My 1997 Cabby Ghia

[Guest Seb Walsh]

So as my current car is on its way out (polo coupe) i had my eye open for anything cheap and not too boring and an escort cabby came up for £475 that was described as a little rough around the edges but sound. So had a look at it and the electric roof didn't work the sills had some rust and so did one of the rear arches and the rear bumper was shot. I got the price down to £425 only to find out on the way home when i put my foot down to go up a hill the clutch started to slip.

So far i have managed to replace the clutch, repair one of the sills, repair the rear arch, started to service it, fixed the electric roof for free and do other odd little jobs.

So the car its actually really straight its had a few small bits of bodywork but no masses of filler to be found.

Mid way through doing the clutch, was a nightmare trying to get the gearbox back in but we got there in the end.

Rear arch prepped and primmed

Rubbed down and masked ready for paint

And painted, its only a rattle can job but in a couple of weeks i will sand and polish it and hopefully it will look spot on.

next jobs will be the bottoms of the doors and the other sill, then towards the end of the year i wouldnt mind lowering it 40mm just to tighten it up a little and maybe look into a subtle exhaust system.

Thanks for reading, any comments or advice would be appreciated.

seb

[Guest Missescott3i]

looks like you got a nice bargain there m8 keep us updated

[Ian71]

Looking good ,as you say a little drop and exhaust got a good runaround that looks the part. Keep pics coming.

[Guest Seb Walsh]

thanks for the comments guys a quick update, mopped the car from the bump strips up minus the rear quarter i sprayed.

after going over it with g3 fairly wet as it was really hot out today

here it is after using megiuers polish and autosmart hard wax. Really pleased with how it looks, i still need to do the front bumper and the windscreen surround but it looks so much better. The only downside is that it revealed lots of stonechips on the bonnet so i might prep it and get it painted by a body shop in a few months when i have a bit more money.

[allblue]

Some great effort gone on there, looks great :-)

 

I've got rust on the rear arches to sort. But I've got a new wing to put on in it's place.

 

Was the gearbox removal a two man job?

[gingergman]

top work mate! love the pic of the gearbox removal in the street lol

[Guest Seb Walsh]

Defiantly a two man job the gearbox if your doing it withouth a ramp.

Done so much on the side of the road in that space lol, prepped my polo for a full respray there as well.

[Skittles80]

I am guessing buy the detail and quality of your work you have worked in a body shop in your time preped mine in the street for my respray in the middle of winter

[Guest Seb Walsh]

when i was at school i did a week work experience at a body shop where i worked washing cars for a while, learned so much although im rubbish at filler work i can never get it 100%.

quick update i managed to flat and polish the panel i painted, and managed to get a 2nd hand bumper for £20 going to pick up some paint sometime this week hopefully for it.

Also worked out why my wipers wont work on intermitant, turns out i need a new switch but i saw 5 escort vans in the scrappy the other day so i should be able to get one. And im going to order a new tps as the revs are all over the place on start up.