Project Escort aRSe aka Sharon the shitter

[fordperv]

Well folks you've probably all heard me onabout mrs fps rs turbo, well we've had enough of looking at it in its shitty paint with marks and it's horrid front bumper so now is the time to do something about it, she kept it like that as people underestimated it when they came up along side it and because of its looks she named the car Sharon the shitter, she says the car is a Sharon because it's the butch type,

 

being an old ford no doubt it's hiding some rot, we have collected lots of parts for this refresh from panels to lights so it will look minty fresh when its done, I have already welded up a tailgate in anticipation, they always rot in the bottom corners of the rear window so got the best one I could find and repaired that ready.

 

The backstory

 

In 2008 mrs fp wanted an escort rs turbo but she wanted a series 1, so how did she end up with a black series 2 I hear you cry, we got told about a stripped down rs turbo in someone's garage but no more details, we tracked down the owner through a couple of friends and went to view it we were met with a black series 2 shell with no engine or interior in it, it looked a decent shell then when I looked at the reg saw it was a local registered car, I remember it from my teens around where i grew up and when i got into my boy racing days it was a regular at the local haunts, and it has never been owned more than 10 miles away from me in that time, it's not one of those council estate slag cars either that everyone owned it had 5 owners in total and the chap we bought it off had owned it twice, this got me thinking as I do like a local registered car, the deal clincher was when the owner took me over to the boxes upon boxes of new engine parts, he had spent a bloody fortune what wasn't a performance part was genuine ford the spec list was immense, the block was freshly bored etc so we struck a deal and that was that, mrs fps intention was to sell it on after I built the engine and m.o.t'd it to put the cash towards a series 1, I spent the weekend getting it back together and running then did any jobs it needed, when it was tested the worst happened mrs fp loved it and had to keep it she used it daily for work and loved it, this was when it started spiralling out of control the boost became addictive, as time went by more cash got spent on upgrades for the suspension to replace the old koni stuff and polybush it all round, then came the time to make it more reliable and a bit more fuel efficient so I removed the KE jetronic setup and fitted a Weber marelli efi system which is to be fair the best thing I've ever done to this car it completely transformed it.

 

Anyway here's the car

 

 

 

Today's job was to start the strip down so my first job was to dismantle all the interior plastics and remove the dash, I wanted to do this as they like to rot just below the windscreen under the dash

 

 

It's reassuringly solid under there

 

I then un bolted the seats etc so the carpets could be removed, I left it at that for today because I still feel shitty from a cold thats hanging about, hopefully I will remember to update this thread

[fordperv]

Forgot to say we've had sone fun in this car using it all weather's and using it as a dog car

 

Cara dog loves a ride out in it

 

 

[danthecapriman]

Love it! Looks a decent shell too.

My mate at work has a G reg one in black. It was a one owner car until two years ago when he went to the owners farm and dragged it home.

The guy had kept it years, garaged and well looked after then for some odd reason left it outside with a cat piss tarp over it weighted down with logs. It had started to suffer a bit.

He’s getting the rear arches replaced and sprayed then selling it to look for an XR2.

 

 

I’ll be watching with keen interest!

[Bren]

My mate had a series 1 - it was a bit of a dog as the shell was fooked and it was patched everywhere - at eight years old. I never thought it was that quick either.

[mrbenn]

Brilliant, will watch this with interest.

 

Amazing to see one of these being used "properly". There is a guy near me that has one, I've only ever seen it out once or twice. Not saying I blame him but a bit of a shame!

[AdeMk1]

In my yoof I had a stage 2 Series 2 RS Turbo, I loved that thing! Never failed to put a smile on my face and as you say the boost was addictive.

Looks like you have a good one there. Wish I still had mine. That and my XR3 

[fordperv]

Here's one I had 10 years ago i didn't have it very long, turned out it was actually a stolen car which had not been found so I soon got rid, the boost got so addictive it used to peak at 28psi until the crank bearings decided they were the weakest link, it was blooming quick it showed a then newish M5 its tail lights very easily

 

This is it with a mates Renault 19 16v chamade at the Halloween cruise Birmingham way

 

 

 

 

After inspecting Sharon and finding corrosion on the floors the diplomatic decision was made that the floor pans, inner and outer sills will be replaced to make it mint, the usual places show signs due to sunroof drains where they exit down the a pillar into the sill and cause havoc

[sutty2006]

Bloody hell, the green monster. Never did get a fully boosted ride out in that thing, probably for the best haha

[vaughant]

Love it! Looks a decent shell too.

My mate at work has a G reg one in black. It was a one owner car until two years ago when he went to the owners farm and dragged it home.

The guy had kept it years, garaged and well looked after then for some odd reason left it outside with a cat piss tarp over it weighted down with logs. It had started to suffer a bit.

He’s getting the rear arches replaced and sprayed then selling it to look for an XR2.

 

 

I’ll be watching with keen interest!

Having owned several of both, an xr2 would be a very disappointing prospect after an rs turbo, they handle better and that's it, the engine is ok but feels asthmatic whereas the turbo lump is a lovely lazy old engine that doesn't need a lot to make it very lively.

 

It's like the old rs1600i Vs rs turbo conundrum, the turbo simply does everything better and only the styling purists would prefer the rs 1600i.

 

Plus it did have a much prettier rocker cover !!!

[fordperv]

Bloody hell, the green monster. Never did get a fully boosted ride out in that thing, probably for the best haha

Oh yeah we only had a play in it on low boost driving on your work carpark on one of the old saturday afternoon fun times, couldn't really stretch its legs

 

 

Some consumables arrived today so I don't run out halfway through a section, I already picked up a replacement big bottle of gas so that should be ok for a bit

 

 

The floors and sills should be here tomorrow, then ive got to pick up the box section to brace the shell while i cut everything out

[vaughant]

Fair play, nice to see one on the road and being used properly.

 

Well worth repairing as well, they're still fetching silly money.

[fordperv]

Fair play, nice to see one on the road and being used properly.

 

Well worth repairing as well, they're still fetching silly money.

Trust me this car got used and abused good and proper, mrs fp is a mentalist and loves upsetting purists, even when its painted and back together it won't be wrapped in cotton wool like the majority of the show queens

[Ghosty]

This S1 used to live round the corner from me: 

 

 

C889FRO.

 

Never saw it move for years, always just sat outside the owner's house, then one night I was coming back over Langsett towards Woodhead Pass (before it was speed camera hell) and it just blitzes past out of nowhere, and was gone again before I knew it. The memory always stuck with me.

 

 

Beautiful car and go to match.

 

MOT history suggests it lives on somewhere on SORN.

[cobblers]

OOh, I've got a right soft spot for an S1 on Compomotive MO6s. Phwoar!

[fordperv]

Today I picked up the box section to brace this so the shell stays square when I cut the sills, inner sills and floor out, I have already levelled the shell up so no twisting forces are applied either. As preparation I have cut the box section to the correct lengths, it started peeing it down after that so can't do much more

 

I was in heaven when I popped to the steel stockists, I was thinking about all the crap I could build with what's in here

 

[fordperv]

Right folks don't take radio silence as no work has commenced, I have been a busy little worker on this, I am up to around 100 hours, I have cut out and rebuilt the passengers a pillar, under the front wheelarch where it meets the a pillar, I have cut out and replaced the passenger floors, inner sill and outer sill as well as repairing the seat crossmember and repaired the chassis leg in the area where the flexi hose attatches, making up repair sections here and there for the bits in between, next up im moving into the rear arch to see if there's any rot hiding in there, when I get chance I'll pop some pictures up

[mk2_craig]

Sounds like a fair bit of unexpected work there! Going for the original factory look once built back up, or still modified?

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

My old pal (RIP) had a black S2 (D??? UCX i think) which was frankensteined using many parts from a Sierra 1800, cosworth and escort diesel gearbox. It spat flames like a Tornado jet but usually required a rebuild once a month. I will always remember 4 things...

 

1) the total loss of any steering under full boost, it just wheel spun in any gear

2) the fuel gauge dropping like there was a big hole in the tank upon acceleration,

3) the speedo rising quicker than a rev counter 

4) the bright red glowing turbo at night coupled with a flashing light show from the HT leads. 

 

He crashed it most weekends in spectacular style usually sliding for a 100 yards through a field until one night where it was a total loss, burst into flames and got left, stripped of all its good bits by the local hood rats and I collected it for a parts car, it was sad to see the state of it. Shame really but it was never for use as a reliable daily. I couldn't possibly imagine a quicker car that wouldn't snap your neck on take off. I know there is but that's just my fond memories of it.

It's a shame we never had camera phones back then. It's nice to see another black one though, they always seemed a bit of a rarity wherever we frequented.

[fordperv]

Sounds like a fair bit of unexpected work there! Going for the original factory look once built back up, or still modified?

I'll be honest I kind of expected it to be fair, these old girls rot for fun thats why we got as many panels as we could, yeah it's going to look original again when its done painted in the original shade of A9 black, we bought it 10 years ago looking like it did and never liked the bumper or the colour which was ford ash black with coarse metallic flakes but the car was so much fun after i built it up

[fordperv]

My old pal (RIP) had a black S2 (D??? UCX i think) which was frankensteined using many parts from a Sierra 1800, cosworth and escort diesel gearbox. It spat flames like a Tornado jet but usually required a rebuild once a month. I will always remember 4 things...

 

1) the total loss of any steering under full boost, it just wheel spun in any gear

2) the fuel gauge dropping like there was a big hole in the tank upon acceleration,

3) the speedo rising quicker than a rev counter

4) the bright red glowing turbo at night coupled with a flashing light show from the HT leads.

 

He crashed it most weekends in spectacular style usually sliding for a 100 yards through a field until one night where it was a total loss, burst into flames and got left, stripped of all its good bits by the local hood rats and I collected it for a parts car, it was sad to see the state of it. Shame really but it was never for use as a reliable daily. I couldn't possibly imagine a quicker car that wouldn't snap your neck on take off. I know there is but that's just my fond memories of it.

It's a shame we never had camera phones back then. It's nice to see another black one though, they always seemed a bit of a rarity wherever we frequented.

It sounds like what I have done to this a few years back I have used cosworth and sierra 1800 bits for the management system so i could rip out the horrible KE jetronic management, it was the best thing I ever did as it has made the car reliable and usable, with the ke jet the lowest we got the fuel consumption was 8mpg and with this set up running more boost and cossie greens the consumption is more mid 20s boosting, I love this thing even though it isn't mine, its shown a lot of big performance cars its tail lights I think the funniest was an R32 skyline gtr we spotted on a private road, got up to it and were along side it at 50mph the chap started revving his engine rarrr tssh rarr tssh then dropped it down a gear to signal to us he wanted to race, so mrs fp went for it at the same time as he took off, 3 figures approached very quickly and kept rising but where was Godzilla? he was behind really going for it we got alot of distance on him I told mrs fp to let off and let him catch up which she did when he got alongside he looked and saw a woman driving shook his head we gave eachother the thumbs up and a smile and went on our merry ways

[yes oui si]

Never understood the appeal of these but I admire the commitment to resurrection of it.

[stuboy]

20180320_165430.jpg

 

 

needs a cd glued to the fan

[fordperv]

Well I've finally got a bit of time to put a few pictures, im not going to bore you all with step by step

 

I hadn't repaired the seat crossmember on this picture and the inner sill outer sill and floor lips needed plug welding together but the a pillar and everything was complete

 

I did the other little bits then moved into the rear inner arch

 

New inner arch panel fitted

 

Repairs to the inner structure

 

Outer arch on

 

Then move around the back

 

 

Im currently up to 147 hours on this and counting

[fordperv]

I have braved the heat and built the rear chassis leg end, the boot floor above it where it attaches to the rear panel (you can see it cut out in the above picture), the inner and outer rear lower quarter and the rear panel, obviously everything still needs grinding back

 

[danthecapriman]

Great stuff. And fair play for welding in this weather! Way too hot for that!

[Guest Hooli]

You said you're replacing that horrid front bumper right? I never understood why people did that as it looked crap back in the day too.

[fordperv]

You said you're replacing that horrid front bumper right? I never understood why people did that as it looked crap back in the day too.

Yes mate one of the first parts that was bought for the car was a standard 88 spec front bumper, people did it for airflow to the rad and intercooler I never liked that particular mod either but the car came like that

[fordperv]

I've carried on chipping away at this, the major annoyance of of mk3 and 4 escort owners, the battery tray, what is really annoying is the tray itself was solid but there was corrosion to the bulkhead at the seam and smack bang in the centre under the tray

 

 

I got as far as making repair sections for the bulkhead and welding them in and finalising the fit of the repair section with tray, the repair section just needs welding in now but that can be a job for tomorrow as long as its dry

[fordperv]

Well it now has a battery tray

 

[fordperv]

Today I've braced the drivers door shut, cut off the bottom of the sill and lip with part of the floor, cut the bottom off the wing so I can repair the a pillar, cut out bits of rust that ive got to repair first before I can do the inner sill,

 

Anyone want some genuine RS rust got to be worth thousands how the prices are going