Group Buy: 1982 Ford Escort bASe. Purchased.

[Shite Ron]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

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.,

The P21 push button radio with 2 knobs (not the modern digital one higher up the page)would have been an option new so would be my normal first choice but as this is real poverty spec I would think it more in keeping to retain the radio it has which looks like it was carried over from the original owner’s previous car.

[R1152]

3 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

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.,

P21? Height of Western Imperialist Decadence. 

[PhilA]

Didn't realize he was so sun faded... He's yours if you want him for the back window.

 

Phil

[666jjp]

1 hour ago, PhilA said:

Didn't realize he was so sun faded... He's yours if you want him for the back window.

 

Phil

aah memories of waking up one morning to a broken back window

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 26/02/2021 at 14:10, BorniteIdentity said:

165! oh dear that's not very bASe!

[BorniteIdentity]

7 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

165! oh dear that's not very bASe!

Correct for the 1.3 I believe, but studious consideration of the documents scanned above will confirm that one way or another. 
 

Edit. 155 is correct. Have 165 on the Sierra! 

[R1152]

The documents on page 4 seem to suggest that the base 1300 estate should have 155/80* SR 13 tyres - I'm quite surprised to see the aspect ratio mentioned tbh.

[Noel Tidybeard]

[R1152]

Wow - 175s as an option? Is that for extra load-lugging goodness?

Apropos the radio; I noticed in the catalogue scans that even the manually-tuned M21 radio was deemed a bit too cheap an optional extra for the base, so the P21 was offered - at a whopping £72.42 extra!

[Noel Tidybeard]

36 minutes ago, R1152 said:

Wow - 175s as an option? Is that for extra load-lugging goodness?

Apropos the radio; I noticed in the catalogue scans that even the manually-tuned M21 radio was deemed a bit too cheap an optional extra for the base, so the P21 was offered - at a whopping £72.42 extra!

i would imagine the m21 was reserved for bASe FESTERS

[atomic punk]

Great save, good luck with it..

 This is pretty close to the one Mrs Punk had 20 years ago, back when old Escorts were deeply unfashionable.   Hers was two tone sunburst red and stonechip, and was a positively decadent L model. I had a ropey mk2 escort at the time, and we were constantly bantering over which was "better".

Hers got sold to a banger racer after it was rear ended and the floor split from rear seat to bulkhead. Apparently estates were sought after in those circles for their low ratio diff.

If I hadnt already scratched my mk3 escort itch then I may have been tempted with the group buy,  I will see if I have any spares left over but fairly sure most of my remaining bits went in the boot of the XR3 when I sold it.

 

 

 

[Zelandeth]

That's quite the find!

Have to wonder how many Base (or very nearly) base model vehicles we could get lined up together between us from this forum one day...

[vaughant]

On 2/27/2021 at 3:41 PM, Skizzer said:

Yeah, ask me how long that lasted.

It does look a lovely thing though, so no regrets whatsoever. And yes, we did get a bit of money knocked off.

Looking forward too seeing this in and around Mumbles /Gower when you get your turn to use it!!! 

[vaughant]

On 2/28/2021 at 8:35 PM, bezzabsa said:

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

who needs tapes

I think I've got one of those in the garage you could have for free but it's the wrong period, mk4. 

[vaughant]

On 2/28/2021 at 9:04 PM, mk2_craig said:

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. 

Pretty sure they all came with an auto choke, the manual ones that lit up on the stalk itself awere a really popular kit back in the 80's from motor factors as the autochoke ones were very unreliable from memory?

Iirc any ford manual choke just had the symbol on the choke itself? 

[BorniteIdentity]

Popular radio presenter (and friend of mine) Carlos writes, reminiscing of his time on Chiltern Radio in the late 80s.

How funny I thought of you when sorting some shots from my time on breakfast at Chiltern in the late 80s. The privilege of getting the car park space right outside the front door. Bet you’d love my Ghia with grey velour & wooden door inserts on your drive 😂

And he’s not wrong. Just look at this gorgeous old thing. 
 

[BorniteIdentity]

A slightly blurry photo of the old crate has turned up on FLICKR which is lovely.

This was it having a little tickle ready for the MOT in 2014 by all accounts.

@Skizzerspotted the lack of passenger door mirror too (which I'd missed completely) so it looks like that will have to be sorted.

Front nearside tyre looks new here, so I can only assume it's a different one to what it's currently wearing (a twenty year old INDIA)!

[Eyersey1234]

34 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

A slightly blurry photo of the old crate has turned up on FLICKR which is lovely.

This was it having a little tickle ready for the MOT in 2014 by all accounts.

@Skizzerspotted the lack of passenger door mirror too (which I'd missed completely) so it looks like that will have to be sorted.

Front nearside tyre looks new here, so I can only assume it's a different one to what it's currently wearing (a twenty year old INDIA)!

Does it actually have to have a passenger door mirror? I only ask as it wasn't a legal requirement when the car was new and bASe Metros didn't have them

[BorniteIdentity]

10 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Does it actually have to have a passenger door mirror? I only ask as it wasn't a legal requirement when the car was new and bASe Metros didn't have them

It needs two mirrors from memory.  Legendary testers like @meggersdogcan confirm - but I think it's two (either two door mirrors, or a door mirror and a rear view mirror.

[sierraman]

46 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Does it actually have to have a passenger door mirror? I only ask as it wasn't a legal requirement when the car was new and bASe Metros didn't have them

No so long as it has the rear view mirror and the drivers side. 

[Kiltox]

The mirror needs to be on the nearside if it only has one (two) 

edit - actually, the mirror needs to be on the near side IF IT ONLY HAS ONE - the rear view mirror inside negates this requirement. 

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, Eyersey1234 said:

it wasn't a legal requirement when the car was new

To my knowledge, it still isn't.  Just no manufacturer is going to sell a car with only one door mirror these days.

[Fumbler]

9 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

That's quite the find!

Have to wonder how many Base (or very nearly) base model vehicles we could get lined up together between us from this forum one day...

That would be a fun photo opportunity.

[Talbot]

2 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

bASe Metros didn't have them

Nor did the vast majority of Talbot Horizons, even the medium specification models.  I once found a passenger side mirror in a breakers, and fitted it to every one of the sucession of Horizons I had during the mid-late 90s.   Had I not found that, I was in contact with someone in the Netherlands who was going to get the "driver" door mirror off a LHD car and post it over to me in exchange for me sending him a RHD Drivers mirror for his LHD car.  Didn't need to in the end as I found one, but passenger door mirrors on late-70s and early-80s small/medium cars were by no means guaranteed.  IIRC the car I passed my test in didn't have one.

[Skizzer]

Oddly, the only car I have with only one door mirror is this one, which is otherwise very well specced.

Even the 1970s Renault 16TL and Vauxhall Victor have a matched pair, as do the notoriously miserly-as-standard-everything-is-an-option BMW E30 and Audi 80.

@BorniteIdentity has a lead on sourcing a blanking plate. I started out thinking it was a bit perverse to remove something as useful as a NS door mirror, but that photo of it without one has me warming to the idea if it doesn’t cost much.

[wuvvum]

I agree, it does look rather good with no passenger mirror.  It also looks a completely different shade of red in that picture...

The Renault 6 only has one door mirror.  I don't really miss the nearside mirror on that - the main purpose of a nearside mirror is to check that you've passed whatever you were overtaking before pulling back in, and the 6 doesn't do much overtaking.  It'd help with parallel parking I suppose, but then the car is so narrow that it doesn't really matter if you end up a foot away from the kerb.

[HMC]

Yes less is definitely more on this one. 

[meggersdog]

4 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

It needs two mirrors from memory.  Legendary testers like @meggersdogcan confirm - but I think it's two (either two door mirrors, or a door mirror and a rear view mirror.

yep from 01/08/1978 two mirrors one that provides a view down the offside plus one other either nearside or the rear view mirror in the car.

[Talbot]

25 minutes ago, meggersdog said:

yep from 01/08/1978 two mirrors one that provides a view down the offside plus one other either nearside or the rear view mirror in the car.

What was the requirement before that date?  Just one?

[meggersdog]

yes atleast one but doesn't specify if a nearside one is okay.