Ford Escort Gti

[Dan P]

Thanks.

Unfortunately I don't think many people have got the skills, let alone the inclination to go to the lengths required to restore and rebuild an older car.

[Vacuman]

13 hours ago, Antonelson96 said:

Nice .I like both your cars , I'm getting used to the new Fiestas they just seem to be getting bigger to me 😀 . I like the look of the ST but I have never experienced driving a new  Ford , to me the 18 year old Escort Gti feels really nice to drive but if I drove a new fiesta ST I'm sure it would be a completely different.  

A lot of the Escort simply just died through rust , a lot of them would have structural corrosion particularly along the sills and rear chassis legs which would simpily be worth more than the car to fix unfortunately. I bought my Gti  for £500 and spent £3000 rebuilding it , it is worth a lot more now after her work but a lot of people wouldn't go through with the work. 

Hi Anton

Great to see such a great restoration by someone so young. You can only be a year of two older than your car.

I've been collecting parts to do a full rebuild on my GTI estate so currently have it SORN and have an SI estate in silver as my runaround. Mine has a GTI badge on the tailgate which is wrong, you should only have the GTI badges on the lower wings. They were available on eBay (new) but I think all sold now. But I'll probably keep my tailgate set as a spare when I respray it. I've a pal locally who's just broken a red 3-door so will ask if he's still go the badges for you. He's also breaking an X reg silver Finesse model if there's any small bits you are looking for. 

You suggest that yours is now worth over £3k. Sadly I think you are mistaken as there are a few genuine, unrestored low-mileage minters still out there and they don't yet make that sort of price. But the good news is that if you keep yours as it looks today and continue to refurbish the little bits and bobs, up and below, the value will get there in a year or two. Perhaps even put back the original radio and use a plug-in bluetooth transmitter as a way of playing your portable music.

.

[Antonelson96]

Thankyou 😊 

11 hours ago, Vacuman said:

Hi Anton

Great to see such a great restoration by someone so young. You can only be a year of two older than your car.

I've been collecting parts to do a full rebuild on my GTI estate so currently have it SORN and have an SI estate in silver as my runaround. Mine has a GTI badge on the tailgate which is wrong, you should only have the GTI badges on the lower wings. They were available on ebay (new) but I think all sold now. But I'll probably keep my tailgate set as a spare when I respray it. I've a pal locally who's just broken a red 3-door so will ask if he's still go the badges for you. He's also breaking an X reg silver Finesse model if there's any small bits you are looking for. 

You suggest that yours is now worth over £3k. Sadly I think you are mistaken as there are a few genuine, unrestored low-mileage minters still out there and they don't yet make that sort of price. But the good news is that if you keep yours as it looks today and continue to refurbish the little bits and bobs, up and below, the value will get there in a year or two. Perhaps even put back the original radio and use a plug-in bluetooth transmitter as a way of playing your portable music.

.

Thankyou 😊 it has come a long way from where it began and I have loved everyday with it so far. It has had a complete service today with oil change including oil filter and new spark plugs, mine is going to be in good hands for as long as I'm around.  I know realistically it's not worth £3k but to me as an individual it is worth so much more  and yes my car is just under two years younger than me 😄. I really like your Gti estate it looks beautiful and really tidy  , I do like the estate variations. Thankyou for letting me know about the Gti badge I am interested if you friend still has them. I havn't got the original radio unfortunately , when I bought the car it had a new Kenwood radio and two rear Speakers in the parcel shelf I don't mind it but  I'd like to get a spare parcel shelf one day and the original sterio and store them for when I need them. Best of luck with your Gti project 😊

[Vacuman]

Original radio (with CD) shouldn't be too hard to find. Ideally you want one with a known security code. Good rear parcel shelfs are not so easy as bulky to post and many have been butchered or faded in the sun. I'll let you know if I hear of any. There's a pair of s/h GTI wing badges on eBay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Escort-MK-6-GTI-Badges-/111989090086?hash=item1a1311e726:g:0mUAAOSwSX9XBOHs - £14 delivered.

Other popular upgrades are 6-speed wipers, enhanced (Ghia) interior light with 20-sec delay, passenger airbag, Ford strut brace, Ghia centre console (has a little storage area with lid), heated front screen, mud flaps, electric mirrors and footwell lights. All original Ford options. 

If you are really keen, 6-CD auto-changer, illuminated door lights (rather than the reflectors), electric sun-roof (assuming you have a manual one), bigger front brakes and remote central locking. And then there's the rare RS options such as big hole grill (which I have but not fitted) and 7j x 16" wheels (as in picture). These are like the 6.5J Mondeo rims but deeper dish so look better. All the above, being Ford options, mean you are not devaluing your car

Before spending any pennies on any of the above I'd suggest you have a good check of the chassis and floor to make sure you've not missed any rot then give it a few gallons of waxoyl or similar rust proofing in all the box sections and cavities.

 

[Antonelson96]

Don't worry she has been completly wax oiled when it was refurbished , covering the complete underside of the car i paying more attention to the sills , chassis legs and floor and all the cavities  , there isn't any rot underneath but I will keep an eye on it . Mine has got and manual sun roof and manual door mirrors and it doesn't have a passenger airbag , I'd really like to try and get electric mirrors , heated front screen remote locking and the strut brace for it ideally. I'm happy with everything else with it at the moment the mondeo 16 inch wheels I got for £100 so I'm happy with them for the time being too. Thankyou for giving me the link for the Gti badges 😊 . Do you know how many Gti escorts are left? I know there were only 500 estate versions to start with and the 3 door Gti got cancelled in early 1998. 

[Mattamoose]

I have an original escort radio/ cd if your interested with radio code :)

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[Vacuman]

According to https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/ford_escort_gti there's about 1,110 GTIs from an original 15,000. If that includes the 500 estates (some dispute that figure but when I owned one new from 1998 to 2001 I never saw another) then that would mean about 36 left either on the road or SORN.

[Antonelson96]

On 3 June 2016 at 0:16 AM, Mattamoose said:

I have an original escort radio/ cd if your interested with radio code :)

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Thanks 😊 I am interested . How much? 

[Mattamoose]

ill dig out the garage, all works no problems with it, messge me and we can work something out ?

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[Antonelson96]

An early drive to Sainsburys this morning and it gets plenty of attention and a long detore to work all before 9am because I just love driving it, I look forward to driving it every time except when it's raining then I don't drive 😄. Ordered my genuine Gti front wing badges so they should be coming soon.... 

[Vacuman]

Where I live (and probably the same for you) there are plenty of 90's cars in supermarket car parks. Usually the elderly in old Fiestas, Nissan Micra's, Honda Civic's (my mum has an R-reg) and various other marques. To Joe Public (unfortunately) an R reg car is still just an old car. It's only when you rock up in something from the 70's or earlier that anyone takes real notice. 

Fill up with fuel in a Cortina or Capri and there will always be someone come up to you and say they had one like yours. Give it another 10-15 years and your Escort will then get that same level of attention.

That said, don't stop enjoying every minute. I'm much much older than you but still feel proud, like you do, when I look at my Escort in a car park amongst all the modern stuff.

[Antonelson96]

That's fair enough I'd love to drive a Capri. there are from time to time people who come up to me and ask about it, when I booked my car for its MOT it had expired for 1 day and the police caught me as I was driving up to the garage and they talked to me more about the car than the MOT issue but i think they also though it was unusual for a 19 year old to drive a 1.8 GTi.  

I gave it another clean up and polish and she is all shinny. my GTi wing badges have arrived today I'd like to put the badges on properly so what's the best technique to stick  it onto the wings?   , I want to get a new exhaust heat shield as it is looking a bit tatty now. 

[Vacuman]

I must say, you live in a wonderful place. O the joy of having so much space and dry cover to work in. I'm fortunate to own a nice house but the garage is full of 'stuff' so the cars have to be worked on in the drive with Joe Public walking past.

New badges come with 3M double-sided tape. Possibly a friendly bodyshop will have some they could let you have or advise what's the best alternative. I recall seeing somewhere online a template showing the exact measurements for placement and letter spacing. If you can't find it PM me and I will measure mine.

And, despite what you've seen, GTI's never came from the factory with GTI on the tailgate (so the experts tell me).

Re heat shield, the one on my silver SI is also knackered. I've used washers and short self tappers to secure it where the ally around the original fittings has corroded to dust. Let me know if you find a source for new ones. I have a good spare from my pal who's just broken two Escorts but even the best one (from an X reg Finesse) needs patching up. I think ally strips from Coke cans and pop-rivets will give it new life and strength around the mountings. A bit of black hi-temp paint will help blend in the patches.

Are you missing the battery cover or just not fitted? 

 

[Antonelson96]

11 hours ago, Vacuman said:

I must say, you live in a wonderful place. O the joy of having so much space and dry cover to work in. I'm fortunate to own a nice house but the garage is full of 'stuff' so the cars have to be worked on in the drive with Joe Public walking past.

New badges come with 3M double-sided tape. Possibly a friendly bodyshop will have some they could let you have or advise what's the best alternative. I recall seeing somewhere online a template showing the exact measurements for placement and letter spacing. If you can't find it PM me and I will measure mine.

And, despite what you've seen, GTI's never came from the factory with GTI on the tailgate (so the experts tell me).

Re heat shield, the one on my silver SI is also knackered. I've used washers and short self tappers to secure it where the ally around the original fittings has corroded to dust. Let me know if you find a source for new ones. I have a good spare from my pal who's just broken two Escorts but even the best one (from an X reg Finesse) needs patching up. I think ally strips from Coke cans and pop-rivets will give it new life and strength around the mountings. A bit of black hi-temp paint will help blend in the patches.

Are you missing the battery cover or just not fitted? 

 

It's my parents house , I agree it's a great place to live ,  it's a shame to leave it next year as I'm living away from home for uni and I'm leaving my Escort behind to where it'll be safe and undercover. When it was restored it went to my local body shop Banigham garage and they toke me through everything and helped me every steep of the way in completeing her , they removed the rear  badges on the car when it was resprayed , it said 'Escort'  to the left and '16V ' to the far right.  it's going back this week to have all the badges put back on when I'm at work. http://www.rapidford.co.uk/index.php?cPath=64_513_516  they have the heat shield in black but the normal looking one is sold out at the moment and there are various other things on here. I  am missing a battery cover. 

[Vacuman]

You can buy new genuine Ford badges for the boot. They come on a plastic template so they will be perfectly aligned. Only about a tenner for 'Escort'. Same, I guess, for 16V.. 

battery covers always seem to go missing as they are not really fixed to anything. So garages move them to do some work and forget to put them back. Escort breakers on eBay should be able to help if you can't find one local. Try and keep yours all Ford original to get the maximum value out of it when you eventually sell. So, for example, an Escort cabriolet strut brace rather than a 3rd party strut brace.

Thanks for the link.

[Vacuman]

Just looked - that's the engine manifold heat shield. I thought you were referring to the under-body heatshield.

[Antonelson96]

Sorry if I was unclear but that's what I ment about the manifold heat shield. 🙂 I'm going to keep mine all original I have found a good parcel shelf on eBay and other things which it might need but I'm happy the way things are going for my Gti 

[Antonelson96]

Another Gti wash and polish up this morning after a lot of bad weather in the last few days , did a good pressure wash underneath to get rid of a lot of the road grime , wax oil is still good underneath 

[Vacuman]

Looking good

[Antonelson96]

Thankyou 🙂 Have you got a template or measurements for the Gti badge for the front wings at all? I can't seem to find anything for it... 

 

[Antonelson96]

Car is performing fine prior to its service and kept clean and tidy  😊 new aluminium pressed number plates was unsure but  I deside do to go ahead and get a pair and to me look better than the old ones , stuck the front one down as the old screws had deteriorated somewhat I might get new screws but I screwed the rear number plate in. 

[Antonelson96]

Alone in the car park , furtherest spot away from everyone else. I noticed a very small rust bubble appeared low on the driverside door , on on the lower edge where the door meets the wing almost unnoticeable but I'm going to attack it so it won't get worse , being the only original panel left on the car I wasn't hugely surprised so going to go back this Monday to get this small imperfection sorted out. 

[Antonelson96]

Got all the original badges put back on the car. Both GTi wing badges and boot badges put on , she has her identity back.... 

[Vacuman]

Looking good....

[Antonelson96]

Update, small rust bubbles on the drivers door are gone for good and is fine and now preparing the car for the ford show at silverstone this weekend.  gave it a good wash over and wax and detailed the inside with the Autoglym leather cleaner and other stuff really made it look good.  finally  thought it was time to get ready of the amplifier as it was no use for me  , it was connected to the battery but was never connected to any of the Speakers it's been like this since I got it. it was wired through to the boot from both the radio and the firewall it was a job getting it out as it was hidden under the carpet . I unscrewing some of the plastic trim and toke  out the radio and the rest was easy All the speaker work as the have been. Is anyone else going to the Ford Fair?