Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[Dick Cheeseburger]

2 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

This one I saw back in 2007 has a different issue......

1977 Ford Granada Mk1 coupe by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Not been retaxed or sorned since 2010. Surely not scrapped...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

12 minutes ago, Dick Van Diesel said:

Not been retaxed or sorned since 2010. Surely not scrapped...

....but might be gathering dust. Or possibly shipped to a new owner overseas?

[TripleRich]

Decided to work on the brake & fuel lines today.  The fuel lines are plastic and always survive well on these cars.  I've cleaned/checked them over and installed with new clips.

The brake lines were mostly missing when I bought the car and they should always be replaced anyway.  Takes a while but I do quite enjoy making brake lines for some odd reason.  I'm using steel lines as I don't much care for the copper stuff.  Made sure I got some green lines as many Fords I've worked on had them fitted.

  

I used a few scraps left over from the car to help make them.  Mostly I used pictures of the car from before I bought it and existing experience.  This will be the 4th Granada I've made lines for.

I've made sure they follow the original route.  I get very sad with brake lines!

Bit tricky doing the underside as the customers cars are currently using the lift & available axle stands.  The clips on the chassis rail are not correct and should be metal.  The original ones are of a specific design and haven't been available for years.  My used ones have rotted away so the plastic clips will do nicely.

I'm also fitting new flexible hoses as I go.  Got some drums coming from Germany and will overhaul the calipers soon.  Then I can bleed the brakes.

I've a few short lines left to make which I'll do next week.

[danthecapriman]

Beautiful work Rich, as usual!

I bought a copper kit for mine, and found it to be shit tbh! The long front to rear pipe was a few inches short! I had to make it up using a joiner and some extra pipe. In hindsight, I’d have done it all from scratch myself.

[TripleRich]

It takes longer from scratch but as you say the issue with kits is not quite following the right shape and ending up with a line too short.  Problem making them yourself is flaring the pipe before putting the union on!  I still do it to this day, plonker!

[GBJ]

Isn't kunifer a good compromise?

[mat_the_cat]

1 hour ago, TripleRich said:

It takes longer from scratch but as you say the issue with kits is not quite following the right shape and ending up with a line too short.  Problem making them yourself is flaring the pipe before putting the union on!  I still do it to this day, plonker!

Or remembering to slide the union on, but doing it the wrong way round!

Lovely work as always.

[TripleRich]

20 minutes ago, GBJ said:

Isn't kunifer a good compromise?

Fitted loads of that stuff for brake and fuel systems.  Works well and I've not had any problems with it.  Went for steel on my car for the factory look. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

4 hours ago, TripleRich said:

Decided to work on the brake & fuel lines today.  The fuel lines are plastic and always survive well on these cars.  I've cleaned/checked them over and installed with new clips.

The brake lines were mostly missing when I bought the car and they should always be replaced anyway.  Takes a while but I do quite enjoy making brake lines for some odd reason.  I'm using steel lines as I don't much care for the copper stuff.  Made sure I got some green lines as many Fords I've worked on had them fitted.

  

I used a few scraps left over from the car to help make them.  Mostly I used pictures of the car from before I bought it and existing experience.  This will be the 4th Granada I've made lines for.

I've made sure they follow the original route.  I get very sad with brake lines!

Bit tricky doing the underside as the customers cars are currently using the lift & available axle stands.  The clips on the chassis rail are not correct and should be metal.  The original ones are of a specific design and haven't been available for years.  My used ones have rotted away so the plastic clips will do nicely.

I'm also fitting new flexible hoses as I go.  Got some drums coming from Germany and will overhaul the calipers soon.  Then I can bleed the brakes.

I've a few short lines left to make which I'll do next week.

Here's to the next 1000 hours.

[twosmoke300]

Loving the attention to detail on this car . Copper / Kunifer pipes just stick out a mile and don’t look right . Spoil many a resto I think . 
 

[TripleRich]

I ordered a big box of stuff from Motomobil.  Turned up last week, mostly exhaust but some other bits and bobs in there too.

My old brake drums were very scored & rotten.  No point investing hours into them when you can buy new ones.  I've painted them black as they can be seen through the wheels.  I've also got the handbrake adjusted & working.

My calipers are also made of rust and seized solid.  Found a rebuilt set of ate calipers on ebay for a good price.  You can buy new unbranded ones but I'm sad and like to keep the original ate calipers if possible. 

  

Gave the new ones a lick of paint, fitted pads & blead the brakes.  I suspect these rather old unused pads will be a bit crap.  Have fitted them for now and will test before going on the road.  The car now has working brakes for the first time in over 20 years.  Will keep an eye out for leaks over the coming days.

Wiper enthusiasts will be pleased to know I've found the correct type of cap for the arms.  Looks very nice

Continued doing lots of work under the car which isn't easy to photograph.  Fitted more brake pipe clips, sorted handbrake guides, attached fuel lines, touched up stoneguard, fitted front dampers, fitted anti rollbar and drop link bushes, etc etc.

I've now reached the engine stage!  Will look at it next week.

[TripleRich]

Latest visitor is this...

We've worked on the mechanical stuff every other year or so.  Knew it was rotten, owner was told it needs welding the next time he comes in.  After some investigation we found this lot.  Was all hidden under filler, stone guard and clear bathroom sealant. 

Rear wheel tub and rear end of sill.  The split between the inner and outer tub runs right round on both sides.

Rear suspension coil and damper mount.  Not far from punching through.  Was hidden with clear bathroom sealant and stone guard.

A posts.  I've never seen so many plates.  Must be 20 years of history there, its several layers in places.  Most of the welding is heaped on top and not actually holding the steel very well.  

Inside the A post has rotted off the bulkhead.  The 'plate' isn't even welded to the post.

Owner loves the car to bits.  It's been fully stripped and will go on the roller for a lot of metalwork. 

[danthecapriman]

Thank god for MOT exemption, eh! That patchwork inner wing is incredible.

[Mad Cyril]

1 hour ago, TripleRich said:

I suspect these rather old unused pads will be a bit crap.  Have fitted them for now and will test before going on the road.

I stuck a set of 28 year old OE pads in my 2cv a few weeks back.
They were a bit hair raising to start with but have bedded in wonderfully.
Good old fashioned asbestos.

[TripleRich]

Made some more good progress this week.  Bit of a setback with the engine but I wasn't all that surprised.

When I painted the car I didn't mask up all that well.  This resulted in a load of over spray getting onto the boot floor.  I've polished that out and continued to complete many small jobs in the back of the car.  The rear seat area is now mostly finished with all the various bits back where they belong.  I've added some more sound deadening too.

I managed to get a new rubber for the back window.  I had used the original rubber and its a bit tired/split.  So I removed the screen, fitted the new rubber and polished the chrome.  The front screen rubber is not great either but Granada spec coupe sized front screen rubbers are not yet available.  I have bought a roll of the right stuff and may try making a complete rubber out of it in future.

Now for the engine.  Theres a bit of a story with this...

It's an early 2.3 cologne v6.  The ones fitted to Mk2 Granadas and Sierras are slightly different.  Its the original engine and its currently in bits.  When I bought the car the previous owner explained that he'd dismantled the engine and had the local engine place go though it (unleaded heads etc).  Its all bagged & boxed and should be ready to build.

I decided to not investigate any further as the car was a complete wreck.  Seemed odd that the engine had been worked on before the car but as the owner couldn't weld I understood his reasoning for approaching the restoration in that way.

I've since discovered that occurred in 2009.  So the engine had sat in bits for 7 years before I bought the car.  Its now been 11 years so I was expecting problems. 

Obviously its gone a bit rusty which is no good and needs cleaning off.  The bores have gone rusty but thats no problem as they are worn out.  This engine needed a rebore when it came apart.  Its been honed so I suspect finances played a role here and the previous owner couldn't afford the work so opted for a cleanup hoping he'd get away with it.

The cam bearings have not been changed.  One of them has a chunk taken out of it possibly from cam removal.  The cam is worn and rusty, I'll get a new one and get the bearings changed.

The crank has survived well.  Needs a polish, will get it balanced too.

The remaining components are all rusty and the pistons are seized on the gudgeon pins.  The pistons have to be changed anyway as the block needs to be bored

I've taken the engine to the same place who originally did the work as we use them all the time.  Will be a while before I see it again.

• The block is being acid dipped and bored
• Pistons will be replaced
• Cam bearings changed and cam replaced
• Crank polished and balanced
• Remaining components cleaned up 
• Heads cleaned/checked

They will take a closer look and go from there.  They basically said the whole engine looks to have had the minimum done to it with the hope that it would be ok upon reassembly.

So a setback but not exactly surprising.  I'm very keen on retaining the original engine.  If I did replace it whatever I get would need a rebuild as the days of cheap perfectly fine essex/cologne v6s are long gone.  Both options wont be cheap so I'll stick with originality.

 

[outlaw118]

This bits any use to you Squire? Pretty shit photos though...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-granada-mk-1-parts/324193936956?hash=item4b7b76e63c:g:iSsAAOSwMQ5e4OSa

[Skizzer]

9 hours ago, TripleRich said:

Made some more good progress this week.  Bit of a setback with the engine but I wasn't all that surprised.

When I painted the car I didn't mask up all that well.  This resulted in a load of over spray getting onto the boot floor.  I've polished that out and continued to complete many small jobs in the back of the car.  The rear seat area is now mostly finished with all the various bits back where they belong.  I've added some more sound deadening too.

I managed to get a new rubber for the back window.  I had used the original rubber and its a bit tired/split.  So I removed the screen, fitted the new rubber and polished the chrome.  The front screen rubber is not great either but Granada spec coupe sized front screen rubbers are not yet available.  I have bought a roll of the right stuff and may try making a complete rubber out of it in future.

Now for the engine.  Theres a bit of a story with this...

It's an early 2.3 cologne v6.  The ones fitted to Mk2 Granadas and Sierras are slightly different.  Its the original engine and its currently in bits.  When I bought the car the previous owner explained that he'd dismantled the engine and had the local engine place go though it (unleaded heads etc).  Its all bagged & boxed and should be ready to build.

I decided to not investigate any further as the car was a complete wreck.  Seemed odd that the engine had been worked on before the car but as the owner couldn't weld I understood his reasoning for approaching the restoration in that way.

I've since discovered that occurred in 2009.  So the engine had sat in bits for 7 years before I bought the car.  Its now been 11 years so I was expecting problems. 

Obviously its gone a bit rusty which is no good and needs cleaning off.  The bores have gone rusty but thats no problem as they are worn out.  This engine needed a rebore when it came apart.  Its been honed so I suspect finances played a role here and the previous owner couldn't afford the work so opted for a cleanup hoping he'd get away with it.

The cam bearings have not been changed.  One of them has a chunk taken out of it possibly from cam removal.  The cam is worn and rusty, I'll get a new one and get the bearings changed.

The crank has survived well.  Needs a polish, will get it balanced too.

The remaining components are all rusty and the pistons are seized on the gudgeon pins.  The pistons have to be changed anyway as the block needs to be bored

I've taken the engine to the same place who originally did the work as we use them all the time.  Will be a while before I see it again.

• The block is being acid dipped and bored
• Pistons will be replaced
• Cam bearings changed and cam replaced
• Crank polished and balanced
• Remaining components cleaned up 
• Heads cleaned/checked

They will take a closer look and go from there.  They basically said the whole engine looks to have had the minimum done to it with the hope that it would be ok upon reassembly.

So a setback but not exactly surprising.  I'm very keen on retaining the original engine.  If I did replace it whatever I get would need a rebuild as the days of cheap perfectly fine essex/cologne v6s are long gone.  Both options wont be cheap so I'll stick with originality.

 

Do you you have a particular place you recommend for Cologne V6 rebuilds then?

Just hypothetically

[outlaw118]

http://www.specialisedengines.co.uk/info.html

10 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

Do you you have a particular place you recommend for Cologne V6 rebuilds then?

These blokes near me have relieved me of £££ a number of times, they're not the cheapest, but never had any reliability issues.

[danthecapriman]

12 minutes ago, outlaw118 said:

http://www.specialisedengines.co.uk/info.html

These blokes near me have relieved me of £££ a number of times, they're not the cheapest, but never had any reliability issues.

I’ve used them for some stuff a few times, no complaints here either.

[Mally]

On 6/6/2020 at 9:17 PM, danthecapriman said:

Thank god for MOT exemption, eh! That patchwork inner wing is incredible.

I'd be proud of that if I'd done it.

[TripleRich]

35 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

Do you you have a particular place you recommend for Cologne V6 rebuilds then?

Just hypothetically

Work, friends and I use a local place called T&L.  Used them for years and never had any cars come back with problems.  Not the cheapest but the work is good.  They're always very busy so expect to wait in line.

https://vintage-engine.net/

[TripleRich]

1 hour ago, outlaw118 said:

This bits any use to you Squire?

Those are ghia trims, they are quite a bit fatter than the GL version.  Trim is a minefield for these, so many differences once you start looking. 

[dollywobbler]

Amazing stuff. I'd rather forgotten it had an engine!

[Skizzer]

45 minutes ago, outlaw118 said:

http://www.specialisedengines.co.uk/info.html

These blokes near me have relieved me of £££ a number of times, they're not the cheapest, but never had any reliability issues.

 

17 minutes ago, TripleRich said:

Work, friends and I use a local place called T&L.  Used them for years and never had any cars come back with problems.  Not the cheapest but the work is good.  They're always very busy so expect to wait in line.

https://vintage-engine.net/

Thanks a lot gents. I’m likely to go down this route with my (ex Dan’s) mk2 2.8.

[danthecapriman]

20 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

 

Thanks a lot gents. I’m likely to go down this route with my (ex Dan’s) mk2 2.8.

Good man! ‘Keep yer Granny alive’! I liked that sticker.

[Skizzer]

Just now, danthecapriman said:

Good man! ‘Keep yer Granny alive’! I liked that sticker.

So did I — sadly it was a victim of its spell outside of my ownership, along with the towbar and indeed the engine. But that’s another (old) story.

All replaceable though

[danthecapriman]

3 minutes ago, Skizzer said:

So did I — sadly it was a victim of its spell outside of my ownership, along with the towbar and indeed the engine. But that’s another (old) story.

All replaceable though

Indeed. It’s in good hands now and that’s what matters.

That towbar was a bit of a liability by all accounts though! Well, the wiring was anyway.

[TripleRich]

While the engine is away I'm continuing the build finishing up various jobs.  I've also taken the seats to the trimmers.  The front seats are knackered and while the rear isn't damaged its faded and saggy condition really lets the car down.  I should get them back in about 2 months.

 

I've completed most of the wiring now and have installed various security devices along the way.  I turned my attention to the steel panel that sits under the dashboard.

It had various holes drilled in it so I took the time to weld them up and repaint the whole thing.  Installed in the car and also fitted the various parts that make up the glove box.

The dash is now very close to completion.  The glove box doesn't fit all that well but I've yet to see a Granada with one that does.  It all works and I've made sure to test the electrics again.  Next job here is to fit the remaining speakers for the hidden sound system.  I've also repainted the steering wheel but forgot to take a picture of it.

In the engine bay I've just about finished everything ready for the engine.  The often missing cardboard splash shields have also been fitted.  Note the organised chaos that makes up a factory Ford engine bay.

I also removed all the locks from the car and took them apart.  Using parts from other locks I been able to match them all to the same key.  Nothing more annoying than having 3 different keys for the same car.

Still a fair few bits to go but I'm closing in on completion.  If I'm lucky I might be able to get the car on the road for September.

• Continue to polish various bits of paintwork
• Sort the gearbox out
• Hidden speakers
• Driveshaft
• Exhaust
• Clean/paint brackets & hardware relating to engine & gearbox
• Build & fit engine
• Overhaul wheels & fit new tyres
• Boot carpet
• Remaining trim pieces/small issues

[Shite Ron]

Fantastic work as always. Are the cardboard splash shields still available? They are a great find. I assume your seats are beta cloth? Are you getting those done at Aldridge? Your car is looking fantastic, I always look forward to your updates.

[TripleRich]

The shields are not available but you could make them with new material.  I have the originals from the car and two unused front ones which I've fitted.  They get destroyed by oil leaks or left off after working on the suspension.

Seats are indeed beta cloth.  My local trimmer is only 5 mins from the house, he does good work.  Wasn't overly concerned about the material or work, just told me they would take a while as hes busy.  I'm in no rush as the engine & drive line still need doing.