1982 Ford Granada 2.0L (Updated 30/03)

[blacksaff]

Ok,

This is my Ford Granada. I bought this car from an old boy in Bedford. It had won shows previously and has certificates and plaques to prove it. It was also in the Granada guild apparently. It has 39k miles on the clock and has all the documentation to prove it. It is without a doubt structurally mint. There isn't a patch of rust on it apart from a 20pence piece on the O/S/R arch. The interior is untouched, however the dash has cracked due to exposure to sunlight. It has a slightly sad story you see. The old guy had it safely in a council garage, or so he thought. Kids had thrown small stones through the ventilation bricks into the garage, this has caused lots of little dents on the roof, bonnet and boot. Massive shame but it is repairable. Due to this the old boy put it on his front drive where it stood for some time. The paint bleached in the sun and the dash cracked.

I came along and took it off him with the promise not to banger it and restore it. I took it away and hear it is. Plans are;

The front callipers are seized so they will be replaced.

The flexible brake lines will be replaced for SFS/HEL braided items.

Engine service.

Rocker cover repainted.

40-50mm lowered.

Banded steels.

New exhaust as the original is long gone.

The only pictures I have are of it when it was looking rough on the old guys front drive.

Nice suits and hair boys!

[breadvan]

oh yer classic ford awesome had one of these and a few mk3's including a cosworth would love another but turned to the vw dark side

[breadvan]

thinking back mine was a gold gear model rough but it was used daily until sold

[conair]

Nice one, good to see a Pre-Facelift base spec, see so many 2.8's and ghia's, really good to see this one dude, look forward to seeing this progress

[mongchop]

Nice piece of kit you've got....I'm guessing it's on the stick as its a pinto lump? Do love the base spec models although I am slightly biased mine being a GL - positively luxury compared to an L spec!
How much did you give for it if you don't mind me asking? In my experience Granada owners are extremely reluctant to let them go if they think they're going to be raced!
Good luck with it and hope its staying standard because there really aren't many base spec ones about now..... Everyone seems to want the ghia x!

[grifterkid]

Now that is just amazing...!!! Get some boiled linseed oil on those murky grey plastics to bring them back up to a nice, deep black!

I loved my Mk1 Granada (I'd love an early Mk2) but it had to go which was a great shame! Your example looks stunning and I am very jealous indeed... Long may your Granada entertain you sir!

Anyhow, let's see more pictures and then some MORE pictures too!!! Nice one...

[blacksaff]

Thanks for all the feedback,

In answer to some of the questions, it's a manual stick yes. It is pretty much staying standard although I will be looking to lower it and band the steels out a bit. Everything will be reversible.

I will definitely use that boiled linseed oil trick. I've never heard of it before, I've only heard of the peanut butter trick.

I liked it because it was a base model, I've not seen any other base models during my searching. I paid a fair amount for it I think that I was happy with. The guy was extremely reluctant to let it go but as I promised him it wasn't going to be 'banger'd' and i'll be true to my word he let me take it.

So here's a small update as she looks at the moment.

It's jacked up with all the flexible brake lines removed ready for some nice strong new braided items. Trying to source some springs but having no luck. The front callipers are off and in need of replacement as they are extremely seized. The grill will be being returned back to black.

The rocker cover has been removed ready for sandblasting and a repaint. Cam looks really good condition. Going to try and clean up the air filter housing as well.

Here she is with her Vauxhall counterpart.

Thanks all, updates to come soon.

[blacksaff]

Ok,

It was a sunny day and I've got the week off. Lets get cracking on the Granny.

First order of the day was to remove the rear flexible brake lines ready for a trip to SFS in Luton for some lovely new braided replacements. They came apart quite well, the only problem being removing them from the mounting brackets on the rear suspension arms. I'll put some pictures up of the hoses when I have the new ones made as a nice comparison.

Next was to remove the rear silencer which was totally gone. A bit or wiggling and getting covered in rust flakes and that was off. Christ knows where I will find a replacement though.

Finally some pics as we all love pics.

I removed the front bumper as it's got a few little issues that really let the car down. So I thought, let's whip it off and strip it down. It came apart so easily, nothing broke and nothing was seized. It gave me a good opportunity to look at the front valance as well. I was very happy with the front valance. It's totally rust free.

I then placed the bumper on my work bench.

Here's a close up of the damage to the N/S front, I really can't work out what must have happened to it at all. You can see that the plastic has all those slots cut in to it, but also the bumper itself has a dent and a groove. The plastic I'd say is scrap but I'm hoping I can save the bumper as it's such good condition otherwise.

Here's the whole bumper completely stripped apart.

The O/S plastic is pretty much perfect and I will be trying the boiled linseed oil out on them. However the N/S has been in contact with a brick wall I suspect as it's all scratched. Dilemma is I could rub it down, however this will take away the textured effect of the plastic. Getting a replacement is another option although i'll probably be taxed heavily due to it's rarity.

  

[grifterkid]

This is just so ruddy great!!!

If you pop a post on Oval Banger Chat (give it a Google!) you will find some really very helpful folks who have quite a fair amount of Granada pieces in their garages etc... so you will have a good chance of getting one of those bumper end cap things...

I like the sound of your subtle plans for this. The Mk2 Granada looks very 'right' in its purest form so keeping it simple is best! Can we see some 'base' interior pic's please?!

Keep us posted...!!!

[blacksaff]

Cheers 'Grifterkid' I've put a post on there. Yes i'll be definitely keeping her base model looking with some subtle improvements.  

New update time, I took my old flexible brake hoses over to SFS in Luton. I can't recommend these guys enough, no job is too big and they have all the time for you. So anyway, Lee made me up some new hoses to original spec. I went for a candy red plastic coating to match the car. I went Carbon effect on the Cavalier so wanted these to stand out a bit more. Here are the new hoses compared to the old ones.

I then fitted them on to the car.

Rears

Fronts

I then took some photos of the interior as requested. It's full of 80s mass produced plastic.

Check out my sounds!

Instrument cluster with genuine mileage

Rear seats don't look sat in.

Front seats complete with beaded seat covers! Can't remember the last time I saw some of these.

Well enjoy and as usual all comments welcome.

[levismerc]

Very nice indeed - I love those Granadas.

[blacksaff]

As I had all the front stripped down I thought it would be a good idea to try and polish up the whole front panel. So out came the Scratch X and some Auto Finesse polish. I did the front valance and the slam panel. I think it came out really well. Let me know what you think.

My new callipers have arrived as well so they should be on soon with new pads and fitting kit.

 

[breadvan]

bloody looking awesome lovin old fords thinking a mk2 granny for me again .

[slammedorion]

My dad had a 1982 2.3 L ( ALM 693Y ) In met Champaign... Owned it from 1985-1998... My dad's had exactly the same trim in...
Don't paint the grill black, they come colour coded from factory...
Looks a lovely shell...

[blacksaff]

Update time,

The old rear silencer was blowing like a cheap whore. It needed to come off. I managed to seperate it from the rest of the system ok and here it is.

I managed to find a NOS rear silencer which wasn't easy.

I gave it a wipe down with some cleaner and gave it a scotch rub down. Then it was a nice coat of red oxide.


Then after that it was a coat of silver.


However, when I tried to mount it on the car it all went wrong! Anyone who has ever fitted a pattern exhaust system on a car will know they never normally fit well. The diameter of the sleeve is a few millimetres bigger than the mid section and to make matters worse it's also about an inch too short! So it looks like I'll have to cut the end off and modify it!

Thanks for looking

[willg]

Nice work, and cool story about it. Love this model Granada!

[blacksaff]

Thanks,

Update time is that the front brakes are on and fitted. I managed to get hold of some brand new callipers, brake pads and fitting kit.

Next it was to mount them up to the old hubs and discs. The discs have very little wear on them so I didn't replace them. Managed to use the old solid brake pipes aswell as they cleaned up nice. I had the brake pipe holding bracket sandblasted and I sprayed it black.

Fitted the new pads and fitting kit.


Then I had my good mate help me bleed out the system, the old fluid was black!!! I removed the reservoir from the master cylinder as well as there was black sediment in the bottom. Gave a good wash out with brake cleaner, ran new fluid through the system and here it is. All lovely and clean.

I then used the boiled linseed oil on the grey bumper trims that a member on here advised. I am amazed at the results and extremely impressed with the difference!!


Big thanks

[breadvan]

wow looking good and i like the boiled linseed oil idea

[andeh]

'Give it 20 pumps...20 more...just keep pumping!'
Always happy to help.

[grifterkid]

Looking good sir, that boiled linseed works a treat!!!

What a great car...