Car SOS - how good are their restorations?

Car SOS - how good are their restorations?

Author
Discussion

HARTLEYHARE1

588 posts

130 months

Friday 19th April 2019
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I agree

Genuine shock and appreciation

Great episode

MDifficult

2,054 posts

186 months

Saturday 20th April 2019
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I usually prefer the 80s / 90s hot hatches and stuff but the Espada episode was fantastic.

Loved that the guy was a clear petrolhead - anyone who can rebuild an Italian V12 to that standard in their own garage clearly knows their onions.

So nice to see the car in its original blue too. Beautiful.

Winky151

1,267 posts

142 months

Saturday 20th April 2019
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Looking at for sale ads whilst watching this & they've put a few £ in his/his families pockets with this restoration.

dvb70

118 posts

108 months

Wednesday 24th April 2019
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Just caught up with the Lambo one. What a car. Probably my favourite car they have ever done.

Quite a step up from the last episode where they did that 90's VW camper. I know the guy was a deserving case when it came to the camper but I just kept thinking why not just buy him a new camper van with all that money. It seems a little nuts to go to so much bother restoring something like that and it did not seem they had an special attachment to the original vehicle. I guess it was certainly a bit different but not a vehicle I could muster any real interest in.

J4CKO

41,608 posts

201 months

Wednesday 24th April 2019
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dvb70 said:
Just caught up with the Lambo one. What a car. Probably my favourite car they have ever done.

.
Ditto, it looked so special when done, would have that over a Countach myself, didnt actually look that complex despite having a V12.

Would need to paint those horns so you couldnt see them through the grille though.

dvb70

118 posts

108 months

Wednesday 24th April 2019
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The visible horns don't look to be feature of other Espada's from what I can see looking at pictures of others.

I did notice during the build that it was missing a front grill the entire way through. The last shot of it finished in the workshop it still had no front grill and then when they went to hand it back it magically appeared. I am thinking they made something up in the shop fairly last minute and the mesh was just too coarse or maybe it just was the fact they never shipped with bright red horns. Still a fairly easy fix and one I would certainly be happy to have as an issue if I owned that car.

Edited by dvb70 on Wednesday 24th April 13:29

CoupeKid

756 posts

66 months

Thursday 25th April 2019
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Question for AVO beards: in tonight’s Escort Mk1 Mexico episode the finished car had 1600GT badges on the front wings. Was this correct or should they have read Mexico?

ncbbmw

410 posts

185 months

Friday 26th April 2019
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CoupeKid said:
Question for AVO beards: in tonight’s Escort Mk1 Mexico episode the finished car had 1600GT badges on the front wings. Was this correct or should they have read Mexico?
Lots of images on google showing cars with 1600GT badges but my 1972 Mexico which I had when I was 19 had Mexico badges.

Never realised until reading Wiki just how few Mk1 Mexico's were built, only 10352

No wonder they sell for stupid money these days.

I bought mine for £1040, during the 3+ years I owned it had new inner and outer sills, front wings, front panel and lower x-member and full respray. It also had a re-bore and pistons plus numerous other bits.

Having spent all the money I was then bored with it and wanted something else, I advertised it in Motoring News for around £1000, can't remember the exact figure, had zero calls until the following Wednesday, with another car lined up I drove to 20 miles to Coventry and met a guy from Leicester who beat me down to £875. We arranged to complete the deal on the Friday evening, on the way home it overheated so I stopped at my work place in Warwick and got my Dad to pick me up.

It turned out the head gasket had gone so I paid to have it fixed on the Friday and completed the deal on the Friday evening back in the same Coventry pub car park. Didn't tell the buyer..

I was peeved at the time that I'd sold it so cheap and more money spent to stop the sale falling through but i'd already agreed to buy my next car so it had to go.

Its not showing up a being around today but if anyone bought a Blue Mk1 Mexico (SDH796K) in 1981 from a bloke in a Coventry pub Car park then Hello!

sgtBerbatov

2,597 posts

82 months

Friday 26th April 2019
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dvb70 said:
Just caught up with the Lambo one. What a car. Probably my favourite car they have ever done.

Quite a step up from the last episode where they did that 90's VW camper. I know the guy was a deserving case when it came to the camper but I just kept thinking why not just buy him a new camper van with all that money. It seems a little nuts to go to so much bother restoring something like that and it did not seem they had an special attachment to the original vehicle. I guess it was certainly a bit different but not a vehicle I could muster any real interest in.
I haven't really been that interested in the VW episode or last nights one about the Ford (don't understand this fascination with the blue oval tax cars), but that paint job on the bonnet of the VW? That is the coolest thing I've seen done on a car since someone put a 7 litre engine in the front of a Lada. Just incredible.

V8covin

7,325 posts

194 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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Not much of the final Mexico was original was it.
As an aside I didn't realise so many old panels were being remanufactured

anonymous-user

55 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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V8covin said:
Not much of the final Mexico was original was it.
As an aside I didn't realise so many old panels were being remanufactured
I thought that, but I guess they wanted to keep the original shell.
I saw that body panel company at a show recently. They did list an awful lot of panels for different cars. Good to see though.

V8covin

7,325 posts

194 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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Grahamdub said:
I thought that, but I guess they wanted to keep the original shell.
I saw that body panel company at a show recently. They did list an awful lot of panels for different cars. Good to see though.
Well the roof anyway lol

anonymous-user

55 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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V8covin said:
Grahamdub said:
I thought that, but I guess they wanted to keep the original shell.
I saw that body panel company at a show recently. They did list an awful lot of panels for different cars. Good to see though.
Well the roof anyway lol
And the VIN laugh

alpha channel

1,387 posts

163 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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Grahamdub said:
I thought that, but I guess they wanted to keep the original shell.
I saw that body panel company at a show recently. They did list an awful lot of panels for different cars. Good to see though.
Which company is this? alas I have to wait until Car SOS lands on More4. It's either find someone who can fix what I've got, get lucky and find someone who has the panels or alternatively, and I suspect this is the route I'm going to have to take, is borrow the 3D scanner from work, scan in the areas I need to replace, clean up in 3Ds Max and 3D print them (a PLA prototype followed by an outsourced sintered metal part).

anonymous-user

55 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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It was Magnum panels

Pericoloso

44,044 posts

164 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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alpha channel said:
Which company is this? alas I have to wait until Car SOS lands on More4. It's either find someone who can fix what I've got, get lucky and find someone who has the panels or alternatively, and I suspect this is the route I'm going to have to take, is borrow the 3D scanner from work, scan in the areas I need to replace, clean up in 3Ds Max and 3D print them (a PLA prototype followed by an outsourced sintered metal part).
Expressed panels I would guess at ,they've been selling repro Ford panels since well before the restoration boom.

I haven't seen this episode either.

alpha channel

1,387 posts

163 months

Sunday 28th April 2019
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Thanks, just had a look and they're a wee bit too specialised though Ex-pressed steel panels bespoke service might be worth a look. It does looks like it's the 3D print route though, upshot being I'll be able to print off parts as and when needed mind.

James 33

366 posts

105 months

Sunday 28th April 2019
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That Mexico was absolutely rotten! Just goes to show what can be saved with enough replacement panels.

andysgriff

913 posts

261 months

Sunday 28th April 2019
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Watched this for 1st time yesterday, a Beetle restoration. The job looked like a 'Bodgit and Scarper' special. What annoyed me also - some bloke wearing pristine white shoes while in the workshop, same bloke dangling his sweater cords and poking hs fingers into the back of a running VW air-cooled engine, blokes without masks when sanding down panels etc etc, no treatment to a dead rusty chassis, probably just painted over. So won't be watching again.

strummerville

1,015 posts

128 months

Sunday 28th April 2019
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CoupeKid said:
Question for AVO beards: in tonight’s Escort Mk1 Mexico episode the finished car had 1600GT badges on the front wings. Was this correct or should they have read Mexico?
As far as I recall (as the RSOC magazine editor from ‘89 to ‘93) the 1600GT badges were used on cars with broad stripes, Mexico on the non striped cars.