Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[TripleRich]

11 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said:

Have you got access to a pressure bleeder? That would get round the problem - or prove it's elsewhere.

I do and will be using that next time.  Don't often need it and being in the other workshop I carried on with some other jobs. 

[TripleRich]

There are some stickers for the engine bay which I'll be doing later.  The engine itself doesn't have anything on it to my knowledge.

[TripleRich]

I've done quite a bit more work since the last update.  Over the past year or so since I painted it I've spent a lot of time with the car and got to know every defect no matter how small.

Something I decided to do a while back was repaint both quarter panels when I had the opportunity.  When I painted the car originally I had never done anything like it before.  As a result my filler work was basic and only focused on areas I could see or feel.

The results of that method are missing ripples and shallow dents.  Once the paint goes all of them show up when you look down the side of the car.

Now with more experience, the right tools, products and method I set to redoing the rear quarters.  I rubbed them down with a long block which shows up all the highs and lows.  Applied a skim of filler to the entire panel and then blocked it down.  It's much more involved than that but you get the idea.  I found lots of issues and worked hard over the course of 4 days to get them right.

Primed the panels and blocked that back to prepare for paint.  About two days to prime, prepare and paint.  Much happier with it now.

It won't look all that different in pictures but it really has made a massive improvement to the car.

With that difficult and daunting task complete I flat and polished the panels to remove the orange peel.  Then put everything back together, about a days work.

Back on track I continued adding the final few parts.  This is a factory under tray, not often seen in the UK but was an option on these cars.

Cleaned up the jack and spare wheel hardware.

Made and fitted the last bit of trim for the boot.  This covers a void between the quarter panel and boot floor.  It's originally filled with foam but I've left that out as it causes rust in the wheel arches.

 

Finally I flat and polished the sills and ordered some new tyres.

Very close now, perhaps another 8 hours of work and the car should be finished.

[junkyarddog]

That's a beautiful car.

Well done on all your hard work.

The end result will speak for itself!

[ETCHY]

Just fabulous.

Really well done, the attention to detail is incredible & re-doing the back wings - wow.

Great job.

[brandersnatch]

That is magnificent. Very well done.  Such a brilliant job. 

[JeeExEll]

Rich it is absolutely stunning.  Wow!

[High Jetter]

I know it's been said before, but that has really got to be better than new. Can't be another one to touch it, anywhere.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Very impressed- wish I had your work ethic on the cars.  

[Mr Laurence]

This is spectacular! I can’t believe it’s nearly done. If I ever need a car restoring, I know where I’d take it

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Gorgeous. I'm still unsure about the vinyl roof but fully understand why you fitted it. What a stunning car though. Can't wait to see it driving and kicking her lovely arse out a little 😉

[Rocket88]

I think the roof makes it...... 

[greengartside]

Amazing workmanship mate. Brilliant stuff!

[GMcD]

Bloomin stunner 😍

[Rod/b]

When’s the roffle? 

[Minimad5]

When you offering Autoshite Restoration Services? (ARS)... needs an 'E'

Anyway, some top work that, well done.

[timolloyd]

Autoshite Restoration, Servicing and Engineering.

 

Top work on the Granada!

[lisbon_road]

This is amazing work and your detailed posts are greatly appreciated as they encourage the rest of us to get on with our stuff, though I doubt that there's anyone doing anything as amazing as this.

Waterless coolant: yes, not convinced.  It definitely has lower heat transfer capability.  High concentrations of ethylene glycol can lead to polymerisation which causes all sorts of pump leak problems.  I'm not sure if the same can happen with propylene glycol which I believe is used for waterless coolants.  Keep it simple: I use traditional blue antifreeze with water out of a dehumidifier as someone suggested and change it at about two years. 

 

 

[dollywobbler]

Astonishing as ever.

[puddlethumper]

We need an emoji for jaw dropping. Love a Granny.( No tittering at the back now).

[Sham]

Just a stunning car. Good work, that man

[sutty2006]

Epic. On all levels 

[TripleRich]

Thanks guys, glad you enjoy the thread!  It's great to have finally reached this stage and I'm really looking forward to the first test drive on the road.  I expect some teething issues but that's all part of the fun with a car like this.

I bought the car very early in my restoration career and had no idea what I was letting myself in for.  If I could go back to 2016 I would have certainly thought a little harder about buying it or not! 

Hopefully in the future some of you can see the thing for yourselves.  I've no plans on locking it away and fully intend on driving and enjoying it (weather permitting of course).

[puddlethumper]

You'll get mobbed at a gathering and I'd be in it.

[Parky]

Never ever take that to a Tesco car park!  

[twosmoke300]

Holy shit that is just stunning !

Please tell me it’s got a tracker on it though ?

 

[Lankytim]

I just can't get my head around how epic this is. 

[TripleRich]

12 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

Holy shit that is just stunning !

Please tell me it’s got a tracker on it though ?

 

It has various security devices fitted.  Sorted all that out some time ago.  Cheers

[HMC]

Better than new is SUCH an understatement. Compare thrown together with painstakingly restored to standards way exceeding a 1970s plant quality controllers wildest imagination.

Utterly fabulous.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

You have done a beautiful job on this car. The difference between good and great is in the attention to detail and yours is painstaking. So many otherwise good cars are let down by waves in the paint, most often seen on the flanks of the car. I am delighted to see that you will not tolerate this on your car!