Escort RS Turbo & Renault 5 GT Turbo

[NickG]

The Escort is a Mk 4 1989, the RS Turbo had a 1.6 litre CVH engine (cross flow, over head camshaft) with a Garrett T3 Turbo, a limited slip differential etc. It first came out in Mk 3 guise though (series 1 RS turbo) and this one was more highly sought after, it was the rally homolmagation one so had a big rally pedigree and larger following. I think around the late 80's early 90's ford started using cheap recycled rubbish to make the panels out of and hence they all rusted away! Unfortunately the same can be said of mine! Great car though, 133bhp, plenty of torque so they are quick, even by today's standards and a limited slip diff so the handling is fantastic too.

I ran it for a month when I got it but the engine and turbo had already basically gone.




So I spent a small fortune rebuilding the engine, and that was doing it myself, only to find that it needs a new floor, inner and outer sills, inner rear arches and chassis leg repairs! Funnily enough I never got around to doing all of that!













After I bought this nightmare, my mate managed to find a good series 1 which he's improved over the last few years and it now immaculate. So not being jealous or anything, I decided to go out and buy another classic pocket rocket that I came across on ebay 1 day ... I just had to have it! A Renault 5 GT Turbo - as I said, I have always wanted one since I was 17 when my mate had one, it was my first experience of a fast car and I was hooked straight away!











This one seems very solid, and is now running well (touch wood). All I am planning to do is to put as much back original as possible (got all the bits now, just no time!) but then unfortunately it will have to be sold, I don't have anywhere undercover to keep it, which is what it deserves and we are currently trying to move house 

 

Nick

[Divided he ad]

Hi Nick,

Nice looking motors, I can't believe that some b@%*rs been drawing on your numberplate!!    Sad that the escorts rotted from about 2 years old!... Cheap steel C reg to E (cause ford were in trouble!). Some late registered ones too! Very common issue, they rot from under the paintwork!!  How's your battery tray?
Your mates series one should have been a little better body wise, the old Mk3 escorts seemed to be a better built car.

I remember the days well.... Knocking huge holes into the floors of escorts and fiestas during MOT's.... The owners faces when you told them that repairs to the floors (all seats and carpets out!) and new sills would cost the best part of £500.00 !!!And that was without trying to match the paint to the sills (body shop prices were huge )  I wonder what that would cost now!!??

Re-build a couple of CVH's in my time.... Always full of thick black sludge in the pipes/head. No one ever changes the oil often enough! 


I'm a member of the North Wales RS owners group too.... Not got one myself..... But I know 30+ people who have everything from RS 1600 up upto cosworths and one RS 500 That sadly hasn't seen a road for about 10 years!! (it lives in a bubble!)  ... Some of them own multiple fast cars.... But they rarely sell them, they just move to bigger homes or rent storage space off farmers from £20 a month!!



The GT.... I remember them too...It will last for far longer, Renault galvanised (most of) the bodys and painted them well... There were a few issues in the sill joints or where crash repairs have been made, the welding changes the properties of the steel.
Not my favourite car for working on! My big hands struggle to get in to the places that matter! and the rear brake calipers always used to give trouble on the handbrake! There's nothing like a Renault for teaching brake faults to apprentices!!

One of my mates has his own garage business, he saw one that looked like his old one that he was forced to sell for the deposit on his first house, he had to have it!... he's been re-building it for 3 years now, and it still isn't finished!!!

Shame you've got to part with the pocket rocket, I can barely fit into them, but man they're quick when you put your toe down!!





You got to have a passion for classic fast cars or your going to go insane with all the little repairs .... One day, when I've got the money..... !!!



Ralph.

[NickG]

Hi Ralph,

lol! Yes, this one is a G plate, it's shocking, funnily enough the battery tray is really solid, as is around the front struts etc and scuttle panel. My mates is a C reg Series 1 and it is so solid, the difference is unbelievable!

All the seats etc are out, I have the new floor panels and sills but it's a big job. I know somebody who does jobs like this for a bit of extra pocket money though, he knows most fords like the back of his hand so I have an option there. Problem  is that I stripped all the rear suspension off ready to do it myself so the car is no longer mobile. I would have to start building it back together first!

Originally I thought it only needed a new turbo, but as I got into it and started measuring things I thought, well if I've gone this far, I might as well replace this that and the other so before I knew it I'd replaced more or less everything I could. New oil pump, bearings, con rod bolts (they aren't cheap!) camshaft, pistons (they aren't cheap either as they are Mahle forged ones!) etc. I also replaced all suspension, brakes etc too, so mechanically the car is made up of new components! I looked for a shell but decided I would rather patch up the original one.

Yes, I am currently renting a garage on behalf of my mate for his S1, if there is a cloud in the sky it promptly gets put back away!

That's what impressed me when I went to see the Renault, apart from the battery tray, it's really solid. The engine is a bit of a plumbers nightmare too, and like the Escort, it was in that period where they didn't really know what they were doing. It has a carburettor but fully electronic ignition! The Escort is fuel injected but mechanical fuel injection and not fully electronic ignition ... weird!

The GT Turbo is quick, handles well and is great fun to drive but it be a shame to see it rot on my driveway!

That is the danger, some boy racer could come and buy it only to find he doesn't have the money or skills to maintain it!

Nick

[SPiN Racing]

I have to say.. if I was on that side of the pond.. I would have to make some sort of offer...


Of course if I was on that side of the pond I might pick soemthing different.. Like a real Mini, without rust etc.. LOL

Or one of those... Cosworth Sierras?  They were a Merkur XR4Ti here in the states... never actually saw one here in the states prioperly prepared back then. But then again I was driving either a 1969 Mustang Coupe, or a 1973 Corvette. ANd was under the delusion that cubic inches were everything.

 

[NickG]

Yes the sierra cosworths are nice and there was an escort cosworth too, they were something else!

[gilessim]

In a garage near me they have an escort mk1 lotus, original yellow and green, Immaculate!, remember those?, they also have a sierra cosworth for sale for 3000 euros, with only 90,000 km on the clock, I'm tempted!

Years ago I had a 1300 mk1 escort ,that for a laugh I managed to squeeze a 2lt OHC in, it took a bit of bulkhead beating but it went in!, with the 1300 gearbox and diff you could beat anything at the traffic lights!, great fun!

Giles