Group Buy: 1982 Ford Escort bASe. Purchased.

[BorniteIdentity]

I forgot this until I remembered, so cleaned it right up. 

Clear glass FTW/Cold hands on a winter’s morning when pushing it. 
 

[bezzabsa]

4 hours ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Amazing work guys!  I’m a long term lurker - but I had to post on this thread.  

My first ever company car was an escort estate, it was a B reg, but not poverty spec, I got a hand me down from the boss  who went for an Astra, I got his 1.4GL estate.   As you can see in the images, it was sign written. Unlike your photocopier mate, I loved this car... well I would wouldn’t I

I sold my T reg 1.6 Escort Mk2, pocketed the cash and started a long series of Ford company cars.  I loved it! Free petrol, I was earning 8k a year and was given a car and a petrol card... awesome!

When this one went back I got an E Reg two door estate 1.4L replacement  -  which was later replaced with a GReg 1.6GL 4 Door (estate again).

Well played, an amazing purchase.   I’m gonna follow this thread with interest!

 

is that a Sigma 4 on the roof??????

[PhilA]

I am pretty sure that somewhere, I have the perfect accessory for this. I'll have to get my old man to see if he can dig it up.

If nobody else offers, I'll fix the radio if you mail it me (little far, but eh, the offer stands).

 

Phil

[beko1987]

9 hours ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Amazing work guys!  I’m a long term lurker - but I had to post on this thread.  

My first ever company car was an escort estate, it was a B reg, but not poverty spec, I got a hand me down from the boss  who went for an Astra, I got his 1.4GL estate.   As you can see in the images, it was sign written. Unlike your photocopier mate, I loved this car... well I would wouldn’t I

I sold my T reg 1.6 Escort Mk2, pocketed the cash and started a long series of Ford company cars.  I loved it! Free petrol, I was earning 8k a year and was given a car and a petrol card... awesome!

When this one went back I got an E Reg two door estate 1.4L replacement  -  which was later replaced with a GReg 1.6GL 4 Door (estate again).

Well played, an amazing purchase.   I’m gonna follow this thread with interest!

 

You can REALLY tell the trim levels even from those photos at a quick glance! The GL one looks like a mini granada if you close your eyes a bit! 

[BorniteIdentity]

1 hour ago, PhilA said:

I am pretty sure that somewhere, I have the perfect accessory for this. I'll have to get my old man to see if he can dig it up.

If nobody else offers, I'll fix the radio if you mail it me (little far, but eh, the offer stands).

 

Phil

Thanks. The radio works, it’s just shit. I’d like to rip it out tbh but we’ve no blanking plate 😞 

[Mr Pastry]

Good to see this being looked after.  We had several of these in the family over time, and my last one was exactly that colour, though maybe not a base model.  They were decent enough cars, comfy and practical and quite nice to drive.  The load area always seemed shorter than the RWD Escort although the two cars were  about the same length but that may have been an illusion.   I don' t recall much trouble with them, except for the evil VV carburettor - if this still has one, a Weber conversion might be worth considering.

 

[500tops]

10 hours ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Amazing work guys!  I’m a long term lurker - but I had to post on this thread.  

My first ever company car was an escort estate, it was a B reg, but not poverty spec, I got a hand me down from the boss  who went for an Astra, I got his 1.4GL estate.   As you can see in the images, it was sign written. Unlike your photocopier mate, I loved this car... well I would wouldn’t I

I sold my T reg 1.6 Escort Mk2, pocketed the cash and started a long series of Ford company cars.  I loved it! Free petrol, I was earning 8k a year and was given a car and a petrol card... awesome!

When this one went back I got an E Reg two door estate 1.4L replacement  -  which was later replaced with a GReg 1.6GL 4 Door (estate again).

Well played, an amazing purchase.   I’m gonna follow this thread with interest!

 

Now Ladies and Gentleman, THAT is how you make an introduction! oooofff

[SiC]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Thanks. The radio works, it’s just shit. I’d like to rip it out tbh but we’ve no blanking plate 😞 

If you're tight enough to buy a completely base car, but your missus is moaning about hearing you moan all the time and wants a radio to muffle it, you'll be buying the cheapest one you can find. Hence a second hand unit that is older than the car. Alternatively you took the radio out of the car you've just scrapped, as the scrap man wouldn't give you anymore for the rotten wreck that has been driven to destruction. 

[Unlucky Alf]

6 hours ago, bezzabsa said:

is that a Sigma 4 on the roof??????

Well spotted!   I noticed I said it was a 1.4, slight typo, it was the mighty 1.3GL. 

9ft  quarter wave steel whip on a roof bar anyone?  Pmsl.

Watch the tailgate mechanism, they changed the design of the button push I believe because it was prone to getting crud stuck inside it, and they changed the keys from the flat type, to the round Ford type ones,  they sported a different ‘handle’ design (slimmer).

In case your wondering, I was a field service engineer at the time. The boot was usually full of commodore PET,  Apricot, Sirius, IBM and various printer spares in boxes, covered by a loose blanket as of course there is no cover on these.   The rear load space is fantastic, as long as the tailgate shuts properly.  I remember booting it in true company car rev’s level out of our offices up the road, when the tailgate opened by itself and my toolbox flew out the back along with loads of bits, into the road.  Arse!

The bonnets on these are surprisingly robust.....   I was delivering a computer to a customer once, as I walked along the pavement I slipped on ice and the machine I was carrying  went into the air and bounced off the car bonnet onto the road.  I did as expected ,  looked round, picked the machine up and bunged it back in the boot quick as I could and sped back to base to check it over and re-delivered it later that day.  Bonnet didn’t have a mark on it!

Couple of images (promise the last, this thread isn’t about my old cars) but this shows the differences between the 4door and 2 door.  I think the 2 door was much cleaner in looks.  Pain in the neck, the seatbelt mounting position, mind, as you can see, they hang down and get in the way:

 

can’t wait to hear more about the new purchase!

[bezzabsa]

21 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Well spotted!   I noticed I said it was a 1.4, slight typo, it was the mighty 1.3GL. 

9ft  quarter wave steel whip on a roof bar anyone?  Pmsl.

Watch the tailgate mechanism, they changed the design of the button push I believe because it was prone to getting crud stuck inside it, and they changed the keys from the flat type, to the round Ford type ones,  they sported a different ‘handle’ design (slimmer).

In case your wondering, I was a field service engineer at the time. The boot was usually full of commodore PET,  Apricot, Sirius, IBM and various printer spares in boxes, covered by a loose blanket as of course there is no cover on these.   The rear load space is fantastic, as long as the tailgate shuts properly.  I remember booting it in true company car rev’s level out of our offices up the road, when the tailgate opened by itself and my toolbox flew out the back along with loads of bits, into the road.  Arse!

The bonnets on these are surprisingly robust.....   I was delivering a computer to a customer once, as I walked along the pavement I slipped on ice and the machine I was carrying  went into the air and bounced off the car bonnet onto the road.  I did as expected ,  looked round, picked the machine up and bunged it back in the boot quick as I could and sped back to base to check it over and re-delivered it later that day.  Bonnet didn’t have a mark on it!

Couple of images (promise the last, this thread isn’t about my old cars) but this shows the differences between the 4door and 2 door.  I think the 2 door was much cleaner in looks.  Pain in the neck, the seatbelt mounting position, mind, as you can see, they hang down and get in the way:

 

can’t wait to hear more about the new purchase!

who robbed the neighbors fence?????

[bezzabsa]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Thanks. The radio works, it’s just shit. I’d like to rip it out tbh but we’ve no blanking plate 😞 

Hope you're sitting down....wrong model year But still!!!

W T F Ford scene tax at its worst...

[bezzabsa]

or throw this is the dash .. (23 hours left)

who needs tapes

[BorniteIdentity]

Car love stories are always welcome in my world, @Unlucky Alf. This is where I think most Youtubers and Journalists go wrong; for millions of us - these cars aren’t about the move away from pushrod engines or the leap to FWD. They’re about first jobs, lost nights, lost underwear, road trips, gigs, camping, working, smooching and all sorts. 

My folks bought me home from hospital, 2 weeks before Christmas 1982, in a MK3 Escort. My father was only 24, and I reckon he was as proud of his first born as he was his first company car. 

That’s my Uncle’s Fiesta beyond on the day of my Christening. He kept it so long that I remember it at the age of 17.

Thanks for all the positivity, and keep the stories coming. Gives us all something to read whilst I start collating bits for the Estate!

[bezzabsa]

1982 I'd just left School and was earning £25 on a YTS!!!

[BorniteIdentity]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:24 PM, greengartside said:

I’m just waiting for Midnite to come back on here protesting about how he doesn’t get it...

A bit of internet sleuthing has revealed this photo, which I believe is the Escort bASe...

 

I cleaned the glass up today and you can make out the outline of this sticker clear as day. A shame it’s gone. Could always get a replica, but you can’t replicate nearly 40 years of decay. 

[Mr Pastry]

59 minutes ago, SiC said:

If you're tight enough to buy a completely base car, but your missus is moaning about hearing you moan all the time and wants a radio to muffle it, you'll be buying the cheapest one you can find. Hence a second hand unit that is older than the car. Alternatively you took the radio out of the car you've just scrapped, as the scrap man wouldn't give you anymore for the rotten wreck that has been driven to destruction. 

Car radios were expensive back then.  I have the original bill of sale for my 1981 2CV, and the basic Blaupunkt Hamburg LW/MW radio (which it still has) was £61 plus £9 for the aerial, plus the VAT.

[greengartside]

14 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I cleaned the glass up today and you can make out the outline of this sticker clear as day. A shame it’s gone. Could always get a replica, but you can’t replicate nearly 40 years of decay. 

That’s the guy who you bought it off who removed the sticker - it’s still on there in the advert pictures. Why do something like that?

Yes, DMB graphics do a replica, although replacing the patina would be a trifle more difficult. Heat lamp for a few hours? 

[Eyersey1234]

Chodtastic news this has been saved 

[mk2_craig]

On 2/27/2021 at 8:28 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

Seeing the dash has brought back a very distant memory of the choke on these- does it glow a warming orange when you pull it out? 

Certainly did on mk2 Fiesta. The only mk3 Escort I ever owned was a 1.6 auto with an automatic choke on the VV carb, which amazingly was still functioning after 21 years, so I had a nice blank where the knob would have been. 

[PhilA]

Should, my mate's 1.3L had the light up choke pull.

You had to be very dextrous to start it on a cold morning, pulling the choke and playing the pedal while twisting the key like a damn pipe organ to get the VV somewhere near the correct mixture to get the thing to wake up.

[vonmon]

Fabulous. I had one of these POG 389Y.

[egg]

Well done D, I've posted before, my Dad's 1.3 Laser rep car. 

I need to find a pic of the MK4 1.6 GL Diesel that came afterwards.

My Mum's MK2 would have been in the garage. My parents had every escort from 1-5, but no MK6.

[Fumbler]

My dad had a 1984 Escort 1.3 GL estate in a lovely shit brown colour. I think it was his first company car and he loved it... mainly because the petrol and the car was free. He remarks that the engine was "wheezy", but that's his only negative thought on it. He says he has pictures of it in a album somewhere, which would definitely be interesting to see!

[djim]

Love this!

 

Slightly cheaper blanking plate from Belgium here: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Escort-MK2-console-radio-blanking-plate/254797181176?hash=item3b531870f8:g:fOEAAOSwx8pfyL9M

Still £35 inc postage though. 

Part numbers: 

Blank - 75AB-T04587-AAW

Fancy one with a logo - 75AB-T04587-AAFA

 

[adw1977]

Or if you want a radio that could have been original to the car you need to find a P21 or P32, both were available as factory fitted options when it was new.

[R1152]

If it has to have a radio, push-button tuning is decadent. It should be fully manual and not have a tone control either.

[ChinaTom]

Brings back fond memories of my old ceramic blue 1.3 base 3 dr hatch. Loved that thing. B348CEG I think. 

[BorniteIdentity]

Thanks - there is a P21 on eBay at the moment that someone pointed me at.  It would look good in the hole until we can fill the hole with more blank, miserable plastic.,

[Angrydicky]

My old landcrab had one of those P21 radios in the hole, with a Ford logo on it. Wondered what it was from! 

[HMC]

Just catching up..... fabulous!

This place (no irony intended)