Titanium Ph1 172

[Norris1]

Hi all, picked this up on Xmas Eve after going to view it the week before. Was advertised on eBay and reasonably local. Guy had another ph1 rally car and a couple of old escorts but this wasn’t really used so moving it on. MOT check shows it’s done around 5k miles in the last 6-7 years and been stored inside all that time. He had the dreaded common rust issues sorted with it getting new rear arches, inner and outer sills, also the triangular panels at the front of the chassis rails replaced. It’s got braided brake hoses and powerflex bushes on the front. With it having done minimum mileage the discs and pads will all need replacing soon and the gearbox is crunching so I’ll get that out for a rebuild soon. Few pics from the eBay ad.

Seems like a few of these are now coming out of hiding which is nice to see.

More updates to follow very soon.

 

[Norris1]

First job was just a bit of tidying up and assessing. Overall it’s in good shape, underside is totally solid having had all the welding done and been under sealed. Thought I’d start with the engine bay so the inlet and engine cover came off.

Door pulls are easy to take off so they got some paint.

 

[daveski]

Love these and which I had kept mine!

 

[Struggler]

So many ph1s loitering at the top of the projects forum! , if only the weather was nicer I'd do a token job to bump mine to the top to join you guys.

An early example too. Will be following.

 

[Norris1]

Inlet and engine cover back on and the sticker arrived. Ignore the blue vac hose that’s now been changed.

Rest of the bay still looking dirty/tired but more on that soon.

Had some very rare free time come up at work so moved the Clio over to the body shop guys. A slight freshen up of the front end escalated quick.

Didn’t have much time for pictures unfortunately.

 

[Norris1]

Still catching up with putting the updates on here, weirdly work got busy again quick so I put this in at the right time.

Headlamps had a good flat and lacquer.

The front bumper was in a terrible state so very happy with how this has come out.

Jobs on the todo list still are brakes all round and an MOT. I’m also on the hunt for an original steering wheel and airbag, not fussed on condition as it’ll be sent for a retrim. Will try and get the wheels off for a refurb next month.

 

[Polynesian]

Who did you use for the bodywork? And you’d recommend them?

 

[Norris1]

Who did you use for the bodywork? And you’d recommend them?

I manage a refurb centre for ex lease vehicles, we have a single booth where we normally do small smart repair jobs.

 

[Struggler]

Looks amazing! Would love to have all the body works on mine tidied up! Hard to justify when your build is purely meant to be a track build though.

 

[Norris1]

Still catching up with the photos I managed to take whilst the car was being done. In the end the front bumper, grill, wings, bonnet, mirror caps and rear spoiler were all painted. The top inlet, fuel rail guard and throttle cable bracket were blasted and a few coats of satin silver. Headlamps lacquered. Ordered and fitted a new bonnet catch and latch too. The grill plastic also had a coat of satin black and new ph1 stickers ordered from eBay.

Underside of the bonnet has the dreaded Ali corrosion, I’ve got a spare Ali bonnet with a hefty dent in that I’ll send away for blasting and have repaired before paint sometime soon.

 

[Samholmes88]

Still catching up with the photos I managed to take whilst the car was being done. In the end the front bumper, grill, wings, bonnet, mirror caps and rear spoiler were all painted. The top inlet, fuel rail guard and throttle cable bracket were blasted and a few coats of satin silver. Headlamps lacquered. Ordered and fitted a new bonnet catch and latch too. The grill plastic also had a coat of satin black and new ph1 stickers ordered from eBay.

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Underside of the bonnet has the dreaded Ali corrosion, I’ve got a spare Ali bonnet with a hefty dent in that I’ll send away for blasting and have repaired before paint sometime soon.

Looking very tidy chief, proper job that 👌 ive got similar ally bonnet issues, top is tidy enough but underside is much worse than yours! I was hoping i was going to have it lightly media blasted/prepped and resprayed, is that sort of method not possible? Cheers and all the best pal 👍

 

[Norris1]

Looking very tidy chief, proper job that 👌 ive got similar ally bonnet issues, top is tidy enough but underside is much worse than yours! I was hoping i was going to have it lightly media blasted/prepped and resprayed, is that sort of method not possible? Cheers and all the best pal 👍

Thanks mate, been keeping a keen eye on yours too. The bonnet can be blasted hopefully and then repainted. Seen you're in Yorkshire, whereabouts? I'm in Pontefract.

 

[Samholmes88]

Thanks mate, been keeping a keen eye on yours too. The bonnet can be blasted hopefully and then repainted. Seen you're in Yorkshire, whereabouts? I'm in Pontefract.

Just up the road in the wensleydale near Leyburn, once were all up and running we'll have to get a spin out up the dales organised, sounds like theres a few RS owners up north at the moment 👌 cheers for info, might get my powder coating fella to blast/respray bonnet when hes doing rear beam etc 👍

 

[KevC]

Good stuff, yet another ph1 thread for me to follow. I should probably put up something myself soon.

Love the direction you're going with. For a second I thought the picture of the engine cover was you prepping it for paint and I nearly died.

 

[Norris1]

Good stuff, yet another ph1 thread for me to follow. I should probably put up something myself soon.

Love the direction you're going with. For a second I thought the picture of the engine cover was you prepping it for paint and I nearly died.

Cheers mate, lets get all the ph1's to the top of the threads!!

Not sure what you mean about the engine cover as it has been painted.

 

[KevC]

Not sure what you mean about the engine cover as it has been painted.

I should have said colour-coding it. Good job on tidying it up.

 

[Norris1]

Still catching up on the aesthetics with this one and wanting to bring its originality back as much as possible. It’s important to me that I get sorted and replaced the usual bits that are either left broken or swapped out for non ph1 parts. So one of the centre air vents was broken and after an age of searching I was unable to find a new blue replacement, they may well exist but I got bored and found a work around.

A light grey option and cheap from eBay so went for it. Plan was to prep it up and find a colour match. After ages of paint sampling again I got bored and just ordered some navy blue aerosol!! Whilst waiting for these to arrive I tried to remove both centre air vents and the unbroken vent fell to pieces, ordered a replacement.

At some point in its life the interior door handles have been replaced for ph2 items, looks like the originals were weak and cracked around the screw holes. Really struggled here as only a black option could be found new and with the navy paint on its way I stripped the ph2 handles down and prepped them too.

Eventually I had the paint and all the pieces in one place.

Looks much more blue in person and very happy with the outcome, if I was to do them again I’d use a textured paint before the top coat but this will do. A little before and after of the handles.

And the air vents.