This is how it all started. I had bought this 1983 Ford Sierra 2.0GL
from some guy in London. I think they wanted GBP 900.00 originally but
I got them down to 700.00. It wasn't really worth 700.00, as I found
when stripping it, but on the whole there wasn't really anything wrong
with it.
Armed with a Haynes manual, a Halfords socket set and a box full
of tools acquired over the years, I set out to strip the various parts
from the Sierra that I needed.
Initially I was full of good intentions to log the time that I spent
working on the car, but that soon went out of the window. I was busy
with other things while building this car (getting married, leading a
youth group, playing guitar and leading worship, etc), so I didn't
spend every evening and weekend on the car.
Anyway, before too long the engine was being pulled from the "donor" car. I didn't really do too much to overhaul the engine other than put in a new clutch, give it a good clean down and of course new plugs'n'leads, oil'n'filter, distributor cap'n'rotor later on. I also bought and installed a thermostat as, unlike the previous owner, I thought the car may benefit from one. :-)
Along with the engine I was pulling everything that wasn't welded on. If it had a bolt or screw, it came off. One thing I would really recommend if you're going to do this (and you don't need to keep the original wiring loom) is: leave electrical items plugged in and cut the loom far enough back to give you a plug that fits and some leads already connected to it. If possible, also attach a masking tape label to each lead on the plug stating where it terminated.
Let me clarify the "just leave it plugged in statement"--I am
assuming here that you would know to disconnect the battery before
starting any of this!
OK, so I've taken everything off the donor car that used to be a Ford Sierra. Including the wheels. Hmmm.
Somehow, this hulk of metal has to be removed from the garage in
order to make space for the kit building. Enter Heath Robinson stage
left. With a hunk of wood jammed in the empty transmission tunnel and
trolley jack, a friend and I managed to jack up the car. Now the jack
isn't quite in the middle of the car, so the back end is still on the
floor. Not a problem, if we jump on the front we can make the whole
shabang balance and then just shuffle it out of the garage and onto
the 20% slope which was my driveway!
A quick journey over to Southend-on-Sea one sunny Saturday morning to collect the kit, and everything was hooked up fairly quickly. The chassis has a towing hitch bolted to the front and a couple of dolly wheels at the back and hey presto, the chassis is now a trailer. The body is strapped on top of the chassis and all the other bits and pieces (exhaust, wiring loom, brake pipes, nuts'n'bolts, windscreen, suspension parts, etc) are thrown in the boot (trunk for you North American types).
One of the most agonizing sites when collecting the kit was that a
finished car was being sold for about GBP 3000 less than it would cost
me to build my own car! This was a manufacturer built car fitted with
a 2.8 Granada engine, leather seats, the whole hog. OK, so the colour
scheme wasn't what I was after but.... I would have had the joy of
driving the car a lot sooner and for a lot longer.
Anyway, me and my money had already parted company, so back home
to unpack the bits. This is what it looked like when we got it back.