1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Tarting up the sills - see page 48

[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.