Mk2 escort van resto: Completed van photos!!!!!

[whitey]

Hi guys I've been in her a while and throught I'd better start a thread about my ride. She recently went from this.
s42.photobucket.com/user/gingerwhitey/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

To this
s42.photobucket.com/user/gingerwhitey/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

She is my daily and used extensively to cart me and my drum kit around my many gigs around Devon. She even went up the hill at retro rides 2012. The old girl needed quite a bit of welding after all weather/ season use. Not to mention welds ontop of welds after 30 plus years of being used as an electricians van in Newquay. So I took it to the best bodywork company In Exeter Restoshack. They're work is excellent. Stay tuned for pictures of all the amazing work done by these guys!!!!

[jiminwatford]

Jun 21, 2014 10:07:55 GMT whitey said:

this.


To this

[grifterkid]

That is lovely... It is so refreshing to see an Escort van that looks original rather than made to look like a rally/RS van (which I like but I've seen enough of)... I cannot wait to see some more pictures of this!

[whitey]

Thanks for sorting out the photos jim . But they are the wrong way round. The white one is how it was I then stripped it back as far as I could to bare metal then put it on the transit. Thanks for your kinds words when it's done it should look pretty cool. I wanted to keep it simple almost like a street sleeper look with a bit of a drop. It's going to be used daily so needs to be cool and practical . More photos soon

[grifterkid]

Blimey, it looked pretty damn good to start with! You've got a gem there sir...

[whitey]

It look good but was a bit rough if I'm being honest. Years of welding in patches for mots had taken it's toll. Restoshack soon got to sorting it out

[jiminwatford]

Ha!

I thought you had got them mixed up

i've now edited them.

[whitey]

Heres the story so far.As my giging diary got more busy,longer distance gigs etc. I needed to upgrade from my mk2 escort estate.
This beast came up on ebay. looking a bit rough in redoxide but had all the parts. It had a rebuilt 1700 crossflow, 5 speed box , anti tramps, polybushed etc.
So was right up my street no work needed to mod,everything was ok just sort out the paint work. The guy i brought it off was a mechanic and a nice guy and was going to track day it, he had brought it off the original owner after years of badgering him to sell it.so i was the third owner.: )
i got it home, had help welding up holes and sprayed it ,in my garden under a tarpaulin just to get it on the road.To cut along story short i drove it around doing lots of miles, changed the engine , then rebuilt the original one, changed the gearbox and she was starting to look rough.
I got a dep gig with with my friend Dave who owns Restoshack , he had a look over the van and ssid bring it in. After going on the ramp we found it needed both sides inner and outer sills,work on the wing wing,work on the doors, rear arch and rear quater. This is were the mission of fixing the van began.To get a jump start we took all the doors of first so i could concentrate on stipping down the body shell.

check out the cool writting under all the paint : )
We then noticed the front doors needed a whole new bottoms putting on , picture to follow.
here are the doors nice and shiney after being rubbed back to metal.

more news soon : )

[whitey]

Time to start cutting........
we new it needed new sills , so restoshack started to cut away and look what they found.

the old girl needed inner and outer sil work plus strenghener.
Heres the handmade strenghtner, with correct presings holes etc

and fitted with new inner sill, they made it look so easy to do : )

then lots of clippy things and spot welds etc

when i get 5 minutes ill give a more entertainign write up lol, but shes slowly getting there

[zeus]

Nice work fella

[whitey]

Thanks Zeus, the guys at restoshack really know their stuff.
Heres a picture of the sill attached boosh , just like new



before the batle for the otherside of the van began the doors needed to have a look at. i knew they were bad. the doors that were originally on the van when i got it were held together with gaffa tape. i wanted to get the van on the road asap, so found some tatty van doors that me and my oldman could bodge up to make them look semi tidy. cue epic welding photo....

we welded patchs onto the bottom of the worst door and then in true 1970's dodge up style we fillered all over it, as you can see from the above photo this door needed saving. time for the experts to have a go. using proper metal bendng machines and craftsmanship.
after san blasting my friend Dave cut the rubbish part of the door off and crafted a new section to be attached. i like daves work shop they have all the right tools for the job e.g metal bending machines and BIG HAMMERS!!!! to help breath life into 30+ year old doors.

bit of welding

i cant find a photo of it finished I'm afraid but it looked awsome.next update soon : )

[monty]

Good to see the Van is still going Tom

[joe90]

As said above, it's nice to see a standard restoration rather than a wide arch zetec modified van.

[whitey]

Thanks monty, have you still got the black one, saw it at retrorides last year look awsome. Thanks for the interest guys. I like bubble arches it's already been done extremely well in some cases : ) Zetecs are clever engines but I like to be different . Plus crossflows sound awsome. I like the idea of a street sleeper look more. Hopfully more photos soon : )

[katbloke]

Hi Whitey my cars off to restoshack end of september ive been following the van progress on their facebook page looking good

[whitey]

What car have you got? : )

[monty]

Jun 27, 2014 20:30:16 GMT whitey said:

Thanks monty, have you still got the black one, saw it at retrorides last year look awsome. Thanks for the interest guys. I like bubble arches it's already been done extremely well in some cases : ) Zetecs are clever engines but I like to be different . Plus crossflows sound awsome. I like the idea of a street sleeper look more. Hopfully more photos soon : )

Yes mate, still got the black one.....and still frightening unsuspecting sports car owners in it :-). Still got the Montreal and the RS too. The two Fords will be on the stand at Powderham this year if you're going?

Edit: Do you need wings for yours Tom? I have a NOS near side wing if you need one?

[katbloke]

Jun 28, 2014 7:01:35 GMT whitey said:

What car have you got? : )

Its a Clio Williams 2 cant wait for it to go in, cant afford a resto to the extent youre going to but there work looks awesome, my first car was a mk2 escort van for 100 quid lol

[whitey]

I'm glad your van is giving modern performance a run for its money : ) I might come this year depending on when it is. .if you could pm me the condition and price of the wing that would be awsome. You don't know anyone who has rear door rubbers do you? , I heard the Anglia club do them. That Montreal is awesome so unique.
Yeah they were telling me about the Williams sounds interesting will be nice seeing it completed. I like the colour, how many did they make. I wish escorts were still a 100 quid lol . ) more pictures up tomorrow hopfully

[whitey]

Saturday was a busy day at Restoshack, it was rub down and primer painting is so close i can smell the thinners.more of that later.....
i always wondered why the drivers door line was out and then i found out.



That there people is an A post welded ontop of an A post. After checking my bank account for funds and working several local street cornes for one evening( my milkshake rings brang the boys to the yard) i managed to find extra money to get this sorted. the post underneaf had the original paint and looked hanging.

thats better : )

now the original reason i went to see the guys at Restoshack was this incredibly rusty area it would be a little bit of a challange, due to the fact they woul have to fabricate off a line that isnt there anymore and had to remake the bumber bolt hole area.But this is no ordinary body shop.