1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Inching closer... 22-05-2023

As fas as I know, but I must admit I'm far more into the MkI then the MkII, there is a completely different bulkhead/scuttle design in the MkII. The wiper motor is mounted very differently, and so is the heater arrangement. I can't find decent pics of the MkII Granada engine bay, but it seems to be very different. For one it has a divider plate separating the area with heater and wipermotor from the rest of the bay. Looking at the bulkhead/scuttle area panel pressing it also seems to be different. But that divider plate makes it hard to see the actual shape of the area.

A friend of mine however, had bought an airco/heater unit from a MkII Granada for his MkI and said that it would not fit the MkI as is. That the wiper motor was in the way etc.

But again I ain't sure. Still The setup from the frogeye scorpio's are pretty well available (lot's are broken for spares because of the engine) and I got all parts for free a long time ago. So my goal will be to try and get that in, if it won't go in, I'll have a rethink.

As far as brakes are concerned, I have the ventilated discs and I have brand new calipers with a much larger brake pad contact area. I have always found my Granada's brakes to be excellent (it sported a tuned 155HP 2.6 V6 EFI before) and think this simple upgrade should be enough to cope with the added 50 horsepower. I know plenty of people with BOA engines in their Granada or other Fords and even other makes of cars that don't even change the standard brakes. I'm inclined to believe the standard ventilated discs could be up to the job, but will not just take it as a fact. That is why I went with an upgrade on the calipers. Feels more secure.

Besides that, it's not a track toy, it's destined for a life as a comfy, yet pretty fast when need be cruiser

The panels are excellent for their age, only one will need very minor rust repair work. The doors however are the wrong model and will need the window frames replaced. Not ideal, but better then the alternative and again, I have 4 spares for this.

Yes, you're right it may be worthwhile to investigate smaller airco/heater units. But my experience in these is that the systems are designed for certain size vehicles. So putting a small car's system in might not have much result in the end. The scorpio system is great for capacity and I have one laying around and access to more if need be. The granada also requires quite a lot of ducting to get the air to windscreen, side vents, bottom vents and centre vents. I'm afraid a smaller system will not be up to that.

And as stated before, the car is a work in progress, a restomod. A little extra modification won't make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

But sure, there are many ways to the same end result.

You might also consider going for one of the hot rod aircon kits. Compact and not too expensive.

Thanks for your comments, one thing is for sure. It could be far worse, but still there is a lot of work to do. And yes, I will take my time for one and I will make it fully to my liking. If others like it too, cool!! But if not, it's their problem!

Well due to the holidays nothing much has happened to the car the last couple of weeks.

From where I left off last time, the body shell was primed and the bolt on panels were also primed. It was waiting for a better spot to work on the car and getting back my coated fasteners.

In the meantime I had started on getting the rear seat in and seeing if I could possibly get away with getting the scorpio heaterbox and airco unit in. I'll get back to that a little further on.

First the car was moved to a better working spot: onto a four post bridge. Access is now available top, bottom, left, right and inside and the body is fully stabilised so work can progress safely.







Getting it up meant work was now really going to start soon. We are considering starting at the back, giving me time to work out what needs to be done up front (relating to the airco build).

So some things we were looking at fixing.

A hole was cut on the right rear wing to give the blaster acces to the area of the boot Ford in its infinite wisdom filled with foam. This needs fixing, but this intersects with a previous wheelarch repair that we think can be done a lot neater so in the end a lot less filler is required.

The hole cut:


The previous wheel arch repair:


We're looking at taking this whole thing out again, but I'm slightly afraid that the new repair panels are not big enough. That is, the last time these were fixed, the welder used the full repair panel, so to get it out neatly we will need to cut exactly along the old welds but ideally slightly above them. But that will probably mean the new repair panels may end up just big enough or slightly to small.

You can see the weld line from the bottom left upwards:


Also there are at least two repairs to the inner arch that can be done cleaner or that should be cleaned up nicer. That is hard to see in the current state.



I dug out the repair panels so we can assess the situation as best we can.

In the mean time I went on with the fitting of the rear seat base and seat backs. I want to mount it as close to original as possible. That means the seat backs can and will be able to fold down onto the rear seat base. Pivotting around a bracket with a pin on it on the left and right sides and using an old Ford Focus bracket to join the seat backs. That bracket needs only slight modification it seems.

It's all thought out, but the means to make a descent template were not available so the bracket designs will be finished next visit. That will be the rear seat done then.

I've said some things about the airco build earlier in this post so I'll elaborate on that a bit.

The plan is to use a frogeye scorpio setup, completely. Probably with custom hoses. I'm pretty sure I can get the airco components fitted in the engine bay: pump, condensor, dryer,etc. The problems are with the sizes of the scopio gear.

Scorpio's have much deeper dashes and also they extend the heater/evaporator into the engine bay by design of the bulkhead/scuttle area. A MkI Granada has a very shallow dash. A modern stereo just fits. Also the heater is split into a heater box inside the engine bay and a heat devider unit under the dash.

I have to open up the bulkhead/scuttle area to gain access for the heater/evaporator. But this means the wiper motor is in the way and would have to be moved to under the bracket on the left (right in the picture).

I've experimented a bit with combining the heater/evaporator to becoming one unit. In it's current orientation, sucking external air is simple and sucking internal air will be doable. It's also less obtrusive in the dash area and more so in the engine bay. The other way around, the unit is slightly more consise (fit's nicer above oneanother), but needs more dash space and getting hoses on will be more difficult. Also getting outside air to the unit will be more of a hassle.

See:


That's a 10 litre bucket for size reference.



Air inlets:


One of these will get a cover with hoses to one or both sides connected to holes in the scuttle so internal air can be sucked and heated more quickly.

But this means a hell of a big cut in this area:



Basically from just above the tranny tunnel and all the way up the slope straigt back to the scuttle/bulkhead (through the current wiper motor bracket) and probably right to the left edge of this picture. A new cover will have to be fabricated and welded, ideally so just the upper and lower vents protrude.

You get the idea of the scale of this modification. It's my biggest so far.

One issue I need to contemplate (and advice on) is that when mounted as suggested, the airco hoses point to the inside of the car, special lines will have to be made up, as I don't think the original ones allow for them to ben pipe bent into a u shape.

Anyone care to comment/advise?

Another issue is that the wiper motor should be moved under this bracket (the one coming down from the louvred edge to the bulkhead) and therefore needs to be smaller.



I seem to have seen that the MkII granada from 79-84 has a smaller motor in about the same area, although the area is shaped somewhat differently.

Can anyone confirm of has anyone got a descent pic of that part of a MkII granada?

To close this update, I put myself and my children (6 and 8) to work sorting the fasteners which came back from the coaters just prior to the holidays. It took us (well mostly myself) 3 days to sort through al 45 kg's and put them in sorted cases ready for use. I've got all original fasteners recoated and most completely new as well. I've got fasteners to last me a lifetime!!



Other pics will follow, but they're on the real camera...

For the amount of butchery to the bulkhead that will be required for the aircon unit to fit, i wouldn't do it
Especially as it lots like lots of good metal there as is anyway ;D

I think the company is called Vintage, that do aircon systems for old yank motors. May be worth a look at adapting something smaller to fit in easier

I will look into vintage aircon as you suggest, but it will probably be to cost intensive. It's hard beating freebies (and locally available parts).

To be fair though: most people do more (severe) work to the bulkhead and tunnel area just to get a certain type of desired engine to fit... And most of those cars have a descent bulkhead and or tunnel area as well. Heck, many of these even are a much more valuable/rare classic then mine.

I'm taking quite a bit out yes, but it's far less radical I think then I've seen others do. And if I succeed (and I won't cut until I'm sure I will) I will have a working aircon system to show for it. Something most people including potential buyers in the very distant future are likely to appreciate over the pretty lousy factory heater.

Probably only someone looking for originality will make an issue out of this modification, but to be honest, my car wouldn't be the right one for them anyway as it will be a restomod in interior, in options spec, in body colour, in wheel choice, etc... Although externally only period parts will be used (with one exception) keping the external look as 70-ies as possible.

But as I said, I'm looking for input/advice so I DO appreciate your opinion. In a response above I also stated that if I can't make it work, I will abandon the thought.

And, you'll probably have guessed that anything I do, I do right or I simply don't do it. So in any case it will all be finished off nicely.

John, I do not really see why keeping the bulkhead is such a big deal. The original system is pretty useless anyway. Also there is rust in the bulkhead anyway, some holes that shouldn't be there as well. The rust is not visible in the pic because it is so high up on the bulkhead just below the water tray/air intake area. So it would still require welding.

And still I think any potential buyer except a person looking for 100% originality will enjoy the luxury of aircon more then appreciate the uncut bulkhead.

But I'm still developing the plans. I looked into vintage air, but that would cost a lot and most of their range is aimed at specific models of usa cars. And don't forget the capacity thing as well. Taking the aircon from a smal J car might leave me with a smaller unit, but probably not up to the job either.

For now, I'm focussing on getting the floor modifications done to fit the seats (rears are coming along great) and seat belts (front and rear) and getting the welding started back to front so to give me plenty of time to see what to do or not to do with the bulkhead.

I'm also redoing my garden shed as to create a better workspace for assembling the mechanicals. I'm sick now so unfortunately no progress for a week...

Hi Jim, thanks for reading my thread. Great that you stuck with me to the end, cause I do like words, haha. That to begin with gives me great joy. I know it's a personal issue of mine, but I need the confirmation that I'm not just writing for myself...

I'm always interested in other opinions, suggestions etc. So If you could get me some snapshots and dimensions I would be grateful.

I too really like the modernising I'm doing...and trust me, it will be a very luxurious car when done. From remote start, cv, electric windows to push button start, airco, cruise control, even rain sensors and automatic lights... It's going to be super.

Retro styling, but with a very modern twist. At least in my mind.