News: 27th June 2003
Ive started to put the interior back in my car. I managed to get all my wiring done, although I still need to check up on the clock bulbs as they still dont seem to be working. I have got the sound proffing and carpet back in and left it at that as it was 10:40pm :). Shall get cracking with more work tomorrow after work if I have time.

News: 23rd June 2003
This waxoyling is giving me a headache. Anyways, Ive finished off waxoyling all of my car, I hope. Ive filled any holes I could see inside the car with it, IE, the holes that the seat screws go into etc. Ive also pumped any areas of the bonnet I could see with waxoyl as well, and ive covered all the edges of the bonnet too, Coz I know they have a nasty habbit of rusting at the front edge. Also today I started with the wiring that needs doing in the car. I wired up the power for my CD Player and the speaker wires, then realised I had wired the wrong connector in, LOL. So I cut it off and put the one that was in my 4 door into the 2 door. I ran a new positive feed into the car from the fusebox by putting a bullet connector onto the permanent 12v supply. I didnt want to splice into any existing wires really. I also took the power for the clock off this as well, and I may take the feed for my voltmeter off it in the future. All thats left to do wiring wise is to run another 4 metre length of speaker wire to my boot, coz I didnt buy enough, and I need to suss out which wire to use to run the lights in the centre console clock, when all the other ligthts come on. Guess ill have to trace a wire back from the instrument cluster as im usualess at reading haynes manual wiring diagrams :).
Ill get some more pics taken soon if I can.

News: 22nd June 2003
After I finished work today, I got changed and went into the garage to do some work, coz I knew I couldnt be bothered to do anything if I sat down to rest. I managed to get through five litres of Waxoyl, waxoyling the entire under side of my car (not the axle or anything) and I also pumped the inside of the sills full of the stuff. I still need another litre or so I reckon to be on the safe side. This is going to be my every day car, so every bit of protection against the weather is welcomed by me. Lol, must be about 3 coats of underseal and now a coat of waxoyl on the bloody thing, bet it weighs it down nicely. Need to find somewhere that sells some mudflaps n all. If I get up ealry enough tomorrow, Im gonnah go get some more waxoyl, finsih off areas that need doing, like the front edge of the bonnet etc, and then crack on with some wiring. If I get that done I can put the interior back in :). Might make my mother happy as ive had half a car in my bedroom the past few months =).
On another note, I forgot I had some pics to upload, check em out here

News: 20th June 2003
Not too much happening on the car. Ive been doing some rustproofing and watersealing. Although the rear quarter lights sealing job looks like a bag of shite. I have also started to waxoyl the underside of my car, from the back to about the rear axle is waxoyled, but my mate came round so I had to stop. I was also in halfords today looking at some speaker wire and an ISO connecter for my cd player. An ISO connecter was £10.99 and 4 metres of half decent wire was £7.99. Seems a bit of a rip off to me as im sure you can 15 metres of the same wire at asda for £15 and I already have an ISO connector that is usable if I tidy it up a bit, so I think ill do that.

News: 13th June 2003
The air filter and rear number plate are now fitted. The chrome of the air filter looks a bit out of place in an otherwise filthy engine bay though lol. Think ill have to clean up the rocker cover one day or if im feeling rich, invest in one of those lovely Burton Power ones. I think they are something silly like £50 though.
On a different note, after flicking through the adverts at the back of the Autotrader I noticed a few adverts for mobile welders, so I may give one of those a ring instead of having to trapse the car somewhere to be welded.

News: 12th June 2003
Another job ticked off the list, Ive got the roof gutter trim fitted on, I know its not much but its something else out the way =). I also visted my local body shop to see if they did welding, but they didnt and didnt seem to know of any mobile welders either. So after a call to Rob Hardy (Top Bod Of SEOC North East) he gave me the number of a geezah not too far from mine who does welding, but also does MOT's, so I think ill get the other jobs doing that I need to do before taking the car for an MOT, then take the car to be wleded and MOT'd at the same time. So I better crack on with replacing the back brake cylinders and sorting out a bracket to fit the throtle linkage correctly. So basically, the welding is going to be one of the last things on the list, doh. Anyways, whilst ive still got my digital camera, and the sun was out, I took a few more pics to show the front lights n stuff properly. Click here to view em, Enjoy.

News: 10th June 2003
I took the 2 door out for a quick spin round the streets yesterday as it hasnt been properly run since last september when I bought it, and it has not been run at all with the webber carb and big bore exhaust on. Im glad to say it all seems to be running nicely, and seems pretty nippy for a 1300, quicker than my 4 door 1300 is, even with the big bore exhaust on it =). Might be due to the fact that the only interior in it is the drivers seat, lol. I also eventually got round to fitting the passenger side rear light cluster which took a bit of fannying about to fit properly after I realised I had fed the wires to the light the wrong way, and then the earth not making a good connection. All sorted now though. Think I better start making some enquiries this week as to where I can get my car welded up as well. On a different note, I may not have the use of a digital camera again soon, so there may not be more pictures on here for a while =(

News: 7th June 2003
Man, who woulda thought the flat lights and grille being put back on would transform the look of the car, it now looks HARD AS NAILS. My dad helped me put my rear spoiler back on as well and also the black bits of trim that go on the C pillars. Not too much more to do to the car cosmetically externally. Need to fit the roof gutter trim and the front and rear window rubber inserts and of course not forgetting those mexico decals :). Oh yeh, need to put my wheels on as well, doh. Still a fair wack to sort out though, need to replace the rear brake cylinders still, get the chassis welded up, perhaps get the engine converted to unleaded, fix the throttle linkage bracket for the carb, make the air filter fit properly, body mastik the windows up, refit the interior, sort some electrics out, MOT it coz that ran out on the 5th, tax it, pray some one will insure me, And BOB is indeed your UNCLE.
I took some pics but it was getting dark so they did not come out very well, ill upload a couple so you get the jist of it. Click here to view em

News: 6th June 2003
Updates updates updates. I have just part exchnaged both of my cars and bought my self a Vauxhall Nova. Lol nah I aint, that would just be damn right stupid. Right, I have not really been listing what I have been doing, so here it goes. Ive painted the bit behind where the grille goes, black, you can see this on the pics page. I have also replaced the piece of plastic that covers the speedo etc as I scratched the origional one to pieces, I have replaced the piece of the steering coloumn I melted, I have sorted the paint out on the steering wheel and repainted the ford badge silver on it. Erm, what else, I bought some clips to fit the back quarter cards on, but they dont fit lol. I have also got the escort badge back on the boot, ive replaced the indicator stork with 1 off a P100 pickup, so the horn now works =). As im writing this, the headlights are busy drying up as ive had to glue the sidelights into them :/ but once thats dry I can put the headlights in and the grille back on. Might do that tomorrow night. I was going to sort my airfilter out tonight as well but I better not touch the car whilst the sikaflex is drying. Over the weekend when I get the chance, ill get my dad to help me put the rear spoiler back on, as it needs lined up properly etc and I dont want to drop it and scratch the paint =). Ill also get the rear quarter lights rubbers filled with some body mastik to make them water tight. And if I can reallllllyyy be botherd, I will start to waxoyl all of the underside of the car, but some things tells me ill be leaving this until next week. To view the most recent pics, please click here

News: 3rd June 2003
Its 3am and im bored of me trolley, so I thought id upload some more pics of the car. They are not the most recent ones though, ill have to sort them out another day. Click here to view them.

News: 2nd June 2003
God damn bloody car. Just put the escort back in the garage before I kick it all over. Ive melted some of my steering wheel surround wih paint stripper, grr, theres now a crappy looking scratch in the boot where I had a clamp on it and the steering wheel boss that I just repainted I managed to get me bloody fingers allover and ruin it. Thought I better quit whislt im behind. I also found out today that RS wheels and Capri Laser wheels have different wheel nut fittings, so thats me even more pissed of coz im gonnah have to fork out more money for new locking nuts etc, cant just transfer them across from my 4 door escort. I have got some other stuff done, ill sort that out in my next update with pics I hope.

News: 30th May 2003
Some more progress on the car today. I have sprayed the radiator black again as it was covered in loads of overspray, the rest of the area behind where the grille goes still needs paiting black, but I will do that by hand. I also noticed when I got my car back that the horn did not work, and after a load of faffing about the problems been traced back to a snapped pin on the end of the indicator stork, so ill need another one of those as well, doh. Me and my dad have also sort of managed to get one of the rear quater lights back in after a lot of cursing and me getting my fingers jammed in the door when it decided to slam shut on them. Also got the courtesy light switches installed so that now works. Lots of other little bits and pieces I have been adding back on to the car, ill get some pics up as soon as I can with progress.

News: 28th May 2003
Another late night in the garage for me lol. After waxoyling the bottoms of the doors and the rear part of the sills, on the inside yesterday, I set about reasembling some things. The doors now have all the glass back in, some new rubbers on the outside and I made some new weather seels for the backs of the doors. Then I cleaned up the doors cards I bought for a fiver, lol, and put them on. Ill put the back quater cards on tomorrow. The chocolate brown interior looks 'different' against the signal amber thats for sure, =). I bought some new back wheel cylinders today as well, so I will mehbes get those fitted at the weekend, if I can be arsed to do anything after work :/. Also coz Dan wants to see my polished 4 spokes on the car ill see if I can blag some wheel nuts for cheap, coz im not paying £44 for a set of new ones. Watch this space.
Ill take some more pics tomorrow if I have time, let you tell me what you think of the brown door cards =)

News: 27th May 2003
It was a long wait but bloody hell it was worth it =).15 coats, yes 15 lol, make up this escys colour, 3 coats just didnt hack it to be honest, think the paints gonnah weigh me down now doh. Ive got some piccies taken of the scort but they do not do the colour justice. I have to say it is the brightest bloody colour ive ever seen in my life, it just looks like some custard in the photos though :/. Think one of my mates is splashing out on a high end digi cam though, so I may nick that n see what sorta pics I get off that :).
Times does fly when your having fun, I came out of the garage at 10:20 after putting the windows back in the doors. Just got the back quater lights to fit and thats the car weather proof again =). Still lots to do though, got a lot of wiring to do for my stereo and the centre console clock etc, plus I think I will get my cylinder head converted to unleaded whilst the car is still off the road, if it is not going to break the bank. Plus there is the little matter of finding £1400 to insure it, ouch.
Think I will go to my local motor factors tomorrow, because I need various bits and bobs such as mud flaps and some new brake cylinders or whatever the hell they are called for the back brakes, as the ones on at the moment are leaking brake fluid :/.
Click here to see some piccies of the beast =)

News: 23rd May 2003
Woop de woop, I have had word that my car should be ready by monday lunch time. Just a damn shame im at work then, doh. Will see if some one else can pick it up for me. I dont think the chassis has been welded though =( but I will wait and see. I will try and get some pics up ASAP.

News: 20th May 2003
Still have not heard about my 2 door scort, I am going to ring up on thursday about it, and if it is not ready I am going to go see the bloody thing, see if the guy painting it has even started. I have however been doing a slight bit of maintenance to my 4 door. I gave the distributor cap, coil and spark plug leads a bloody good clean with some WD40 and it has not half made a difference to the engine, its running a lot smoother and can idle at about 500rpm whilst the engine is warming up, im rather impressed. Some of you may of seen the e-mail I sent about about disapearing LRP, and with some useful links from steve john (cheers steve) I think I will go and check out some various additives at my local garage. I only know of one garage with LRP in at the moment and its 7 miles away from where I live, dont fancy travelling that far every time I wanna fill up. Ill do some research on cylinder head conversions for my 2 door escort though, will probably work out cheaper in the very long run.

News: 12th May 2003
Been to auto-recycle today to get some various bits and pieces I needed. These included some courtesy light door switches, couple of bulbs for my clock (but i forgot to get the bloody bulb holders, doh) sump plug for me dads engine, brake test switch, and the plug that plugs into the master cylinder to check the brake fluid level. All the bits and bobs i got came to a fiver so I cant complain really. He has got a 2 door mk2 escort in breaking, I was thinking of getting the doors if they were any cop, but they have rusted away at the bottom, it does have a 1600 xflow in it though, which was put in there, so it may be in good condition. Have not been up to much else, I still need to track down the source of the whirring noise at the front of me 4 dor escy though.

News: 9th May 2003
Re record your attitutde, play back in anolougue to keep it crude, Anywhoo, I rang up me respray bloke yesterday and apperantly me escy aint finished yet :/. Another 2 weeks he reckons god damn it. But he reckons its took all that time to get the body work smoothed out, so if it has taken this long and he is genuine, it should be a good job. Its supposed to be in primer at the moment and just awaiting 3-4 topcoats of signal amber, then flatted back again. So hopefully, Ill have a nice shiny escy at the end of it all :). Other stuff ive been upto include painting my bumpers and door handles again, I forgot I had that to do :). But they have come up better this time with the halfords spray paint. There are still a few dents etc in the bumpers, but that cant be helped. I also totally and utterly cleaned my 4 door escy inbetween coats of paint yesterday, ive never seen it so clean, can nearly see my face in the dash board :). I bought some rubber and vinyl cleaner from halfords, but it also cleans up interior plastics etc. Its brought my rear rubber spoiler up really well and the tyres look decent now as well, I could not be bothered to do me whole vinyl roof thugh :P

News: 2nd May 2003
2 weeks since the escy went in for a respray and still no word about its progress. I will give the guy a ring on sunday if i still have not heard anything. Havent been up to much really regarding escys, just trying to perfect sideways round about driving in this wet weather =)

News: 26th April 2003
I must admit to not doing work on anything recently, coz I have not got an escy to work on. Well thats a lie ive got my 4 door but that doesnt count :). Erm, only things I have been upto really is cleaning up stuff ready to put back into the car. I need to spray my bumpers and door locks again though because they look rubbish at the moment. I may get round to this next week some time. No news on the 2 door yet. I will give it another week before I ring up for a progress report, and when I get it back I will try and get some picys sorted, been a while since I uploaded some pics :).

News: 17th April 2003
The brown beast has left the building. Towed the car too the spray shop today on back of me dads pug 406 and there was a distinct burning smell. I thought the towing was cooking his auto box, but I later discovered being towed with my handbrake on started to cook my back brakes, oops :). Anyways, the bloke and place looks sound as a pound, and he had a mk1 XR2 fessah sitting there which looked nice n all, looked like it was riviera blue. No incidents on the tow itself, apart from me realising how crap the brakes seem with out a servo, think im going to have to do some research on remote brake servos, because I really dont fancy another origional escort jobby, they take up half the engine bay. Other stuff, I purchased a tin of satin black paint from Halfords today, better be good cos it cost a bloody fiver for 300ml =). Should be getting the escy back in two to three weeks. I just hope Mel (spray dood) manages to get the right colour coz signal amber was not listed in his colour book, just signal orange/amber alongside signal orange. I left him a copy of Classic Ford with a signal amber escy in it for him to double check the colour anyways.

News: 16th April 2003
Well as a few people reckon I have not done much to the escy recently (you know who your are boyos :) ), ill give an update as to what I've been upto. Firstly I've been painting anything that is chrome black, and with some disappointing results it has to be said. My bumpers and door handles look a bloody clip, the paint I've got to be quite frank, is a pile of shite =). The halfords own make stuff I did my mirror and wiper arms with gave a much better finish. Think I may have to invest in some more of it and rub down me bumpers and door handles again :/. Also I have been going around the car making sure its slightly road worthy for the tow up to the spray shop tomorrow, i.e. blowing the tires up =). Also I noticed that I can not use the bumper bars to tow the car so a rope is going to have to go round the engine crossmember. After a bit of testing I discovered it should not interfere with the front spoiler. Tomorrow ill be emptying the car of any bits it does not need in it, that'll be everything bar the drivers seat then :), and think ill kill me cats as they've been using my passenger seat as a means of sharpening their claws and they've been sleeping in my floor carpet. Also my quality speedograph airfilter I purchased about a week ago has been giving me some jip. That needed dremeling back just so it would fit onto the carb, and I also managed to sand my finger off in the process, Nice. Anyways that's about it, ill prolly have to do some maintenance on my 4 door when the 2 doors gone, as the engines starting to sound a bit too rough for my liking :)

News: 10th April 2003
The escy now has a date set for when its going in for a respray. Its going in next thursday (17/03/03). My only worry is towing the bloody thing there and back, coz it aint as if the old escys were fitted with towing eyes, and if I attach it to the cross member it may interfear with the mexico front spoiler. My plan is to take the bars off the bumpers and re-attach these, then stick a couple of tow ropes onto them, then hook it up to the back of me dads pug 406 :). It will probably all go pete tong, but worth a try.

News: 4th April 2003 - Part 2
Well ive just came out of the garage (18:50) after doing a bit of dremmeling to my air filter, I forgot I had that tool =), and the air filter now fits, hehe, sounds vereh nice under some accelertion, dont think the people in the street were to impressed though =). Now I just need to find some bolts that fit it to keep the bloody thing on.

News: 4th April 2003
My parts came today, well the air filter did anyways, the exhaust clamps were out of stock, which was lucky because I decided to cancel the order of those, 30 quid for 2 clamps was taking the biscuit a bit. Anyways, I have discovered that the air filter is going to need a slight bit of modifying as its such a snug fit I can not get the rubber neck into it and make it go around the top of the carburettor. Ill give it a bit of filing. I also need to find 4 bolts that fit into the carb to keep the air filter on, because mine are missing, doh. Also yesterday after I wrote the news, the sun came out so I went into the garage and painted my door handles black. Im not very impressed with the finish of this paint I have got though, the other stuff I had was a lot better, not too worry :/.

News: 3rd April 2003
I have ordered some parts for me escy today. They include a pancake airfilter for me webber carb and a couple of clamp things that go round the joins in an exhaust to stop the buggers blowing. 50 quid for that little lot, and the clamps cost more than the air filter :/. I havent gone for the KnN option just yet because funds are pretty tight and I cant afford anything that I dont really need. Ive been meaning to do a few other odd jobs, but with this varying weather, I dont want to risk getting me escy caught in the rain, especially with so much bare metal exposed, rust is bad =) Not much else happening though to be honest, just enjoying ragging my 4 door round the streets and getting the back out, gotta be done innit.

News: 31st March 2003
Well the bloke didn't come on Saturday, but he did come today and quoted me 300 quid for a respray including the insides of the doors, boot and bonnet. I know you get what you pay for, but I have heard from a few people that you get more than your moneys worth off this guy. He thought the escort was in really good condition which is good to hear, so it will be going to him in 2 weeks time to get sprayed. Will hopefully have the car on the road in about 6 weeks time (car has to be in the sprayers for 2 weeks). Looking forward to driving me 2 door escort now =). Unfortunately, it also means I will have to sell my 4 door escort once the 2 door is complete, which is a shame coz I would of liked to restore that one as well.

News: 26th March 2003
Finally got hold of the bloke who does resprays on the phone. He says he will come and have a look at me motor on Saturday. So all being well and good, I hope he does not want a small fortune otherwise im screwed :). Im still debating weather or not to get the sills painted black. I think I will get them painted the same colour as the body, but the bit where it lips to underneath the car can be painted black. That way if it ever does rust I can underseal it and get away with it :).

News: 23rd March 2003
Well I have tried to get in touch with the guy who does car spraying this weekend but his phone just keeps ringing and ringing, so I guess I will have to try again tomorrow :/. Other things I have been doing to the car though is I have sort of fitted my twin choke webber carburetor, but it definitely needs some attention as the throttle linkage bracket thing does not even line up properly, so I will have to find out if cars with this manifold have different brackets, and also some of the pipes connected to it could do with new jubilee clips, Ill get some next time im at my local motor factors. If your wondering where all the previous news has gone you can find it here .

OLD NEWS