1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Completed it mate - see page 46

[Bren]

Piss poor all the documentation is still with the keeper.

The interior is lovely. But like you I would not be happy spending £4k on something that isn't what you had hoped for.

[grogee]

I think by the time the car is on stands for the exhaust job you'll appreciate just how much room there is to work on it! RWD, low tech, what's not to like? 

Expect the worst with the fixings etc - no doubt you'll need studs and nuts (and a gasket of course). 

Is the downpipe unobtanium now? 

[JJ0063]

I’m 99.9999% this was for sale for over 7k a little while ago in Ireland and the seller had a few cars for sale including an old gold Datsun that caught my eye.

Id be pissed if I paid £4k for it in all honesty. I get the impression from the cars he had, he’s probably a bit of a driveway trader. 
 

Could be wrong but I definitely recognise this car. 

[cort16]

8 minutes ago, grogee said:

I think by the time the car is on stands for the exhaust job you'll appreciate just how much room there is to work on it! RWD, low tech, what's not to like? 

Expect the worst with the fixings etc - no doubt you'll need studs and nuts (and a gasket of course). 

Is the downpipe unobtanium now? 

There's so much room for activity, no cats or anything.  I would guess that a stud has snapped from the manifold to the front of the exhaust I was always fucking around with this on my Cortina trying to get it to seal up. 

[Peter C]

13 minutes ago, grogee said:

 

Is the downpipe unobtanium now? 

I will be calling Burton Power in the morning, they stock a lot of stuff for Pinto engines.

 

[Peter C]

5 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

I’m 99.9999% this was for sale for over 7k a little while ago in Ireland and the seller had a few cars for sale including an old gold Datsun that caught my eye.

Id be pissed if I paid £4k for it in all honesty. I get the impression from the cars he had, he’s probably a bit of a driveway trader. 
 

Could be wrong but I definitely recognise this car. 

Let me know if you find the old listing.

£4k for the Sierra was dear, £7k would be daylight robbery.

[Peter C]

2 minutes ago, cort16 said:

There's so much room for activity, no cats or anything.  I would guess that a stud has snapped from the manifold to the front of the exhaust I was always fucking around with this on my Cortina trying to get it to seal up. 

This.

Providing that the fixings are not rusted solid, it's all just nuts and bolts and access to just about everything in the engine bay is phenomenal. 

[junkyarddog]

Tidy it up,smoke about,then punt it on.

If I'm honest I prefer scruffy cars,because they are just more usable.

 

[cort16]

3 minutes ago, Peter C said:

I will be calling Burton Power in the morning, they stock a lot of stuff for Pinto engines.

 

That's who I used to get all my Cortina stuff from it was always good quality. There's also loads of stuff on ebay for them but I don't know if the 1.8 Pinto sauraus has anything different about it so it might be worth sticking to the experts for stuff like timing belts and tensioners,. 

[sierraman]

I’ll be honest, for a 36 year old Ford that’s in quite good condition, in fact it would be reasonable back in the day if it was several years old. Those issue with the body are a few easy summers evenings work, that shade blue is an absolute fiddle to match as well. 
 

I’d give the Hammerite a miss as well it will make it look worse. 

[adw1977]

It's a shame it's not quite what you expected and £4k probably was a bit steep, but the condition of that interior is impressive and suggests the low mileage could be genuine.

[Dobloseven]

Do a bit of man maths.Didn't you sell your Nissan for £3k.Then the Sierra has only cost £1k.Much more palatable!

[RoverFolkUs]

3 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

Do a bit of man maths.Didn't you sell your Nissan for £3k.Then the Sierra has only cost £1k.Much more palatable!

It makes the sierra £6k if you consider the purchase price of the nissan 🤣

[Peter C]

20 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

Do a bit of man maths.Didn't you sell your Nissan for £3k.Then the Sierra has only cost £1k.Much more palatable!

What you don’t know yet is that last Friday, the day that the Sierra first came to my attention, I signed on the dotted line an agreement to lease a new daily, which will cost a lot more than the old Ford.

Bollocks, I prefer your reasoning.

[Peter C]

19 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

It makes the sierra £6k if you consider the purchase price of the nissan 🤣

Thanks mate. 

[Peter C]

19 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

It makes the sierra £6k if you consider the purchase price of the nissan 🤣

Hang on, you need to add the leasing costs that I didn’t pay for the four-ish months that I had the Juke for. Say £300/month, that’s £1,200 in my pocket.

[RoverFolkUs]

4 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Thanks mate. 

Sorry it was just a man maths remark. Not a dig at how you choose to spend your own money

[lisbon_road]

I am almost certain that I have a couple of window winders, which I will be posting to you FOC (I send a lot of post) so please PM me your address - won't be tomorrow.

Despite everything, it is still an amazing car I think.

[Peter C]

9 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

I am almost certain that I have a couple of window winders, which I will be posting to you FOC (I send a lot of post) so please PM me your address - won't be tomorrow.

Despite everything, it is still an amazing car I think.

Amazing, thank you.

PM incoming.

[egg]

2 hours ago, Peter C said:

The driver's door cannot be locked / unlocked, either from the inside or by key. I suspect a seized mechanism.

Isn't that a typical Ford issue! I guess no [inevitably lazy] central locking on the L to worry about though?

I think I know the feeling with this one, the seller has been a little cheeky but not outright dishonest, as long as the paperwork turns up, and when the weather warms up a bit, sure it will bring pleasure!

[lisbon_road]

13 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Amazing, thank you.

PM incoming.

Are these ok? No little plastic cap on one.

[S2000]

I’m sure we have all purchased something that has not turned out to be as expected, me with my Wolesley for example where I have so far ‘invested’ over half its purchase price in 18 months and have not done more than 500 miles in it. The Sierra may not unfortunately be as expected but, and this is the but, it is a blue oval badge and already has an intrinsic value.

if it was on 134K it would be hangin or bean cans, the inside looks like a pleasant place to be and as you have deduced it appears to have spent some time off the road under cover in the open. I suspect by the time you get underneath and asses the condition hopefully the bodywork will be commensurate with age and storage.

Bottom line with some remedial titivation and if the history pack checks out you won’t lose on it. Another way of looking at it from a financial perspective, look at how much the BMW, Panzer Wagen and Dagenham Dustbin cost, compared to the resale value of the three, and I suspect you are in clover (no pun intended).

Im three junctions up the road from you and would love to have a look to kick the mojo into touch if it helps.

 

 

[sdkrc]

I offer a two week, intensive, residential course in 'lowering your automotive standards'. 

First week involves getting to grips with a high mileage Passat with front wings you could stab dry spaghetti through and 2 doors that don't open. The instructors will ensure that you do absolutely ZERO preventative maintenance whilst you're here.

From here, I don't think this looks like a lemon. You're the right man to improve it as you've got exacting standards. Godspeed, hope you start to gel with the car soon. 

[JJ0063]

2 hours ago, Peter C said:

Let me know if you find the old listing.

£4k for the Sierra was dear, £7k would be daylight robbery.

I’ve found it in my history but it says expired listing and wayback machine hasn’t got the page, bugger. I’m almost dead certain this is the car though. Has the seller got any other cars for sale?

[HillmanImp]

I don't think that looks too bad TBH. 

Bit worn here and there but looks pretty honest. Probably better than most looked when they were just 5yrs old. 

Bit of tidying up as you go. Just a nice rolling summer project. 

I doubt you'd lose any money in the next few years.

[Peter C]

12 minutes ago, egg said:

Isn't that a typical Ford issue! I guess no [inevitably lazy] central locking on the L to worry about though?

I think I know the feeling with this one, the seller has been a little cheeky but not outright dishonest, as long as the paperwork turns up, and when the weather warms up a bit, sure it will bring pleasure!

No central locking to worry about, hopefully it’s just a seized rod or something.

[Peter C]

10 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

Are these ok? No little plastic cap on one.

Perfect, thank you.

I have a full set of caps so no worries there.

[Peter C]

9 minutes ago, S2000 said:

I’m sure we have all purchased something that has not turned out to be as expected, me with my Wolesley for example where I have so far ‘invested’ over half its purchase price in 18 months and have not done more than 500 miles in it. The Sierra may not unfortunately be as expected but, and this is the but, it is a blue oval badge and already has an intrinsic value.

if it was on 134K it would be hangin or bean cans, the inside looks like a pleasant place to be and as you have deduced it appears to have spent some time off the road under cover in the open. I suspect by the time you get underneath and asses the condition hopefully the bodywork will be commensurate with age and storage.

Bottom line with some remedial titivation and if the history pack checks out you won’t lose on it. Another way of looking at it from a financial perspective, look at how much the BMW, Panzer Wagen and Dagenham Dustbin cost, compared to the resale value of the three, and I suspect you are in clover (no pun intended).

Im three junctions up the road from you and would love to have a look to kick the mojo into touch if it helps.

 

 

All agreed and you are welcome to pop over, give the Sierra a once over and give me a slap at the same time.

[stuboy]

i think it looks good and kinda honest in its appearance , no fancy white walled showrooms, shiney tyre walls, and dropped on its aRSe.

 

wonder where it was first purchased from.

 

and are the tyres right size , look tall, could be im used to elastic band tyres..

[Peter C]

16 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

I’ve found it in my history but it says expired listing and wayback machine hasn’t got the page, bugger. I’m almost dead certain this is the car though. Has the seller got any other cars for sale?