Posted on by spero15

Mark I Escort Project

I bought a 1974 Mark I Escort from Ebay for £4,000. When I saw it I realised it had lime green road paint all over the paintwork as it had been stood outside a paint factory.

I knew straight away that it would have to be sand blasted back to metal even though the panels were in pretty good shape.

I got it home and started to strip it down, labelling each part carefully as I removed them so I would remember where they go. It would be months before I put them back on the car and would quickly forget what went where.

And so it began …….

Even my cat wanted to get involved
The shelving unit full of labelled parts

The Escort came back last weekend from the sand blasters so hopefully I can start replacing any panels which are beyond repair. The car is quite solid actually so won’t need too many.

This stuff is great for cleaning the metalwork

Posted on by spero15 · 1 Comment

V8stealthbeetle Project

Just after we bought the Escort, Carl decided to buy a V8stealthbeetle. This consists of a purpose built chassis from 3L Engineering and Design in South Africa. There are only 100 being made and we have number 5 of 100.

The chassis and all of the running gear are supplied and all we would need to acquire would be a classic beetle shell, and an engine and gearbox.

We found a beetle shell in Taunton for £700. Ideal!

From banger to beauty… or that’s the plan

We then bought an Audi R8 engine and a gearbox from Ebay and we were ready to start.

We picked up the crate containing all of the 800 parts which arrived from South Africa and finally had the time to open it and look inside

We excitedly unpacked everything and set to work putting all the parts onto the chassis. I only have very basic mechanical knowledge but this project is so easy to build that even I can do it.

Carl built a frame for the chassis to stand on to make it a workable height for us.

Doug, from the company who we bought the chassis and components from, came to England to interview us for their YouTube channel and to see how we were getting on. You can watch this by following this link https://youtu.be/zYF-d9iAocI

Carl, myself and Doug

We are now at the stage where we need to get the beetle shell stripped down and and cut to fit the chassis before it goes off to be sand blasted.

Wiring loom going in

Lockdown!!

Spent the afternoon yesterday polishing my silver. As you do……

Getting there

Yesterday Carl wanted to trial fitting the engine and gearbox onto the chassis. It went perfectly. Everything fits with room to fit the turbos (which is the most important thing)…..

Ta-da! I knew those Shreddies boxes would come in handy 😂
Exhaust system arrived today from Profusion Exhaust Ltd  https://www.profusionexhausts.com
Intercoolers from Turbo Zentrum https://turbozentrum.co.uk/

Panels and lights arrived yesterday. Can’t wait to get them fitted.

DIY Trolley

We decided to make a trolley and bolt it onto the metalwork machine so we could move it around easily. It turned out pretty good.

The finished product

Lockdown Continues

We have been busy making templates to fill holes which are not needed, grinding old rusty panels off and have started to replace them.

It never ends!

New Welder

We bought a new welder from R-Tech Welding 01452 733 933 and it is a fantastic welder. Easy to use, professional and just what we need for our restoration projects. https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/

Today is another welding day. Doing a bit of MIG welding putting in blanking plates

This won’t be seen so does not have to look perfect

New panels arrived today from Heritage Parts Centre and we are very pleased with them. They are excellent quality and a perfect fit. The sales team are very helpful and knowledgeable and we received the panels the next day. They can be contacted on 01273 444000 or check out their website at http://www.heritagepartscentre.com

Progress report

More repairs on the shell today
So process but needs to be done
More rusty sections to replace

Making all the cuts needed so that the shell fits onto the new purpose built chassis

More parts arrived from South Africa today for the build. We will update more when we start to fit them.

Always protect your ears

We are still welding in new panels onto the body. Hopefully we will be ready for a trial fit onto the chassis soon(ish)

Carl cut the inner wing and front balance off today ready for the new panels to be welded on. Scary stuff!

New wing in place
First trial fit of shell onto the chassis
Another trial fit done today
Cut out done to make way for the twin exhausts

If you are interested in buying your own v8stealthbeetle, please get in touch and we will give you the details – 07801574327