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Assembly of the Shell |
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After aquiring the shell, I had it shipped ad stored in my garage in London. After which, I started to begin buying all the missing body parts. My only criteria was that they actually be already painted in Diamond White. I did not want a multicolored car like the London XR4Ti had been. I spent countless hours and drives all around the UK scoring the needed parts for completion, sometimes even competing against overseas Merkur owners for the best buys. Using techniques I learned from my previous Merkur, I fitted the bumpers, bodykit and rear whaletail all by myself. I also took the time to buy needed parts (like the T5, ECU, etc) and stockpile them for later fitting. I wanted to go for a dark lens look, so I sprayed the stock lights with tinting spray and bought a set of smoked foglights. I would travel from my house in Leeds to my house in London (over 200 miles) just so I could spend some time ferrying parts and restoring the vehicle.
Sometimes I would sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive this wonderful car. My dreams were becoming reality at this point. Even at this stage, I had NO idea that I would be eventually be shipping this car to America. At this moment, we were looking for houses to buy in the Leeds/Bradford area of England, and as soon as we'd buy one (with a garage of course) I'd be doing most of the install work myself. |
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My wife decided in the end to stop searching for houses in the area as we came to grips that America held our best future interests. We decided to sell our apartment in Newcastle and begin the move to America. In turn, I began to more frequently visit my garage in London to quickly work on my car. Once we sold the apartment in London, I was left with the money needed to complete the shell's final transformation into a full-blooded Cosworth. But I had less than two months before we were to move back to America, so I had commissioned a Cosworth tuning shop to finish the job, which they assured me they'd do well within the deadline.
The pictures above were that of the shell finally completed (without engine, drivetrain, etc). It was pulled out of the garage to await the tow truck that would ship her to the Cosworth tuning shop 200 miles away (near my Leeds home). I even added a vanity Utah plate just to show off what it'll look like finished. Looked like less of a shell and more of a car to me. I was very proud of how much progress I personally done to have it converted so radically from how I purchased her. |
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The shop took my car and left it alone for two weeks while they were clearing their garage from their previous business. I was very worried about the deadline, but as promised, things quickly changed. The engine was sourced and they had it on the ground awaiting install. Eventually, they got their act together and did the job. It was wonderful to see a Cosworth engine finally in the engine bay. At this point, I paid a shipper to ship this car to America for me. The car was running, but only days were left before the shipment date. As expected, there were last minute mishaps (like wiring, brakes, etc). These were sorted out with just one day before the car was to be shipped. Unfortunately, due to the mechanic forgetting to add oil to the rear diff, my differential blew ten miles away from the shop that night (after it shut). I spent the night in the Cosworth after being towed by the AA until they opened up. The next day they spent the whole day installing a new diff. I called the shipper and arranged an alternate date which delayed the car arrival to America for almost a month. I wasn't left with the car in the shape it should have been but it was a runner and testament to this was the 300 mile drive to the port in England to have the car shipped. Few days later, I was on the plane myself to Texas. The next time I would see her would be in America.
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