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H Plate Mk5 New Project...


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Just posting a small introduction to our new project (not even collected yet!), it's a very early '91 H, reg'd on Jan 18th IIRC, running a 1.6 CVH on EFi and is a one owner car with 102k on the clock (although to look at the interior/pedal rubbers etc you'd swear it'd done 2k...) It's our £250 project as it's been stood now for 8 years, looks like apart from a new outer hood skin I'll be either patching or replacing the front wings as they've gone at the bottom (surprise surprise) and the lacquer has peeled on the offside quarter panel, though it'd have to be painted anyway due to the usual fuel filler rust trap.

 

Having been stood so many years I'll also be either changing belts/hoses/fluids etc or swapping in a zetec if the bores are knackered, going over the brakes etc and generally cleaning/unsiezing stuff (nearly tore the lock out of the bootlid trying to open it!).

 

pics to follow and verdict on the engine/box/roof mechanism when we get it dragged back and have a battery on. Anyway that'll be us for now. Thanks to all involved in this forum, already gleaned so much useful info from the roof section that'd have baffled me otherwise. Cheers all :smile:

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Thanks, it is a bit different but that's always been my m/o (first car was a Skoda Estelle, cos nobody else wanted one haha) and last project was a Citroen XM estate... Should be good fun, apart from the obvious issues from standing the car seems to have been cherished by it's lady owner so with luck it'll just be the rubber items and usual recomissioning kinda work, along with the hood skin/wing bottoms and filler cap rust/quarter panel respray. Been looking through the handbook wallet today and it's like going back in time, there's even the tag off the mirror been kept in there not to mention the "Ford security system" pack with unused window stickers for the etched glass.

 

In fact the only things missing to my mind is the original tax disc holder and the front reg plate has been replaced (rear one is the original Chatfield's dealer one and still in good shape)! Seems to me this'll be one to keep bog standard and try to bring it up as nice as possible, I know they're not as desirable as Mk3/4 but given time, there can't be many "time warp" Mk5's around what with the scrappage scheme just at the point they would've bottomed out in value/desirability. It's never gonna make me my million but I do think it's worth preserving all the same. Cheers for now (the missus wants to go sleep so I either stop typing or incur the wrath lol) :biggrin:

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Oh cool, I just thought there'd have been zillions made like most 'scort models and marks haha. Out of interest can anyone on here decode the VIN, would be interesting to try and find out exactly how many Mk5 cabbies were made and where ours comes in the production run. Guessing it's gotta be fairly early, though likely yours will be earlier being reg'd in '90. Going to have a go at uploading a couple of pics shortly, one naff snapshot of the car locked in it's compound & the paperwork/stickers etc from the glovebox.

 

Also, trying to obtain an old Chatfields of Stoke tax disc holder so I can get a 31/12/91 replica tax disc made up, aiming to have it look like it's gone back in time lol :cool:

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Thanks :smile: I feel like £250 is about the money for an average Mk5 cabbie as a non runner with solid shell and half decent interior so having found all the evidence of one caring owner I feel tips the balance that we got a good deal even if the engine is seized. (i'd swap one to get it running for summer but rebuild the original to preserve matching numbers, if it is).

 

Saying that though the digital photo, as ever, has done it more than justice. The paintwork will need some attention on the front end due to stone chips and by some quirk of chance the camera angle has hidden the back of the hood where the tension cable has pulled right out of the fabric. Like I said to the missus though, IMO the stonechips are a good sign, along with the minimal wear on the pedal rubbers/steering wheel, I'd say it's done most of it's 102k on motorway commutes so hoping for little wear on the chassis components even if the bushes/rubbers etc do happen to be perished.

 

Can't wait to get her home now, waiting on the word from a mate with towing dolly & the project will be off... Actually there is one issue I can ask about/address right now, the original 2007 stereo & 4 channel amp need either fixing or replacing since when the seller connected a battery the amp decided to buzz and start smoking profusely. If anyone knows/has had this problem, is there a common failure point with these amps & if so, has anyone effected a successful repair? I'll open it up when I get a chance anyway but if anyone knows beforehand what I should be looking for it'd be a great help.

 

Failing that, at some point in the future we'll be after a working amp & possibly 2007 head unit too. Cheers, Dan.

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yeh same as the tintops one of the first ports of call is checking the fusebox but I've found the issue with the amp blowing up tonight (pulled the stereo out and brought it back to play with lol). Looks like it may be an easy repair fingers crossed, seems 2 of the 4 electrolytics in the amp had swollen to the point the bodies shorted on the metal lid, causing the electrolyte to turn to smoke when powered up for the first time in 8yrs! Hopefully it's not done any other damage since nothing else looks burnt or stinks. So it's ebay for a handful of capacitors and half an hour with the soldering iron and then we'll see if we have a working 2007/4-channel amp combo :smile:

 

Definitely will be looking at the fuse box though as I'm surprised the fuse didn't go so perhaps there's a wrong size fitted or water ingress issues. The whole interior seemed dry on looking and still did today after the bad weather (had visions of all the seals leaking now it's been messed with after standing so long) so am hopeful there's not too much hassle there. I do have a good fusebox from a Mk6 diesel in the shed though IIRC, should be at least good for parts if not outright swap, if there is a problem there.

 

Cheers all, Dan.

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Little bit of progress to report today, new caps arrived so took the blown amp to bits and replaced them. Left a nice little mess of gooey electrolyte haha... When the stereo is back in and I know if the fix has worked I might add the photos to the electrical problems forum in case it's of use to anyone else in future (seen these 2007/amp combos going for £70+ on ebay recently!)

 

Amp dismantled...

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Filthy bulged/leaking old caps (2200uf/16v)...

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Gooey mess left behind...

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And cleaned up nicely...

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All done, new caps are also 2200uf/16v but slightly smaller size. guess I could've upgraded the amp if I'd known lol

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Well this is an unexpected update (but a good one). The cabby is home now :biggrin: called a friend with a towing dolly yesterday but he wasn't able to help so on spur of the moment we grabbed a tow rope and used the missus' 206 as tow car. First time she's ever towed & am well impressed, me in the cabby though getting my teeth rattled with the flatspotted tyres haha!

 

Anyway, once back home I got a bit carried away, checked there was no rat nest in the air filter threw a battery on and after making sure it wasn't seized, gave the key a tentative twist in the ignition... cranked away for about 20 seconds before springing into life on it's dregs of 8+ yr old fuel, and it's a gooden. Tiny bit of smoke from stem seals, but that's no big deal even if I have to change them, good oil pressure and lovely quiet tappets too. The project has officially gone from £250 gamble on a non-runner to a £300 (£50 for battery) bargain cabby that runs & drives (at least in 1st and reverse) with a lovely clutch that's supposed to be less than 50miles old.

 

Happy morning this morning, off to clean off the moss and replace/fix the hazard switch in a moment (only left side worked). Got such a good feeling about this that I'm thinking of just checking over the brakes, sticking some temporary steelies/tyres and wiper blades on and throwing it at our local friendly MoT guy to see what the verdict is, worth £20 of my money to chance it, if/when it fails it'll save me the job of finding any problems I haven't spotted.

 

Anyway, more photos to come later, i'm off for brekky and moss removal now. with a big grin on my mush...

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Great to see another cabriolet being looked after and being brought back on the road :banana_dance:

ive had all the models now and am back where I started with the mk3 :>)

the experience ive had with the mk5s are rear lip where the rubber sits below the rear window where the water sits and petrol filler caps rot :>(

keep the pics and updates coming

if you need help and advice your in the right place

regards Ollie

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Thanks, feels good to be rescuing another car from abandonment :biggrin: feels even better now it's got a can of fresh unleaded in with the dregs of '08 vintage, starts so much more willingly and just feels a bit lean on blipping the throttle. Need to control my enthusiasm a bit really as it's tempting to keep hearing how good she sounds, but I want to change the oil/filters & cambelt before I ruin the first owner's good work on maintaining at any cost!

 

Hazards now work on all 4, just a bad connection to the switch so that's another bonus & the puff of stem seal smoke has reduced to the point where i reckon we'll live with it until a lifter sticks.

 

Couple of small issues i need to look at, the front windows don't work (can just hear a click from inside the doors, no straining/whirring etc and they're definitely not stuck to the seals) and neither do the electric mirrors. Is there something common to both that could be iffy or is it more likely 2 separate faults? (rear windows work like new)

 

Will get the multimeter on it when the chance arises but if theres something obvious you guys could point me to (apart from the fusebox lol, that's in fine fettle too strangely) that'd be a nice little time saver haha. here's a couple of pics from getting the car home and giving her a bath lol, went dark before i could take engine bay or interior pics but will try tomorrow :smile: cheers
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Thanks, interior is dry thankfully and hoses all appear good (and with 91 date codes too!). Front wing bottoms and fuel filler have already rotted, and theres one small patch on the N/S outer sill (was crusty, grown to a hole about size of a 50p on checking) to weld as well.

 

Sorted the mirrors this morning, was just the switch that was dirty inside, so stripped it and cleaned contacts now they work. Also fixed driver's window, the regulator was seized so I've had a nice time slicing my fingers up working inside the door to get that out and freed off. Passenger side can wait for now, only got one real cut on the thumb but my back's aching something awful now lol. Also had all the wheels off and inspected brakes/bearings etc. front discs and pads are like new still (Mintex, says a lot for the quality of iron that they stood 8yrs and have nearly cleaned up in the 5miles of towing home, no pitting that won't be gone in 100miles or so...) brake pipes are good thanks to being coated in grease and flexi hoses aren't looking perished though they will be replaced along with brake fluid in due course. Tyres are cracked where they stood but no cord showing and loads of tread, they'll have to go though as i don't fancy their chances at wet grip any more lol. All in all a good day at the "office" apart from aching all over. More pics taken today, roof is really suffering now it's been up & down a few times so that's high on the list to get sorted too.

 

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Wow wings are bad,may struggle to get replacements,i cut mine out at the bot and welded a small section in on either side,strange because they are not atttached to the sills,just a bit of adhesive. At least you can can get the mud out easy LOL

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