shells

[wetandwindy2]

strange that nobodys started to make new escort shells and more standard or Rs parts surely ford still have the tooling for them ,especially with the interst on the escort scene,would it be viable,or would it damage the classic scene ,it hasn't damaged the truimph ,mgb scene, got the rimmer bros catalogue at home and its stuffed full of parts if only we had that for the ford scene

[grum]

i believed, all the ford presses for the mk2's were scrapped for the impending mk3 model

[dandibo]

i believed, all the ford presses for the mk2's were scrapped for the impending mk3 model

thought /heard expressed steel panels got the presses & jigging

[grum]

thought /heard expressed steel panels got the presses & jigging

could well be theyve got some - mine reply was only what id heard 2nd hand

[Tim]

have heard a number of time that alot of the tooling was distroyed and ford hated it even more when clubman in mk2 were beatin 3dr in the 80s
have even heard stories of ford sendin in the lawer on people makin glass fiber shells

[dandibo]

could well be theyve got some - mine reply was only what id heard 2nd hand

Hey grum im not saying thats fact heard this back in early 90s at donnington national day

was a bit surprised but i would have thought guys like Hadrian/pop on /veng would have bought them

i do a lot with the motor industry & it has surprised me who makes what for who ie dashboards exhausts seat frames etc etc i used to think it was ford who made all there own stuff could not have been further from the mark

[grum]

theres always a lot of hear say of who did what for ford - guess even with their resources they couldnt have made everything

like Tim says a lot of the stuff was destroyed

remember reading that expressed panels can make anything as long as theyve got a direct copy to match it to

but, as you say, im also equally amazed how other companies supply stuff today ie. MG stuff etc - can buy a whole car still basically

Ruddys recently commented on how easy bits are to get for his wedge

[1558]

It may only be a matter of time before it becomes viable to produce a Mk2 shell but not with original tooling. It maybe a problem as Ford are licencing some things now like stripe kits and clothing. However I believe the ruling on kit cars is that its ok to copy the design as long as at least 200 of the original car were made (shame I always fancied a GT70). As I understand it the Expessed panels are made by pouring a special alloy onto an original panel in order to make the tooling. This can then produce a limited number of panels before it is melted down to start over again. They have however not been able to produce complete Mk1 wings and also the floor is done in two sides but no tunnel, a whole floor was cut up to make the patterns for each side. Maybe for a Group 4 shell this wouldnt be an issue as by the time you have put in a big gearbox tunnel and diff tunnel theres little else to fabricate.

[RS2000EXPRESS]

theres always a lot of hear say of who did what for ford - guess even with their resources they couldnt have made everything

like Tim says a lot of the stuff was destroyed

remember reading that expressed panels can make anything as long as theyve got a direct copy to match it to

but, as you say, im also equally amazed how other companies supply stuff today ie. MG stuff etc - can buy a whole car still basically

Ruddys recently commented on how easy bits are to get for his wedge

I think the fact is that the MG presses and tooling where saved but the Ford ones were destroyed, but some MG parts are made in Eastern countries. Also Fords used huge presses which gave them the edge on finish and definition.

Someone told me once that some trim for the Ford Anglia was made in Caernarvon, N Wales!

[graham John]

why on earth would FoMoCo want to keep the presses and tooling ?

in 1980 the whole model range was due for renewal and FWD was the way forward (pardon the pun).
Escorts mk1 and 2 were now in the past, therefore the decision was made to scrap them long before production was to end.

no one could have forseen or predicted the prolonged interest in the Mk1 and Mk2 escorts,in fact in the early 80's there was a scrabble to get rid of them and go for the new fangled stuff, especially when Turbo and sierra cosworth appeared a little later.

Shells re manufactured ? I doubt it will never happen as the required demand to make it viable is probably not there, granted a few hundred would probably be snapped up, but i would love to be proven wrong.

good thread though




cheeRS

[Groupcracer]

sorry gj but i gotta disagree, the amount of mk1 and mk2 escort shells being shipped into the uk form Australia at the mo is unbelieveable......

If there's no demand then people wouldn't be shipping them from all the way down here.

Now like you i'd love to be able to buy a new shell. it's always annoyed me that I could buy a new mini shell if I wanted but not a mk2 or mk1 escort.

[Aaron P.]

been discussed many a time before, its the little things that people are making keep the cars alive....you can always replace parts etc but shells i wreckon will be a no go...im with gj on this one.....