Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[Dick Dastardly]

Sterling work as ever Triplerich; is that another Granada in the background by any chance??

[TripleRich]

Yes thats one of the Granadas we have in progress at the moment.  That particular one is a Mk2 Granada Sport.  

[TripleRich]

The diff box is now complete and marks the end of the major underside repairs to this car.  I've still got more to do before the stone guard can go on but that day is now in sight...

Started off finishing up the welding and also added some holes and clip points for the fuel line which runs along it.  Kept hold of the ruined original box to make sure I put these in the right place.

With that finished I took the boot floor back to bare metal.  Given how bad the rest of the car was the boot floor is in excellent condition.  I'm told the Cologne built Mk1s survive well in this area compared to the Dagenham built cars.

Took a long time to clean up but was rewarded with no rust.

Next I wiped the panels clean and painted with POR.  Just work on the passenger side chassis leg and inner wheel tub remaining.  After stone guard I'll get it off the roller and continue with outer panel work repairs.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Any updates on the Mexico? 

[TripleRich]

Some more work on the Mexico has been done.  Its currently in storage to allow for some fabrication time on other cars.

Front end is mocked up and the front wings have been repaired.  Having some alignment issues now which all stem from the aftermarket bulkhead and A posts not being right by a few mm.  The aftermarket chassis legs were also wrong and we have now corrected them.  

Plenty of fiddling and adjustment left to go but it does at least look like an escort now.

[TripleRich]

Another day of welding completed.  Sorted out the last chassis leg today.  I suspected this leg wasn't quite as bad as the one I did on the other side and luckily it wasn't so got it sorted in a single day.

I spotted issues here some time ago while removing the original under seal.  The area where you have two skins spotted together (supports the coil spring) was rotting inside.  You can spot this stuff by feeling the surface with your hands.  If you have lumps and bumps its rotting and needs attention.

I cut the outer skin off the most suspect area first.  All the rot is in the outer skin as usual.  The inner is a little pitted but requires no further attention other than some cleaning back and painting.

Still rot to the left under the outer skin and was beginning to look similar to the other side.  I decided to remove all the outer metal from the strengthener including the flange just to be sure.  

I then cleaned everything back and was pleased to see I'd caught it in time.  The other side was worse and I ended up doing part of the strengthener and replacing a section of the floor.

With easy access to the inside of the leg I checked its condition and then painted inside the leg as much as possible.  I also repaired any slices and damage I'd done to the strengthener while cutting out the rot.

Made up a repair section for the outer skin.

Then puddle welded it back onto the strengthener and proceeded to tack the edge into place using hammers as I went to ensure a seamless fit.

After grinding down the tacks I competed the welding and ground those smooth.  The leg is now strong again and I'll paint it on the outside next time.  Need to order some more POR first.

[TripleRich]

With all the major rot in the car now repaired I've moved onto smaller areas.  There are plenty of little holes and small bits of corrosion left to sort so I'm sure I'll pass 550 hours of fabrication time.

One of the more difficult areas was under the bucket for the fuel filler.  The wheel tub under it has rotted through but access is very poor.

To get better access I removed the bucket from the quarter panel.  Its held on with 9 spot welds and seam sealer.  Getting it out took a while but wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.

The rot can now be seen more clearly but access still isn't very good.

I cut out the worst of it and made up a small repair section.

Managed to weld it in ok and also had enough room to grind the welds down.  Finished up with a coat of the usual stuff.

Then underneath in the wheel tub I cleaned up the other side of the welds on the repair. I also removed the remaining under seal from this area and painted it. 

Finally I cleaned up the bucket and painted it on the bench.  Squeezed it back in and welded it on.

That was the last underside repair.  Next I'll go through the whole underside checking everything I've done and correcting anything I'm not happy with.  Once complete any remaining areas of original under seal will be removed and painted with POR.  Then finally I can seam seal all the joints and apply fresh stone guard to the underside of the car.

[danthecapriman]

Coming along beautifully Rich. That’s a milestone reached if that’s the last underside repair!

[Skizzer]

Truly outstanding work as ever. Bet you’re happy to have reached the milestone of finishing the underbody repairs!

 

Edit: cross-posted with Dan - great minds and all that

[danthecapriman]

Truly outstanding work as ever. Bet you’re happy to have reached the milestone of finishing the underbody repairs!

Edit: cross-posted with Dan - great minds and all that

I reckon you should get this done to your Granny!! Imagine how good it’d look! You’d be scared to use it though.

[Skizzer]

It’s certainly crossed my mind - although then I thought about 550 hours at about £50 an hour... I’m not nearly as rich as Junkman always says

 

I’m in the process of organising some engine work for it at the moment, but bodywork will follow. Do want to do a proper job.

[TripleRich]

Fabrication is bloody expensive because it just takes so long.  Including VAT I'd be looking at £24k to get 550 hours (14 weeks) of fabrication time.  No way can I afford that so I'm lucky to have the skills and space to do it myself.  To get that 14 weeks of work has taken me 2 years and just about every Saturday I've had available.  I'm just paying for storage and use of the workshop.  Even that's adding up to thousands so yeah, restoration is not cheap.

My car was a rot box, plenty of stuff I've seen has been better and wouldn't use up so much time.  Even if your car is half decent though you still need to budget for at least £10k to get the metalwork properly restored.  Then you've got to get it painted, address the mechanical stuff, address the trim and put it back together.

You can quite happily spend £40k on any classic car if you want the work done properly.  That's why filler and fiberglass are so popular.     

Its not all doom and gloom though.  If you have the cash and want to keep the car then why not?  I finished rebuilding the Merc a while back and its a joy to finally drive it down the road, customer couldn't be happier.

Just after the first stages of metalwork in July 2016 prior to being dipped.  The body contained the most filler I've even seen.

Completed car in February 2018

Just about finished re-assembling the Mk2 Granada in background.  Got the engine going for the first time last week.  Will post some better pics of that once its finished.

[danthecapriman]

It sounds a lot doesn’t it, £40k!? But, the way I see it is that no car manufacturers now can or will produce the car I want so the only option is to spend that sort of cash refurbishing an old car that I do want. If it’s done right and it gets looked after once the work is complete there’s no reason whatsoever that car can’t last another 40 or 50 years.

If you look at it like that it’s actually good value! Some people spend that sort of money every 3,4 or 5 years on new cars!

 

I’d say your figure is about right for what I’ve spent on the Capri tbh, maybe a bit more with parts on top which I’d been buying over the years before getting the car stripped. The panels alone on mine added up to just under £10k!

It’s now in better condition than when it was new though, Ford just threw them together quickly and punted it out the door but now it’s effectively hand built. All the cheapo mass production work is gone and it’s been done properly this time. Plus it’s had much better corrosion protection and paint this time around so it’s bound to last better this time.

 

Is it worth it?

To me yes it is but many other people would probably think you’d be mental spending that on an old car. Depends what you want at the end of the day.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

It sounds a lot doesn’t it, £40k!? But, the way I see it is that no car manufacturers now can or will produce the car I want so the only option is to spend that sort of cash refurbishing an old car that I do want. If it’s done right and it gets looked after once the work is complete there’s no reason whatsoever that car can’t last another 40 or 50 years.

If you look at it like that it’s actually good value! Some people spend that sort of money every 3,4 or 5 years on new cars!

 

 

 

Spot on Dan.

 

If I had the money, I'd have something built for daily use; E32 750i, a Series 1 XJ6 or a pre facelift 2.8i Granada Ghia.  Start with a car that is still solid (I'd get the Jaguar from Texas or California) but strip it to a bare shell and start again. Ivor Searle to rebuild the engine, a brand new autobox from ZF or wherever (bollocks to 3 speed autos) and a heap of new bits - everything involved with suspension and brakes (apart from pedal box and crossmember), ever y single hydraulic hose, starter, alternator, sensors etc etc.

 

I reckon a 1990 750i would cost close to the £65'000 it cost when new but it would still be a tremendous thing to drive and it would have a value when the current one is sat in a breakers on flat tyres because the battery control probability control unit that cannot be reused and costs £2876 plus VAT new has fucked itself. Similarly, the XJ and Granada with a few upgrades (ABS, proper air con, cruise control and a 4 speed auto) would be great everyday cars.

 

In the case of that R107 Merc, that's already money in the bank. The Mexico also. They're both 40 -50 grand cars and to hazard a guess the restoration bills will be covered by that.

[TripleRich]

Continued on the underside today doing various small bits and pieces in preparation for stone guard. 

Started off by removing the last of the old sealer & paint towards the rear of the car.  I also cleaned up any welds I missed out previously and generally just checked everything I've done under here.  

started cleaning off the old paint from the bulkhead.  I will eventually end up removing all the original paint from the bulkhead as its blistered all over.

I then painted these areas with POR and blew any dust off the underside.

Next is seam sealing as I've removed all the original stuff.  Its very important to do this properly otherwise all my hard work will get impregnated with moisture.  You should seal all joints and seams both outside and inside the car.  Ford sealed most of the joints but used a poor quality sealer which only worked for a few years.

I'm using black tiger seal and a bit of scotch brite to replicate the original finish.

It's a time consuming and messy job.  As I went I also cleaned and fitted the original floor bungs as they are held on with sealer.

I've got another two days or so of little jobs and additional sealing to do under here.  Below most of the sealing is complete but being black its hard to see.  

[busmansholiday]

This is fabulous Rich. Wonder how you nominate somebody for a queen's gong as you deserve it.

[Felly Magic]

Major milestone there, I think you've reached hero status. Yesterday I heard some news about a vintage bus that was all but destroyed by arson in the north west, they've only gone and got the engine running, and it moving under it's own steam, and they actually plan to rebuild the destroyed bodywork, now that is going to take some massive balls, and serious skill, and a LOT of money

[anonymous user]

It's not enough to like this thread, I'm in absolute awe of the work going into this. I can't wait to see it finished

[TripleRich]

Some corrective work completed today.  Ages ago when I replaced the first sill I thought adding the sill closer after fitting the sill would be easy.  I thought wrong....

It was a pain to do and not having done one before I had no idea what I was trying to recreate.  When it came to the other side I made the closer correctly so knew I'd end up re-doing the first attempt.

Started off cutting out the crappy closer and part of the sill.

With that gone and everything cleaned up I took some measurements and made a cardboard template of what should be there.  What I'm actually making is the bottom of the outer wheel tub but it also forms the closer for the sill.

Its a bugger of a shape but after a while I had the correct piece made up.

Despite the bad access I managed to get a nice bead of weld to hold it in.

A good coat of paint both sides.  I've also drilled the hole that all Granadas have. I'll use it for cavity wax application.

Then I cleaned up the outer sill section and let it back in making sure I painted it on the inside first.  Some compressed air and excess paint through the hole I drilled ensures the welds are painted on the inside.

Continued cleaning up and painting bits of the underside after this.  About another days work to go before I'm ready for stone guard.

[TripleRich]

Elsewhere work has progressed on some of the customers cars..

The alignment problems with the Mexico have been solved (we think).  First was the incorrect shape of the aftermarket bulkhead and front chassis legs.  Second was the front panel below the radiator being far too wide.  That was a genuine ford panel but it turned out to be a rejected panel from the factory.  Rather than being melted down it found its way out the back door to be flogged for good money 40 years later.  

Its been giving the fabricators some sleepless nights but the front end is now fully welded.  I would have run a mile so fair play to them for getting this far!

Closing in for paint is the Austin 16.  This has taken a crazy amount of time as everything has to be hand made for it.  The fabricators have replaced about 50% of the whole car.

In the assembly shop I've just about finished this lovely 2.8 pre-facelift Mk2.  Finished in company car gold with a brown interior and automatic box.  Even managed to save the original Perrys number plates.

New arrivals include these two...

1969 RHD Ford 15M Coupe.  In for full restoration and has already been stripped ready for metalwork.  Needs everything as you would expect, very very rotten.

1939 Hillman Minx.  Last on the road in 81 and stored inside since.  I've yet to assess it for metalwork but already it looks about as bad as the Austin was.  The duct tape is covering the missing sunroof panel.

[danthecapriman]

Beautiful work again Rich.

 

Great to see the others coming along too. That gold mk2 Granny is gorgeous! Makes me miss my old estate... one day I’ll get another one, they’re great cars.

[lincolndanny]

Triple rich, I see this POR 15 mentioned quite a bit but there seems to be more than one POR15 is this right? If you may help out with some Intel it would be greatly appreciated. I normally etch, then seam sealer then stonechip,then top coat. It seems POR15 takes the place of etch?

[DSdriver]

Do you doubt your sanity when you get an OM part that is obviously wrong like the escort front? Or have you become accustomed to such things?

[Spottedlaurel]

It's heartening to see people commissioning your firm to do such extensive work on cars where they will surely never see a financial return.

 

I can only hope that, one day, I'll be in a position to have the same attention lavished upon my Laurel.

[TripleRich]

Triple rich, I see this POR 15 mentioned quite a bit but there seems to be more than one POR15 is this right? If you may help out with some Intel it would be greatly appreciated. I normally etch, then seam sealer then stonechip,then top coat. It seems POR15 takes the place of etch?

 

In our experience the POR is much more durable than an etch primer.  Etch still does a good job but the POR has various advantages over it.  They do various things but the stuff you want is the rust preventative paint.

 

 

It looks like this and is available in various colours.  I personally like the semi-gloss black version but it’s not always in stock in the UK.

 

 

 

 

Easiest place to get it from is Frosts.

 

 

https://www.frost.co.uk/

[TripleRich]

Do you doubt your sanity when you get an OM part that is obviously wrong like the escort front? Or have you become accustomed to such things?

 

Original Ford panels being incorrect is not unheard of and we have seen it before.  Problem with the Mexico was that everything from the windscreen forward is new. 

 

So when the bonnet doesn't fit the wings you have to find out why.  This involves measuring from known points to establish where the numbers are going wrong.  As most of the car was rotten or missing these known points don't exist so proving for sure what panels are wrong and where is very difficult.

[RoadworkUK]

Phenomenal. Always a treat reading an update to this thread.

[neil1971]

As always, full of admiration for your skills and quality of work, just fantastic and I love seeing the progress on the Granada

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Astounding work. Your company should have a stand at the NEC in November. Quality like that should not be hidden away.

 

The Taunus Coupe has Junkman written all over it. 

[mat_the_cat]

Astounding work. Your company should have a stand at the NEC in November.

 

Agreed. And threads like these must be hugely useful as a sales tool. Well, apart from the fact that most autoshiters are unlikely to be in the market for your services...