1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Call it done!! 30-05-2023

Not only the side glass, there are no C post air vents, on the euro model they are above the rear window, my opinion, I like the euro model more

I certainly do.
subtle, yet obvious once you see them side by side (or picture by picture)

both look fab

thanks for posting

Well, another work session has taken place on friday afternoon. Still working on prepping for shot blasting. Wonderous how much work goes in a pretty much bare shell...

You keep finding little jobs: removing some rubber gaiters, a lost screw here or there, a left over clip...

One of the last things I needed to do was removing the pretty large bushes that mount the front subframe to the car. I was anticipating these to be a right swear word to get out, but armed with my home made removal tool it actually went well. It took an hour and a half to get them all out, but it was a simple and steadily moving process.

I put an M12 threaded rod with a huge nut and a selection of fitting washers on the end through the bush.


On the other end (the side it should come out of) I put a 90mm inside diameter tube around the bush. Capped that off with a 5mm thick metal plate with a M12 hole in it. Another big nut on the end that is used to tighten and generate pressure on the bush.


For a while you tighten the nut nothing happens, but then suddenly you usually get a big POP sound and the bush starts to come away from the frame. I aided the process with a BFH (a big hammer).



It worked a treat. But doing it four times and given the setup time of the puller tool it wasn't a fast process.

With them out, I went on to trial fitting the front seat. I had previeously seen that the rear would be alright with just slight work for making bracketry, but had no idea if the fronts would go in. As the front seats are much wider then the original ones and they have no room for reducing the track width because all the electric motors etc are in between I was kinda dreading the results.

Fortunately after loosely putting one in, I could see that they could be made to fit. Again, some work required but they should fit nicely then. Biggest issue is that from the 4 mounting points only 2 are at the same hight. The granada has seat tracks that are designed to level eceryting off, but they wil never fit under these seats or they would be way to high in the car. So some cutting and welding is required, but nothing that can't be done or is really difficult.





And the best trial ever:


With the great feeling of knowing the seats will all fit and I didn't spend a pretty sum on them for no good reason, I set to my last job of the day: sanding the right outer rear wing almost to the metal. This sanding is the last job before sending the car of to the blasters in about a week from now. Forgot to take a picture'at the time.

I carried on the high of finding the seats would fit during the weekend. Knowing they fit, meant it was time to button them up for the final time. The seats originally have airbags which were removed prior to acquisition. This meant the leather seat cover of the backrest was cut loose and never properly refitted.

Armed with a charged battery I reclined the seats to gain access. I had borrowed a proper tool to get the hog rings on. But it was still a pain. There was no real access. But after a little investigation and trial and error, I found the best way to do this. And from then on it was a simple yet fiddly job.



With the seat covers now properly attached, I could button up the back of the seats as well. Another fiddly job requiring quite some tension to get done. But the results are great. The seats look factory new again with the shapes defined as nicely as they should be.



Thanks for staying with me so far. Although with not a single response to my previous update I have to wonder if I'm not just wasting my time documenting this build.

No, please keep them coming . I love this model & thoroughly enjoy your write ups.

Don't worry about people reading, most will, but don't have anything other than wow, or looks great to say, and that is like stating the obvious, and fill your thread up with pointless comments

Looks like a very thorough project, they're a beautiful shape.

seats look great.
an unusual shape to the base, but it looks good.
they have a sort of timeless look to them and as such wont look out of place in the Granada

I've done it the cheap/wrong way before, and I'm paying for it now! So this time round it's going to be a thorough job!

I agree, body styles are personal... For me it's like this: The MkI granada and Taunus/Cortina are one of the few car models that look great in any of the available body styles. Not many cars pull that off.

The reason I went for coupe is that I had had a 66 Mustang coupe v8 before this (had to sell due to family additions) and that was basically a 2 door sedan shape called coupe. I restored that to full factory condition. The fastback was out of reach but the shape has always appealed to me. So when I had serious withdrawl symptoms from not having a tinker car, I decided to chase the coupe style for this once.

And I also decided to go restomod on it. Exterior mainly with period accessories, interior fully custom (although on a second custom plan now ) and engine and suspension at least uprated.

Thanks for your comments! I hope my end result will not dissapoint (although like stated before, it's my build, built to my wishes)...