Escort endeavours

[Hooli]

Doesn't ring a bell tbh

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Doesn't ring a bell tbh

One of the words in that sentence is the reason I’ve got to think very carefully before contributing anything to this thread….

[LynehamHerc]

I'm sure that you all know about the time myself and a friend totally trashed and set fire to an RS1800?

It was a fair while ago that you mentioned it wasn't it?

[Scruffy Bodger]

My Blacksmith mate had an RS2000 complete with fishnet recaros to thrash round the common and tracks up on the hill years back, then it got scrapped. Bought it for 50 quid iirc.

My first memories of Escorts were mk2 vans, my old man had various ones in states of disrepair. I learnt to drive in the one aged 11. It was never safe from being thrashed up and down the lanes after that, he was crap at hiding keys.

I also remember one he had as spares but being him he ran it for a while. The passenger seat was on blocks of wood and not fixed at all, I vividly remember looking down at my feet and you could see the road going by underneath thru not tiny holes.

[xtriple]

I 'repaired' the floor on the 1100 with bits cut out of a Walls ice cream container, big square thing, loads of pop rivets, bit of filler and underseal and another years MOT!

[xtriple]

To be honest, I really miss those days of not giving a fuck, just enough to pass an MOT and keep the thing running. None of this spending shitloads on things when they ain't even broken! Service? What's that then?

[Max Thunder]

Hi
Well. I have had a few.
Will do few of the Mk 1s first .
Had about 6 or 7. At least three 2 doors and 1 estate .

First Escort I had was a 2 door on a K plate 1300 in 1983 when I was at Catterick . Bought off a work colleague who was posted to BOAR. Paid about 100 quid I think.
It had been re-sprayed Yellow. It was originally white .It was pretty standard but someone had stuck fake fur all over the dash . The bloke I bought it off had pulled it all off but it had left a sticky mess.

We use to use a product called Zoff to remove Plaster of Paris etc from patients skin. It can also remove sticky residue from car dashboards.

A Hillman Avenger had been left abandoned in the living quarters parking. This had a set of Rostyle wheels on. So I un - abandoned it and put them on the Escort. Got a tenner from the scrappy for the Avenger.

Sold it to another Squaddie when something else came up. Will tell all in the Cortina thread.

Around 1992 I was now a civilian and was doing a bit of banger racing when Quiet Kim told me about a bloke called Geoff who he worked with who was building a Mk 1 1300 2 door circuit racer . It was to race in a pre 74 series and apart from the safety gear were meant to be pretty standard.

I bought a 71 1600 2 door which had been built to do Gravel Rallying. But hardly used . Got it cheap because the bloke was getting married and needed the money. Not banger money but cheap as it already had a cage fitted and was a solid shell.

I also got for free a 1300 lump that been mildly warmed by Quiet Kim which came out of a team mates Hot Rod after he got bored and went back to Bangers.

Geoff was building his in a Council Garage round the bac of his home and left it on axle stands next to it while he welded it up. The council didn't like this and left a removal notice . Geoff ignored this as it was only a shell not a car (Geoff's words.) The Council stole it (again Geoff ) Geoff wouldn't pay to get it bac . The council disposed of it . Geoff got the arse . Geoff sold all the race gear and engine that had been stored in the garage. Geoff disappeared into the sunset to become a track marshall.

With no Geoff and I was looking to buy a house myself I sold it c/w the 1300 engine. Made a small profit . I never did circuit race it but before I sold it I took it to a Rwyb at Santa pod. It still had the 1600 in it and was still in gravel spec. When I finished my first run the guy at the end who gave my timing slip asked me had I left the hand brake on. The next (and last) run he asked if it was stuck in 1st . How I laughed.

I also bangered a 1300 2 door that I had to tell the lady owner that I was going to do it up as it was her first car. Though her husband knew different.
The estate needed the strut tops doing (again) and the front wings needed replacing so as it was a 1600 I was going to banger it at 1600 meeting. But about a month before they changed it to a 1800 non Ford meeting so I swooped with Charlie the Scrap for a Maxi .

Mk 2s to follow

[mercrocker]

Having never owned an Escort (only rented them hourly) I have little else to contribute. Other than I did have a company Mk3 1300 van for a year or so and after the assorted French biscuit tins I was allotted I found it to be well screwed together and fun to drive. The frogs were fun too but all the leaning over got a bit wearing after a while.

Unlike previous company issues I had little of note occur in my Escort days other than pushing a pigeon through the front grille like a potato chipper at about 85mph on the A36. Seem to recall a Mk2 estate courtesy car at some point although I really didn't like them so promptly forgot about it.

[Warren t claim]

I'm sure that you all know about the time myself and a friend totally trashed and set fire to an RS1800?

It was a fair while ago that you mentioned it wasn't it?

Despite an extensive search Eddiehonda would be proud of on both here and the vanilla I can't find it so for the benefit of all I'll repeat it here.

Back in 1988 a mate had a Mk2 RS1800 that was on its last legs. Along with the Peak Freans biscuit tin floor, the exotic twin cam lump only fired on all cylinders when it felt like it and was suffering from HGF. Even at the modest £300 asking price it couldn't find a buyer. People looked at it as an Escort with an over complicated engine. Why bother when you can just drop a Pinto in and get similar power and total reliability?

As it had run out of tax and test, the owner and myself took it to the local beach/dogging car park to give it a noble send off. The idea was to do a Stars In Their Eyes tribute to the Mercedes in the car park scene in The Driver. The car park had several large boulders placed along its perimiter so first "stunt" involved Mike, the owner, screeching to a stop after the last one then I'd open the passenger door before he reversed at speed to remove the door. As this was New Brighton, not Hollywood, this didn't go according to plan. The passenger door didn't come off. Instead, it just bent its way back to the front wing. Undeterred, I pulled the door back and Mike ran that door against another boulder. The door comes flying back towards me showering both of us with glass.

After a fun filled 20 minutes we decide to give it a final hurrah by rolling it, a task made easy by the steep earth bank at the car park. Have you ever tried to roll a car? I can assure you that it's a hell of a lot harder to do in real life than the movies make it out to be. Both of us made several attempts with no luck. The RS only managed to eventually make it onto its side when Mike took a different approach and reversed into the bank flat out. When on its side the full extent of corrosion the GCAT shell was suffering became clear along with several years of MOT bodges. In fact, the near side footwell was a Michelin tyre pressure sign stolen from a filling station.

[bub2006]

As some of you know I have also owned 2 escort vans. We all know how that panned out don't we?!