1985 Ford Escort mk3 Popular - welding time again!

Just if anyone was interested... Part 2 is out. I don't think there is a video section on RR forum anymore?

So for the price of scrap i've just picked up a nice little Vauxhall Combo 1.7TD , hopfully to take the pressure off using classic Cars as a daily. I left it at my folks for the week as its cam belt is well overdue, my Dads taking it to get that sorted before bombing down to London... the neighbours are going to love me

Already planning the Car parts I can pick up in this  and maybe decking it out for cheap in the back. Apologies for the curse word pics... Just got it to my folks and had to jump on the train straight away. Also, I know its not really retro so it probably wont get much of a look in other than this.

Don’t think that’s the British Gas colour, I think this is



Also if it is an ex British Gas Van it will have loads of goodies from what I’ve seen, probably extra feeds from the battery to a fuse box in the cabin (on both ignition and battery feeds)
Should be some clue to racking in the back and it would have have roof racks.

Having just had a google, the Combo A was what we called the Astramax (very retro )
The Combo B was the corsa B bubble, which seem to be getting rare (but then I saw 3 on one day after making that comment to a mate )
Your one was made from 2001, and as a possible plus is at least based on the corsa still. And I think has a version of the Isuzu engine in my Astra (?)

What followed though was a Fiat Doblo and now a Citroen Berlingo badged as Vauxhall (but they are owned by PSA now so from my limited involvement with making ailing car manufacturers profitable that makes sense I suppose )



Think you’ll have to make it interesting to fully meet the RR brief
But it’d be interested in how you get on with it, as these are I think about as cheap as they’ll get, so scrappage fodder, if it is the Isuzu it should run for a good while. Don’t think they’d be much of a problem adding updates in here though

Right. So not a lot happening over the last few weeks classic wise. Since the arrival of the Van I havent used the Escort much except for a Car show at Runnymede in Surry which was great. To be honest it felt great as with the Van in the "fleet" I could concentrate on using my Escort as a fun car for shows so, even though I still need to do the clutch quadrant I wasnt too worried as it was a nice sunday out and if anything happend I wasnt far away from home. Its been nice to know that these Cars are play things again rather than needing to have them fixed to get to work etc.

Heres a couple of pics from Runnymede where I was "papped" coming out haha. I would have probably gone in the Capri but I didnt fancy the M25 as I know that one needs a new couple of tyres.










Also a video from the event too.


Since then things havent been so great. I spent a little bit of money on the Van as it was a £200 van and i knew it needed a timing belt and couple of drive shafts. I had the all clear from the garage health wise so went a head with it. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and just embarked on a big trip from London - North Yorkshire - Preston - Norfolk - London which was the first of many I wanted to save stressing doing this in the Escort... On the way back from Norfolk the engine was getting louder and louder. Pulled in and I think its dead A couple of times when I started her up in Norfolk the oil light seemed to take a little while to go out maybe around 10 - 15 seconds but always did go out. Second start up ( if i turned it off) not even a problem. I think something has been starving the engine of oil though as it sounds like a really loud bearing noise and a slight flicker from the oil light. If I'm honest, I'm really gutted. Only had it two weeks and I already love it. Its with the garage at the moment just to see if its anything than can be sorted cheap (I think we all know it isnt though and I havent heard back). 



I had it dropped off near my local garage and walked home to get the trusty Escort to load it up with all my Music equipment . Very ironic !


Heres a video too if anyone wants to hear the grumbling engine.


Funny enough the last time I used to Escort properly It did a very similar thing but cured its self quickly. I got home from a rehearsal, got my stuff in the house, turned the Escort back on and it sounded loud and like a bag of spanners. maybe its due another oil change .

On the plus side to all this the day I went to pick the van up my misses has randomly bough a Nissan Quashquai from a family member so there will be a reliable car turning up this week.

I've only ever used vactan so can't offer a comparison between it and other products.

Does the mk3 Escort have hydraulic valves?

The kent pushrod engine isn't hydraulic, they do tend to suffer from piston slap and noisy valve gear when cold and a bit leggy but they go on for ages like it.

That’s got the Isuzu engine I believe? It rings a bell that when I used to do belts on these or Astra’s etc there was a nut on it may well have been the oil pump pulley that was prone to coming loose. It’s not something you remove when changing the timing belt, but I remember we used to change it as a matter of course. It did happen to a couple I know of and both got away with just changing the pump and/ or the pulley

You would be better spending the £300 and getting it fixed as you still have a cheep run around,small vans are selling for crazy money now so you won't lose out if you decide to sell later. Just my opinion for what it's worth.