You may remember from a post back in November that SVG had taken on the restoration of this Mk2 Ford Escort. The car was imported from South Africa and was to be dismantled and stripped, by the owner, to bare metal before coming back to the SVG workshops for restoration.
In that post, we sounded a cautious note that you never know what you will get back from the stripping process. It can reveal a multitude of sins.
When the car first arrived, SVG and the car’s owner were very happy with how good it looked. Convinced the car was a good one, the restoration was expected to be light and quick. We didn’t expect this! Underneath the tidy exterior lurked something very different. This car had a history of dodgy repairs and rust – lots of rust.
The pictures tell the story so far. The battery had leaked and there was a repair needed, but below that, the front chassis rail barely exists in places. Replacement chassis rails have been bought and will be welded in. The bulkhead has now had a huge hole filled and the front floor pans on both sides have been replaced. A door pillar on one side which was largely full of filler is about to be replaced.
Part 3 of this project will be added to the site later in the year.
The Escort looked good when it first arrived
Stripping revealed previous repairs
Rust hole in the transmission tunnel.
Very rusty front chassis rail.
Replacement chassis rail
New door pillar being prepped for welding
Wheelarch showing damage and poor rust repairs
