JMc

Hi El', I live in the area, and would be interested in meeting up but as to whether that would be with the Cab' is another story! I have PM my location, so let me know how you get on. All the best, John

Hi Frimbo, I just tried to email you on this, but your account is not receiving any new emails. Ping me an email if you are interested. Regards, John

As much as I love Mk III's your cabriolet is stunning - gret effort!!!!

I concur with everyone's comments. To the police (and I apologise if this is not the general view), there are more serious crimes, which undoubtedly there are. However, in a lot of cases, we have spent a hell of a lot of time, effort and money on our cars and therefore it becomes very personal. I had my first car stolen by gypsies, we subsequently found out and they drove around at break-neck speed for a couple of hours apparently and then tried to get the car between a skip and a concrete bollard, only to find out that it was about an inch to wide on each side. As a result the insurers wrote it off. The next time I had a brush with this type of 'person', I had a Mk III Escort van, running around with RS Turbo running gear. There was no stereo in the dash and the windows were clear enough that you could see everything inside the van and they still broke in. Low IQ; bad upbringing; no aspirations and general all around big foreheads - scum.

Good luck Avril, Keep us posted on the figures. I should be starting on mine very soon!!

Hi Avul, I was going to say the same thing about my lottery numbers. They keep drawing the wrong numbers out (or at least that is what I tell myself each time!) I have not started a thread on my Mk III as yet, due to the fact that it is still sitting in a garage. That said, I have been watching everyone's threads and there is some great information on the site. I cannot wait to get started, but will probably on more than one occasion, regret saying that . As soon as I do, I will share my bleeding knuckles and loss of friends to cold nights in a garage!! JMc

Hi Avul, I have been reading your thread with great interest, as I hope to be starting my Mk III soon and yours would definitely seem to be heading in the right direction. Good effort and keep on with the updates. Any ideas on the colour, or are you going to go back in the same shade of red? John

Hi all, On the basis (I assume and will probably be told that I am wrong) a lot of the components from a cabby fit on an Orion i.e. the engine, gearbox, dash etc, does it work the other way around? i.e. would the rear seat with the headrests from an Orion fit in a cabby? The next question has probably been asked on numerous occasions so apologies, but how easy and cheap is it, to obtain a replacement dash for a Mk III, and can a split dash be repaired effectively? Is it worth repairing if it can? Many thanks, John

Hi Avril, The car is looking great and the engine bay amazing - well done!!

Ollie - The cab looks great!! It is at times like this that you forget all of the scratched knuckles, late nights, and wondering if you should buy your children that pair of shoes, or buy something for the car I hope mine looks half as good as that when I eventually get it overhauled!!!

Hi Avril, The engine looks great in the engine bay, but to fair, we did not expect anything else!

The engine bay is looking superb!! Have you planning to have it on a Dyno?

The cab is looking great and as with all projects, you are always going to get the people that love it and the people that do not, however that is not the reason that we build our cars. It is looking superb!!

Brilliant news - WELL DONE!! I have a MK III and there is a certain satisfaction when you are driving along and people give you a wave or simply slow down for a look. I hope you have loads of fun in the old girl!

Well done and good luck. Let us know if it is as good as you hope it is!!

You regularly hear the words, "It is only a car!" but the point is that it is your car. In most cases you have spent money on it, whether that is a lot in the case of a new car, or not so much in the case of a lot of older cars. Unfortunately cars are easy targets and vandalism makes a big impact. A good friend has an immaculate Audi S3 which he treats like a child, but that is his thing. Last Christmas, a group of drunk blokes (according to the police) went a long a line of cars carving various graphics into panels on the cars. The police reckon they spent more time on my friend's car, due to the fact that it was the last in the line. Literally every panel was scratched, including diffusers!! The worst of it is, that there is apparently CCTV footage of them moving towards the car, but due to the poor quality, that is about all that can be seen - SCUM! Sorry, I went on a bit of a rant . .

Looks great. I have to say that the MK III is my favourite - but that is because I have one as well.

When I had my first Mk III, I had the cloverleaf alloys on it, but changed them to 5 spoke due to negative comments that I got (we are talking the 90's here). Wheels are a personal thing I think and depending on which way you would like to take your car i.e. as it came out of the factory, or something different, this will probably dictate the wheels that you eventually install. I like the 5 spoke that you have as an option, but on your car, the cloverleaf do seem to set it off quite nicely. I have relatives in Ireland that have said it is becoming a very expensive past-time owning a car there with the cost of insurance etc

John 1983 - Blue 140,000 m Standard engine, RS Series 1 kit Off the road and garaged at the moment Soon to be stripped - new paint job, engine, suspension and back on the road (hopefully!!)

I would agree, the 5 spoke do it for me. If they were 6 spoke, I would like them even more!!

Cracking cab - welcome to the club!

I have just read back through a number of pages of the thread and the car is coming along great. The only downside for me, is the more that you do, the more that I know I will probably have to do to mine when I start restoring it after Christmas . My knuckles are starting to ache with the loss of skin already !!!! The gauges look great and the engine is sweet. I am still chewing over whether to go down the RST or RS2000 route. Not sure, as I do not know the pros and cons of the RS2000, whereas I put an RST in a Escort van back in the day and it went like the clappers!!! It looked like a builder's van as it had differnet colour parts, but was lowered 5 inches at the back on the leaf springs. Made for an interesting experience . . . .

Hi all, This is my cab.

Brave man with all the bumps, however it did sound good. Would be good to see it on a good stretch of road at full pelt, where you did not have to worry about ripping the front valance off

That is what I had heard as well. I am going down to my friend on the weekend, so will touch base as well. I am not sure what condition the car is in but apparently the engine, loom etc, etc are all in good nick - which is good news. Thanks for your advice and please feel free to throw in any other gems. All opinions welcome!!