29 11 10
Refitted the L/H sill, cutout L/H rear wheel arches and cut the steel to finish the tubbing and ready the car for its new bubble arches, started to weld in the patches for the L/H A pillar. Once these are completed I have a lot of grinding to do and a bit of filling this side of the car will be done. This will probably be my last post (and work done) on the car until the New Year as we are off on a cruise for Christmas and New Year. So the next couple of weekends will be all about getting everything ready for the vacation and getting the house ready for my younger brother and his family to stay for the holiday season. At this stage I will say have a good christmas and I hope santa leaves you something nice in your boot ( i am hoping for some parts for the car) wishful thinking on my part. Look for more updates in the NewYear

Outer sill refitted but yet to be attacked by a grinder

some of the A pillar patched 

The tubbing of the rear wheel arch will cut down excess steel to fit the bubble arches

Not a bad fit if i do say so myself

7/ 11/ 2010
Started to cut out rust and make up patches for L/H A pillar. On removing a section from the bottom of the pillar/outer sill I could see up into the sill and it was full of dirt, rusty steel etc so I made the decision to remove the sill as far back as the B pillar. Once done and  I had cleaned out all the rubbish, dealt to the area with a wire brush I confirmed to myself that I had done the right thing. There is quite a bit of surface rust and a few areas where it has penetrated into the inner sill so it is a good chance to tidy this area up before it gets any worse. There will be probably be 2-3 patches in the A pillar but that area came up not too bad once it was cleaned up. More work will continue this week.

bottom of the L/H A pillar and front of inner sill

outer sill removed and the smaller rust holes welded up

this is the A pillar sideways looking up

As you can see by the photos I have started to repair the penetration holes in the inner sill it should be complete by this weekend and I should be able to get the sill back on.                                                

3 Nov 2010
Finished repairing the R/H side as far as the welding goes just need to grind off the excess and cover with a skim of filler to tidy these areas up. still need to order the strut tops,guards. radiator support and will order a new front panel as well I wont replace this yet but will keep it in reserve just in case I need it later. next stage is to attack the L/H A pillar area as this is quite bad as well. The A pillar will need a couple of patches, the front end of the sill and inner guard areas also will need patching as well as the strut top replacing on this side as well. I will also start to cut out the rear outer wheel arches to begin on tubbing the rear end ready for the bubble arches. Then in the new year it will be off the get the car media blasted and primed, order the new panels and fit them, then it will be off to the painters, refit the interior, completely rewire the whole car, source an engine and gearbox, get the suspension rebuilt, source new wheels and tyres, get it recomplied, "wof" (road worthiness) registered and go racing. Bugger putting it down on "paper" it sounds so easy actually getting everything done is another story.
photo under side front R/H sill

 top of R/H firewall

the patches at the top of the R/H inner guard

 R/H A pillar

patches on the A pillar

And front of sill

17 10 10
Finished welding patches into R/H A pillar cut and started to fit patches into top of fire wall as always happens on a sunday ran out of gas for the mig welder so will exchange it this week and start again. it will be a couple of weeks till I can get any more work done as this coming weekend is a long weekend in NZ so we are off out of town for a couple of days and this week is already full of car club events both Alfa and Escort.

Since my last post i have not done an awful lot as i have been busy with my other passion Alfa Romeo. Here in New Zealand the Alfa Romeo Owners club have just wrapped up our centenial celebrations with a massive track weekend and AGM at Hampton Downs race circuit. however on the Escort things have been ticking over most of the last few weeks have been taken up when time allowed by cleaning up the rustier areas removing under seal and cutting out rust now the fun begins repairing Patching and welding. So far I have finished the under side of the R/H sill and lower pillar area  and just need to primer coat and put a skim of filler over the area this will be done when the car has been sand blasted which wont be for another couple of months. I am wanting to wait for the warmer weather to arrive first as in New Zealand we are just into our Spring and it is still quite cool and wet.

Underside of the RH a pillar and outer floor inner guard area

11/09/10
Cut off R/F strut reinforce ment plate. once removed found that there is not a lot of the original top strut plate left so will source new ones from england. Will do the same to the L/H guard to see if that one is the same.

18/19/09/10
Picked up rotisserie, fitted it rolled it out side and gave it a good wash down both inside and out. Removed fuel lines as thes will be rerouted through the inside of the car with a cut off tap installed. Remove all surplus bolts and wiring removed L/H guard this side is as bad as the R/H side. so plenty of welding and cutting to do removed L/H door this one was especially hard as the pins nad rusted in place. Will need to find a better way of fitting the doors to avoid this in the future. L/H a pillar is also rusty although not as bad as the R/H one will still need a couple of patches installed.

inner R/H floor looks worse than it is

R/H firewall forward looks as bad as the photos show

L/H door and guard off

A pillar quite rusty is worse than it looks

Lower A pillar and floor

boot the hole is where the fuel tank is. Still deciding weather to refit in the hole or fill it in and replace with a fuelcell

Good shot of the turrets and the 2 link pick up points

the tunnel is quite badly mashed about will replace with a larger tunnel

01/09/10
Test fitted bubble arches to see how they looked and to get the boss to pass her approval ( it is yes).
Stripped down struts to component parts will get these rebuilt and spring reseated as the springs are a little loose in the seats.



04/09/10
Removed head lights found that this was originally a "square" headlight model no visible rust around front panel so will retain as is
Investigated A pillar rust and have decided to remove front guard to allow easier access to the rust. Glad I did as there is a lot of rust up under the guard. patches have been put in over the top of the rust so I will cut out the rust and replace with fitted patches. Will replace the guards with fibreglass ones.
Removed rear axle and suspension this car is fitted with 2 link arms (similar to a type 49) and a panhard rod.
the diff is not Unfortunately fitted with a LSD so will fit one before re installing rear end.
The rear will need new bushes (nolathane) and new spring hangers.
Will pick up the rotisserie for the car from the previous owner which he has offered to loan me until he needs it.

front Bubble arch

top of the R/H inner guard

from under the wheel arch

After the guard was removed

just behind the strut towers

As you can see the strut top and inner panel is distorted new panel will fix this

30 Aug
Removed R/R window no rust. Cleaned up front side and rear window frames of sealant all frames are clean at this stage. Will need to replace all window rubbers I am wanting to retain standard glass at this stage of the build as I am wanting to be able to use this car on the road.
removed front suspension and cross member. There are a lot of mismatched bolts so I will replace with new ones.
Coss member has been reinforced so will retain it at this stage. I will get everything stripped and powdercoated before reinstallation.
Anti roll bar is a larger than standard one so will reuse this as well
Stripped down front suspension
Bushes have all been replaced with nolathane ones

Will need to replace steering boots and will get the rack serviced as well.
Will need to replace front rotors will look at getting vented ones
Will need to get the calipers serviced or look at replacing with lighter units possibly Willwood units
Front suspension will need to be stripped and serviced (Suspension Tech East Tamaki)
Removed R/F door to allow better access to A pillar rust

r/f door off

the rust in the A pillar

29 Aug
Finished removing sign writing
Paint is still in good condition however the advantage of cutting the paint is that you find any flaws. I have found a few small bubbles and some cracking around the rear quarter started to investigate and found a small amount of rust and under some bog and a couple of areas where the filler has cracked (remember this is a race car so not too surprising).
Removed the door rubber and found some surface rust there but found some major rust in the A pillar. I will need to cut this out and either replace the pillar or hopefully I will get away with just a couple of patches.

all the signwriting off and at this stage looking ok the grey primer marks flaws in the panelwork/ paint

first sign of rust r/h front corner in the boot drain chanel

found a few bubbles in the paint and a lot of bog under it plus rust spots under the bog

28 Aug 2010
Took delivery of the car this morning. I removed the sign writing from the R/H side cut paint and found the paint to be surprisingly good.
Started to clean up engine bay removed the original fuse box this will be installed on a new centre panel on the dash for easy access and will change to blade fuses/ circut breakers as they are easier to work on and wont come loose on rough roads jumps etc.
Found rust on the underside of R/F guard has been patched over but the rust has not been cut out will need to remedy this.
Engine bay area will need the most work as it is not very tidy
Steering rack is a quick rack 2.5 turns
Will need to get the underside engine bay and interior media blasted and primed will do a lot of rust work before it goes off for this so it will come back tidy. I will need to remove underseal, old paint and grease before i know exactly what i am dealing with.
the rear axle is an "english" axle but it has capri drums so it will only take 13" rims or larger the front has discs already fitted with type 16 calipers and solid rotors.
The roll cage is a standard 6 point weld in one by Prestige Motorsport in Manukau and has a brand new log book with the car.

the new toy on the trailer and in its new home

Escort race car rebuild

Hi all
At the request of some friends I am starting a blog on what i am doing to my mk 1 ford escort as things proceed i will post photos and a diary of what i am doing. Keep checking back to see progress ask questions give me some suggestions tell me what I am doing wrong.