Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[RoadworkUK]

I love it when I turn my back on Autoshite for a day or so and return to find miracle resto threads have materialised!

 

Top work! I should imagine that the 2.3 will make for a very relaxing cruiser.  Glorious.

[overrun]

Awesome. These are very handsome cars.

I look forward to the updates.

[TripleRich]

The scuttle looked fine on the surface.  Worth checking under both corners when this much work is being done though.  Drainage in these areas on fords is crap and to make things worse they used a special absorbent seam sealer which rots things out nicely.

So after carefully removing the scuttle corner I cut out the ruined top skin which you can see above in my hand.  The layer below that was then repaired and a new skin put over the top of it.  Everything then painted with POR-15.

I made various other bits and pieces before welding the whole lot back on.  The same job was also done to the other side.

 

[danthecapriman]

Brilliant work your doing there, very impressive!

I know exactly what you mean with Fords of this generation rotting out in that area, I've had to do the same on my mk2 Granada which was a right state on both sides. Took me ages to put it right on the drive!

This is what greeted me on removing the wings.

 

 

 

My mk2 Capri is a similar story too.

 

[TripleRich]

Its a shame they all rot there and its a bugger to repair properly.  At least on a Capri you can get the panel.  This is a 3.0s we're doing for a customer.  Unfortunately for him we had to cut most of his car off before we could start to repair it.

 

[danthecapriman]

That's very similar to what's happening to my mk2. New front wings (new unused Ford parts) inner wing/A post panels, sills, rear quarters, door skins etc etc. Its been stripped to a bare metal shell then primed for the repairs to start so far.

I'm not doing this one myself though, way way too much to try at home I think! To be honest though, I think it was a good move farming the work out as it's uncovered a lot of damage, shitty past repairs and rust that I hadn't found.

It'll be worth it in the end though, I love these cars and although my capri will be staying fairly close to it's factory spec as a 1.6 L I really don't care how much time it takes or what it costs! To me the car is worth keeping at all costs!

 

I did find when I did my Granada that parts are not that easy to get anymore, body panels for my estate were almost non existent. Even the reproduction sill I did manage to get were the complete wrong shape. I didn't bother with them in the end and welded the originals instead. I even had to order a rust free used bonnet from Germany in the end as I just couldn't find any here. The A post and inner wings in that pic above I had to make up from scratch, although you can still get the long top piece the outer wing bolts to.

I suppose the Granada isn't mainstream enough to be worth re manufacturing much for.

[cort16]

I fixed a bit of the outer scuttle on my cortina as it has holed but couldn't bring myself to look at what was underneath.

 

 

[TripleRich]

Worth getting the car done properly.  Theres only so much you can do on the driveway and you wont get to everything that needs doing.  Worth restoring it properly and once, with a decent coat of underseal, cavity wax, regular use and covered storage the car will last a lifetime.

 

Its getting harder and harder to find stuff for these old Fords.  Granada panels are getting very expensive.  An original front wing is anywhere from £500 to £800 depending on condition.  Some remade panels are available from ex-pressed steel but it's a limited selection.  Trim is just silly money and interior is almost non existent.  I'm very lucky to have found a car with most of the spares included.

 

Compare that to my mates SD1.  He can get almost any panel he wants cheaply straight from Rimmer Bros.  Still in the same boat as me when it comes to trim and interior though.

[danthecapriman]

Worth getting the car done properly.  Theres only so much you can do on the driveway and you wont get to everything that needs doing.  Worth restoring it properly and once, with a decent coat of underseal, cavity wax, regular use and covered storage the car will last a lifetime.

 

Its getting harder and harder to find stuff for these old Fords.  Granada panels are getting very expensive.  An original front wing is anywhere from £500 to £800 depending on condition.  Some remade panels are available from ex-pressed steel but it's a limited selection.  Trim is just silly money and interior is almost non existent.  I'm very lucky to have found a car with most of the spares included.

 

Compare that to my mates SD1.  He can get almost any panel he wants cheaply straight from Rimmer Bros.  Still in the same boat as me when it comes to trim and interior though.

Definitely.

On the Capri I knew certain areas were bad but it's only once the 40 odd years of paint, filler and sealer are stripped away you can see what you really have. In my case it became a bit of an eye opener!

If I'd done it at home a good chunk of the bad stuff could of easily been missed and re-covered by a new expensive paint job leaving the grot to keep festering beneath.

The way I'm looking at it is that if I do this now it'll be essentially as good as a new Capri afterwards and it's easier to keep it waxed and protected from there than constantly doing running repairs and chasing rust around the car. Do it once and do it right!

 

The prices are getting insane for these old Fords. The two new unused genuine front mk2 wings I got for the Capri were £600 (I think!) many years ago. I knew I'd need them eventually so just bought them and stored them safely. They've been a real boost for this resto as they are so hard to find now, but I dread to think what they'd cost me today.

[cort16]

The SD1's have the advantage of rimmers buying the left over from the Indian SD1 production but even thats thinning out.

You can buy a full restoration kit on their website for 1200 quid 

[TripleRich]

I pulled off the temporarily fitted front end panels and prepared for welding the whole thing together.  Each panel was then sand blasted and painted with POR-15.  I also grafted the original body number from the old inner wing onto the new one.

I must have sat there measuring the position of each wing for ages, but there comes a point where you have to bit the bullet and get the spot welder out.  I did a few puddle welds too as the were a few places where the spot welder couldn't get to.

[TripleRich]

With both inner wings now attached I moved onto the face of the car.  Everything was spot welded were possible with puddle welds for the hard to reach areas.

Some of the panels needed some persuasion but in the end it all came together.  The front valence is next, but it needs some repairs as its had a previous life on another car.

[danthecapriman]

Really impressive work. Such a result having all the panels to do it properly too. Keep the updates coming!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

This is going to be genuinely superb.

[TripleRich]

Next on the list was the front valence.  The one I had was a genuine Ford item but it had been used to repair another car many years ago.  It fitted but I had to repair the edges and get rid of all the old paint.  Took a while to get it to fit properly as the valence and bumper form a mouth which looks really bad if the valence isn't straight.

I also cleaned up the welds on the font end, fitted a new battery tray and painted all the repaired areas with POR-15

At this point I could trial fit some trim and make it look like a car again.  Gave me a real boost doing this, hours of looking at rust gets to you after a while.

 

[danthecapriman]

That looks really good all reassembled. Did it all line up ok after the welding and new inner wings?

What colour are you going to paint it when the time comes?

[TripleRich]

It lined up quite well.  The wings are bolted on so you have some adjustment there.  The inner wings were measured loads before I welding them on and all the panels had been previously screwed on to check for alignment.  I'll be painting it back into it's original colour which is carnival red.  Easiest way to describe it is tomato soup, in the light its very bright.

 

 

[Parky]

This is great work TripleRich, very impressive stuff. Nice to see it's likely to remain the original colour too, should be a cracker when it's finished

[junkyarddog]

Fantastic work,

I really really want a MK1 Granada

[Pete-M]

I had one of these around 1990. White, P reg. Cost me £100. Unfortunately it was terminally rotten and I killed the V6 on the Formby bypass.

 

It felt cool as, cruising round in that when my mates all had Novas, MG Metros etc.

 

Marvelous machines. Bravo sir.

[Guest Old geezer]

Excellent stuff and coming along so well - thanks for the link by the way and I shall be following this all the way.    (Graham from Lakeside)   

[Brodders]

I have just caught up with this thread and have to mirror what the others have said, it will be amazing when it is all done.

 

Although I do have to ask, what has happened to the engine? Is it still in a decent state or will it take a lot of work to get it up to scratch in that department?

[TripleRich]

So far I haven't looked at the engine.  Its totally dismantled and is all in bags following a rebuild it had some years ago with the previous owner.  I'm not sure what was done but i'm told its all original and given the mileage I guess it probably just had honing and cleaning done to it.  I know the place that did the work and they do a great job so fingers crossed. 

 

Its sealed up in bags and from what I can see through the plastic it hasn't rusted.  With any luck I should be able to put it back together when the time comes.

[Felly Magic]

Great progress on the old Granny, not seen a coupe in a while

[TripleRich]

More progress, well I say progress but this has put me back somewhat as I wasn't expecting what you're about to see.  Decided to move onto the sills, rotten at either end but otherwise they looked alright.

I've got genuine covers so I can cut these ones off and clean the inside up and fit the new covers, nice easy job...

Hmm, lot of rust falling out behind this...

Bugger, the entire strengthener has turned to powder.  I'll cut it off and see what the inner sill and jacking point look like.

Shit....

 

[Pete-M]

The A post on mine looked a bit like that.

[TripleRich]

Sorting out the sills was going to be a pain with the car on its wheels.  The rear subframe mountings are very close to the metal I need to cut out and most of the work would have to be done on my back getting covered in crap.

So after a word with the boss I have secured a body roller for the car.

This makes life so much easier and more importantly ensures that the repairs are done properly.  I cut off anything sill related including the outriggers and some previous repairs working right back to the edge of the floorpan.  The full extent of the corrosion can now be seen so the floor will need some repairs before any new panels can go on.  A new jacking point will also need making as these were never made available as a spare.

 

 

[danthecapriman]

Fantastic work as ever, really thorough!

I'm deeply deeply envious of your facilities too.

[Felly Magic]

Bumhattyarsecrispycochwhisks. That is a nasty setback. 

[vulgalour]

That rust's unpleasant to see.  Still, there's a lot of car to weld to and judging by the work on the noise end already done you'll have no bother with it.