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Craig's crud collection - MAJOR UPDATE 31-05-17


Guest xr1984

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Thought it was about time I updated this. In Feb last year a bout of profligacy caused me to buy this early Crystal Blue Sapphire Cosworth:

 

DSC04822.jpg

 

I owned it for about seven months during which time I moved house twice and eventually felt the need to have a clearout. Cosworth sold to sister's ex, 2.0GL given to a friend around the same time.

 

I instantly spent the Cosworth proceeds on a mega-miles Focus ST170, which I sold yesterday for a small profit to a 20 year-old (I will eat my hat if it hasn't been destroyed by now). Feeling the need for something less dull I agreed to buy this off Colc today:

 

Sierra-Ghia.jpg

 

Lovely. First reg April 1990 so very late on the orange indicators. 2.0 EFi with the twin cam motor, Heather Mills-O-Matic transmission, PAS, original stereo with power amp and in pretty much faultless condition throughout. If I can stop it from rusting I don't think I would feel the need to buy another car ever again.

 

Would like a model of it, but can't find one - think I'm going to end up getting a Corgi mk1 hatch and grafting a mk2 front on somehow :)

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Aha you bought it, I had a gander at it when I went to see Colin and very nice and original it was too.

 

I think I took that pic of the blue Cossie at St Catherines one day, I don't normally like the Sapphire Cossie that much but I don't think I'd ever seen one in that colour and I think it looks flange-tastic, must have cost you a pretty penny as it appeared to be very tidy? wasn't off Mr Surcouf was it? I think he had a mint and I mean mint grey cossie parked just in front of your old blue one in that same pic.

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Yeah that pic is directly lifted off one of your spots threads :) and yes it was behind Keith's car on a club run, I think he still has it but offers it up for sale at regular intervals. It is stock standard apart from a stainless exhaust - asking price was ten grand at one point; last time I checked he was looking for 7500 but the one I bought was a LOT less than that (some engine mods and had been laid up for five years). Think they only built the Crystal Blue ones for the first few months of production - there is at least one other example locally but heavily bazzed-up and in shitty condition. I still made a loss on it though as the head gasket was on the way out and I had to get that done just before selling. New owner has spent plenty more on it since September!

 

I am very happy with the Ghia, it has clearly been superbly maintained and the last service a year ago cost nearly £900! Including £180-worth of new rocker cover and gasket :shock: I'm surprised a new cover was even obtainable! I am guessing it was traded in against an ex-rental Fiesta or Focus recently and I'd love to know how much (how little) La Motte Ford sold it on for. Should polish up a treat and satisfy my motoring needs for the foreseeable future, especially since Sharon's MGF dumped its coolant all over the drive AGAIN yesterday afternoon (bust radiator this time :roll: )

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Nice car, xr1984. :D Looks great with the period wheel trims! 8) My gold 1986 Escort had brown bumpers too.

 

Incidentally, the same Mrs Elderly who moaned about the Sierra materialising the other evening walked down the road just after taking this photo and gave me another "you and your bloody disgusting cars" lecture, she does have a point, it is by far the oldest in the road, if you ignore the guy who's got a couple of early MR2s in bits on his drive and the old dear who has that nice Cav sportshatch under a cover outside her garage. And the chap with a mk1 Escort hidden away. Doing my bit to keep property values down in the district :)

 

Ha ha! :mrgreen: I understand that Jersey is hellishly expensive so what you're doing is a good thing for society as a whole [/liberal]. I can understand her moaning about the car pre-valet but moaning afterwards is a bit rich - she ought to get a life.

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  • 1 month later...

I've had this wonderful machine for a few weeks now, it's like a five year old car and aside from slightly crappy fuel consumption I can't fault it. Been tinkering with a few minor defects, only thing that doesn't work now is the pump-up lumbar pad in the driver's seat though I'm not convinced the heated front screen is doing anything. Can't grumble though!

 

Today my new plates from Dealerplates came down which allowed me to get rid of the ruined rear one.

 

Before and after:

e15eacc9.jpg

0caa0b1e.jpg

 

GR8. The font style isn't quite 100% totally cock-on, very slightly different but near as dammit and I'm very satisfied. I decided not to get the GBJ country plate replicated as it's probably of dubious legality anyway and if I take the car on the Continent (only about 20 miles by boat south of here) I don't want to give the French feds another excuse to pull me over.

 

Started raining so I left the front plate for now - nothing wrong with the original one, but nice to have them both the same.

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Nice clean car - I had a 1990 XR4i with the twink engine - the body was mint, but it need timing chain and tensioners (piss easy and done on my drive), cost me £120 for the car, also put a rad and a petrol tank on it.

 

Had it 3 months, a transit ran into the back of it (it hit me at a fair old lick - even the back of the roof was damaged). Insurance paid me £975 for the car.

 

The only time I have ever made on a car.

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well nice that and my favourite colour - your folk's neighbours sound like right twunts - only one way to deal ith them- buy a 200 SHERPA with suitibly rusty sides and paint O'Shaughnassey & Sons Paving Drives Roofing on the side in Dulux, tax, mot and insureit and park it outside their house for 6 months ...did it to my twat of a neighbour with a nasty Maxi Totsten Enterprises once supplied me....I know Nige isn't beyond a bit of vehicle rearranging to make a point

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I've had my 1992 Ghia since 2002,when it was gifted to me.The cars never been welded,and has still got beautifull glossy Diamond White paintwork,which is waxed on a almost monthly basis.They were ( and still are ) a wonderfully easy car to drive;I think mines escaped the tinworm through a combination of a very sheltered life,and the usual Ghia build quality.Of all my cars,this is my favorite of them all

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I've had a few Sierras, but most seem to have avoided having pictures taken of them.

 

n804084643_1241032_55.jpg

 

Sierras are ace. Last one I had was a Mercury grey 4x4 Ghia V6 Estate with a Turbo Technics conversion, Konis, Recaros, Sapphire Cosworth bumper, bonnet and alloys. That thing was bloody great. Had a load of XR4x4s over the years. Still rate those highly.

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I've had loads of Sierras as well... this was the last, maybe 4 years ago now

 

Mk1Ghia.jpg

 

Lovely 2.3 V6 Ghia with brown trim in great condition bought for £200 and every toy imaginable - apart from the headlight wash annoyingly.

 

I sold it locally and never saw it again so assumed it had been weighed.. but DVLA say its still around :D

 

 

The enquiry is complete

The vehicle details for A582 PES are:

 

Date of Liability 01 05 2012

Date of First Registration 01 08 1983

Year of Manufacture 1983

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2293CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status SORN Not Due

Vehicle Colour GREEN

Vehicle Type Approval

Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle

6 Months Rate £118.25

12 Months Rate £215.00

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  • 1 month later...

Sierra news. Rear dampers changed. Suprisingly easy do-it-without-jacking-up job, although the Haynes Book Of Lies clearly didn't update the procedure for the later car: 'remove two self-tapping screws and withdraw the trim panel to access the upper shock absorber mounting nut'. EIGHT screws, two seatbelt mounting bolts, part of the rear seat backrest and the folding seat latch later, I was finally able to remove the three grommets that hold the boot side carpet panel on and get at the shock mounting nut... :roll:

 

While arsing around underneath the car, I noticed the exhaust looks a bit fragile, and since it's probably original, I'll do that next. Fortunately the parts are cheap as chips on Ebay. I love Sierra ownership. :)

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My Ghia estate has heavy duty rear shock absorbers ( Nivomat ? ) which aren't a quick 15 minute swap compared to the standard ones.Looks like its a strip out the rear suspension etc job to get them out,as they wont pass down through the holes in the rear suspension arms like the slimmer standard ones do :(

Well,they pass the MOT bounce test,but on country roads at speed,sometimes feels a little bouncy,but never driven another to compare with.

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My Ghia estate has heavy duty rear shock absorbers ( Nivomat ? ) which aren't a quick 15 minute swap compared to the standard ones.Looks like its a strip out the rear suspension etc job to get them out,as they wont pass down through the holes in the rear suspension arms like the slimmer standard ones do :(

Well,they pass the MOT bounce test,but on country roads at speed,sometimes feels a little bouncy,but never driven another to compare with.

 

Nivomats are self levelling... they'll pass the bounce test even if they're knackered because the Nivomat essentially does most of the springing.

 

If the ride is harsh they're knackered. And expensive. Ask SD1 fans about 'em.

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If the ride is harsh they're knackered. And expensive. Ask SD1 fans about 'em.

 

Indeed. I used to look after an ex police 2600 (CYW497V) which, thank Christ, had standard type suspension but with Konis - and Minilites. Changing shagged Nivomats was not fun, particularly with rusty unions.

 

There are two very early Sierras near me, both with giffer owners. Both are Y reg 1.6L's, one Beige and the other Caspian blue. My old man had one as a company car in 1983, a red 2.0GL with the optional five speed box and glass sunroof. A708HFA iirc, and probably bean cans long ago.

The Mark 1 Sierra was a better car in many ways than the later ones. My Sapphire used to mist up inside like a bastard and it was so slow with the Emax engine.

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My old man had one as a company car in 1983, a red 2.0GL with the optional five speed box and glass sunroof. A708HFA iirc, and probably bean cans long ago.

 

 

The vehicle details for A708 HFA are:

 

Date of Liability 01 04 1998

Date of First Registration 25 08 1983

Year of Manufacture 1983

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1993CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour RED

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My old man had one as a company car in 1983, a red 2.0GL with the optional five speed box and glass sunroof. A708HFA iirc, and probably bean cans long ago.

 

 

The vehicle details for A708 HFA are:

 

Date of Liability 01 04 1998

Date of First Registration 25 08 1983

Year of Manufacture 1983

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1993CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour RED

 

 

Cheers.

 

It's also recorded with DVLC as being scrapped. :cry:

 

It was a good car that. Cardinal red with grey GL velours and the slotted wheel trims it did about 100'000 miles in 2 years before being pensioned off the company fleet to an employee in 1986 with 150'000.

 

The two of mine that I can recall were D262NOC (blue 1.8 Staffire) and YGY914Y, a green 1.6L hatch - five speed with 'roof.

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So it lasted another decade even with 150k on the clock? That's impressive

 

Mine was G795 WFJ and a brilliant car. Had it for over a year and the only thing I ever had to change was the radiator fan switch. Brilliant car though, but terminal corrosion caught up with it in the end

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So it lasted another decade even with 150k on the clock? That's impressive

 

Mine was G795 WFJ and a brilliant car. Had it for over a year and the only thing I ever had to change was the radiator fan switch. Brilliant car though, but terminal corrosion caught up with it in the end

 

Those black top Pintos were so long lasting. It was supplied new by a dealer in Stoke on Trent and serviced by the Ford dealer in Bridgewater whoever that was.

I once 'nicked' it to tow a four wheel trailer to collect a 1970 Mini Van I bought for 30 quid - would have been in 1986. I managed to destroy the clutch* reversing it up our drive - it was collected by Gowrings in Newbury (the proper old place) and the guy was amazed at such a mileage on the first clutch.

 

It had a new rear bumper on it as well, and the dealer fitted an L bumper which was somehow slightly different to a GL one. I do remember the paint being blasted off the fronts of the sills during the winter of 1984, right back to the white primer.

 

It was a toss up between a Sierra 2.0GL and a Cavalier 1.8SR - either would have been fine.

 

*I never owned up to it. :roll::lol:

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  • 9 months later...

So another year on from the last one and I've just taken this into stock:

 

6b02c4e6.jpg

 

Late '90, DOHC manual, 107k, and dead.

 

Would like to get it running again but it's tatty and was bought as spare parts only so that's probably what I'll end up using it for - unless anybody can persuade me not to start dismantling it. I could swap over quite a few bits onto the white one, but the rest is surplus to requirements so if anybody wants any components please let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'm going to have things like column stalks, exhaust, sunroof and odd bits of trim.

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's just a tired old car really, apart from the non-starting issue which I haven't got round to investigating further, it's generally scruffy if reasonably rust free (the odd patch here and there especially round the sunroof), nsf wing dented, front bumper cracked, some damaged interior trim. Remember there's no MOT over here, I wouldn't say it's been run into the ground, but it might have been a bit smarter overall had there been a need to annually test it. My white Ghia has half the mileage and is in much better nick :)

 

I paid £50, if I can't get the engine to work without too much work then I'll get my money's worth out of the parts I want from it. If I do manage to reactivate it then I'll see if someone wants the whole car!

 

How is the brown one getting along?

 

I quietly referred to disposing of it a whiley back:

 

Thought it was about time I updated this. In Feb last year a bout of profligacy caused me to buy this early Crystal Blue Sapphire Cosworth:

 

DSC04822.jpg

 

I owned it for about seven months during which time I moved house twice and eventually felt the need to have a clearout. Cosworth sold to sister's ex, 2.0GL given to a friend around the same time.

 

Namely a bloke from Ireland with a mk2 Escort rally car addiction. It would surprise me if its' 196k mile 205 Pinto cylinder block hadn't found its way into something with forest arches and a roll cage by now. :oops:

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  • 3 months later...

The spares car still lives. Against the odds. The wife was deeply unimpressed that I organised a tow truck to move it from my work car park to our house on the morning of our wedding while she was getting ready at her sisters place... I told her at least she couldn't accuse me of not organising anything for the day :D

 

Going to have to break it or otherwise get rid of it soon though. Someone wants the gearbox if it's a Type 9 unit, not sure if it would be anything else but how do I tell for sure?

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