Back to the nineties! Sierra Sapphire

You should really get that body on the back seat taken care of...

I know what you mean! It was a bit of a wrench to put the Kadett back in storage when I got the Sapphire out but it really needs a thorough going over and the cage means a lack of child space and I don’t really want to remove it. Partly because I cut the back seat and carpet to fit it!

Naafdop - I’ve never mentioned my brothers ex wife they’re the side bolsters for the rear seat, originally left out as he was going to fit a rear cage but never did. Went to fit them, popped the lever for the seat back and it fell off! The bolts were there, just not fitted. Add that to the list...

Gt2047 - thanks truth is I find taking the daily to shows takes the edge off it a bit. Sometimes it’s unavoidable but I find myself walking around thinking I wish I’d brought something interesting rather than hiding my grubby Freelander at the back of the car park. It’s less of an issue if I’m on my own but if we all go it’s a pain to pack everything in the ‘E and the Mrs does have ‘a look’ which says can’t we just use the normal car instead . The extra doors and space will definitely make it easier.

Moving back through the interior I’d just found the rear seat detached while investigating some suspect speaker wiring while testing the stereo. Also turned out the standard rear speakers were basically seized, so ideal time to change them.they’re a rubbish design that uses a m8 bolt into the magnet the speaker pod and parcel shelf together , so a pain to fit aftermarket ones nicely



But I did have a spare damaged shelf and some thick mdf to play with, so





Made these spacers to fit in place of standard speakers and used sections of the spare shelf to cover the tops to match the shelf



I’ve yet to stick it all together in the car but I do have some suitable period speakers to fit. Figuring it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission I liberated these JBL ones from my brothers garage when I cleared engine parts



Well, he was going fit them himself, and it’s not like they’ll fit on his gixxer

Hopefully get this buttoned up soon and make a start on either the engine or the slightly crusty arch, probably the engine as it’s already in bits and maybe makes sense to before I make more mess in the workshop

an F reg 1.8cvh sapphire LX was the first car i ever got sideways on a roundabout. the official "that'll do" seal of approval. it seems ridiculous in the early 1990s that rear wheel drive had become exotic, in the mass produced sector, but there you go !

Is it dropped in yet .......

Loving this thread. My second ever car was an immaculate 1991 Sapphire and I still miss it to this day. I sold it to a friend of a friend when I went off to Uni and he put a massive scrape down the side of it within a week.



According to the DVLA it only lasted another year or so after I sold it - it was low mileage and didn't have a speck of rust on it so I can only presume the new owner totalled it somehow

Right, so, where was I?

Engine is basically ready to drop in bar a couple of jobs I need it off the stand to do, like the rear main seal, or the 1.6 out like removing and repainting the bulkhead panels, tidying some wiring etc.
Other work done included replacing a knackered rack inner joint and going through the brakes. Surprisingly they weren’t bad, I replaced one rear calliper as it refused to free off, went through and made sure all the pads were free and lubed where necessary and changed the fluid with genuine Ford high performance stuff (advantage of working at a Ford garage )

No pics sadly , I was on a roll and really, for a moment thought I might just get the old girl back on the road this summer. Unfortunately life had other ideas! 😩

I’d been half looking for a new daily as, although the trusty Freelander has been pretty good (after initial problems with the auto box, and that was more down to the repairers than it ) the road tax is dear, especially if I wanted to tax the Sapphire as well! So I bought this



Having said I work at a Ford garage you’d think I’d wandered in to the sales department and bought it, but no. They mucked me about over a Focus estate, so I bought this slightly broken Zetec S from my manager instead . It needed a service, some reassembling and de-chavving, so not too much work. It’s a 1.5 Ecoboost and I’m quite impressed with it so far, enough to have trawled eBay looking for a cheap 1.6 to put in the Sierra! Piggy bank says the pinto is staying for now at least. Freelander has passed to my dad as it’s easier to drive and get in and out of than his mondeo. While we were swapping around he made use of the most reliable vehicle in my fleet




The mighty 998 cc sub base model Metro City Special
This accidental auction purchase has only 18000 miles from new and, regardless of how long it’s parked up for you can guarantee it will start first time. I nearly started a thread for it a couple of years ago when I did some bodywork, but never got round to posting the pics

He broke it

To be fair the clutch slave was on the to do list due to a slight leak, and it did conveniently fail near my grandparents place, so it had a short holiday in their garage while I sourced the wrong one , que a Vice Grip rebuild of the original ( scrape the gunge out with an old screwdriver, pretend I didn’t see how bad the bore was and bleed it by shoving a bit of wood through the window ) to get it back to the workshop, get the right one and clean and repaint the scabby battery tray




No in progress pics but check out that specially mixed paint that doesn’t quite match the car🙄. At least it’s only under the bonnet.

The 100E got new top mounts and softer springs. Definitely drives nicer although it still needs an alignment check



Made the daily commute more fun

Finally! Back to the Sapphire, or so I hoped. The problem was needing to keep it mobile, as where I had it it blocked in whichever working retro was in the corner. So I booked a few days off really make a dent in it......

But my brother started dropping hints about the Mini I’d left at his body shop. Had I forgotten I owned it?

No but I was trying

So I spent the time piecing the front of that back together





Life in general has also been a bit hectic. Mrs SK is pregnant, due in October, and although it was initially going well there have been issues, and she is having to take things easy. Easier said than done when you have a disabled child that relies on you for everything. His health has also took a turn as well. He’s been referred to the palliative care team as, as things stand if he needed a kidney transplant he’s not strong enough to come through it. Add in a couple of hospital holidays due to gallstones and some new seizures where his breathing drops when he comes round , you could say he’s been keeping us on our toes!




But he still finds watching burnouts on Roadkill hilarious

One piece of progress has been made though



The significance of this picture is that, after some swearing, sweating with the car teetering on a jack it is finally the other side of the acrow that’s holding the workshop roof up. And that means I can work on it without having to worry about keeping it mobile before I come home.

I’m already dreading getting it back out

Morning mate,

Great update and actually a whole load of stuff going on.

As for your other distractions, ie your boy, Mrs SK’s pregnancy I have both admiration for all of you as well as well wishes and more importantly, that they will both get the attention and care they need.

PS. I am on my second 1.5 diesel Zetec Focus and will have another.

Great, capable cars imho.

It never rains but it pours! Congrats on the new arrival. Good progress on the Sierra considering the madness surrounding it! Have you been using it with the 1.6 prior to this point? No welding required after sitting?

Well, it’s been a little while so what’s been going on? A few days away at queens medical centre Nottingham for Charlie’s gallbladder operation ( which went well, but least said about the hospital the better ), some time spent recommissioning dads Mondeo so my brother could use it after being hit and run on the A14 ( he was shaken but ok, his beloved A4 however written off) and even a little Sierra progress!

It took a couple of visits to the workshop but the 2.0 was soon in its new home



Whilst pretty much plug and play there were a few niggles to sort due to the new engines non Sierra origin. Flywheel and clutch were duly robbed from the old 1.6 as it’s apparently the same clutch kit for 1.6 and 2.0, and I would have sworn we’d put a clutch in when the engine was last changed. I was wrong but it did all seem to be in good order, and it was Saturday afternoon so back in it went.
Distributor wiring had also been messed with in the past but my shed fresh replacement had that plug and section of loom attached, so that was repaired, and the horrible yellow crimp connector has since been banished as well



I was beginning to run out of excuses for not starting it but the radiator was knackered before the car came off the road, and was only not leaking because there was no coolant left in it but I found this in the boot



This preloved radiator was a spare that came with a P100 dad bought years ago. Jase had taken the time and effort to send this to us after we’d collected the truck, so it must be ok right? I mean it says so on the box. So I fitted it and filled it with some new antifreeze.
At this point I ran out of excuses and turned the key on it. I wasn’t expecting much as it’s a bit of a mish mash of stuff I had lying around, some of which I didn’t know the history of. For a start the dizzy was unknown and the carburettor was a 32/36 DGV off an Opel Rekord engine that was in the Kadett briefly. All I did was blow the dust off and prime it with thinners ( left the Jerry can at home!).
So I was gobsmacked when it fired first time and settled down and idled nicely

There should be a rubbish video here but it doesn’t seem to want to upload 🤔

That should have just left sorting the throttle linkage/ cable, wiring the electric fan and a good tune up but at that point my luck ran out . On my next visit I found all my new coolant on the floor as the radiator is just as bad as the old one after a little faffing and checking part numbers I found one that should fit, unfortunately the factors forgot to order it so I’ve yet to see if it actually does. Throttle linkage is now on the mk2 version as you couldn’t get what with the first. I could have bought one but at seventy odd quid I couldn’t justify it, as it would have needed modifying to fit the Sierra cable, or hoping a mk1 cable would work as only early cars had a DGV, and I’d already bought one that should have worked but didn’t! No pics as I was on a mission and forgot to take any

Hoping to get the last few bits done next time I can escape and move on to the bulkhead panels as they’re looking a bit scabby, aren’t available new and are scarce secondhand.