Mk2 Fiesta XR2 rebuild/restoration
Discussion
Pics fixed with Photobucket account!
Time for another update, now that I can actually show you what's going on :-D
I started putting the car back together last week. It started out with a couple of bits and pieces:
I took the brake servo home as it was minging and needed a good clean up. Strip wheel on the grinder did this:
And painted with a a bit of black Hammerite - no time to spray it which would have been preferable but I think it came out pretty well considering I brushed it on. Two coats gave a good finish:
Next, lets get the new rear suspension bits all laid out and ready to go together:
All together and on the car:
Note, no rear trailing arms on the car yet as Flo-Flex sent the wrong bushes... Waiting on replacements as we speak.
Refurbed servo and a cleaner master cylinder than my old one now fixed to the bulkhead with shiny powdercoated brackets:
Driver's door mechanisms back in place:
Headlights and indicators back on. The car has a face again!!
Heater matrix back in position:
I've just had a run of days off work so things picked up a bit more quickly from here. All the rest of the pics from here down are taken over the last few days.
Glass back in the drivers side! Took me ages of faffing around with the door window - they seem to be a pig to get on to the runners! Got there in the end though, and with the mechanism re-greased it works like new:
Time to get the engine back in the bay. The shell of the car is fairly light with nothing in it so I was able to grab the front panel and lift the front end of the car up while a friend put some bricks and bits of wood under the axle stands to give enough clearance to slide the engine straight under:
We then lowered the car back down to original height on the axle stands to make it easier to lift the engine in to position with the crane. Note the use of many old curtains to avoid scratching anything! I was paranoid about creating paintwork jobs for myself!
Engine back in the bay! I forgot just how easy it is to do on a MK2. It took a couple of hours including getting the car raised/lowered and sliding the engine about on the floor. We weren't rushing at all and it just fell in to place with the bolt holes lining up first time. Result!
The engine/box and ancilliaries really need a bit of a clean up but I'm under time pressure to get the car back in one piece and out of my friend's garage, it's rather dusty as you can see but I've given it a cursory wipe over since the pics. I'm sure I'll get around to making it look prettier in due course.
Next thing to do was make a start on the rear brakes. I should have sent the back plates away for powdercoating but evidently forgot to package them up with everything else. I cleaned them up to make them usable but they'll have to be stripped and coated at some point as they look awful!
Front spring/shock absorbers built back up. Do you like my 'stealth' spax springs? I had them powdercoated along with the rest of the suspension as they were looking rusty and the original coating was falling off:
Another day, and onwards with fitting out front hubs and suspension. The bearing races were a total pig to get in to the hubs even with a proper bearing pusing tool. I managed one hub just about but the other one wouldn't play so I ended up taking it to a friendly mechanic who had to use a large press to get the bearing races seated in the hub properly. Even he couldn't believe the amount of force it took to seat them... I'll keep an eye on the front bearings once the car is on the road. The rears were no trouble at all and a few taps with my bearing tool was all it took for those.
Lastly, I put all the coolant hoses and radiator in the engine bay. Also connected up all of the wiring - which took about 5 mins as there are only about 6 electrical connections to the engine!!:
That's all for now. I want it out of the garage ASAP so with any luck it'll be on the road one way or another by next week. Watch this space
Time for another update, now that I can actually show you what's going on :-D
I started putting the car back together last week. It started out with a couple of bits and pieces:
I took the brake servo home as it was minging and needed a good clean up. Strip wheel on the grinder did this:
And painted with a a bit of black Hammerite - no time to spray it which would have been preferable but I think it came out pretty well considering I brushed it on. Two coats gave a good finish:
Next, lets get the new rear suspension bits all laid out and ready to go together:
All together and on the car:
Note, no rear trailing arms on the car yet as Flo-Flex sent the wrong bushes... Waiting on replacements as we speak.
Refurbed servo and a cleaner master cylinder than my old one now fixed to the bulkhead with shiny powdercoated brackets:
Driver's door mechanisms back in place:
Headlights and indicators back on. The car has a face again!!
Heater matrix back in position:
I've just had a run of days off work so things picked up a bit more quickly from here. All the rest of the pics from here down are taken over the last few days.
Glass back in the drivers side! Took me ages of faffing around with the door window - they seem to be a pig to get on to the runners! Got there in the end though, and with the mechanism re-greased it works like new:
Time to get the engine back in the bay. The shell of the car is fairly light with nothing in it so I was able to grab the front panel and lift the front end of the car up while a friend put some bricks and bits of wood under the axle stands to give enough clearance to slide the engine straight under:
We then lowered the car back down to original height on the axle stands to make it easier to lift the engine in to position with the crane. Note the use of many old curtains to avoid scratching anything! I was paranoid about creating paintwork jobs for myself!
Engine back in the bay! I forgot just how easy it is to do on a MK2. It took a couple of hours including getting the car raised/lowered and sliding the engine about on the floor. We weren't rushing at all and it just fell in to place with the bolt holes lining up first time. Result!
The engine/box and ancilliaries really need a bit of a clean up but I'm under time pressure to get the car back in one piece and out of my friend's garage, it's rather dusty as you can see but I've given it a cursory wipe over since the pics. I'm sure I'll get around to making it look prettier in due course.
Next thing to do was make a start on the rear brakes. I should have sent the back plates away for powdercoating but evidently forgot to package them up with everything else. I cleaned them up to make them usable but they'll have to be stripped and coated at some point as they look awful!
Front spring/shock absorbers built back up. Do you like my 'stealth' spax springs? I had them powdercoated along with the rest of the suspension as they were looking rusty and the original coating was falling off:
Another day, and onwards with fitting out front hubs and suspension. The bearing races were a total pig to get in to the hubs even with a proper bearing pusing tool. I managed one hub just about but the other one wouldn't play so I ended up taking it to a friendly mechanic who had to use a large press to get the bearing races seated in the hub properly. Even he couldn't believe the amount of force it took to seat them... I'll keep an eye on the front bearings once the car is on the road. The rears were no trouble at all and a few taps with my bearing tool was all it took for those.
Lastly, I put all the coolant hoses and radiator in the engine bay. Also connected up all of the wiring - which took about 5 mins as there are only about 6 electrical connections to the engine!!:
That's all for now. I want it out of the garage ASAP so with any luck it'll be on the road one way or another by next week. Watch this space
Only just spotted this one. Great thread, never been a massive 'fast' Ford man, but always liked the mk2 XR2, especially in white. The exhaust note was so distinctive!
Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
keep it coming!
Kitchski said:
Only just spotted this one. Great thread, never been a massive 'fast' Ford man, but always liked the mk2 XR2, especially in white. The exhaust note was so distinctive!
Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
Thanks! I absolutely love the exhaust note too. Even with the Zetec conversion I ran before, it still had a very similar exhaust note because I was using a sporty system designed for an XR2. When I was a kid I used to always know when my dad was driving in to our road in his XR2 because of the sound of it.Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
Home repsrays are fairly straightforward. It's all about the prep and and a clean environment - the latter of which left something to be desired in my case. My friends garage was a bit too dusty really but the paint's not come out too bad. I might end up spraying the bonnet and boot again in the future just to get them perfect. Your AX should be an easy respray if its as solid as it looks. It's only a small car like my XR2 so a bit of prep and about 1.5L of paint should see you sorted
Like I found out, if it turns out a bit rough you can just do it again!!! Btw, I've been following your thread too, your car's coming along nicely :-)mwstewart said:
Cracking job!
Cheers! I'm putting in the category: 'Not bad for a first rebuild'. I'll be taking pics once it's fully together and showing all the bits that I think need improvement and so on.I'll upload today's antics in a min
Here are the pics from today:
Most obvious things are the windscreen and wipers now back on. I've done a few more of the small finising off bits and pieces in the engine bay too.
Sunroof is back in place, along with the fixings for it and seal that you can't see in that pic.
Rear screen and circuitry in place, rear wiper, lights and number plate light wiring in position too.
The interior still looks like a bomb has hit it, but to be honest I'm not too worried about it. It takes no time at all to get the dash out of one of these so I'll pop that back in next time I'm there. It's going to need a bloody good hoover and wet wipe down though, it's absolutely caked in dust from the painting pocess, so that'll be done before dash/underlay and carpet goes back in.
Most obvious things are the windscreen and wipers now back on. I've done a few more of the small finising off bits and pieces in the engine bay too.
Sunroof is back in place, along with the fixings for it and seal that you can't see in that pic.
Rear screen and circuitry in place, rear wiper, lights and number plate light wiring in position too.
The interior still looks like a bomb has hit it, but to be honest I'm not too worried about it. It takes no time at all to get the dash out of one of these so I'll pop that back in next time I'm there. It's going to need a bloody good hoover and wet wipe down though, it's absolutely caked in dust from the painting pocess, so that'll be done before dash/underlay and carpet goes back in.
Trevor450 said:
Stunning. MkI and II Fiestas are my favourite old Fords, especially the quick versions.
Thanks, though I wouldn't say stunning! Like I said up there ↑ 'Not bad for a first rebuild' :-) I've got a soft spot for XR2's and RS Turbos. I really need to dig the Escort out of the garage and get going on that project again too!LanceRS said:
High praise indeed. Loving this thread, I really want another one of these. Just out of interest , are you going to use the earlier carb or the later one that it came with?
Thank you. Get another one before the stupid old Ford pricing thing happens in ernest. It's already started it seems. This is a late car (reg '89) so it's got the later round top carb and heart shaped combustion chambers as standard. The earlier square carb hemi combustion chambered ones had a few more bhp but I'm planning on upping the power slightly anyway at some point.
poing said:
Are you planning to leave the body kit pieces in the black rubber stuff or are you planning to paint it?
They're going to be standard dark grey plastic. They're inside the car at the mo and covered in filth from the painting process. I'm a bit worried they won't look very good next to shiny paintwork but will hopefully clean up ok. If they look naff then I'll ask a local friendly paintshop what they would recommend. I know you can get plastic paints these days. A pet hate of mine is when people paint the kit a straight black. It looks rubbish when you realise the kit and bumpers are actually a very dark grey. I'll try the peanut butter trick on the plastics and put them on the car. If I decide they need painting I'll do that at a later date.geeks said:
Loving the restore well done. I do have one question, why did you not clean and paint eh engine while it was out? I know its the bit under the bonnet no one really ever gets to see but you know, because restore?
Cheers! The engine was put in a corner of the garage and completely forgotten about. It had a semi thorough clean when I re-installed it after removing the Zetec conversion prior to this major rebuild project. It needs some love, unfortunately I don't have the time to sort it out while the car is in the current garage. My friend needs the garage back so I did the bare minimum with the engine - i.e just put it back in! If you think that's bad you want to see the air box... I'm planning on doing something about the cosmetics of the engine in due course but right now it just needs to be in one piece. More updates to follow, probably at the weekend all things being even
Gallons Per Mile said:
Kitchski said:
Only just spotted this one. Great thread, never been a massive 'fast' Ford man, but always liked the mk2 XR2, especially in white. The exhaust note was so distinctive!
Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
Thanks! I absolutely love the exhaust note too. Even with the Zetec conversion I ran before, it still had a very similar exhaust note because I was using a sporty system designed for an XR2. When I was a kid I used to always know when my dad was driving in to our road in his XR2 because of the sound of it.Paint's come out well considering it's a home job too, you should be chuffed with that. I've got a white AX GT ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...) which is ripe for a respray. You're giving me ideas about trying it myself now!
Watched!
Home repsrays are fairly straightforward. It's all about the prep and and a clean environment - the latter of which left something to be desired in my case. My friends garage was a bit too dusty really but the paint's not come out too bad. I might end up spraying the bonnet and boot again in the future just to get them perfect. Your AX should be an easy respray if its as solid as it looks. It's only a small car like my XR2 so a bit of prep and about 1.5L of paint should see you sorted
Like I found out, if it turns out a bit rough you can just do it again!!! Btw, I've been following your thread too, your car's coming along nicely :-)
And I'd have to wrap everything in dust sheets!I can give you one tip though - don't use Hammerite on anything you don't want to rust in the future. It's not what it was 25yrs ago! POR15 black works really well for OE black finishes, and is way more protective. Bit of a fuss to put on, but worth it IMO.
Keep up the good work
Love it. I bought a brand new one on my 18th Birthday in May 1988. E430VWN.
Crystal Blue metallic with all the options.
Got written off by a taxi driver in the December. I was gutted. No fault and all losses recovered but still.
Can't wait to see the finished article. Please keep it as original as possible
Crystal Blue metallic with all the options.
Got written off by a taxi driver in the December. I was gutted. No fault and all losses recovered but still.
Can't wait to see the finished article. Please keep it as original as possible
Kitchski said:
I've got a workshop, but it's probably more dusty than your mate's garage And I'd have to wrap everything in dust sheets!
I can give you one tip though - don't use Hammerite on anything you don't want to rust in the future. It's not what it was 25yrs ago! POR15 black works really well for OE black finishes, and is way more protective. Bit of a fuss to put on, but worth it IMO.
Keep up the good work
Yep, I gathered by the amount of AX's and BX's you seem to have acquired! I'd LOVE a workshop of my own - which reminds me that I really need a place to store the XR2 once it's out of my friends garage. It's a 4th car at the moment! Any local friendly PH'ers got a corner of a vast garage from being powerfully built directors free?! And I'd have to wrap everything in dust sheets!I can give you one tip though - don't use Hammerite on anything you don't want to rust in the future. It's not what it was 25yrs ago! POR15 black works really well for OE black finishes, and is way more protective. Bit of a fuss to put on, but worth it IMO.
Keep up the good work
Instead of wrapping everything else in dust sheets, you could just build a plastic greenhouse type thing around the AX. Long as you have enough room to swing a spray gun you've got a reasonable booth then.
Cheers for the tip on POR15 - do they do it in white? I've got some bits of underside to finish off properly.
budgie smuggler said:
Really nice work, enjoyed reading that. Well done
Thanks! Can't wait to add the finishing touches Squadrone Rosso said:
Love it. I bought a brand new one on my 18th Birthday in May 1988. E430VWN.
Crystal Blue metallic with all the options.
Got written off by a taxi driver in the December. I was gutted. No fault and all losses recovered but still.
Can't wait to see the finished article. Please keep it as original as possible
Shame about your car. Did you go straight out and get another?Crystal Blue metallic with all the options.
Got written off by a taxi driver in the December. I was gutted. No fault and all losses recovered but still.
Can't wait to see the finished article. Please keep it as original as possible
It's going to be pretty original apart from a couple of subtle things. The original ride height just looks a bit wrong with standard springs to my eye so my re-coated Spax ones are on there for now. I've also got a Maxnex exhaust which was reportedly the one to have on this car back in the day. I've got a brand new standard (not genuine Ford unfortunately) exhaust too just in case.
JonJon2015 said:
What a great thread. Sterling work, OP. Looking forward to seeing the finished result.
Thanks! You won't have too long to wait.2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
Mine when it was shiny & new (can it really be 30 years ago?! 
)
Can't wait to see OP car finished!
Wow! If only mine could look that good. I really need to get some number plates with the 'proper' font on them. That car looks lovely. There's a picture somewhere of me when I was about 2 years old standing in front of my dad's new E reg XR2. I'll have to dig it out and post it up...)Can't wait to see OP car finished!
Another update! I've been busy the last couple of days doing a few more things on the car.
Firstly, I finally tracked down some refurbished brake calipers. The best thing is that they're genuine Ford with the correct part numbers on them too. The geek in me approves! Unfortunately the new discs I bought didn't fit, so I had to wire brush the old ones and give them a bit of a clean up. There's not really anything wrong with them so they'll do for now. I forgot to buy new pads anyway, but the old ones are nearly new by the look of them so they got cleaned up and placed in the new calipers. The carriers got cleaned too, so they're only cosmetically challenged... My mate who I sold the car to and bought it back from painted the carriers/calipers red!I'll spray them silver to match the calipers when I have a chance:
More bits on the front end:
And the rear end:
Interior starting to look a bit nicer now with the bulkhead sound deadening and dash back on:
I also wanted to cover up anything on the floorpan that had been welded, primed and seam sealed before I put the carpet back in just to give it some protection and also to make it look a bit neater. I bought some white Hammerite as it's only inside the car and it does the trick. I may give the boot floor a proper respray in future though.
I also put the battery on now the dash is back together. Ignition came on and the car cranked over but really slowly as the battery needs to be charged. Just a test run to see if I'd forgotten to connect anything up, but all seems good!
Firstly, I finally tracked down some refurbished brake calipers. The best thing is that they're genuine Ford with the correct part numbers on them too. The geek in me approves! Unfortunately the new discs I bought didn't fit, so I had to wire brush the old ones and give them a bit of a clean up. There's not really anything wrong with them so they'll do for now. I forgot to buy new pads anyway, but the old ones are nearly new by the look of them so they got cleaned up and placed in the new calipers. The carriers got cleaned too, so they're only cosmetically challenged... My mate who I sold the car to and bought it back from painted the carriers/calipers red!I'll spray them silver to match the calipers when I have a chance:
More bits on the front end:
And the rear end:
Interior starting to look a bit nicer now with the bulkhead sound deadening and dash back on:
I also wanted to cover up anything on the floorpan that had been welded, primed and seam sealed before I put the carpet back in just to give it some protection and also to make it look a bit neater. I bought some white Hammerite as it's only inside the car and it does the trick. I may give the boot floor a proper respray in future though.
I also put the battery on now the dash is back together. Ignition came on and the car cranked over but really slowly as the battery needs to be charged. Just a test run to see if I'd forgotten to connect anything up, but all seems good!
Yep, shame the bulge is covered up. I like it too!
I put the interior back in today:
The seats need a wet vac really but they'll do for now. Need to sort out some sound deadening in the front doors and a waterproof membrane, then I'll put the doorcards back on.
And the best news yet - charged battery went on, fuel lines connected up and I turned the key. IT'S ALIVE!!!!
Couple of minor niggles like the fact the fan switch doesn't work (fan checked with manual connector near battery and it's ok) so I'll get a new one. Also it's running a bit lumpy but that's to be expected when the engine's been sat for so long and the carb's not been touched. I didn't even check the ignition timing so in fairness I'm chuffed it runs as well as it does!
Just the rear trailing arms to put on when the bushes FINALLY turn up, bleed the brakes, put bonnet and wheels on, then it's MOT time!
Yes, I am aware I haven't put the body kit on yet, I'll get around to doing that asap, but it's not needed to get the car on the road, and it really needs to be out of my friends garage now!
I put the interior back in today:
The seats need a wet vac really but they'll do for now. Need to sort out some sound deadening in the front doors and a waterproof membrane, then I'll put the doorcards back on.
And the best news yet - charged battery went on, fuel lines connected up and I turned the key. IT'S ALIVE!!!!
Couple of minor niggles like the fact the fan switch doesn't work (fan checked with manual connector near battery and it's ok) so I'll get a new one. Also it's running a bit lumpy but that's to be expected when the engine's been sat for so long and the carb's not been touched. I didn't even check the ignition timing so in fairness I'm chuffed it runs as well as it does!
Just the rear trailing arms to put on when the bushes FINALLY turn up, bleed the brakes, put bonnet and wheels on, then it's MOT time!
Yes, I am aware I haven't put the body kit on yet, I'll get around to doing that asap, but it's not needed to get the car on the road, and it really needs to be out of my friends garage now!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff