Prospective buyer

[Tony-94]

Hi all. I have recently been offered a '78 Mk2, for a good price. Looks to be in pretty good condition but has been unused in a garage for some years.
I intend to restore it but have no experience of these older Fords so I have a few questions..
1. Are basic parts/body panels etc still easy to get hold of AND reasonably cheap?
2. Any specific things to look out for when inspecting the car?
3. Is this car classed as classic and therefore cheaper insurance?

Thanks in advance : )

[GAZ W]

I am also quite new to the MKII game and am really just finding my feet but to answer you questions .

1. The original ford panels are getting very difficult to find now days and will be expensive if you do come across them but there are a few companys that offer pattern parts see in the back of classic ford for these companys.

2. As most old fords they do rot , not to great on this area so im sure someone else will point you in the right direction

3. these cars are now classed as a classic and therefore cheaper insuranc £ 190 for me FC , 3000 miles per year ,

cheers

[GAZ W]

See this link for details of some good info ..this was for me when i was looking
http://bbs.fzr1000exup.org.uk/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=628&highlight=

[leeadams]

same for me really..

My insurance with Dominion is £150 fully comp. That is on my Series X with 150 bhp etc....

As to looking, check for rust!

Lee

[Mr Hoarder]

I posted this on Turbosport about 3 months ago. Hope it helps :

Check the panel that fits between the number plates for rust (the only body part on a mk2 Escort RS2000 that doesn't suffer is the plastic nosecone).

Take someone with you to look at any potential purchases, this should ideally be someone who knows about Mk2's and isn't easily impressed - a bit of a Devils' advocate if you like. It's very easy to buy the first car you look at only to be disappointed when you get "under the skin" of it when you get it home. A balanced opinion form a Mate can stop you from leaping before you look.

A nice history folder is a massive bonus, things like stamped up service books, original bill of sale, service invoices, tax discs and old MOT certificates go a long way to showing the car has been looked after throughout it's life. (These cars do still come up ; Slim (Mickrs2000)bought one recently, and I bought one a couple of years ago)

Major mechanical components are readily available secondhand, the only thing I can think of that is in real short supply would be the brake servo (especially new).

Body wise, as I've said, rust is a huge problem.
Areas to concentrate on :

Innner wings - around the top strut mountings, the anti-roll bar mounts and where they join the bulkhead and wings
Outer wings - the rust where they touch any other panel - as mud collects here and holds moisture agaist them
Bulkhead and heater plenum these rust at their seams and lower down the bulkhead behind the cam cover
Scuttle panel - rusts just under the front screen rubber
A posts - rot out between the hinges- these are double skinned and moisture creeps in between the skins and bubbles the post outwards
Doors - the frames rot, the skins rot, the only bit that doesn't is the glass !!
Rear quarter panels/wheel arches - these are double skinned at the inner arch join, and rot badly all the way around the arch, especially where they join the sills and rear lower corners
Sills- both inner and outer, have a good prod around their whole length - it's nice if you can get the seats and carpet out to have a good look inside too.
Bulkhead sides (or kickpanels) these rot at the join of the A post and the floor.
Spare wheel well/Petrol tank well - these fill up with water and rot out badly
Back panel - this rot around the joins to the boot floor, chassis rail ends and the double skinned area that the boot weatherstrip fits on to - pull the weather strip off to have a look.
B pillars and C pillars rot at the joins to the rear quarter, the B pillars often split by the door aperture, and the C pillars rot out at their bases because of a badly designed drain channel
Chassis rails - check the whole length from front to rear, but the worst areas are over the back axle and where the front spring hangers join on
Front panel - this can rot around the headlamp mounts - and the join to the slam panel
Slam panel - this rots at the join to the inner wings
Lower front X-member (under the Radiator) - rots at it's join with the inner wings.
Bootlid - this rots at the double skinned area where the skin is folded over the frame - especially at the bottom edge.
Floors - these rot at their extremities and where the seats mount



I know this seems like a lot, basically if one car is suffering from all of the above - it's a scrapper

Identifying the car as genuine is important, there are some ringers out there !

The RS body shell has a couple of differences.
Chassis number GCAT is important as this shows it was built in the correct plant and is a 2 door Escort
Inner wings have top plates, strengthening flitches and extra pieces at the base of the strut turrets
The floor has a guide for the speedo cable (by the exhaust) and anti-tramp bar mounts, a large centre exhaust hanger and the rear exhaust mount is in a different position to a standard car
There is no rear anti-roll bar but a pair of Radius arms (which shold be u shaped and not tubular)
If it is a Custom or pre 78 model it should have a glove pocket with clock in the dashboard
Only base model RS2000's were fitted with non tinted glass
The front anti roll bar mounts have lowering plates welded on the bottom, and the mounting holes are moved from standard to change the castor of the car
Front shocks have bolted on steering arms as opposed to the integral ones on a standard car
up to February 77 the top mount holes were 105 mm diameter, after 2/77 they were the smaller 85mm size
Early cars had black headlinings, later models (when the Mexico was discontinued) has Putty coloured ones this was at the point that the instruments changed from white to orange needles


There is loads more but i've covered the bulk of it here.