My life in cars - XR3i & MK2 Escort Ghia Double the Escorts, Double the pussy

[Jim Bergerac]

Just read through this, a few crackers I remember from the time and good to see what you've had since when I dropped off here. 

I actually like those alloys, they're very off the time. It screams 1989.

[hairnet]

trig you slaaaaaaaag

whats next?

its gonna be another BL innit

edit ffs  the scort needs leaving just like that

edit edit ask @320touring if the later goofs have 3 point belts in the back

 

[High Jetter]

Am not a Ford guy, but isn't that a rare thing?

[Matty]

Defo keep the wheels. They're so much part of the look of the car. Love it!

[DVee8]

FWIW the wheels are lush, keep them.

[JJ0063]

That looks fantastic. 
 

Id love to be one of those people who’s details get passed to people when they mention they have a car to get shot of. Jealous! 

[eddyramrod]

31 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

That looks fantastic. 
 

Id love to be one of those people who’s details get passed to people when they mention they have a car to get shot of. Jealous! 

I'd love to be that person who can make the move when he gets details of a viable old car!  When I was in Cyprus I managed it a couple of times, and it was a great feeling.

Brilliant work @trigger 

[Eyersey1234]

8 hours ago, trigger said:

Randomly we got a message of a lady down my road who got our details from the antique centre because she had her departed husbands old Escort to sell and asked if we knew anyone interested in it, me obviously being a sucker for a old Ford and having just sold the Mondeo agreed to take a look.

I was surprised when she opened the container where it had been stored since 2010!

So the story is her husband used to work for Tescos and cashed in his shares in 1989 to buy this XR3i Cabriolet from Dagenham Motors, It was his pride and joy and he used to go cruising on Southend seafront and around Romford and Dagenham in it during the 90s before getting a company van in 2000 and parked it, his plan was to recommission it when he retired but he sadly passed away in 2021 aged 59 after laying down for a hour as he felt rough and passed away in his sleep, very sad indeed.

For a car which hasn't seen the road for 24 years it seems VERY good, there no rust on the body or arches or behind the kit that i can see, the rear floor has a lot of surface rust but I'm hoping that will clean up ok.

I agreed to buy it so yesterday my mate came over so we could collect it, it was a bit of a faff as the rear brakes had locked on but we managed to drag it onto the trailer, eventually!

The first time it had seen light for 14 years! as you can see it's very of it's period! I personally think it's a Dagenham Motors demonstrator as its shows two previous owners, not one, i know his wife registered after he died but I'm thinking the garage owned it for a bit too, especially as it's all skirted up, shame that the paperwork hasn't turned up yet and carbaba doesn't give keeper change dates anymore as I'd be really interested to know if it had a keeper change in 1989.

What's peoples thought's on the wheels? they are 15" Oscam Windy alloys which have been on it since new, I'm quite tempted to get them refurbished again.

Half leather Recaros! very posh! and check out the hifi!

big Alpine speakers in the car too, just a shame the stereo isn't in it, the lady thinks it's in the loft and will let me know when she finds it. i think it's a special edition model as they only made a few in Aquafoam blue and with the high spec of leather and electric roof back in 1989.

we managed to push it into the garage, tomorrow I'll make a start on seeing what parts i need and the condition of the belt before turning it over.

and here it is in it's glory days when it was brand new

Chodtastic 

[trigger]

I am lucky, for once the timing was just right as I had sold the Mondeo and had the money to pull the trigger on it.

It's funny as the Capri came from a lady only 5 doors up fron the Escort lady, and both being on the same road as me, I did get offered a '20000 mile 3 door Escort' last year from the antique centre too but that turned out to be a 120000 mile P reg Mk5 Escort 1.6 auto Encore with terminal rust so you can't win then all!

[Dick Longbridge]

The alloys fit the general styling of the bodykit perfectly. The fact they've been fitted to the car since new and you have photos of it back in the day with them just adds to provenance and will reel 'em in when you eventually go to sell. I see you've still got the Capri - that one is the ultimate find out of the lot for me. Amazing transformation. 

[danthecapriman]

Love the new Escort! Definitely keep the wheels. It’s had them it’s whole life and they do fit the look of the car imho.

Quite a rare colour for it too. Much nicer than the usual white etc.

[wuvvum]

Phwooooar!  That's a bit of you that is Trig.

Maybe @LightBulbFun can use his special tool to find out about the keeper changes?

[LightBulbFun]

On 28/01/2024 at 11:37, wuvvum said:

Phwooooar!  That's a bit of you that is Trig.

Maybe @LightBulbFun can use his special tool to find out about the keeper changes?

Its sadly not much use there

as its missing the crucial 2nd keeper acquisition date

 

but I think you should be able to directly ask the DVLA on which date did each keeper acquired and then disposed on the vehicle, I dont think thats considered personal data.

I know I have managed to get them to cough it up for an Invacar... (as well as the general town each keeper resided in)

 

[trigger]

You legend! I really appreciate you looking it up for me, even if it hasn't helped on this occasion, it's so annoying Carbaba has now removed that option!

With a bit of lucky the lady will find the paperwork and that will fill in the gaps.

Oh and the wheels are Oscam Windy's, it seems.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Oh my good God this thread is amazing. 

What a find that cabby is, I've never seen those wheels on them before, they look fantastic IMHO, really suit it. Should be nice to smoke around in when the weather gets a bit nicer, let's hope this summer isn't as wank as last year...

[RoadworkUK]

That cabrio is the actual bollocks.

Definitely need to find an era-appropriate Alpine or Pioneer head unit to match those bits on the dash. And the wheels are just.... chef's kiss.

[horriblemercedes]

Those wheels look great. You'll see them in the intro to the video of The Road to Hell by Chris Rea. You'll also see a load of other cool stuff like the butresses on a Jaguar XJS. 1989

[andrew e]

I’m pretty sure I can vouch that used to razz down the seafront in Southend, I was* an Essex boy racer in the early 90’s and this car with those alloys is very familiar. 

[RoadworkUK]

36 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

Those wheels look great. You'll see them in the intro to the video of The Road to Hell by Chris Rea. 

On a Rover 800, I believe.

[trigger]

OMG your right as well, bloody well spotted!

[Eyersey1234]

13 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

On a Rover 800, I believe.

I saw a Mk1 800 the other day, rare site these days

[Eyersey1234]

On 27/01/2024 at 23:58, trigger said:

Randomly we got a message of a lady down my road who got our details from the antique centre because she had her departed husbands old Escort to sell and asked if we knew anyone interested in it, me obviously being a sucker for a old Ford and having just sold the Mondeo agreed to take a look.

I was surprised when she opened the container where it had been stored since 2010!

So the story is her husband used to work for Tescos and cashed in his shares in 1989 to buy this XR3i Cabriolet from Dagenham Motors, It was his pride and joy and he used to go cruising on Southend seafront and around Romford and Dagenham in it during the 90s before getting a company van in 2000 and parked it, his plan was to recommission it when he retired but he sadly passed away in 2021 aged 59 after laying down for a hour as he felt rough and passed away in his sleep, very sad indeed.

For a car which hasn't seen the road for 24 years it seems VERY good, there no rust on the body or arches or behind the kit that i can see, the rear floor has a lot of surface rust but I'm hoping that will clean up ok.

I agreed to buy it so yesterday my mate came over so we could collect it, it was a bit of a faff as the rear brakes had locked on but we managed to drag it onto the trailer, eventually!

The first time it had seen light for 14 years! as you can see it's very of it's period! I personally think it's a Dagenham Motors demonstrator as its shows two previous owners, not one, i know his wife registered after he died but I'm thinking the garage owned it for a bit too, especially as it's all skirted up, shame that the paperwork hasn't turned up yet and carbaba doesn't give keeper change dates anymore as I'd be really interested to know if it had a keeper change in 1989.

What's peoples thought's on the wheels? they are 15" Oscam Windy alloys which have been on it since new, I'm quite tempted to get them refurbished again.

Half leather Recaros! very posh! and check out the hifi!

big Alpine speakers in the car too, just a shame the stereo isn't in it, the lady thinks it's in the loft and will let me know when she finds it. i think it's a special edition model as they only made a few in Aquafoam blue and with the high spec of leather and electric roof back in 1989.

we managed to push it into the garage, tomorrow I'll make a start on seeing what parts i need and the condition of the belt before turning it over.

and here it is in it's glory days when it was brand new

One of my old neighbours back in the late 90s had a H reg XR3i cabriolet in red.

[Timewaster]

Thought of this thread the other day when I spotted a Dolomite SE.

Sadly abandoned in a farmyard and beyond saving.

[JohnK]

On 12/02/2023 at 12:46, loserone said:

That was me, it was a great car and brought my eldest home from hospital.

 

I swapped it with @Jim Bell for a Suzuki Alto, he sold it to @JohnK who I seem to recall killed it 

I didn’t actually kill this one! I sold it to a Polish guy and I believe it got exported. I had that mapped and it was rapid.

[trigger]

Long time, no see! I've been very busy behind the scenes with life stuff but i have been chipping away on the XR3i, long story short it ended up being a shit load of worth as expected boot floor needed a patch

but that was all the welding it needed, plug number for snapped off in the head, it was a utter twat to get out but a easy out and going for it with the chatter gun managed to get it out and save my arse with a head rebuild.

ended up changing all the valve stem seals whilst this was off, brakes were completely stripped down and all replaced

It needed new brake lines and master cylinder and servo  as they were kanckered too so they got replaced as did the exhaust system

The fuel system was a nightmare, the tank was rotten, as was the pump and hardlines and all the pipes so everything got replaced which cost a fortune!

the sender unit was rusty and seized but i managed to save that with a good clean and WD40

also replaced the injectors and metering head, absolute mare all that! the gearbox end plate had rusted through and lost all it's oil and that was replaced

both driveshaft seals had failed too and needed replacing, 

Loads of other stuff has done but i won't bore you anymore but suffice to say it was a slog and i don't have photos!

 

[trigger]

But now it looks like this!

Unbelievable once we swapped the metering head/unit for one I'd been lent the car fired straight up and runs beautiful! even the electric roof worked once i oiled the joints and hinges up.

even the wheels look nice now they've been cleaned and have new tyres fitted

I still need to sort the stereo out, it's a bit of a mess with the wiring as it's got two amps, a couple of graphic equalizer things, a pair of subs, twitters in the doors etc so i need some help to wire up a new stereo

So on the whole i think it's came out alright, the MOT is booked for Monday afternoon, but nerve-wracking as as the MOT station is about 15 minutes away and down a dual carriageway (A12) and this will be the first time it's been driven since 2000 but I'm sure it be fine...

[grogee]

On 11/02/2023 at 22:15, trigger said:

 

 sadly the head gasket had gone

TADTS

Mine did two or three, it's a horrible feeling driving 300 miles to start work in your new job only to have the gasket pop. 

I trundled up the hill to my uncle's house in a cloud of coolant steam and fixed it on his drive, Uncle Ced ran around borrowing torque wrenches and buying gaskets for me. 

When I came to fire it up, I heard a 'glug glug glug' sound and wondered why the oil pressure light wouldn't go out. Turns out the old oil filter rubber seal hadn't come away with the filter, so there were two seals bumping into each other and a massive oil slick over my Uncle's pristine driveway... 

It was the first of many oil spills actually. 

[Matty]

What an end result Trigger. Stunning!

Uncle looks after one for a customer. 18 thou from new, never touched, factory burgundy leather! Apparently a special order car for a member of Ford management team. Lovely thing but tbh if I were choosing I'd take yours!

[puddlethumper]

A damn fine looking chariot there @trigger.

[stuboy]

the ragtop looks smashing