ekjdm14

A fella I knew used to buy and sell those a lot, one was properly gone to where the starter wouldn't crank it over. All well and good until they tried to bump start it to get it moved into the garage, *clank* and gearbox oil started dripping... Not sure what happened but guessing it cracked the g/box case somehow.

Bulldog Mack for me a-la Rubber Duck. Do like the needlenose Pete as well though, or an arguably "so ugly it's beautiful" Autocar ConsTruckTor... Hell this is a Ford forum so can't forget the "Louisville" LTL9000 as well... OK I'll admit it, I do have a bit of a thing for old Yank and Aussie trucks. Especially if it's rocking a Detroit.

Wouldn't touch one with your bargepole mate. From what I've seen the belts disintegrate in the oil (wow, who'd have thought it?) and at best start to clog up passages with shed rubber/cord and generally strip their teeth and stop driving the oil pump, which is great for an engine also. From what I've heard it's a pretty big job to do the repair, sump/pump/front main/timing set and stuff like that off & probably replacing the shells if it's gone completely too. I can't honestly think of a good reason to not have the oil pump driven by chain or gears, I'm into Frenchies too (another big offender for the moderns having wet belts) and think I've seen an oil pump or chain failure one time in the old style bottom ends (XU/XUD/DW/EW series up to about '06-09). That was an engine that had sat and somehow got varnish/residue in the oil pump, which locked up when the car warmed up after being resurrected & cracked the housing/broke the chain. Anything post-2000 kinda turns me off automatically on grounds of being too new, but especially if the mfr saw fit to include rubber belts inside the crankcase. I have heard of chain upgrades being offered, but not done much research as it's about 20 years out of my wheelhouse. Can't imagine they're any worse than the belt at least!

Bluebird, 4i & Horizon for me please... Some lovely motors out there, wonder if we get as good a selection at Smallwood...

Yes my brother... lol last I saw the police were digging in the grounds of the place (and we went for a nosey down Middlewich custody suite where they were all trying to break in to rescue the leader! Peace and light my bawsack!) Been back over to Wales again today, this time in a pug 306 & typically saw a good few old fords, Mk1 and 2 Escorts & a late Capri amongst others.

We're over near Crewe (more's the pity!). We did go for a day out around Talacre bay, think it was Tuesday so you may have spotted us going down the A55. Speaking of which, rear wheels are in dire need of balancing & I mean DIRE... Anything over 62mph you can feel the wobble come on & gets truly horrendous by 70 just where we wanted to be cruising at.

Well the AC was short lived, condenser has a pretty major leak from the bottom right corner (and will need new schraeder valves too). No surprise given the system was empty, but no big loss either at less than £20 for a kilo of R290 (one of the main reasons I looked into it originally, not to mention it's not technically illegal to vent it to atmosphere like the usual refrigerants). Other than that though it all worked OK and was reasonably cool, may sort it eventually if a cheap condenser turns up but no biggie to do without. Blower fan works great at least.

Blower motor is alive once more. Following a guide on FordScorpio dot com I stripped the wiper linkage and cowling out, made a couple of incisions down the side of the heater box & removed the top which gave access to the motor itself without pulling any AC or heater pipes/disturbing the heater box in general. Turns out the motor had, as expected, jammed from the few years sitting the car did. Otherwise though it was in lovely condition with loads left on the brushes and barely any wear on the com bars & once freed up and oiled it was just a case of replacing a melted thermal fuse integral to the motor itself & it's working a real treat. Need to get the AC working now, it's got gas in it (literally propane AKA R290, I run that in all our cars that have AC and it's much better IMHO than 134a, Have seen -40 vent temperatures on a 306 in summer!) so there's some further diagnostics to do with that. From the terminal block on the wiring I'm going to say it's had a new compressor clutch at some point so that may be of interest first up. Can't wait to feel how it works with R290 in the system, have heard Scorpio's are known for overactive de-ice sensors so may have to make some mods there too.

You missed the qualifier "if" 😉 Besides, I'd get disemboweled if I spent that kind of money on a "project"

Honestly though, people have fixed worse & the price is more attainable than most 2-doors. Never be concours but I can see it being brought around as a "driver" if it doesn't end up donating shell cuts to rally brigade. If I had the itch for a 2-door like I used to as a kid I'd seriously consider that.

800-odd miles down & we're looking reasonably OK as far as resurrecting the old girl goes. Recording over 30mpg on the onboard display (I would say more like 25-27 but still better than expected). Some small niggles since going back on the road, thermostat failed no biggie, radiator has a couple of *small* leaks when cold (one from a tank joint & another around the g/box cooler line) but no appreciable loss just the odd drip, gearbox would definitely benefit from fresh fluid & filter and we have the blower/AC to fix but other than that she's a comfy interesting old barge. Hoping to get a day at the seaside soon, let's hope my underseal keeps the salt air at bay!

Agreed, no need to use telescam for anything IMO. Bank transfer or paypal (and buyer covers the fees) are about the only way I'd do business with someone unknown to myself.

Sounds like a dodgy earth if ever there was one. Worth tracking down while it's still broken though, those things can "self heal" and then come back to bite you at the worst time!

One of these days, you'll wake up dead 🙃

Beats my job title in 2000/01 "Butt Welder".... Yes, there were plenty of "waving your torch around" jokes...