1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - MoT time - LIVE! - see page 49

[Peter C]

Over the past couple of weeks I've done about 400 miles in the Sierra. I've been to the Flower Farm, Basingstoke, Ashford (Staines), Woking and Windsor a number of times and its been brilliant, with no mechanical issues whatsoever and it regularly returns 35+MPG. Win.

Here it is parked to the back of a block of flats in Woking - HMC style photo.

A chap on a Facebook Sierra group pointed out that my Sierra has a dashboard design that was only fitted between February - September 1987.

The screen vents are, apparently, quite unique for a Mk2 Sierra.

These are my vents, which are the same as those fitted to Mk1 Sierras.

And this is how most Mk2 Sierra dashboard vents look like.

An absolutely fascinating discovery, I am sure you will all agree.

More soon.

[Split_Pin]

Nice uncracked top! Or was that just MK1s that did that?

[lisbon_road]

4 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Nice uncracked top! Or was that just MK1s that did that?

I think it was generally just Mk1s where the dash cracked, often to a spectacular level.  Like many, I fitted a Mk2 dash to my Mk1.  Was a relatively easy job and went straight in.  Different vent arrangement and lacked the speaker grille, but lacked all the cracks too.

[Peter C]

According to the chaps on the Facebook Sierra group, Mk2 dashes can crack as well. Mine is mint.

To make this update EVEN MORE exciting, I have been reliably informed that Mk2 dashes can also feature these types of screen vents.

Who would have known.

 

[grogee]

Shit just got real. Absolutely stellar factoids, @Peter C. 

I am thinking I too should do more miles in my Maestro. When I checked its mot history, I was ashamed to discover I'd only done 600-odd miles one year. 

I took it to work and back today, pleasant enough although it's not the best motorway cruiser. Most of my commute is on the M1. 

[stuboy]

blimey there some knowledgable folk out there

[Rightnider]

I had a Sierra between 2018 and 2021, first registered on the 16th of June 1987. 
 

It would have had those vents as well, and now I can’t take a look. 
 

 

Aargh! I shouldn’t have…

[lisbon_road]

This could be a good moment to mention the doors issue.

I reckon Peter's Sierra might be one of the early Mk2s where the doors have the same size windows as the Mk1s.  Later Mk2s had larger windows and less metal in the window surrounds, but looking at pictures, I find it hard to judge.

I remember back in the day that if one of those early Mk2s needed a door, they would use a Mk1 door and weld in the inner part with all the holes for trim and winders and stuff. 

Somewhere in all this might be evidence for the slightly odd fit of the nearside front door on Peter's, though that also doesn't make complete sense. 

[Peter C]

8 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

This could be a good moment to mention the doors issue.

I reckon Peter's Sierra might be one of the early Mk2s where the doors have the same size windows as the Mk1s.  Later Mk2s had larger windows and less metal in the window surrounds, but looking at pictures, I find it hard to judge.

I remember back in the day that if one of those early Mk2s needed a door, they would use a Mk1 door and weld in the inner part with all the holes for trim and winders and stuff. 

Somewhere in all this might be evidence for the slightly odd fit of the nearside front door on Peter's, though that also doesn't make complete sense. 

🤔

There were no Mk1 Sapphires so the doors must have been made for Mk2 cars. 

I still don’t understand what you mean by the differences in window sizes.

[lisbon_road]

This is all good harmless car forum stuff. 

The doors were the same on all any contemporary hatches and Sapphire saloons.  The front doors are the same on estates, but the back doors are different.  Like a lot of cars really.

Most Mk2s had bigger windows and less metal around them.  I have attached a picture of a door, so the metal dimension was less on most Mk2s than Mk1s.  The exception was I believe some early Mk2s that still had the Mk1 window dimensions and deeper metal.  The difference is a bit subtle. 

All, I believe absolutely all, Mk2s had the inner door pressing with the new arrangement for door cards.

Hence it was apparently possible to fix an early Mk2 by using a Mk1 door with the inner of a Mk2 door welded in.

Does it matter?  Well not really, unless you have one of those incredibly elusive early Mk2s and need a new door.

 

[Peter C]

The backs of the Sierra's sills have been welded at some point before I bought it last year.

The repair patches are of industrial strength but the quality of the welds was a bit agricultural. 

Apologies in advance for the shit quality photographs, my iPhone gets confused when I take photos whilst the garage spotlight is on.

This was the nearside sill, the bottom of the arch was particularly ugly.

The offside was better but still not pretty.

Using an angle grinder, I smoothed out the welds as best as possible, then applied a skim of filler over the joints.

Nearside.

Offside.

I have given the repairs a coat of Rust-Oleum paint, which has great self-levelling qualities and will seal the filler.

Nearside.

Offside.

I need to make good a couple of more patches but the sills look more even now.

Once the paint has fully cured, I will spray the sills with Mariner Blue aerosol, which is what I did a year ago when I first tarted up the sills.

More soon.

 

[Peter C]

Regular readers might remember that the front bumper chrome* trim was badly sun damaged when I bought the Sierra.

This is what it looked like.

As a temporary solution, I put what was supposed to be silver coloured insulation tape over the trim.

Unfortunately, the silver tape wasn't silver and the bumper looked shit.

A guy on a Facebook Sierra group was selling new lengths of OEM matching trim for £30, inc p&p. So I splashed out.

Removing the old trim was easy enough but a lot of adhesive residue was left on the bumper.

Luckily, the adhesive residue came off easily with a flathead screwdriver.

A quick wipe over and the bumper was ready to receive the new trim.

The new trim is adhesive backed so fitting it was a doddle.

Looks good?

Not quite. The trim definitely isn't to OEM standards! The new trim is about half as thick as the original stuff, the profile is therefore completely different and it doesn't fit properly into the bumper ends.

This is how it should fit:

And this is the new trim:

 

I know that it's not right and to me it looks utter bollocks. I'm pissed off. 

I'm going to complain to the seller.

More soon.

Argh.

[Andyrew]

OEM my arse, Looks like the Chinese stick of stuff I've just uses on the MGB. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

29 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

OEM my arse, Looks like the Chinese stick of stuff I've just uses on the MGB. 

Reminds me of the sort of chrome trim that Halfords sells.

[RoadworkUK]

Not that it's any consolation, but my dad suffered the exact same situation when trying to replace the pitted bumper chrome inserts on his Sierra Ghia... 27 years ago. We got a roll just like that, and it was just as wrong. My suspicion is the profile is right for the side rubbing strips but not the bumpers. I never did test to find out, though. I suspect the chrome for the bumpers comes (or came... when you could still get it) as actual shaped pieces rather than on a flexible roll.

[vinyljunky]

Maybe a more buxom adhesive tape would be a short term improvement?

[Peter C]

12 minutes ago, vinyljunky said:

Maybe a more buxom adhesive tape would be a short term improvement?

Maybe but there’s a possibility that the thicker double sided tape would be visible along the top of the shitty thin trim.

[matt79]

Will this work?

https://www.motomobil.com/en/products/bumper-trim-front-chromed-not-rs-cosworth-reproduction-25519200-1

[Peter C]

I sent the seller a polite complaint message.

He’s seen it but hasn’t responded.

[Peter C]

1 minute ago, matt79 said:

Will this work?

https://www.motomobil.com/en/products/bumper-trim-front-chromed-not-rs-cosworth-reproduction-25519200-1

Looks decent.

[captain_70s]

2 hours ago, Andyrew said:

OEM my arse, Looks like the Chinese stick of stuff I've just uses on the MGB. 

Yup.

Same as the stuff I used on the Acclaim's door rubbing strips when it had them fitted. Probably worth about £8 delivered I'm afraid. 

It is, at least, fairly hardy. If you had some thicker sticky foam type stuff you could run a thin line of it along the lower edge of the recess forcing the trim to sit at an angle and potentially sit more flush at the bottom...

[yes oui si]

Put a second layer on. 

[stuboy]

1 hour ago, yes oui si said:

Put a second layer on. 

i thought this too

[Peter C]

I'm happy with the filling and shaping of the back of the sills repairs, however the aerosol spray reacted slightly with the Rust-Oleum blue paint that I applied a week earlier. Strange, as that is exactly what I did last year and the two paints were happy together. Not to worry, I will rub the paint down again sometime soon and have another go at spraying the repairs.

I took the Sierra to Staines and back today, via the M40, M25 and A30 today. It was hot and sunny and to protect my crack-free dash, I protect it with a thick towel whilst the Sierra is left out in the sun. As lovely as the concept of driving a classic Ford (or any other classic) in summer weather sounds, it's actually not that much fun, with a stuffy interior and air-con-free ventilation. 

On route home this happened.

The Sierra is booked in for an MoT next Friday. 

Wish me luck.

 

 

[grogee]

6 hours ago, Peter C said:

I'm happy with the filling and shaping of the back of the sills repairs, however the aerosol spray reacted slightly with the Rust-Oleum blue paint that I applied a week earlier. Strange, as that is exactly what I did last year and the two paints were happy together. Not to worry, I will rub the paint down again sometime soon and have another go at spraying the repairs.

I took the Sierra to Staines and back today, via the M40, M25 and A30 today. It was hot and sunny and to protect my crack-free dash, I protect it with a thick towel whilst the Sierra is left out in the sun. As lovely as the concept of driving a classic Ford (or any other classic) in summer weather sounds, it's actually not that much fun, with a stuffy interior and air-con-free ventilation. 

On route home this happened.

The Sierra is booked in for an MoT next Friday. 

Wish me luck.

 

 

Honestly I reckon testers live for the days when someone brings in a minty old Sierra. 

Imagine all those sick-stained Peugeots they have to test with fag ash and sweet wrappers everywhere. Then someone turns up with a vision of beauty from 1986 and all their stresses are washed away. 

You don't need luck for the MoT! 

[lisbon_road]

16 hours ago, Peter C said:

I took the Sierra to Staines and back today, via the M40, M25 and A30 today. It was hot and sunny and to protect my crack-free dash, I protect it with a thick towel whilst the Sierra is left out in the sun. As lovely as the concept of driving a classic Ford (or any other classic) in summer weather sounds, it's actually not that much fun, with a stuffy interior and air-con-free ventilation. 

 

I laughed out loud when I saw that towel.  I thought I was the only one who does stuff like that.  Mk2 Sierra dashes are loads better than Mk1s, but anything will crack eventually.  I think it is worth doing.

[adw1977]

17 hours ago, Peter C said:

As lovely as the concept of driving a classic Ford (or any other classic) in summer weather sounds, it's actually not that much fun, with a stuffy interior and air-con-free ventilation. 

Having got stuck in traffic in the M25 in Kent on what was then the hottest ever day in the UK, back in about 2004, while driving a Sierra Sapphire, I can confirm this!

[danthecapriman]

4 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Having got stuck in traffic in the M25 in Kent on what was then the hottest ever day in the UK, back in about 2004, while driving a Sierra Sapphire, I can confirm this!

It is true. When I drive the Capri with its full black interior with vinyl just about everywhere it’s baking in there.

But, I always look around at all the brain dead sheep in their modern junk around me and, tbh, I’d rather be sweaty and hot in that car than lower myself to travelling in or, worse still, buying a pile of boring shit like their cars!😆 

Its a small price to pay to look so cool!

[Peter C]

4 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

 

Its a small price to pay to look so cool!

 

Cool? 🤔 

[danthecapriman]

4 minutes ago, Peter C said:

 

Cool? 🤔 

In my last job at SSE I had a 66 reg Sprinter van. No air conditioning in them and they had the hard wearing utility interior package which basically meant black & grey vinyl seat material. 
Add to that we had to wear safety arc and burn proof clothing - so long sleeve polo shirts and double layer thick work trousers. 
You can imagine how hot it got in the vans on a summer day! I actually got nappy rash from it a few times where your just sat stewing in your own sweat!

Ive got terrible memories of being on standby in summer and getting stuck in traffic on the A27 near Chichester (all those fu**ing roundabouts!) sitting in a roasting hot cab sweating my nuts off!😆

Grim!