Classic
fords restored: Just because a car is advertised as ‘restored’ doesn’t make it
a show car — As this tale explains..
Fords
Escort RS2000 Mk1
Here’s
a cautionary tale, but also one of acceptance, perseverance and triumph. Darren
Bensley from Yorkshire has always been a Ford driver, starting out as many of us
did in a cheap Mk2, before moving up through Orions, Mk3 and Mk4 Escorts,
Sierras and Mondeos. He’s also spent a lot of time racing with a bit of grass
tracking and Super Stocks. Back around 2004 the racing was taking up so much time
(evenings working on the cars and weekends at the meets) that a suggestion from
Darren’s wife, Donna seemed a good idea... why not go out and get a classic to restore,
so he could spend some more time at home with the family?
“My
first thoughts were for a Mk2,” says Darren, “but then this Mk1 RS2000
appeared. It was advertised as a restored car, and for a genuine RS2000 seemed
a bargain. To my untrained eye, all looked good. There were obviously small areas
that needed tidying, and I was a bit worried by the amount of Schultz on the
bottom of the car, but surely a ‘restored’ car couldn’t be that bad?” It could.
Ford
Escort MK1 RS2000
“Once
bought and transported home I got a friend who’s in to his Escorts to come
round and see what he thought,” Darren continues. “Every common rot spot that
was pointed out was full of filler. Worse was to come when I started stripping
back the under seal. Lots of roughly tacked-in plates appeared and the standard
of welding was terrible. We discovered that many parts were missing too, and
those that were on the car were poor quality or condition. I think the seller
was one of those who had lots of cars and had thrown this together using the bits
he didn’t want to use on his own.
“The
RS was completely stripped and a rebuild that took the best part of eight years
began”
“I
was gutted,” Darren admits, “and for a couple of months couldn’t even think
about the Escort. But Donna’s attitude was ‘well you’ve got it now and may as
well crack on’, so the RS was completely stripped and a rebuild that took the
best part of eight years began.”
MK1
2L Supercharged 2 Door Role
“There
were times I really wanted to sell it but I always knew I’d regret not seeing
the job through”
Test
of metal
As
a fabricator-welder in his day job, with experience of making truck bodies,
cranes and, these days, industrial lifts, reconstructing a rotten Escort shell
wasn’t going to be a hard task, but the time taken was more to do with the quantity
of metal that would be worked on. “I decided early on that the finished job had
to be perfect,” Darren says, “so in the end there’s new steel everywhere. Apart
from the roof, gearbox tunnel and parts of the rear quarters, all the rest has
been either replaced or extensively repaired. I made a list of sections needed
and took it to Graeme at GS Escorts, then made another list... and another. In
the end he got so fed up with chopping cars up for me he handed over a complete
shell and said ‘take what you need!’.”
