Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[Guest Lord Sward]

The garage I spent most of my career working for used Brian Johnson of AC/DC fame for vinyl roofs.  He could trim an allegro estate quicker and better than anyone else.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Excellent work. The Escort is a disaster! 

 

You really going to save the front wings? They must be knackered surely? 

[TripleRich]

The wings on the escort are not as bad as first thought.  They will be repaired along with various other bits.  The car has lost a lot of its originality so we're hoping to save at least some of the original metal.

[TripleRich]

More work completed yesterday.  

Started off with cleaning up the welds in the floorpan and inside of the A post.  All the repairs in these areas have been ground down already on the outside so with the inside done I can paint this lot.  I also took both front & rear pans back to bare metal to check for rot.  Found some in the seam for the bulkhead so will avoid painting that area until I get it repaired.

I also continued investigating the passenger side front chassis leg.  With the rotten outer removed the inner strengthener can be seen and although pitted its survived well considering the state of the outer.  I discovered that the rot in outer continues much further up the leg into the engine bay.  This hadn't happened on the other side and was hidden beneath underseal.  I will continue work on the area another time as its now turned into at least a days work.

I then moved to the rear and found the rear chassis leg needing far less work.  Only a small bit of the outer needed to be replaced.

While working I found a date stamp close by.  Ford stamped every panel with a production date but they are often too pitted to read or hidden with sealant.  This chassis leg reads 175 with must have been January 1975 so I presume the car itself was built soon after.

I then set about putting the subframe plate back on and getting the new outrigger ready.

I painted the outrigger inside and also painted the floor of the car where it will be attached.  Then I puddle welded it on and applied another load of paint.  I will grind the welds smooth when the paint has dried.

Finished up with painting the pans and A post inside.

This side is now looking quite smart but there is still more work to do.  The chassis leg issue was worse than expected and the extra rot in the floor is going to add more time to the repair process.  I just hope this thing doesn't throw me any more surprises! 

[TripleRich]

Today I worked on the passenger side chassis leg.  Last week I suspected the rot in the outer skin was quite bad despite looking somewhat reasonable on the surface.  After removing the spot welds and making some cuts I revealed the true state of the leg.

Most of the rot is in outer skin that I've now removed.  You can see how thin it was in places (originally 1.5mm thick).  The rot from that stays trapped in between the two pieces of steel creating bumps on the outer surface of the panel.

The outer skin on the other side is miles better so I just removed the lower part of the outer skin.  

The leg strengthener has suffered and is pitted in places.  However after checking it over I deemed it ok as is still retains almost all of its original thickness.  I cleaned off the surface rust with a wire wheel and applied rust converter.  Once its finished doing its stuff it goes black and can then be painted over.

Next job was to make a replacement outer for the lower section of the leg.  I made it to the same dimensions as the original rotted section and puddle welded it into place.

After cleaning up the welds I applied plenty of POR using compressed air inside the chassis paying particular attention to the welds on the new section.

Took a while to do this so will continue next week by replacing the upper section of the outer.  With that completed the chassis legs are ready for another 40 years.

[Mally]

You are an Artist in every material known to mankind, and probably a few others.

No wonder they let you do your own car, it ties you to the place.

[Isaac Hunt]

Epic, all of it.  The standard of fabrication and finish is awesome.

 

That Escort is worthy of its own thread and just goes to show, if you have the room, the tools, the knowledge and the skill, and some time, anything is repairable.

 

I was part of a team who undertook a vinyl roof replacement at a restoration show a few years back.  

 

It was early in the morning and we were removing the old vinyl and preparing the metal for the new.  

 

A visitor to the show was asking several questions, most of which I answered based upon what we planned to do.  About half a dozen questions in he asked how many roof replacements do you have to do before it becomes second nature, to which I responded 'dunno, this is the first we've done" i've never seen anyone's draw drop so far so fast, it was priceless.

 

We got the job done in the same method as the Capri.  Hardest part was refitting the gutter trims.

[TripleRich]

Thanks Guys.

 

I've still got a fair bit left to do but the end of the metalwork is in sight.  Goal right now is to complete the shell and then remove it from the body roller.  That puts the car at a more workable height for repairing & fitting stuff like wings and doors.

[busmansholiday]

I just wish you had restored my MGB Roadster before I bought it, not the bodyfiller and underseal merchants who did.

 

I have learned a hugh amount just from your photos and descriptions of what you have done. You deserve much more recognition for the work you have done and the skill you have than just on this forum.

[TripleRich]

Today I finished the chassis leg repairs on the passenger side.  First made up two sections that reproduce the original rotten bit and tacked them together whilst on the car to ensure a good fit.

Then off the car and into the vice for finishing.  The metal is 1.5mm thick so its important to make sure the weld penetrates properly.  I had hoped to make this out of one bit but the metal required is just too thick so I settled for welding two sections together.

I then drilled the various holes for puddle welding and painted the piece on the inside.

Then it went back on the car and was welded in again making sure there is good penetration on the welding.

Finally a clean up the welds and some paint.  That completes the chassis leg repairs on both sides of the car.  All thats left to do in this area now is sort out a bit of rot I found in the floor and finally put the gearbox supports back in.

A comparison of the area before and after.  Not a very nice job to sort out but its usually gone on a Granada.  Very thankful for the body roller as doing this work on the ground would be very difficult.

[TripleRich]

Not a huge amount to report recently.  I've been removing underseal and taking various areas back to bare metal.  It takes ages to get this crap off and the car has had two applications during its life.  Its a very messy and unpleasant process.

With the car back in the assembly shop I gave it a clean and finished up.  

 

During the week things have been very busy.  Current challenge for me is to reassemble a Merc SL. 

This came to us a year ago and was a real pile of crap.  After a ton of metalwork including two chassis legs, one inner wing, both front wings, both rear wheel arches and half a boot floor is going back together.  However everything I pick up is either knackered or covered in sealant and over spray.  Its taking rather a long time...

[TripleRich]

I've made some more progress over the last two weekends.  Whilst removing various layers of under seal recently I've found more rust.  Its all fixable but will add yet more hours of fabrication to the project.

On the plus side I've finished up the passenger side foot well...

Started with making some repairs to the original front outrigger/jacking point.  Both flanges at the ends were quite pitted so they were cut off and replaced.   Once repaired I painted the inside of it and welded it back where it belongs.

Next was to address the rot I found a while back in the seam where the bulkhead meets the floor.  Rainwater and dirt often causes damage to this seam on Fords.  First I started to cut out the rot making sure I cut beyond the rot to ensure I don't leave any behind.

The rot trapped in the seam continued over the chassis leg.  Removing the metal gave me a chance to see how well I managed to paint the inside of the leg.  Lack of access meant all I could do was tip POR in the access holes and spray it about using the air line.  Happily its worked very well and should provide a good barrier of protection.

Now onto the repair.  A fiddly shape and composed of two parts to recreate the original seam.  Takes a while get this right with plenty of bashing with various types of hammer.

Once complete I had a nice tidy repair both from inside and outside the car.

Various surrounding areas have been taken back to bare metal so I had another painting session.

Still a fair way to go yet.  Really chewing through the hours but it needs to be done properly to avoid rot coming through a nice paint job in 3 years time.

[danthecapriman]

Fab work again Rich, very thorough and done properly. I wish I had even half of your skills!

 

Once your done, and my Capri's done we'll have to get both cars together since they've both had pretty much the same insane level of work done to them.

 

Keep it up!

[TripleRich]

Thanks Dan

They'll make quite pairing when done especially as they were part of the same range.  I've got plenty of work left to do but I'm happy with how it's going.  I keep this picture at the back of my mind to keep the motivation going.

Just need a need a dog and some period clothing... 

[bezzabsa]

No words - Just stunned admiration

 

1st Car I drove after passing my test was a mates MK1 3.0 Auto coupe.......I loved it - I scared his Mrs to death though (she was 2 days away from giving Birth LOL)

 

again mucho respect to ya boss for taking on that Mexico..

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

again mucho respect to ya boss for taking on that Mexico..

 

Talking of which.................. 

[danthecapriman]

Talking of which.................. 

Indeed! Any progress on that?

[Talbot]

Just read this thread from the beginning. Fabulous fabrication work there. The welding is the easy bit here... the hours and hours of hard graft and skill are so clearly in the cutting out, cleaning up and fabrication of new panels.

 

As for the drilling out of the spotwelds. I utterly hate doing that. Absolutely the very best way of doing it, but what a boring slow labourious task! Well done to you for doing it all without cutting corners.

 

Now you just need to invest in a swimming pool full of waxoyl and park it in there every night.

[Dick Dastardly]

Indeed! Any progress on that?

I think this is being done at MBVR as they have a Mexico in at the moment & the workshop looks the same. They're in Classic Ford magazine this month too.

[TripleRich]

I've been rumbled!  I work for MBVR and we are indeed in Classic Ford this month.  Had them back last week to do an article on the Coupe which will appear in a future issue.

 

I don't have any up to date pictures of the Mexico with me at the moment.  It's coming along very well but certainly not been easy.  I'll try and grab some picks of it next week.

[danthecapriman]

That'd be great if you can.

Be interesting to see how that ones coming on. I still can't believe how rotten it is/was!

[SiC]

Please, please for the love of god make sure it's locked up properly, securely and secretly once it's finished.

[TripleRich]

Don't worry about that.  I'll probably be sleeping in the bloody thing!  

 

It will be safe, only danger is when I go out and park up somewhere.  May have to hire a bodyguard for it...

[gtd2000]

Absolutely fantastic work.

 

Went out to the shed today to fit a new throttle cable to my '86 GXX-R750...and to think about the level of work that's taking place here, while I drink tea and eat a Tunnock's tea cake!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I have to say, you guys do fantastic work. What would an Escort rebuild like that cost? £50'000 or more? 

[mat_the_cat]

I'm really enjoying this thread and the quality of work which goes into it!

 

I do have one question/slight reservation though, and that's with the POR-15 you're using. I'm wondering if it is too rigid to successfully coat over spot welded seams, which will inevitably flex as the car is used. If the insides of box sections are also coated, any cavity wax cannot creep in. Then if the film cracks at the seam, water will creep in and sit against bare metal

 

I don't want this to sound at all negative, as there may be something I'm missing - you obviously have much more experience than I do in these things!

[oldcars]

This is class, the craftsmanship is outstanding. Love it.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Very high quality work here.

[uk_senator]

Thanks Guys

 

The trick with a vinyl roof is to mark a centre line on the roof and the vinyl.  Then fold the vinyl over along the line leaving half the cars roof exposed.  Then glue and pull the roof over in stages using plastic tools as you go to remove bubbles and ceases.  Hardest bit is doing the edges and going around the filler flap.  I've also put a new headliner in this car and that actually took longer to get right.  The repro headliners are made differently to the original ford ones and crease very easily.

 

Roof 1.JPGRoof 4.jpg

Roof 2.JPGRoof 3.JPG

 

I always thought the mk1 Capri looks good with a vinyl roof.  Once the Capri became a hatchback I don't think it suited them so well.

What I`ve always wondered with cars that have a petrol cap in the C-Pillar, how do you do the vinyl so it doesnt hold water in the filler area?

[uk_senator]

Oh, & loving the thread too!