Dans third Ford. The 1995 Escort Mexico.
Dans third Ford. The 1995 Escort Mexico.
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Discussion

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Monday 9th January 2012
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Hello there. I'm Dan, i'm 20 and for some odd reason i like old Fords, always have done, something wrong with me, that or whilst growing up the sheer ammount of sub £500 Ford Escorts/Sierras and even one capri that my dad used to drive that always refused to die made me grow to love them biggrin

I owned a mk5b Ford Escort as my first car, 1.3, Heap of utter crap but i payed around £100 for it and loved it, first car, independance and it was a Ford biggrin

I then had a few other cars, Mk3 Astra (God awful, but reliable and cheap), EG Civic (Great car, regret selling), Volvo 340 (Again a great car, and nobody aged 19 has a Volvo 340!) And my personal favorite, a Mk4 Escort 'Bonus' With an Xr3 Engine fitted, great fun, loved this car but it was so unreliable and i got fed up of bodging it 24/7! Will put pictures up of previous cars if there's an interest smile

And that takes me onto this, my most modern and posibly my favorite car, its growing on me every time i drive it smile

It's a 1995 Mk6 Escort Mexico. A limited run Ford did to celebrate winning the mexico rally.

It has nothing extra, its essentially just a named SI smile However it is in rather a rare colour for Escorts, Ash black! Not the usual Panther black.
It has the early 1.6 Zetec Engine, Only 46K On the clock and i'm the third owner from new.

Anyhow, pictures from when i picked it up: biggrin




With my friends white SI, He took me up to get it smile

It had the following done to it when i got it:
K&N Air filter, Will be replacing with a standard airbox when i find one as it was a bodge!
40mm Springs
White 15" Gti Alloys.
Very nice Alarm/Immob system - Keyless entry and subtle under dash push start button smile I like this feature!
full Magnex catback system

So far ive mostly driven/enjoyed it. However a guy from the Escort forums was looking for Gti wheels and i wanted rid, he offered me a straight swap for 15" RS2K Wheels with brand new tyres smile So off to Southampton i went. When i got there he also had some 60mm springs he couldnt use as was impractical in his area because of speedhumps!

He agree'd there and then to give me the 60mm springs in return for my 40mm springs as he could then lower his car and it didnt cost him anything, I liked the idea of going lower biggrin And his had uprated shocks, i would've thought he'd have kept them but he gave them to me free of charge smile He also gave me a set of brand new EBC Brake pads, a spare Throttle Body/ICV/HT Leads free of charge, top bloke! beer

So after spending £15 in fuel to get southampton and back i had better wheels with way better tyres, and i got uprated dampers/lower springs and a few other spares. Good day. biggrin

Since then i haven't done anything else bar changing the grill for a better one as i have no money spare to spend currently smile

this is how it sits currently smile






Future plans when funds allow are:
Colour coded bumpers/mirrors
Front laguna splitter
Gti Skirts/Spats

Then see where i go from there, i intend to keep this car a little while as my renewal quote is quite good for my age/situation smile


Sorry for the long post and if you've made it this far thankyou biggrin It's far from Exotic/Fast/Flash But it's mine, and i like Fords for some odd reason wink

beer

5charlie46

248 posts

204 months

Tuesday 10th January 2012
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lol you sound like me! I'm an old ford nut and only 20, I've got 1 and half capris and prefect as well as a zetec s and puma. Cool project mate, look forward to updates

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Tuesday 10th January 2012
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5charlie46 said:
lol you sound like me! I'm an old ford nut and only 20, I've got 1 and half capris and prefect as well as a zetec s and puma. Cool project mate, look forward to updates
Cheers!

And beleive me if i had the time/space/money i'd have a Capri, or another Mk4 Scort biggrin

nismo48

6,938 posts

236 months

Tuesday 10th January 2012
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Good luck to you pal...
My first car was a Mk1 Mexico...
Back in 1980...!!
It cost me £650 aged 21...a fair wedge back then..
Spent loads on it including new engine/gearbox/suspension and brakes...
Rear wheel drive fun in bucket loads...

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Tuesday 10th January 2012
quotequote all
nismo48 said:
Good luck to you pal...
My first car was a Mk1 Mexico...
Back in 1980...!!
It cost me £650 aged 21...a fair wedge back then..
Spent loads on it including new engine/gearbox/suspension and brakes...
Rear wheel drive fun in bucket loads...
One of my dream cars, however, the price they are now.. by the time i would be able to afford one they'd be even rare and probably more expensive frown

I can dream though! biggrin

stevenr

944 posts

223 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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Come on now,that's not an old Ford.That's middle aged.Looks ok to me all the same.

Don't go painting any bits of it in stupid colours like your mate did with the white one though.It'll just look as daft as his then.

I had an ash black si many years ago,looked like a very deep green in some light.Nice colour when it's polished up.

Happy motoring from a fellow Ford fan

snotrag

15,624 posts

240 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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Great - my first car was a Loden Green 1.6 Zetec Si.

I can almost Guarantee you've never seen that colour before. I've seen ONE Mk2 Mondeo in that colour in my whole life, and thats it, bar mine.

Was a great first car!

NadiR

1,071 posts

176 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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Not a big fan of Fords I must admit, but I gotta say, the car is sitting spot on with those alloys and lowered springs.

BDR529

3,560 posts

203 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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Your car is looking good, have a soft spot for Ford Escorts.

This beast was my first car. biggrinhehe


Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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Cheers for the input lads biggrin

Yeah i don't intend to paint any random bright colours anywhere, that's my friends taste, he likes it i guess, each to there own smile

I have a few subtle plans when funds allow, but for now i love the way it sits on the RS2k wheels an i love the way it drives, you wouldn't believe the 1.6 Zetec i only 90BHP, It pulls well and has enough power that you don't need to stick your foot down smile Average 40 ish MPG also! biggrin


And as for the colour, there's another Escort Mexico Mk6 in ash black who lives in the same town as me laugh

Apart from that i've never seen another Mk6 Mexico! Or even another Ash black ford, and yes it does look kinda dark green in some light, i love the colour smile

stevenr

944 posts

223 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
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An old teacher of mine had one new,think it was mallard green.Long time ago now.frown

I'll try and scan some old photos of my ash black si later,not sure what they'll turn out like though

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Wednesday 11th January 2012
quotequote all
stevenr said:
An old teacher of mine had one new,think it was mallard green.Long time ago now.frown

I'll try and scan some old photos of my ash black si later,not sure what they'll turn out like though
I wasn't aware the Mk6 Mexico existed smile

The ebay advert i got it from was very very poorly written, advertissed at £600.

I took a chance and went up to view it.. Came back only £450 lighter with a rare low mileage Escort, i was chuffed biggrin

Look forward to seeing your Si smile

bennyboydurham

1,617 posts

203 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
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I had two from brand new, a 1.6 Si and a 1.8 Ghia X, one of the last built before the factory changed to building the X Type. The build quality was pretty good and the Ghia X had everything - leather, CD changer, upgraded 7000 stereo and wasn't a bad drive at all, plus it was my first car with A/C - a god send with that leather!

cragswinter

21,429 posts

225 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
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when i smashed my nova sr up (first car) my parents offered to buy one of these & put me on the insurance. it wasn't the flashest of cars but it had a little kudos with the mexico stickers & stripes, plus the gearbox linkage probably wouldn't have popped out after every cattle grid like the nova.

i even went through an xmas competition thing that came with redline magazine iirc where you filled in all these little slips to win some upgrades for your particular model.

good job i have rubbish luck with competitions, in the end i couldn't do it, rebuilt the nova, punted it on & got a mk2 xr2, never looked back smile

stevenr

944 posts

223 months

Friday 13th January 2012
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I'm buggered if i can find the photos of the ash black car.All i have here are a few of the panther black 1.8 i had after it.

I shall continue to look though.

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Friday 13th January 2012
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stevenr said:
I'm buggered if i can find the photos of the ash black car.All i have here are a few of the panther black 1.8 i had after it.

I shall continue to look though.
Haha ok smile

Unfortunatley there wont be a great deal of updates on this any time soon as im moving out on monday and have no spare cash to throw at the car :P


Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Friday 20th January 2012
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Now im moved into the new place, i treated the Escort to a good clean today smile

It did well hauling all my crap around and a few tip trips so i thought i'd show it some love biggrin

Few pictures:





I've also come up with a to-do list for 2012 as i intend on keeping it. smile

It's just hit 46500 Miles.

To-do list:
-Full service including g/box oil.
-Colour coded front/rear bumpers.
-Gti Skirts/Spats.
-Coloured badges front/back. (And a honeycombe front grill when i find one)
-Interior change, Idealy recaro but expensive, possibly Gti Half leathers.
-Wire in my sub/Change back to my old Headunit from my Volvo as i preffered it.
-Need new discs, quite a lip on them, although have new brake pads waiting to go on. (EBC)
-Get a standard EFI Airbox back on it, No need for this K&N Cone.
-Underseal it completely.
-Sort the minor arch/drivers door rust.

And finally get it ready for the MOT in august, wont taked much i imagine smile

Will update with progess when it's made, i plan to get most if not all of this done over the summer smile

RikkiGTI

677 posts

178 months

Saturday 21st January 2012
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Sounds like you have good intentions for this car, good to read your not going to 'Barry' it up and keep it nice and subtle, the RS2000 alloys look pretty smart too! - always thought Ford made one nice OEM wheels! biggrin

So is the general plan just to tidy her up a bit then? Body coloured bumpers and GTI bits?

Will be good!

Rik

Harding91

Original Poster:

430 posts

198 months

Saturday 21st January 2012
quotequote all
RikkiGTI said:
Sounds like you have good intentions for this car, good to read your not going to 'Barry' it up and keep it nice and subtle, the RS2000 alloys look pretty smart too! - always thought Ford made one nice OEM wheels! biggrin

So is the general plan just to tidy her up a bit then? Body coloured bumpers and GTI bits?

Will be good!

Rik
So far thats the plans, happy with my insurance quotes for next year so i should be keeping it smile

In the long run i may consider a few other more expensive bits like Coilovers and such, but for now that list i put up is enough to keep me busy through the summer biggrin

markswebpages

174 posts

206 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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Love the car it looks just about right with the alloys and the ride height. It's great when you get a surprise by taking a chance from a crappy add somewhere! I got my Prim GT the same way smile

My brother has just had to scrap a low mileage 97 escort it looked lovely and seemed to have been looked after. The guy selling it seemed genuine and it looked like a nice cheap car (£600), my bro didn't do much to check it out other than a basic HPI as unlike me my brother isn't really much of a car person. I have to say to look at on the surface it looked immaculate and well maintained

It had an advisory on the MOT but the guy couldn't find the advisory sheet and said it was nothing serious. A few months later it's MOT time, they put it on a ramp and the MOT guy immediately calls my brother over! The rear chassis legs and back of the sills (inside where you can't see) where completely rotten! This was what been flagged up (very conservatively in the MOT guys opinion) on the previous MOT. The MOT guy aborted the MOT and told my bro drive the car home and scrap it. Having asked around apparently it's very common and can be repaired, but with a car of that sort of value not really with it frown. If I was you I'd get underneath it make sure if it isn't rotten that you keep it that way.