Ford 100E Escort Estate 1958

BODYWORK & PAINT PREP | ENGINE REBUILD | MECHANICAL REPAIRS | SERVICING | WELDING
THE BRIEF

Complete restoration project, this is a personal project and a car that is close to my heart. I have had the vehicle since the age of 13 of which was given to me by my late father. It has been in my possession most years since then although I thought I had lost it at one point when I sold it temporarily to a friend to help them out as they needed a car for 8 weeks whilst visiting the UK from Canada. Once they left they didn’t sell the car back to me, eventually I came across the car sitting in someones drive and it took much convincing to buy the car back. If you see me at shows please come and chat as I would love to share with you more about the history and its role in TV shows including Rock & Chips.

WHAT WE DID

We found out that the reason the servo was not working was because someone had bypassed it due to the cylinder seals requiring replacement, we replaced all of the wheel cylinders and replaced the shoes and pads. The axle oil seals were leaking oil out of the axles, so we removed the hub bearings and replaced the seals. The sump gasket was badly leaking, removed sump gasket and replaced seals. The accelerator pump was not working, stripped and cleaned the carburettor and fitted repair kit which included accelerator pump diaphragm. The overdrive wasn’t working, we found the connections to the switch were corroded therefore we replaced the terminals. Replaced tyres and door rubbers. Thoroughly cleaned the interior. Welded up a small hole in the near side door seal and then sent to the paint shop for a full respray following the M.O.T.

BEFORE -Me at 13 years old
SHOTBLAST

Once the shell came back from the shotblasters in red oxide I was able to see where the most damage had occurred, this made it very easy to see where there was rusted panels that needed replacing. The rear valence shown was the first thing that was cut off and removed, I re-fabricated a replacement as one at the time was not available and welding it back into place. Following this I cut out and replaced both inner and outer door sills, made up new inners and welded on new purchased outer sills. Then I plated both strut turrets and repaired the rusted battery holder. The rest of the vehicle apart from a few dents was in good shape.

BODYWORK REPAIRS & ALIGNMENT

This photo shows one of the dents that was made where the metal had been stretched by overblasting during the shotblasting process. To remedy this I needed to panel beat and try to shrink the metal using a shrinking hammer and then skim using a filler. At the same time I was making sure that the door would align with the quarter panel and door sills that I was fitting.

PAINTWORK

The first image shows the main body in high build primer, the second image shows the main body with a dust coat applied for final flattening before the top coat is applied.

UNDERBODY STONE GUARDED & REPAINTED AXLE
ENGINE BAY PREP COMPLETED

The interior seats were re-upholstered, new floor mats were added, the engine was re-conditioned, new axle oil seals, new brakes all round, rear springs re-tempered, all suspension and axles painted, bumpers re-chromed, new hubcaps, added period spot and fog lamps, the paintwork was paper polished and buffed to give a high sheen reflective finish, all badges were replaced and a new replacement exhaust system was fitted.

RESTORED GALLERY