Lovely car Ben. I owned a 1979 T reg MK2 Escort 1.3L, Sierra Beige, absolutely fabulous car. Simple, lovely to drive. Traded it in for a brand new MK3 1.3L in 1981. Brings back great memories for me.
That's nice to hear how you enjoyed the mk2. The mk3 was a very different car but it's still a classic. I had a mk3 1.1L when I was 18. It was the slowest car I've owned, still tried to make it look like an XR3 and enjoyed it. I was driving a fiend of mine home who lived on a very steep hill. He was a big set fellow and we got nearly to the top of the hill where he lived and the car couldn't make it to his house. I said sorry, your going to have to walk. I was always taking the mick out of him for being overweight and he didn't find this funny at all but I certainly did! 😆
@@bensclassicbodywork Can't comment on the 1.1, but the 1.3 I had was lively enough, it certainly didn't stop me having fun in it! I followed that car up with an XR3i in 1983, then another XR3i in 1986, then a series 1 (MK3) RS Turbo in 1988.
I only found you recently and have watched all your content and im loving your work! I'm a mechanic really but have 2 cars im restoring (old mini and a rover 220 gsi turbo) and your vids have been super helpful for me. Your quality of work is brilliant and its great to see how you do it step by step. Keep up the good work ben 👏
The rust is no surprise considering the amount of mud that has been allowed to pack into the front of the wing. Undersealed or not, in dry storage there can still be enough moisture hanging about to do damage.
Just another note, I also adore the mk1 cortina, lotus in particular, my friend had a 2 door mk1 gt in bright red, with twin sidedraught Webber's, beautiful car, amazing sound 👍
Microblisters - Paint reaction - The wings need to be thorughly cleaned underneath and treated with wax or other rust preventative treatment after the metal repairs too.
Had a MK2 1600 sport myself and agree they are a great car, but it's a big arched MK1 that does it for me.. Would love to see an episode on the flying boat and helicopter projects you mentioned..
Understand completely, I've never actually driven a mk1 but I would think they are very similar. I'd have both if it was possible. My dad had a mk1 lotus twin cam, I've only seen pictures. Lots of videos about the helicopter and flying boat on my other channel. youtube.com/@Ben-Dixey?si=_fP0y6za6foEOrjf Appreciate the interest 👍
I had the big arched Mk1 in lime green back in the day, it was only my second car after a Mini Cooper but the girlfriend didn’t like it as it only had rigid bucket seats non reclining. I sold it after only a year and then had a string of Capri Ghias, far more comfortable yes, but nowhere near as much fun!
The RS would have been much cooler to be picked up from school in. 😀 When I was at school my mum had a white xr3i, I thought I was cool being picked up in that car, at the time anyway.
Thanks, Looks interesting, I'll have a watch. 👍 The only slight problem I had with atom mac and flash rust is when I didn't dry it, I use a heat gun to dry it. I also haven't deviated from the 2% concentration but it can be made stronger. Also what concentration was the deox c you are using ? Did you apply enough Atom Mac ? I spray on quite a lot. Ideally you might have another tank of it to rinse parts.
Don't know whether this will help you. I had zero good results using Atom Mac. I had a load of parts that I had de-rusted with De-ox C and they flash rusted almost overnight. I cleaned them all off again and sprayed them with Atom Mac, which I made up to slightly stronger than 2%. When I came back to them about 2 weeks later, they were just as bad again. I sent an e-mail to Bilt Hamber and got a really nice reply from Pete Hamber himself. Here is the pate of it: Hi Bob, Make up a 2 - 3% solution in a bucket and wash the parts in these after removal from the Deox (give them a quick flush with running tap water) then immediately submerge them in the 2-3% and give them a scrub with a brush. Oh and don’t over soak items in Deox C - only soak long enough to remove corrosion. Drop say 50ml ish atom mac into a clear bag for smaller items then drop the parts in and work the solution around them - leave them in the bag for a while to allow the vapour phase inhibitors to penetrate the micro pitted rust pores. You can do similar in a plastic lidded box if you have large parts, but this will still allow the vapours to work. Normally brush application can be sufficient or spray but tiny little open pores can be difficult to wet out with liquid so allowing the vapours to work is effective. Kind regards, Pete Hamber
Hi ben I’ve been looking at your video about phosphating , I can’t seem to get the description to work on my ipad, could you tell me the product details as i,am interested in giving it a go, love your channel, in my book your in the top three utubers on restoring cars (also trev’s blog) fantastic work and easily watched. Thanks alot,hugh
Thanks for the comment, sorry forgot to add the product details on the description. I will make sure I do it and message you when I'm back at the Workshop. I bought the product a long time ago but hopefully it's still available. Trev's blog is a great channel, he really knows his stuff and I watch him too. 👍
Hi, the phosphate solution is p800-127 by Autocolor. Seems to be data about it online, I bought 5ltrs but I'm only 1/4 way through after about 20 years, so you don't need much of it.
Would dye penetration testing or magnetic-particle inspection help identify pinholes that are difficult to see visually? I've seen both used for crack identification on a heavy-engineering youtube channel (Cutting Edge Engineering), but maybe one of the approaches could help you too?!?
Hi, great comment, I don't know anything about magnetic particle Inspection, I'll have to research it. Dye penetration I've used for crack detection but the stuff I bought I wasn't too impressed with (perhaps too cheap). I haven't tried it to look for pin holes so think I should do that. I use a torch in a darkened workshop to look for pin holes now but you can't always get to the other side of a panel. The dye penetration could well be the solution. 👍
With all that mud underneath the wing, does the wing mot need to be removed and completely acid dipped and stripped, cut and welded etc to be 100% sure. A lot of work i kmow.
Normally I would say yes, but I know this car was media blasted, painted, then Undersealed, then dry stored for the last 10 years. The rest of the wing I bet is in good condition underneath the Underseal. The only reason it rusted in the front corners is because the Underseal didn't quite reach where it needed to. I've painted the inner part of the repairs and then blasted Underseal into the corners.
It’s shocking to see how much damp mud accumulates in the top front parts of the wings on the Mk2 escorts. Rust must form quite quickly there, even on a new panel. It’s time an after market panel maker also designed and supplied a fully sealed liner that will totally protect those vulnerable cavities from road grime.
Only way really is to change those wings rust will be back even if its in another area on them.or even where the welds are one pin hole is all it takes as u say
For a prefect job yes, but replacement wings aren't as good as originals and usually have to be modified to fit well. Then your back into pin hole territory around the weld area. These are original wings and are better to try and keep if possible in my opinion.
casually mentions flying boat...... :o) Have to say, a Grp4 Escort is slightly more than three upgrades from the standard car. I should never have sold mine... In fact, I regret selling every vehicle I've sold, except the Range Rover. That was such a happy day !!!
Yes it’s difficult to be able to foretell the future as far as performance car values are concerned, maybe in another 30 years time anyone who sold their Mk2 Focus ST now will kick themselves in 2054…….🤔
Bda engine, great sound, terrific engine, and must agree about the stag engine sound. How can anybody convert a classic car to electric, no enthusiast or petrol head would, absolute sacrilege.
Yes, I don't understand what the appeal would be with an electric motor conversion but company's are busy changing classics to electric. Big mistake if you ask me.
Yeah, always been a petrol head, brought up around lots of petrol heads! Looking forward to driving an Alfa sooner rather than later, it's got to happen. 👍
Yeah, love Escorts 😊 The front corners of the wings are difficult to get Underseal into unless you really Blast it in there. Some cars have splash guards to keep mud and water from getting into such places.
Lovely car Ben. I owned a 1979 T reg MK2 Escort 1.3L, Sierra Beige, absolutely fabulous car. Simple, lovely to drive. Traded it in for a brand new MK3 1.3L in 1981. Brings back great memories for me.
That's nice to hear how you enjoyed the mk2. The mk3 was a very different car but it's still a classic. I had a mk3 1.1L when I was 18. It was the slowest car I've owned, still tried to make it look like an XR3 and enjoyed it. I was driving a fiend of mine home who lived on a very steep hill. He was a big set fellow and we got nearly to the top of the hill where he lived and the car couldn't make it to his house. I said sorry, your going to have to walk. I was always taking the mick out of him for being overweight and he didn't find this funny at all but I certainly did! 😆
@@bensclassicbodywork Can't comment on the 1.1, but the 1.3 I had was lively enough, it certainly didn't stop me having fun in it! I followed that car up with an XR3i in 1983, then another XR3i in 1986, then a series 1 (MK3) RS Turbo in 1988.
That car is a beauty! Awesome color!
Yes it is, how an Escort should be in my opinion. Couple Period modifications, Very jealous it's not mine.
I only found you recently and have watched all your content and im loving your work!
I'm a mechanic really but have 2 cars im restoring (old mini and a rover 220 gsi turbo) and your vids have been super helpful for me. Your quality of work is brilliant and its great to see how you do it step by step. Keep up the good work ben 👏
Thanks for watching 👍 can't be to many rover 220's about I would imagine. I enjoyed my mini back in the day, good fun to drive.
The rust is no surprise considering the amount of mud that has been allowed to pack into the front of the wing. Undersealed or not, in dry storage there can still be enough moisture hanging about to do damage.
Very true. 👍
Fascinating Ben, will look forward to seeing you restore your mum and dad’s Triumph Stag.
👍 the stag will be a good one to make videos of, lovely car. Welding is virtually done on it. Blasting and painting next.
Just another note, I also adore the mk1 cortina, lotus in particular, my friend had a 2 door mk1 gt in bright red, with twin sidedraught Webber's, beautiful car, amazing sound 👍
Totally agree, I did a fair bit of work on a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, Only drove it out the shed but I could tell I liked the feel of it from just that.
Microblisters - Paint reaction - The wings need to be thorughly cleaned underneath and treated with wax or other rust preventative treatment after the metal repairs too.
@@MagicAyrtonforever I think it must have been micro-blisters. 👍
I painted, seam sealed and undersealed the repairs.
definitely the best ford car of my youth - hands down
👍
Great looking car great repair.
Thank you 😊
Had a MK2 1600 sport myself and agree they are a great car, but it's a big arched MK1 that does it for me.. Would love to see an episode on the flying boat and helicopter projects you mentioned..
Understand completely, I've never actually driven a mk1 but I would think they are very similar. I'd have both if it was possible. My dad had a mk1 lotus twin cam, I've only seen pictures.
Lots of videos about the helicopter and flying boat on my other channel.
youtube.com/@Ben-Dixey?si=_fP0y6za6foEOrjf
Appreciate the interest 👍
I had the big arched Mk1 in lime green back in the day, it was only my second car after a Mini Cooper but the girlfriend didn’t like it as it only had rigid bucket seats non reclining. I sold it after only a year and then had a string of Capri Ghias, far more comfortable yes, but nowhere near as much fun!
This car is so beautiful! The welded in section also looks great! Dropped a like for your effort man :)
Thanks very much for the comment. 👍
I’d like to see some of the work on your aviation projects 😊
No problem. I've got another channel all about it.
youtube.com/@Ben-Dixey?si=HtxwSaGVsDUTYmEh
Great video Ben 👍🏻
Thanks Alan 😊👍
When I was a kid my dad bought a new Mk2 Escort 4 door Giha with a vinyl roof 😢. I really wanted him to get a RS2000 😂
The RS would have been much cooler to be picked up from school in. 😀
When I was at school my mum had a white xr3i, I thought I was cool being picked up in that car, at the time anyway.
Also check cornfield customs. Any advice how to use atom mac ( I used immediatelly after deox-c and I've got lot of flush rust)
Thanks, Looks interesting, I'll have a watch. 👍
The only slight problem I had with atom mac and flash rust is when I didn't dry it, I use a heat gun to dry it. I also haven't deviated from the 2% concentration but it can be made stronger. Also what concentration was the deox c you are using ?
Did you apply enough Atom Mac ? I spray on quite a lot. Ideally you might have another tank of it to rinse parts.
Don't know whether this will help you. I had zero good results using Atom Mac. I had a load of parts that I had de-rusted with De-ox C and they flash rusted almost overnight. I cleaned them all off again and sprayed them with Atom Mac, which I made up to slightly stronger than 2%. When I came back to them about 2 weeks later, they were just as bad again. I sent an e-mail to Bilt Hamber and got a really nice reply from Pete Hamber himself. Here is the pate of it: Hi Bob,
Make up a 2 - 3% solution in a bucket and wash the parts in these after removal from the Deox (give them a quick flush with running tap water) then immediately submerge them in the 2-3% and give them a scrub with a brush. Oh and don’t over soak items in Deox C - only soak long enough to remove corrosion.
Drop say 50ml ish atom mac into a clear bag for smaller items then drop the parts in and work the solution around them - leave them in the bag for a while to allow the vapour phase inhibitors to penetrate the micro pitted rust pores. You can do similar in a plastic lidded box if you have large parts, but this will still allow the vapours to work. Normally brush application can be sufficient or spray but tiny little open pores can be difficult to wet out with liquid so allowing the vapours to work is effective.
Kind regards,
Pete Hamber
@@bobfrankish8883 Pete Hamber I've found to be very helpful. Did his advice work for you Bob ?
Hi ben I’ve been looking at your video about phosphating , I can’t seem to get the description to work on my ipad, could you tell me the product details as i,am interested in giving it a go, love your channel, in my book your in the top three utubers on restoring cars (also trev’s blog) fantastic work and easily watched. Thanks alot,hugh
Thanks for the comment, sorry forgot to add the product details on the description. I will make sure I do it and message you when I'm back at the Workshop. I bought the product a long time ago but hopefully it's still available. Trev's blog is a great channel, he really knows his stuff and I watch him too. 👍
Hi, the phosphate solution is p800-127 by Autocolor.
Seems to be data about it online, I bought 5ltrs but I'm only 1/4 way through after about 20 years, so you don't need much of it.
@@bensclassicbodywork Thanks alot👍
Would dye penetration testing or magnetic-particle inspection help identify pinholes that are difficult to see visually? I've seen both used for crack identification on a heavy-engineering youtube channel (Cutting Edge Engineering), but maybe one of the approaches could help you too?!?
Hi, great comment, I don't know anything about magnetic particle Inspection, I'll have to research it.
Dye penetration I've used for crack detection but the stuff I bought I wasn't too impressed with (perhaps too cheap). I haven't tried it to look for pin holes so think I should do that. I use a torch in a darkened workshop to look for pin holes now but you can't always get to the other side of a panel. The dye penetration could well be the solution. 👍
With all that mud underneath the wing, does the wing mot need to be removed and completely acid dipped and stripped, cut and welded etc to be 100% sure. A lot of work i kmow.
Normally I would say yes, but I know this car was media blasted, painted, then Undersealed, then dry stored for the last 10 years. The rest of the wing I bet is in good condition underneath the Underseal. The only reason it rusted in the front corners is because the Underseal didn't quite reach where it needed to.
I've painted the inner part of the repairs and then blasted Underseal into the corners.
Ideally making and fitting sealed arch liners would be the only real remedy…
It’s shocking to see how much damp mud accumulates in the top front parts of the wings on the Mk2 escorts. Rust must form quite quickly there, even on a new panel. It’s time an after market panel maker also designed and supplied a fully sealed liner that will totally protect those vulnerable cavities from road grime.
Yes, it's definitely a rust trap area. A splash guard would be a good thing.
Only way really is to change those wings rust will be back even if its in another area on them.or even where the welds are one pin hole is all it takes as u say
For a prefect job yes, but replacement wings aren't as good as originals and usually have to be modified to fit well. Then your back into pin hole territory around the weld area. These are original wings and are better to try and keep if possible in my opinion.
@@bensclassicbodywork surprised their original wings worth trying to repair something is only original once
Hi Ben, your videos are so good! Wish they were a bit longer! How Dare You!
🤣 thank you!
casually mentions flying boat...... :o) Have to say, a Grp4 Escort is slightly more than three upgrades from the standard car. I should never have sold mine... In fact, I regret selling every vehicle I've sold, except the Range Rover. That was such a happy day !!!
Regret selling every vehicle apart from the Range Rover! 🤣
Point taken about Grp4. 👍
Should have kept yours, yes. Can't keep everything I suppose.
Yes it’s difficult to be able to foretell the future as far as performance car values are concerned, maybe in another 30 years time anyone who sold their Mk2 Focus ST now will kick themselves in 2054…….🤔
Bda engine, great sound, terrific engine, and must agree about the stag engine sound. How can anybody convert a classic car to electric, no enthusiast or petrol head would, absolute sacrilege.
Yes, I don't understand what the appeal would be with an electric motor conversion but company's are busy changing classics to electric. Big mistake if you ask me.
No waxoyl protection is the cause of your rot to front of wing, rear of wing is moisture under paint surface!
It also needs some sort of effective wheel arch liner, otherwise it will constantly continue unabated..
Howdy!
Man, if you drive a car like this, you must be a petrolhead, without driving an Alfa Romeo.
--- But it wouldn't hurt!😉
Great job, great car!👍
Yeah, always been a petrol head, brought up around lots of petrol heads! Looking forward to driving an Alfa sooner rather than later, it's got to happen. 👍
That was unadulterated Mk II Escort fan boy gushing. And totally justified, too! Did you work out where the mud and moisture had been getting in?
From the wheels.
Yeah, love Escorts 😊
The front corners of the wings are difficult to get Underseal into unless you really Blast it in there. Some cars have splash guards to keep mud and water from getting into such places.
How did I miss this?!
I don't know, UA-cam isn't doing its job good enough 😉
I’m sorry I spoiled your day!! 😂