Ford Sierra GVG 510Y

[garbaldy]

On 29/12/2025 at 09:34, sierraman said:

I’ve met more people that have supposedly had a Cosworth than Ford actually ever made so I suspect 80% of them it was actually a 1.8 LX and they’re talking bollocks like people seem to uncontrollably do whenever they see an old Ford. 

That is up there with the dumbest things I've ever read on here 🙄   do you really think people bought them new and kept them one owner cars for ever ? 

3 decades ago I was owner number 16 on a 2wd sapphire cossie so yes you are correct there was way more people owned them than Ford made 😉 

[ProgRocker]

1983 Ford Sierra, part of the Ford range brochure.

The Sierra base model starts at 5:40.

 

[adw1977]

4 hours ago, sierraman said:

What do the door trims look like are they repairable? The base ones look like standard ones covered in vinyl? Might be possible to convert some L or GL ones?

I think L trims are the same but with a bit of fabric glued on above the armrest. GL are a bit different because they have an extra grab handle bit at the top of the arm rest.

April 1983 brochure

[Split_Pin]

Welcome chap, I think your comment about keeping the grille at home while the car goes to get welded/painted is the single greatest thing I've read on here. It's clearly ended up with the best possible owner.

 

[lisbon_road]

12 hours ago, ianb Sierra said:

He has a few sapphires, but it is a breakers yard!

I'll have a look next week.

Sapphire and hatch doors were the same.  

Dare I mention the issue of mk1/2 doors?  I suggested before that @Peter C's car as a very early Mk2 probably has Mk1 window sizes but Mk2 door trims, making a very rare doors.  You could compare dimensions with @ianb Sierra to check if I am right.  

[sierraman]

Europe might be a hunting ground to be honest, seeing quite a few Sierras getting brought over from Eastern Europe, Italy and France. So there’s obviously some knocking about there and thus somewhere there will be rust free doors and bits. 

[ianb Sierra]

A little drive out into the Norfolk countryside and a wash to locate leaks.

Learning more all the time.

Suspect the carb is a problem as misfiring at low revs, top end seems fine.

Squeak on start up and idle was the fan belt loose and has been replaced/adjusted.

Plus, the knackered dash hold a medium latte a ok!

[Brigsy]

Nice to see that its receiving some tlc

[SiC]

Christ, I can see what you mean about the knackered dash. Wavey enough to make a good sea scape diorama.

[ianb Sierra]

6 minutes ago, SiC said:

Christ, I can see what you mean about the knackered dash. Wavey enough to make a good sea scape diorama.

Captain pugwash sailed past earlier.....

[Noel Tidybeard]

if you are going for period correct standard please bare in mind

• tailpipe must not be pointy down- should be more like a mk4/5 tinacorner
• headlights were NOT halogen as standard on bASe & L
• bottom half of dash is different to higher spec models (shallower)
• Y reg bASe & L had a large glovebox lid and a speaker grille on the top of the dash only

[adw1977]

Halogen headlights were a factory fitted option, so it's one of those improvements that could be done while still keeping it "original" in the sense that it could have been like that from new, even if it wasn't.

Passenger side door mirror was also a factory fitted option. Did GVG510Y have it from new, or was it added later? Who knows!

[Rightnider]

My god, that dashboard has certainly seen better days!

[beko1987]

25 minutes ago, Rightnider said:

My god, that dashboard has certainly seen better days!

I reckon with enough black tigerseal you could sculpt it into something nice and fill the structural voids worst case

[ianb Sierra]

13 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

if you are going for period correct standard please bare in mind

• tailpipe must not be pointy down- should be more like a mk4/5 tinacorner
• headlights were NOT halogen as standard on bASe & L
• bottom half of dash is different to higher spec models (shallower)
• Y reg bASe & L had a large glovebox lid and a speaker grille on the top of the dash only

Some items are going to be tricky to locate.

It will stay the same as best as I can find the correct parts.

Its already had a different carb fitted and bodywork.

 

[Bear]

On 30/12/2025 at 22:25, garbaldy said:

3 decades ago I was owner number 16 on a 2wd sapphire cossie so yes you are correct there was way more people owned them than Ford made 😉 

Wasn't Mark Weems' black one was it? That one was several Cossies, IIRC... or possibly it wasn't even a Cossie, there was much pisstaking at various points.

What put me off wanting was encountering one near Gordon when driving a shabby Legacy 4Cam Turbo estate - both waiting to pass a Landie, I saw the clear road and floored it past both of them, heard the Cossie do a proper "oy! fuck off" rev to try and catch me, and  its headlights were gone after two bends... Was convinced of the Subaru's superiority at that point

I think he ended up with my oak green Golf GTI 16v as well, on a Q-plate because it was reshelled and it never felt right. Unlike the Carlton GSi 3000 I got in some deal related to that chain, which was awesome.

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, ianb Sierra said:

Some items are going to be tricky to locate.

It will stay the same as best as I can find the correct parts.

Its already had a different carb fitted and bodywork.

 

You can only piss with the cock you’ve got sometimes. Just work with what you can!

[Rustybullethole]

6 hours ago, beko1987 said:

I reckon with enough black tigerseal you could sculpt it into something nice and fill the structural voids worst case

I thought exactly the same when i saw that coffee pic. I then thought about painting it blue and adding some boats, and few dolphins and maybe a cheeky mermaid.

Not quite oe look mind.

 

[sierraman]

I’d render it with some K-Rend then float it smooth once it’s started to go off. 😂

[Dobloseven]

Are there any recognised repair techniques for the dashboards?Thinking straighten and stick everything back together,fill and level the cracks and some sort of textured coating.Or wrapping.

[stuboy]

17 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

Are there any recognised repair techniques for the dashboards?Thinking straighten and stick everything back together,fill and level the cracks and some sort of textured coating.Or wrapping.

this wally had a dashboard repaired on a WD episode

[MorrisItalSLX]

There is a company in Australia called The Dashboard Doctor that does exactly the kind of repair that is needed. They trim down the high points, fill in the low points and vacuum form vinyl over the top to create an as new appearance. They do door trims as well.

Yes, it would not be practical to send the dashboard and door trims to the other side of the world to repair, but it goes to show that they can be repaired, you just need to find someone closer who can do it.

[Rustybullethole]

Once saw a kangoo that had the whole dash made of expanding foam. Look like they had used a bastard file to sculpt it once dry. Quite effective i thought.

Very pleased this old tub is in good hands.

[MantaGTE85]

Good to see the Sierra again. I think I've read somewhere many years ago that the Y reg Ford Sierra was, at last, the first UK Ford car to be offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox. If that were the case, then it's a good more than a decade after other rival brands were already using them. 

[Wibble]

23 minutes ago, MantaGTE85 said:

Good to see the Sierra again. I think I've read somewhere many years ago that the Y reg Ford Sierra was, at last, the first UK Ford car to be offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox. If that were the case, then it's a good more than a decade after other rival brands were already using them. 

The Mk2 Cavalier was still a 4 speed box then too, I had one. I did hear stories of 5 speed Sierras being hired and returned as 4 speed, following a weekend swap into a Cortina.

[adw1977]

The Escort was available with optional 5 speed gearbox on 1.3 engines a few months before the launch of the Sierra.

At launch, 5 speeds was an optional extra on all petrol Sierras except the 1.3.

[quicksilver]

9 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

Good to see the Sierra again. I think I've read somewhere many years ago that the Y reg Ford Sierra was, at last, the first UK Ford car to be offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox. If that were the case, then it's a good more than a decade after other rival brands were already using them. 

The Maxi had 5 speeds and FWD as standard in 1969 so Ford were well behind the times coming out with a brand new 4-speed RWD car in 1982. The Sierra's styling may have been revolutionary but its mechanicals certainly weren't.

[adw1977]

4 hours ago, quicksilver said:

The Maxi had 5 speeds and FWD as standard in 1969 so Ford were well behind the times coming out with a brand new 4-speed RWD car in 1982. The Sierra's styling may have been revolutionary but its mechanicals certainly weren't.

Launching a mid sized rear wheel drive car in 1982 did seem a bit backward, with the 1981 Cavalier and 1984 Montego being front wheel drive.

Having only 4 speeds as standard wasn't out of line with the competition, though. Vauxhall introduced the first 5 speed Cavaliers in late 1982, but only on the 1.8i engine initially.

Even BL, who as you say had the 5 speed Maxi back in 1969, were still mostly offering 4 speed gearboxes in 1982.  There was no 5 speed option on the Ambassador and then even the Montego came with 4 speeds on the more basic models.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Most manual Mercedes from the 1980s here are 4 speed which I don't understand as such an expensive car should have come with 5 speed when even the 1987 Mazda 323 I had had 5 speeds.

[quicksilver]

30 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

Launching a mid sized rear wheel drive car in 1982 did seem a bit backward, with the 1981 Cavalier and 1984 Montego being front wheel drive.

Having only 4 speeds as standard wasn't out of line with the competition, though. Vauxhall introduced the first 5 speed Cavaliers in late 1982, but only on the 1.8i engine initially.

Even BL, who as you say had the 5 speed Maxi back in 1969, were still mostly offering 4 speed gearboxes in 1982.  There was no 5 speed option on the Ambassador and even the Montego came with 4 speeds on the more basic models.

One of the many crazy anomalies with BL was that you could have a basic Allegro 1500 with five gears thanks to it using the Maxi engine and box, but the flagship Princess 2200 HLS had to make do with four. They seemed to give up on the idea of five-speed boxes after developing that one for the Maxi.