Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[DeeJay]

If this whole classic car bubble bursts as I fully expect it will soon, that Escort will actually be worth less when finished than the cost of the restoration.

I think most fully restored cars are now.

[danthecapriman]

Work on the Mexico will be starting soon when space is available in the fabrication shop.  At present its been stripped out and the remains of the shell braced to prevent further damage happening whilst its in storage.  Enough panels have arrived to make a start so I'll post a pic every now and then.

 

This is the worst car we've taken on.  It'll be a big challenge to get this thing straight and solid again.  

 

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Christ that things hanging!!

Has it already distorted much just from the extent of the rot and moving it around?

 

Great to see it saved though.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

A good thread as always.

[SiC]

If this whole classic car bubble bursts as I fully expect it will soon, that Escort will actually be worth less when finished than the cost of the restoration.

But if the owner has owned it from new, cost maybe irrelevant due to emotional attachment. Especially if he/she has absolutely zero intension of selling.

 

Just discovered this thread and going through it. One of those AS gold threads.

 

To me, it reminds me why it's always said when buying classics, is to buy the best you can possibly afford. Those that have been "restored" may still not have been done properly. Depends entirely on who did it, initial condition and how much money and time have been spent on it.

 

Also makes me to really want to learn to weld and understand how to do metal work fully myself.

[Spottedlaurel]

Deeply impressive.

 

I would dearly love for the Laurel to get this treatment one day. Although ostensibly a smart, tidy car I bet there's plenty of grot festering away in all those hidden places......

[DSdriver]

I'm not sure there is a classic bubble, just prices rising aligned to restoration costs. But I haven't been paying attention so may be wrong. The last big crash in prices came after stock market investors thought they could make a quick buck, and some did. Those that were late to the party got caught with their trousers down. A friend of mine bought a Jensen Interceptor for five grand off a chap who, hoping for a quick profit, had fifty grand finance on it. My friend then struggled to sell it for ages because the market was so dire.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

If this whole classic car bubble bursts as I fully expect it will soon, that Escort will actually be worth less when finished than the cost of the restoration.

 

 

 

But it's a Mark 1 Mexico, and Ford aren't making any more. Given a lottery win, this is one of the first things I'd buy. I would imagine the shell along will cost 20k to do - must be 5k worth of panels.

 

I wonder when new Mark 1 shells will become available - can't be far away now with the values of these things.

[danthecapriman]

Given a lottery win, this is one of the first things I'd buy.

Back in the 70's and 80's and even the 90's that sentence would have sounded insane! Disturbingly it's now true.

 

 

I'm not so sure the costs would matter to many enthusiasts tbh. I've spent way more on my Capri than it's worth at the end but that's because I love the car and do it regardless.

If I'm honest, I've got little sympathy for the so called 'collectors' who buy old classics as an investment. They are half the reason prices are like they are and certain cars are off limits to normal people. It's also sad to see a car bought up and squirrelled away as purely an investment by some toff! They should be out and about being used, even if it is only occasionally summer Sunday drives and shows.

If they buy poorly or get burnt doing it then that's just their too bad as far as I'm concerned.

[Pete-M]

 

I wonder when new Mark 1 shells will become available - can't be far away now with the values of these things.

New Mk2 shells are already available.

[mk2_craig]

They're supposed to be shite though aren't they? If you were building a concours car you couldn't just paint it straight away and put all the bits back on, metalwork apparently needs plenty faffing around with first.

[vulgalour]

Money no object I'd spent insane amounts of it getting my cars right and sod the return investment. It's really nice to see this level of work being done to any car, especially stuff that was once moderately ordinary.

[TripleRich]

Another day of progress has been made.  Plan was to complete as many repairs as possible to the area behind the rear valence.

As you can see there is a small panel that sits above the spare wheel well and its quite rotten.  The part of the wheel well it attaches to is also rotten.  I also decided that it was worth the extra time to replace the side of the spare wheel well.  It is reasonably solid but the part of it behind the towing eye will certainly have some rot.  There was also some dents I couldn't bash out of it.  Better to chop it out and repair while I'm here...

Made the right decision, quite a mess...

The panel is 1mm thick and flat so easy to make.  I re-spot welded the towing eye back on after treating it with rust converter and wire wheeling all the crap off it.  Much nicer looking now...

Its a thin panel so easy to warp so gently does it with the welding.  We have two mig welders with two wire sizes so for stuff like this I use the thinner 0.6 wire.  Lest grinding required and less heat although harder to use.

Next I remade the rotten part of the small panel and also remade the edge of the wheel well so it has something to attach to.  Then I checked that outer valence still fitted correctly.  This was a bugger to make as its small and has a complex shape.  I need to finish up the welding on it and reinstate the flange for the rear quarter panel next to it.  Then I have some changes to make on the outer valence as it for a mk2 and the mk1 is different.  I'll do that next time.

Things are now looking much better here.  Glad I decided to replace that part of the wheel well, looks much better for it.

[TripleRich]

Another day of fabrication completed.  Got quite a bit done today as I completely lost track of time and didn't leave until 7:30pm...

Started things off with completing the repairs I made last week to the inner valence area.  I then painted it along with anything else that will be hidden by the outer valence.

Next the outer valence itself needed some changes as its for a Mk2 Granada.  The Mk2 has holes in it and the Mk1 doesn't so they need to filled in to make this correct for my car.  Many wouldn't bother doing this as the holes are hidden by the rear bumper.  I think its important to take the time for little details like this so went ahead and made the changes.

Quite a delicate and time consuming job but it came out well in the end. 

 

With the valence now sorted and painted on the inside it can be fitted to the car.  I spot welded as much as possible and then puddle welded the rest.  Being careful with the previous repairs ensured that the panel was a good fit on the car.

With that done I turned to the last big hole left on the outside of the car.  I have a repair panel for this so took it back to bare metal and trimmed it to fit the hole.

I welded it in being careful not to the warp it and ground the welds down.  I've still got some more work to do on this but time had well and truly run out for today.

Moved the car back out of the fabrication shop and took a breather figuring out where to go next.  Plan is to finish the metalwork by the end of the year.  At the present pace I'll be able to do it but maintaining the pace is becoming difficult.  Will see what happens...

[danthecapriman]

Beautiful work Rich, it's really coming on. All those hours will be rewarded at the finished product!

[Felly Magic]

I dread to think how much my mate spent on his M reg Lada Samara, but I bet it wasn't much shy of £5k, it was around a grand just for the parts, then there was the welding, fitting the new parts, full respray, and ended up with a car worth about £1500, same goes for his FSO125P, that had a fortune spent on it, but it's a left hooker, so worth buttons here.

 

I'm avidly watching that nutter in Southport with a severe Cortina mk3 fetish going through yet another basket case nut and bolt resto, he has another 2 door waiting to be done, and recently he bought yet another engineless shell that had been sat in a field for at least 2 decades, he is off the clock nuts

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Excellent quality work as ever. This is a good thread - thanks for updating it.

[TripleRich]

I've now finished most of the repairs at the back of the car.  Last thing left to do was to pull out the join between the repairs on the offside so the lines of the car flow through it all properly.  Repairing existing panels with parts like this causes problems when trying to get the panel straight again.  This one has come out quite well so shouldn't need very much filler at all when its time to paint.

Next I took the door back off and finished up the welding on the A & B post for the new sill.

Then I could put the bottom of the kick well panel back on.  I had removed it to allow easier access to the floor repairs behind it.  The rusty bit attached to it is the part of the original panel that was attached to the old sill strengthener.  Now its out of the car I can replace that bit.

I used the bead roller to remake the small pressing in this part of the panel.  Very handy bit of kit, saves hours of hammering.

I then welded the panel back on making sure its attached to the floor, inner sill, sill strengthener and gave it a lick of paint.

I'll finish up the A post once that paint has dried.  All that remains is to remake the closer that finishes the bottom off.  Whilst the paint was drying I spun the car onto its side and started to look at whats left of the chassis leg.  I've already done a very similar repair to the other side so fingers crossed this one only needs the same amount of work.

After chopping off most of the outer panel the inner strengthener can be seen.  It looks quite unpleasant but most of the rot is from the panel I've just removed.  With any luck it should clean up ok.

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Nice work Triplerich; it's good to see the job being done the way it should be. Keep up the good work.

[Junkman]

Even if I apply a very, very favourable rate, the bill would now stand at roughly 15 bags.

[TripleRich]

I'm in a fortunate position doing this for a living.  If I didn't have the job then I'd have probably have sold it as I couldn't afford to restore this thing even on mates rates.  I was a bit blind when I bought the car and didn't really know how knackered it really was.

 

I may be saving a ton of cash but it does come at a price.  I've been on that car almost every Saturday for over a year now and any time off I have is often spent on car.  I keep a picture in my head of the finished car when I'm working on it to keep the motivation going.  This thread also helps a lot too so thank you all for your interest and comments.  

 

If I can get the metalwork done by the end of the year I'll be very happy.  Another year of work after that should have it on the road...

[danthecapriman]

Your doing a superb job on it Rich, it's great to see your pics and progress too so thanks for taking time to post them on top of actually doing the work.

It will be worth all the time and blood sweat and tears at the end! I expect it'll be the best Granny around at that point too.

[Jim Bell]

Not just a great thread, but a great insight into the restoration trade. Great work dude.

[adw1977]

I can only agree, it's a really interesting thread.

[TripleRich]

I continued with the A post on the passenger side today.  Needed to make the closer at the bottom as there was noting left of the original.  Its quite a complex shape but after a few hours work I had something that looked pretty close to the original.

Before fitting it I rolled the car upside down and took the opportunity to paint the inside of the heavily repaired A post with POR.  Using the gap at the bottom and the limited access inside I applied plenty of paint and followed up with blasts of compressed air.  I then had lunch while the paint crept down the post and meet the seam for the scuttle.  That spot always rots so I wanted to be sure I'd protected it.

I then put the closer on and began to weld it in.

I followed up with painting the inside of the closer and also painted the outside.  This A post is now complete and will receive seam sealer and stone guard later on. 

Elsewhere in the workshop work has been started on the Mexico.  As said previously the rot in this one is very terminal.  First job was to remove as much as we could get away with and then begin to fit the new panels using a factory diagram of the shell, the windscreen and some luck.

Its heading in the right direction.  The panels are not fully welded to allow easy removal for adjustment.

We will attempt to save as much of the original panel work as possible including front & rear wings, roof, rear body structure and one of the doors.  Everything else really does just need replacing.

In the assembly shop I've been putting a Capri back together and had to tackle my first vinyl roof replacement.  Not as hard as I thought it might be, quite happy with the results..

 

[Jim Bell]

I dont think you could make a better advert for the shop than this thread man. Shame its viewership is restricted to a bunch of wide-eyed and potless tat enthusiasts.

[Pillock]

I can only imagine my first attempt at a vinyl roof would have involved chemical burns, smashed glass, an insurance claim and a sheet of vinyl stuck to the workshop rafters. That looks perfect!

[danthecapriman]

Stirling work as ever!

Granny's coming on nicely.

The Capri is just gorgeous, and you've nailed the roof. Looks spot on. I need a new one on my Mercury when your done...

 

That Escort is something else though! If it wasn't what it is that would be game over. Great work on it though, it'll be good to see it progress.

[schonker]

You are a talented man Rich

[DeeJay]

The Granny is looking that good Wayne Rooney going to be after it.

I do like a vinyl roof. The Capri always looks better with one.

[mk2_craig]

Wow. That Escort is essentially just a good roof to which a load of replacement metal can be attached. I'm sure the finished article will be cracking, eventually, but if the owner was me, I wouldn't be able to ignore that feeling that the bodyshell was essentially a replica.

 

However. At least it didn't just end up on eBay as a ringing kit, that's one less stolen motor I suppose.