Clint's RS2000 restoration page 2.

01/11/01 I have some time off from work so thought I would get some more done on the car, I started off the day by seam welding the inner wing, then cut some more metal away from the lower x-member section to increase the airflow for the intercooler, I then fabricated a new section of steel to fit in to the centre area, this created a box section to replace the strength that was lost when it was cut.

After that was finished I welded the front panel on, and made a start on the rotten bulkhead sides, I have cut the right one off with a plasma cutter, and found some rot on the door pillar as well.

02/11/01, I set about repairing the offside bulkhead corrosion. A new repair section was purchased for the main area and I fabricated some pieces to fit in to the door pillar. I also cut a section from the bulkhead top and cut a flat piece of steel to the right shape for this, which was then wlded under the edge of the original metal and then joined to the side repair. The final part being a "wing filler" which is the part that joins the inner wing to the bulkhead top and provides a mount point for the outer wing. A repair section for the wing holding rail was used for this, unfortunately this is not a very good panel and needed some modification to make it fit, and resemble the original.

05/11/01, I decided I didn't feel like welding today, so I thought it would be a good time to make a start on cutting off the back arches. As this car will be running Tarmac alloy arches there is a lot of metal that needs to be removed, we also wanted to check the available clearance for the 16" wheels that the car will use. The outer lip was cut off first, then the edge of the inner arch (they will be cut much further before the new extensions are fitted).

06/11/01, the day started early (5:30am!!!) with a trip to Stoke on Trent, to visit Rally and Competition Equipment, (good guys these, definitely a reccomended supplier). Where Clint got the pleasure of paying for all the goodies that are to be welded on his car. The following were purchased: Extra wide 4 link kit, Watts Linkage kit, diff and transmission tunnels, rear turrets, and bulkhead strenghtener. These parts are all pretty much the same as was fitted to Group 4 rally Escorts so should stiffen the shell a treat and help get the power down on the road. After we returned we stripped the rest of the mechanicals and interior off of the car and got it on to the rollover jig to assess the corrosion underneath.

05/01/02, well it's been a while since I visited the garage, unfortunately work and other projects got in the way for a while, I decided I would have a go at fitting the transmission tunnel today, as this is fairly large and was generally getting in the way. I started out by cutting the plate with the gearstick hole off first, this will be saved and remounted in the right position later, as you can see Mr Hoarder was in the garage and in a jovial mood when the camera came out. After that the rest of the old tunnel was removed.

The new tunnel was then screwed in to place, the excess floor was trimmed, and welding was started.

 

More to follow next week.