1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

As long as I've had my car, the fuel tank vent setup has been like this: the fuel filler tube has one litte pipe added on about 4-5 cm from the top, angled down. This was always connected to the vent pipe on the fuel tank. Both I think about 10mm in diameter. There's nothing else to the system on my car.

Later when the fuel system was adapted to efi, this vent line was cut and a three way T was inserted so the return line from the efi system had somewhere to dump it's fuel back into the tank.

That would suggest that the MkII/III cars had a different tank/vent setup.

Well, I can finally say that the car has had it's first outing... We've actually made it to a meeting!

The meeting was local so the drive was 15 minutes or less and the meeting itself was a little disappointing. It was organised by a fiesta club, so the main content was ford fiesta's from new to 14 year old... Not a single Mk1... There were in total 6 oldtimers that attended.

I was directed back to a more prominent place as my car was and I quote "too beautiful to have parked at the end of the terrain". Also when driving by with the windows open I heard more than once "now that...is a... great...looking car"! So initial response was quite good.

Once parked I quickly got some attention. Many compliments were received and interest was quite steady. But the fiesta people didn't really seem to notice or care... It was mainly the older public that was well into my car.

The custom colour and interior were the number one and two most praised items even before the Cosworth BOB on original management...


The car after the pre meeting wash on friday



And at the show



After about two and a half hours we left... I'm convinced if there were prizes the Granada should have one first as really nothing came close in quality. And even if one did it would be a like new fiesta, so where's the challenge in keeping that new-ish...?

Funny thing though, in pics of the event only fiesta's or the odd mondy are shown, my mean machine apparently didn't catch their fancy as much. Next time I'll go to a more oldtimer oriented meet...

The best thing was outrunning a TVR convertible sports machine with my old barge while driving to the meeting!

Have just spent a happy few hours reading this entire thread as I am just at the beginning of the same journey you and your car have just taken, only with more rust and less skills, so was really interested in the level of detail you have documented. I am inspired by your work and your end result.

I'm not sure about the BOB ECU but I know others that will set a fault code if the canister purge/vent lines are not connected in the right way, for example if the gas cap is left off (not correct "vacuum" in gas tank). Might not be an issue and probably not critical now but if you want to tinker with stuff later on, building the EVAP system as Ford intended might be a nice touch.

Nice to get out a bit! I recognise your (lack of) results from the car shows. My Capri is by no means a show car but quite engineered and "fresh" all over. This september was the first time I was given an award at a show, and that might be thanks to getting a friend in the jury ;-)

I always say that I built my car for myself, the way I like it (or think I like it) but occasionally it is nice to have it appreciated by others too.

Gustaf

And update number two... This one's from yesterday.

I decided I hadn't been to the Granada storage box garage for too long. So I took he dog for a walk and went over. The dog is a bit scared of the engine firing up and my driving style when I'm behind the wheel. Funily enough he has no such reservations in our Transit van! I guess that must say something about my driving then...

Anyway, as much as the dog dislikes riding in the granada, he'd have to. But by the time I had walked over it was so dark out and as there's no light in the unit at all, I had decided not to pull the cover off and actually drive the car. I thought I'd just start it and let it run for a bit instead. Win one for the dog!

So cover off just enough to open the door and get in. Dog in one hand so he would not run off if scared by awakening the mighty BOB engine. Turns out it was the dog's lucky day.......................as the damned car didn't even turn over!! Win two for the dog!

First time ever since this engine is in. Well I'll be #$@#$$#@@!@#@#$$$#@!

Funny thing though, interior lights were on full strength, the two fuel pumps ran countless times as I turned the ignition on and off. Headlights came on full blow as well and all dash lights (ok LED's but still) were bright as they always are. So really no reason for it not to start it would seem. PATS was disarmed also. But, turn the key to start and nothing, not a click, a flicker or anything.

I started doing stuff one can do without getting really technical or out of the car. I moved the car's gear lever through the gears (thinking maybe the neutral safety switch may be sticky or misaligned or something) and tried starting in all the safe positions. I rocked the car back and forth a bit but no change still. I wiggled the wiring loom where the BOB loom enters the car, but no joy still. I had no light and office clothes on so trying to give the starter a whack was out of the question as my wife would have killed me.

So having ran out of options to check from inside the car, I tried checking fuses under the bonnet as best I could (no real access to the extra fuses for the BOB loom as that side of the car is parked close to the wall and also still holding the dog's leash) but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Final check left: the battery... Although it had seemed fine, the indicator on it turned out to show black, not the usual green. So here's to hoping that there just wasn't enough juice in it to get the starter to engage. If that is not the case, the starter may be stuck or I may have a wiring issue.

Damned!! Every time confidence in the car is growing, it pulls some kind of .... Back to square one on the confidence gauge it is.

The car has been left standing for longer periods and never ever gave me trouble. It is now a lot colder outside though. I'll check my spare battery tonight, if necessary put it on the charger over night so I can try and see if it's just a battery issue tomorrow.

I'd have taken the car for a ride more often had the weather been better and life a little less busy. I guess I should run it a bit more often...

Haha, the thread title is technically not lying, but it may be a little overly dramatic... Kind of like me!

My thoughts exactly. I would have expected a click or a faint sign of life. I get nothing from the engine, though everything around it seems to work fine. We'll see soon enough, but I hope it's only a minor issue. If it's a big one again, I'm not too sure about how I'd feel...

The battery is suspect one, but there are 6 fuses in the loom for the BOB as well, so they may need checking also. Perhaps the starter wiring has worked loose, plenty of things to think of when not able to directly look at the car and check.

Hi mate

I understand that it is really cooling down in Holland, that with a possible older car battery that doesn't get charged all the time
is more or less a genuine excuse for your battery to say "Je doet het zelf maar".....
I have a few "not enough used" toys. They all live on a trickle charger. It really keeps the battery alive.

Are you able to keep your battery on charge? I know not many of these garage boxes have power.

Good to hear that "dead" is only a little bit dead.

Just a quick heads-up...

I literally found 5 minutes time in this mad weekend to check out the Granada. First and only thing I managed to get done was hook up the spare battery via starter cables. The spare showed a green status indicator so that should be ok. Thankfully the Granada started on the first try. It did lag a bit between turning the key and the starter engaging, so I was just about to give up when it fired and started. On the second try this lag was back to normal. So it seems to be all good!

Now I've not yet replaced the battery due to time constrictions, but thinking I might as well so I can charge the other one at home. At least the car itself is fine! One less thing to worry about.