| 18th January 2003 - I went to
London to pick up my latest escort, unfortunately it's a 4 door with square headlights,
but since I managed to get the car for free I can't really complain. The previous
owner just wanted it gone and was going to scrap it. I had no idea what it looked
like or what condition it was in, but I was told it was MOT'd and taxed for another month
or so.
First impressions are that it is in quite good condition and in no way ready for the scrapper yet. There are some obvious problems, such as the passenger window won't open, the thermostat seems stuck, the throttle sometimes sticks open, it splutters at low revs and the front carpet is a bit wet. Not to mention the number of doors and the square lights! Bodywork wise it isn't bad but shows the normal wear and tear of an old car. A few rust spots, knocks and bumps, etc but nothing too serious. It has has a second hand door and a new wing fitted, one trim piece hasn't been re-attached yet either. At least there is no vinyl roof! I will have a good look underneath when the weather is better, however a quick glance underneath and everything looks to be in order. All I have managed to do today is to wash it, it had been standing for a few weeks and was very dirty and had moss growing round the rear lights and the roof guttering. It will be spending the night in a garage for the first time in over 8 years tonight. 19/01/03 - Since the weather wasn't too good I decided to give it a quick tune, just plugs, points and timing. Plugs and points are fine but the points were a bit close and the plugs weren't in very tight. The timing is a bit of a problem, the timing mark was way off where it should be, and the only way I could get the car to run smoothly was to move the mark further away from it's correct place. I also noticed a bad petrol leak from the fuel pump, so I have decided to have a break now. I need to fix the petrol leak asap. I did however fit an internal handle above the driver door. 20/01/03 - Bit of a problem today, I bought some replacement fuel pipe and an in-line filter, and fitted them. Now the sodding car won't start. I drove it into the garage before I changed the fuel pipe so it should have started ok. After a while of checking stuff it seems as if the petrol is getting to the carb ok but not actually squirting down into the manifold. I'm no mechanic but I know that when you add throttle a small amount of petrol squirts into the carb chamber, but this isn't happening. Oh well, now I have a flat battery, and it's dark and wet out. I guess I will be waiting until the weekend now. 22/01/03 - I bodged together a UPS from work with a low power light so I could have a few hours in the garage and be able to see what I am doing. I took the carb to bits but found no blockages, however the small lever at the side of the carb was rusted solid. I think this is the bit that causes petrol to squirt into the chamber, so I freed this up and put the carb back together. But the car still wouldn't start, and the battery went flat. I used jump leads from my MG to get some charge, then noticed that yesterday I had removed the immobiliser key so the past half hour could have been wasted, I couldn't find the original key so I got the spare, then bugger it, the car started. So it seemed that the original immobiliser was at fault, plus some rust problems on the carb didn't help either. So now I have a running car again, and it seems to be revving much better than before, probably due to me unsticking the carb. Strangely though, I did retry the original immobiliser key and it did work, maybe it just wasn't pushed in enough or something. Well, I'm happy now :) 23/01/03 - Removed the passenger shelf to make way for the glove box, removed the plastic trim at the footwell and pulled back the carpet. Apart from being wet it is all pretty good and solid down there. I have removed the soaked padding from under the carpet to allow it to dry out. Removed all the plastic trim from around the car and then spent ages cleaning all the moss and dirt that had accumulated underneath. Should be fitting stick on stripes sometime later. 25/01/03 - At last the weekend is here, if the weather holds out I should be able to get on with the escort, I still don't really want to do too much until I get a new mot, but there are bits to get on with. This morning I have already removed the front grille (no stuck rusted screws) and took off the AA badge. Underneath the metalwork is in very good condition with only one spot of surface rust. I will be off to Halfords later to buy some rust killer and some stripes. I have now purchased and fitted some stripes and they don't look too bad, better than the dodgy plastic ones with a bit missing. I have applied a small amount of rust killer to a patch of surface rust under the front grille and I have swapped all the wheels for a decent set with wider tyres on. (175's in place of 155's) Click on the picture below for an updated
photo. 26/01/03 - Did nothing technical to the car today but did arrange to get the stereo sent to me from the previous owner. It will be good to have music in the car soon. On a different note, I used the car in the evening so the lights, blower and demist were all on. The battery light kept coming on, the going off, then on again, etc. It didn't seem to affect the car but something isn't quite right. It has recently had a new alternator fitted too. While checking the fuses one of the terminals fell off the end fuse holder, so I will need a new fuse box now. I hope I have one in the garage somewhere. Also found out today that the previous owner had the car for 10 years, not 8, and that the owner before that was her uncle who was the 2nd owner and picked up the car when it was 1 year old. 27/01/03 - More news, some good, some bad. I removed the Plenum cover to find some pretty well preserved metal underneath, however the fuse box is in such a state that it basically crumbled to bits as I tried to remove it, 4 of the pins fell off and are now stuck in the plastic plugs. God knows how I am going to get those out. I don't even have a spare fuse box yet either, so the car is again stuck in the garage for now. This fuse box is probably the source of the wet carpets, and may be the cause of the numerous electric type problems I have been experiencing. 28/01/03 - Ordered a replacement fuse box today, it should be here for the weekend, hopefully with the stereo. If so I will be out having some fun with it at last. I did pop out to the garage today to try to remove the broken pins that are left in the fuse box plugs, they actually came out fairly easily. 31/01/03 - Had hoped for my stereo and fuse box to be delivered to where I work today but after being snowed in at work yesterday followed by a 3 hour crawl home I all decided to have a day off instead. I doubt the delivery van would have gotten through anyway. I live on a secluded street with a slight incline, and due to the snow both my MG and OMJ are stuck and going nowhere, too much power and fat tyres probably not helping. So I took the fuse box out of OMJ and put it into the GL, and I am pleased to say it is able to drive out over the snow. I still have the battery light on which was a bit worrying while I was out but I didn't have any other problems. 01/02/03 - Cleaned the earth strap contact point on the inner wing and tightened the fan belt (which was quite loose). There is no sign of a battery light now, however the light used to come on after 5 minutes of driving so it is really too soon to tell if the problem has been fixed yet. I have just got back from a 5 mile drive in wet and slush and I am happy to report the battery light stayed off even while using the wipers. I also found out that the GL is fitted with delay wipers. Another good point is that the carpets have been drying out and haven't got any wetter from the drive. I decided to strip the passenger door to see why the window won't wind down, only to find that the windows regulator has badly worn teeth and will need replacing. Now where did I put that spare passenger door? On a lighter note, it's good to once again have an escort that I can drive in all weathers. Bad News - I was out in the evening with the headlights on for about half an hour, there was no sign of the battery light, but after a while the headlights started getting dim, the indicators stopped flashing and the engine started spluttering. I made it home to find I had a completely flat battery. I will investigate tomorrow. 02/02/03 - Had to remove the battery and put it on charge. I borrowed the removable volt meter that is part of the dashboard from OMJ and wired it into the GL. This clearly shows that 80% of the time the battery is NOT being charged, but every once in a while the needle jumps to 15v but that only lasts for a few seconds at a time. So I decided to remove the 'new' alternator and I put an old one in, so far it seems to be charging at 15v all the time now, the big test will be when I take it out tonight. While I was out I replaced the passenger window regulator from one I had in the garage, so now the window winds up and down as it should. These are the times I am pleased I paid a few quid and spent hours in the garage stripping down old escorts for parts. 03/02/03 - The previous owner had posted me the Blaupunkt pull-out stereo unit that used to be in the GL, it arrived today so I put it in. It's good to drive with music now, all I need is some heating next :) 08/02/03 - Did a very small amount of rust killer work, not really enough to mention, but it should at least stop any surface rust getting any worse. 10/02/03 - Purchased a rear seat from Marc Lawrence this evening, that's another item off my list, but I doubt I will be fitting it until after the MOT. 13/02/03 - Took GL for an MOT today but expected it to fail as there was a small rust hole in the sill and the exhaust is slightly blowing. However, it passed with 2 advice notes. So I am pleased about that and can now get on with the rest of the bits that need doing. Fitted a new thermostat so now the engine warms up as it should and the heater is working again. I have had a whining noise from the back of the car since I got it (even when the girlfriend wasn't in it) so I put some oil in the axle, it took a whole bottle and still wasn't full. At least if has now got more than it had before. Since I was off today I decided to put the car up on ramps and look underneath. I have undersealed a few patches that were showing signs of wear, but more seriously I have managed to poke small holes in the floor pans. I have rust treated these areas and a few others, now it looks like I will have to go and buy a tub of filler :) Incidentally, after every MOT I look under the car and I always find damage done to the underseal from the MOT testers. This time there are 2 patches where the underseal has been scratched off AND there are small dents in the chassis where they jacked it up. It pisses me off that we spend all this time trying to keep cars on the road, but the guys who do the MOT make it worse and don't advise us that there is now bare metal under the car thanks to them! Anyone reading this I would advise you to look under your car after MOT day. 15/02/03 - I found that the replacement back seat I bought had two of the securing pins snapped off, so I just removed the covering and fitted it over the existing seats. The back looks much tidier now. Fitted glove box to passenger area, I prefer them to the standard (out of shape) parcel tray that should be there. I have ordered a digital camera for myself, so there will be more photos soon. I have just ordered an RS steering wheel, it should be here on Wednesday. 20/02/03 - Steering wheel arrived today, I managed to get it fitted this evening despite working late. It's much better than the previous one. 08/03/03 - Been a while since I have updated this, but thats because nothing really urgent needed doing, and it has been cold out. Bought road tax today. Been doing bits to OMJ too. 09/03/03 - Did a fair bit today as the weather was quite decent. Rolled back the carpets on both sides and did some minor rust killing, also used some filler just to smooth off some bits after the rust killer had done it's job. Removed the blue tinting from the illumination and replaced a blown bulb. I always remove this blue tinting as it makes the dashboard brighter. Took the driver seat out and replaced it with an old one from OMJ, I will do the other side if I decide I like it. The replacement seats have headrests but are not as good quality, but I prefer to have headrests in the event of a crash. The air filter unit came missing the summer/winter adjustment tube, so I replaced the unit with one I had laying around. 15/03/03 - Replaced the square headlights with round ones, also had to replace the front grille and I modified the Ford badge so that it is on a black background rather than the usual blue. Did some rust killer to the headlight surrounds while all the bits were out. Went a stage further and filled/sprayed a few bits of surface rust on the n/s front wing and bonnet. 16/03/03 - Finished off a few bits of filler and spraying on the bonnet. Fixed the clock. 03/04/03 - Bought and fitted RS Boot Spoiler 05/04/03 - Fitted replacement door switches so the interior courtesy light works now. Also fitted an alarm, nothing flash since it already has an immobiliser. I just wanted something to make a noise if the car gets knocked. 11/04/04 - Have spent the last 3 days, a few minutes after work each day, sorting out some minor rust spots on the body work and a fairly big bit on the rear wheel arch. Looks loads better now. Still quite a lot of minor bits to do over the rest of the car, I will get round to that a bit later 18/04/03 - Did more work on the bodywork, a few surface rust spots needed attention and spraying. Had a small hole in the floor and another in the sill welded. 19/04/03 - Fitted an old pair of spotlights, I haven't wired them in yet and if I like them then I will probably buy a new set. 20/04/03 - Wired up and tested the new spot lights. 23/04/03 - Have done a fair bit more to the bodywork, it's looking better all the time. I will also probably get the front (or both) number plates redone, the original ones are too hard to keep clean! Have had my Janspeed exhaust repaired and so I might get this fitted in the near future. 28/04/03 - Took GL to Stapletons to get the repaired Janspeed exhaust fitted. The repairs look good as it isn't blowing anywhere. The performance increase is very noticeable as is the added noise :) I noticed I had a blown bulb at the back so I changed that. While I was there I decided to remove the moss from this light cluster, the other side can wait. 11/05/03 - Replaced both front and rear bumpers. The existing ones were slightly bent and were touching the bodywork in a few places, this in turn was causing the paintwork underneath to start rusting. All bolts came out very easily. I had a pair of straight Ghia bumpers in the garage ready to go on. This does mean in need to re-do the front spot lights again now. Bought a set of silver RS 4 Spoke alloys, need to get some propper nuts and some locking nuts before I can fit them. 20/05/03 - Took the car in for a respray 23/05/03 - Got the car back at 6pm, pictures can been seen on the GL pictures page. 24/05/03 - 26/05/03 - Have been doing some bodywork tidying up, mainly adding or re-doing the black bits, including a new stripe. Had to properly refit the bumpers and re-add the spot lights. On 23rd the back wheel fell off while I was going about 20mph, I managed to recover 3 of the nuts, including the locking one. No damage was done to the car luckily. Every few miles now I keep jumping out of the car to check the nuts are still tight. 03/06/03 - Took the GL in to the garage to have a split bush on the steering rack repaired. 25/06/03 - I'm having major problems with the steering wheel violently shaking when doing over 50mph. I have replaced a dodgy looking steering bush with a poly one, Stapletons spent over an hour trying to find a problem but couldn't. Eventually NB Motors found that the balancing on the RS wheels were all incorrect. This seems to have cured the problem. 13/07/03 - Just back from SEOC show. The escy seems to develop a bad judder when pulling away in 1st or reverse. This only happens after a long drive, but doesn't go away after the car has cooled down. I can clear the fault by holding the car still with the hand brake and getting the biting point on the clutch. I'm guessing some oil or something is getting onto the clutch plate during long trips, but this can be burned/rubbed off using the biting point method. Round town driving seems to be ok. 15/07/03 - Started painting the inside of the door frames, these were left white during the respray. This is a slow job mainly due to the amount of masking needed. 17/07/03 - Got a puncture, Stapletons repaired it for me. 19/07/03 - Finished paining one side of the car door frames, other side still needs doing 21/07/03 - Bought and fitted a pair of black Ghia front seats, the original ones didn't have headrests. Ghia ones look better and offer more safety from whiplash in a rear end collision. 15/11/03 - Fitted an LED third brake light to the rear window. 30/11/03 - Fitted old pod-style rev counter, also wired in an illuminated switch and relevant cabling to fit a rear fog light at a later date. 10/12/03 - Fitted rear fog light and wired it in. 17/01/04 - Fitted the alloy wheels that came off the Capri, they are not stunning but still look good from a moderate distance. I have an MOT booked for Monday morning. 19/01/04 - Had MOT today, it passed with only one advice note. The back box is slightly blowing around a previous repair. 24/01/04 - Fitted an illuminating hazard warning switch, the previous one was just black plastic and was a bit worn. 14/01/04 - Replaced the dashboard clocks with a set from a Ghia, all wiring done except the cable for the rev counter. The old pod style rev counter is still in place. Old: 58054 New: 33887 15/01/04 - Wired the rev counter up. 24/03/04 - have sold the car to help fund my new RS2000, plus I currently have 5 cars outside which is a bit excessive :) I am also selling my Capri. I am very sorry to see the GL go, however it is going to a friend and to a good home. I should be able to see it's continued progress on a different website and will probably see the car again frequently at various gatherings.
To Do List - Reminders |
