it is as clean as a whistle under the cam cover. So that's good news.

 

Electrically I found corrosion in a few bulb holders, and the wrong bulbs in places. Cleaning and replacing seemed to bring them to life (mostly). Passenger side not as bright as the drivers side but working on demand. Headlights don't illuminate when you brake either so not completely fixed but improved. Hazard switch definitely needs replacing!

 

Some pics later but rest assured Rich is a chuffing good welder!! It's in very good hands

[Angrydicky]

Blimey, someone who's welding looks as shit as mine! perfect quality for this car though.

Erm, yeah. I'm trying my best with a completely knackered old SIP Migmate that needs fiddling with every five minutes to keep going, and inevitably some bits are going to look better than others. Trust me, it's all very solid and there's excellent penetration on 98% of it.

[RobT]

I spent a few hours with Richard and The Base earlier, and I didn't prove as useful as Parky. All I did was stand around a lot and clean one door card with some baby wipes, but it was good to see it and Dicky's neat handiwork with the wheel arch and sill weldage. EDW also turned up in his Primrose 75 and we managed a spin round the block in the Sierra. Despite the autochoke playing up it drives really well for a 30 odd year old car.

 

The bumper was attached before we drove it! I only managed a couple of pics, Richard and Stephen papped loads so will be along with more no doubt.

 

 

[RobT]

Erm, yeah. I'm trying my best with a completely knackered old SIP Migmate that needs fiddling with every five minutes to keep going, and inevitably some bits are going to look better than others. Trust me, it's all very solid and there's excellent penetration on 98% of it.

Looks 100% better than mine as I can't weld for shit!

[BorniteIdentity]

Proper Bo.

 

Please remember it has no MOT though.

 

(!)

[Angrydicky]

It's ok, I haven't forgotten!

 

If I can get hold of a new hazard/indicator switch, it'll have a new one soon enough I'd say

[Austin-Rover]

I remember seeing a Sierra graveyard on the outskirts of Halifax, wonder if it's still there?

 

Yes, I remember that place. All cleared out now though, sadly.

[Parky]

Ok, I know you have all been waiting for a shot of the Pinto with her top off. Well, here you go!

 

Not too shabby eh? Looks like the previous owner was fairly religious about changing the oil

[trigger]

There's a chap called Anton Martin who runs http://www.ascarspares.com. He's breaking a load of Sierras and should have the correct Mk1 rear bumper, give him a message and see what he's got.

 

The current one looks like a Orion or Escort Estate bumper.

[Parky]

The bumper repair was a work of genius. Nip down Homebase, pick up a few wood screws, mount the wrong bumper on top of a hot exhaust pipe so it melts, job done!

 

Also found a laissez faire attitude to the bulbs. Wrong one? Covered in rust? Nah, it'll be fine, jam it in and it'll be alright. Some contacts weren't great, a blast of contact cleaner helped but a bit of wet and dry in here would be a good idea. Lots of white powdery corrosion knocking around and cleaning a bit of that off made things work again. A new set of bulbs would help enormously although I found putting the correct type in the correct places helped a lot!

[Parky]

But what has gone well is the welding! Is very diligent our Angry Dicky.

 

Once that has pass from a flap wheel and a skim of filler, that will look perfect

[BorniteIdentity]

At least two of those incorrect bulbs will be my fault.

[Parky]

To be honest the bulbs were absolutely fine, but Ford put the holders in the wrong place.

 

You wouldn't have fitted one that looked like it had been pulled out of a canal would you?

[danthecapriman]

I use a fibreglass pen for cleaning up small electrical contacts like those bulb holders.

 

Like this, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Proops-Fibreglass-Scratches-weathering-modelling/dp/B00AQFBOOK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1466283494&sr=8-3&keywords=fibreglass+pens

 

They work really well and get the metal clean and shiny in no time. Good in small hard to get to places too. They're also good for cleaning up small stone chips and rust spots in paint before touching them in.

[BorniteIdentity]

To be honest the bulbs were absolutely fine, but Ford put the holders in the wrong place.

 

You wouldn't have fitted one that looked like it had been pulled out of a canal would you?

No. Mine were all new!

 

Thanks for taking time out of your weekend. Means a lot to see so many people giving a shit.

[Parky]

Was fun! Just wish I had bit more time and was still around when SD1 and Rob T rocked up

[RobT]

I'm sorry I wasn't more useful. I'm more than happy to pop back another day though with my cleaning gear, and give the trim a thorough going over (assuming that fits in with the preservation plans).

 

Seeing it in the flesh reminded me of the Datapost livery from the 80s. I wonder if the Post Office cars were Cardinal red too?

 

[EssDeeWon]

Where are those piccy's Dicky?  I was playing David Bailey in the back with those hardcore action Sierra shots.

 

Really surprised how nice this drives and how comfortable and roomy it was.

 

Sorry I missed you Parky.

[greengartside]

There's a chap called Anton Martin who runs http://www.ascarspares.com. He's breaking a load of Sierras and should have the correct Mk1 rear bumper, give him a message and see what he's got.

 

The current one looks like a Orion or Escort Estate bumper.

I can vouch for this - been to his yard and there are shit loads of Sierras there. There's also an A-plate XR3i in his yard, would that have the horn on the stalk instead of the wheel??

[adw1977]

Some fantastic work here!

 

I never realised that there were two completely different horn types. Looking back through the brochures, it seems L as well as Base buyers were punished with the stalk version until the face-lift for MY 1987.

[Angrydicky]

Day Four.

 

Today was slightly different to the last three Sierra tinkering days. Yes, I had welding to do but limited time to get the tools packed up, get the car back together and get it moved off the driveway and hidden away down the road while my parents showed some people around the house. 

 

Fortunately, Richard (Parky) very kindly offered to come and help me with some work on the Base. He turned up at 10, was happy to get his hands dirty and immediately started removing the rocker cover to replace the gasket, after a slight mishap where we thought the two different types of gasket BorniteIdentity bought were both too wide (they weren't) he got it back together with the fresh gasket and it's looking (touch wood) dry. Interestingly, being a very early Sierra it takes the narrower-edged Cortina gasket instead of the Sierra type one.The old one was clearly knackered so I'm very happy with that. He also had a go at sorting the electrics and got a few more of the lights working which was great. But I can see the state of the contacts in the rear bulb holders so I'll get all that cleaned up next week.

 

Here's the lovely dry cam cover after he had finished cleaning it up and reinstalled it. 

 

 

While Rich was spannering, I carried on with the welding and managed to weld up most of the door shut (just the bit at the very bottom left to do) before we had to put the interior back together, put the tools away and move the car down the road.

 

 

I said goodbye to Richard, then about 10 minutes later as I was just reversing the Sierra out of the drive RobT arrived in his newly-purchased Mitsubishi Colt. I think the Sierra got jealous of one of those modern Japanese hatchbacks as when I got back in the car, it wouldn't start. We took the air filter off and Rob manipulated the choke flap with a screwdriver - it was fully on which had flooded the engine. With the air intake opened up completely, it started straight up with a touch of throttle and idled ok. I then moved it down the road while Rob carried the bumper up to where the Sierra now was, which looked strangely amusing!

 

Not long after Rob arrived, Steve (EssDeeWon) turned up. We chatted about shite cars for a bit before we removed the column cowling, took the indicator switch apart and noted that not only was it really, really corroded inside but the hazard part of the switch wasn't doing the correct thing. It wasn't staying down when it should be off, so was live permanently, either lit up (and crackling) or if you moved it slightly the hazards would start operating. Not ideal, but we have another one on the way kind courtesy of Cortinaboy who upon hearing our plight, spent ages hunting through his spares to find one. 

 

We also refitted the rear bumper, this required drilling new holes in the new metal to put the self-tappers into. What a bodge this rear bumper is, to be honest I'd prefer to look for the correct MK1 item simply because the mountings on the MK2 one are completely different and it's resting on the exhaust tailpipe as it's only held at the side with crappy screws.

 

Here's some pics. Autoshite Southend meeting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Maestro would have been in shot but it wouldn't start...

 

Autoshite contrast:

 

 

 

 

I had a drive in Rob's new Mitsubishi, a lovely little thing that drove really well and was much better equipped than I was expecting, with PAS and electric windows.

 

 

We then all piled in to the Sierra and took it for a quick spin on my private test track.

 

 

 

I think Rob enjoyed his go behind the wheel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[trigger]

IMG_0572.JPG

 

Look at sexy door mirror!

[Spottedlaurel]

Great work team!

 

Do like the location of the photos too - I had/have various family members who live(d) on Essex estates with concrete roads just like that and we'd have visited them from the '70s onwards, so those cars parked-up on it look just right to me.

 

Like this one of my Grandad:

 

Sierra Sapphire at Bicknacre, 1991? by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[RobT]

IMG_0572.JPG

Look at sexy door mirror!

They are brilliant, such delicate looking danglies too. Richard said the PO was always careful to fold them in when parked, which no doubt saved them getting bashed. My Cavalier ones are fixed and they are cracked to buggery after being hit by many a twattish London driver.

[Parky]

Had a bit of a trawl around the bay today and found a couple of potentially useful bits. Whoever has the kitty should have a look at this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-sierra-mk1-driver-side-front-door-/361442826325?hash=item5427abd855:g:o0AAAOSwv-NWYK~a

[Parky]

And this

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-Mk1-Y-to-D-Reg-1982-1986-Passenger-Side-Near-Side-Rear-Light-/222145381196?hash=item33b8e5834c:g:e6AAAOSwKtVW1E8y