Project Memoirs: Bornite’s All Red Fleet

[Timewaster]

Disappointing.

 

They are without a doubt the best looking chopped hatch cabrio with the possible exception of R8 Rovers and one of very few that can be driven without having to hand your Man card back to the authorities.

 

(Pedants. I know the 306 and Astra is based on the saloon not the hatch).

 

A split hose would be my guess too but I suppose it is possible to have over pressurised in some way.

 

2,19 and 26 please.

[Guest Hooli]

Just thinking aloud, a small leak that's got worse with use would explain it being a twat recently as the fluid level dropped & the pressure became erratic.

[worldofceri]

Identify leak.

Call Pirtek out.

Hand over cash.

Job dun.

[cort16]

I had a SAAB that had this problem. What a fucking nightmare there was about 900 microswitches anyone of which can throw the thing into a massive spasm. Disconnecting the motor might not be easy as on the saab there's a fucking huge spring in the boot, which helps it go up. I'm not sure you could put it down without the motors help.

 

Just chompy snake it and cover the roof in filler.

[BorniteIdentity]

 

2,19 and 26 please.

http://autoshite.com/topic/28567-be-safe-be-seen-peugeot-306-cabriolet-phase-3/

[Eddie Honda]

Ask ruffgeezer?

 

There are 8 hoses, two of which like to chafe. I think RG changed those two on mine.

[BorniteIdentity]

I'm taking the Sierra along to the Earls Barton Classic Car Meet tonight.  I think it was Jifflemon who suggested that the car needs an information card, so I've written a little something to take along.

 

Thoughts?  I think it fits the spirit of the car and this website well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello.

 

I know.  

 

At first glance, it looks like I don’t belong here.  

 

I’m acutely aware that I stand out like the proverbial Fart in a Lift, and that my best days are probably behind me.  I know my wheels are small and my appeal smaller - that my rear bumper is from a Nissan and that the dent in my side makes you wince.  I’ve heard it all before.

 

However, as the most unremarkable car here, my story is anything but.  I think it’s worthy of being told.

 

Far from being a cherished garage queen, I’ve spent the majority of my life ‘earning my keep’.  Among other things, I’ve been a taxi, a decorators van and transport to an evangelical church on a Sunday.  My previous owner didn’t maintain me, more ‘sustain’ me.  (My windscreen wiper mechanism used to feature a dishcloth from the kitchen, and I’ve only got two matching wheels.)  What is miraculous though, is that I still exist.

 

A bit like the demise of “The Corrs”, nobody can quite put their finger on the exact moment that all Ford Sierras disappeared from the roadside. Gradually though, they did - only to reappear years later as callously ‘improved’ Cosworth replicas or as Rumbelows Fridge Freezers.  

 

However, something extraordinary happened to me.

 

Nothing. I just kept on being used.  Driven as intended.  I’ve aged gracefully without interference or improvement, and have been ‘just a car’ for nearly 35 years now.    

 

As I gently slipped from middle to old age, something else happened.  People would come to see me.  Not at shows or in museums, but at the side of an anonymous looking road in Clapton, North London.  People would travel miles - just to see ME!  I know right?! Madness.

 

If this is the first time you’ve seen one like me, here’s my Curriculum Vitae:

 

• 1.6 pinto with (count them) 4 gears

• No radio

• No cigarette lighter

• No headrests

• No rear windscreen wiper

• No intermittent front wipers

• No clock

• No central locking

• No electric windows

• No rev counter

• No wheel trims (just hub caps)

• No body mouldings or rubbing strips

• No rear seat belts

 

And of course I have the iconic

 

• Grey grille

• Dangly mirrors

 

 

I am the absolute antithesis of the Ford Sierra Cosworth.  Everything IT is, I am not. In reality, the Ford Sierra Base had the accolade of being both unloved by the buying public AND the dealers who tried to sell us.  I was rare then, and I’m unheard of now.

 

In 2016 I was purchased by a consortium of masochists from the Autoshi*e car forum, in order to be saved from an uncertain future.  I have had considerable work done recently in order to secure my viability for the future, none of which has or ever will be cosmetic.  Please rest assured that, whilst looking a bit worse for wear, I am loved dearly by my new owner.  You can follow my (lack of) progress at https://sierrabase.wordpress.com

 

I am now enjoying my retirement in leafy and salubrious Cambridgeshire, a far cry from the rough and tumble of North London.

 

As my owner always says, “I am what I am”.  A forgotten curiosity of the 1980s.  Think of me as white dog poo; just a bit more enjoyable to step into.  (Only by a fine margin).

 

[danthecapriman]

That is brilliant! And a much more entertaining light hearted read than most of the info boards you see at car shows. The Sierra Base is not to be ashamed of.

 

I'd love to get a pic of this next to it's slightly older sibling at some point, my Capri Base!

[Asimo]

I've logged-on just so that I can like that!

[Guest Hooli]

That's brilliant.

[Split_Pin]

That's excellent, everyone who reads that will leave with a good feeling!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Great write-up. You could easily write for a car magazine with your command of words

The bASe is infinitely more deserving of time, effort (money) and respect than any of those money-no-object, fully rebuilt show queens out there. Dear old thing.

[somewhatfoolish]

Rumbelows; a name from the past, like Radio Rentals and(if you're scottish) Glens, Hutchison, Robertsons and Stepek!

[Felly Magic]

That is a brilliant write up for the Buttery biscuit bASe

[BorniteIdentity]

Err... Is this a MK1 bumper?

 

If so it will be mine.

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152608113163

[Shep Shepherd]

Looks like a mark 2 bumper; the swage line gives it away. 

[Rod/b]

Don't think so, mk 1 lower models are flat on the top

[BorniteIdentity]

Gah.

 

Finding one within 200 miles in poverty grey is proving impossible. You can see why it ended up as it is.

 

Thanks guys.

 

In other news I've just bought a NSF wing. Eventually, it will be needed - and nothing is becoming easier to obtain.

[fordperv]

Definately a mk2 bumper in the link

[BorniteIdentity]

Definately a mk2 bumper in the link

That's a shame. I have nothing really to compare to as it's got something Asian on the car atm!

 

Just found a good 2nd hand door for £40 too.

[Shep Shepherd]

I hope that you find a replacement, as to me the car looks really odd with the random Far Eastern bumper fitted to it, even more so in real life. I used to see it quite a lot when Dicky had it, so I speak from experience ^^

 

I reckon that there's a long-forgotten mark 1 with a decent rear bumper residing in a scrapyard in the Highlands just waiting for a Shiter to stumble upon it

[egg]

Could try the Sierra owners club for a bumper?

 

Or ask one of our Bulgarian members to drag this back!

 

www.carmarket.bg/ford-sierra-1.6i-1934735

[Shep Shepherd]

^

That's a 'Laser' special edition, which I recall was considered rather cool and stylish in my part of east Kent back in the day, as was its Escort equivalent. That one probably started its life in West Germany 

[Vantman]

Is this bumper any good? Just up the road from me if it is.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-REAR-BUMPER-NOS-/201961172704?

[Shep Shepherd]

That looks more like it. Looks like it was intended for an early Ghia, due to the trim holes on the upper part. I wonder if they can be filled?

[egg]

^

That's a 'Laser' special edition, which I recall was considered rather cool and stylish in my part of east Kent back in the day, as was its Escort equivalent. That one probably started its life in West Germany

Indeed, my dad had an MK3 escort laser in East Kent

[Felly Magic]

Correct spec, and you can buy vinyl paint in rattle cans

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-MK1-REAR-BUMPER-HATCHBACK-GOOD-USED-CONDITION-BLUE-COLLECTION-ONLY/182640004615?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3D5a6eeee05d7f4bf38c7e139ea15fddc9%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D182640001658

[Felly Magic]

That looks more like it. Looks like it was intended for an early Ghia, due to the trim holes on the upper part. I wonder if they can be filled?

That is deffo from an early Mk2, no mk1s had swage lines in, and those holes are where the trim strip clips in

[Shep Shepherd]

Correct spec, and you can buy vinyl paint in rattle cans

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-MK1-REAR-BUMPER-HATCHBACK-GOOD-USED-CONDITION-BLUE-COLLECTION-ONLY/182640004615?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3D5a6eeee05d7f4bf38c7e139ea15fddc9%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D182640001658

 

From the same seller, presumably from the same car. Aerodynamic moss included at no extra cost:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-MK1-FRONT-BUMPER-GRILLE-BASE-SMALL-HEADLIGHT-TYPE-CASH-COLLECTION/182639997288?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44762%26meid%3D79a071d1020a408d8329978871c35746%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D182640004615

 

Buy both, and you'll have a matching pair!

[BorniteIdentity]

The problem is it's a 250 mile round trip to NORTH.

 

If I'm traveling that distance I may as well go to the bespoke Sierra breaker I know in Lancs.

 

Please do keep your eyes open though. Ta.