d_bizzle

I did my pass plus in the snow in a mkIII Escort when I was 17. Quite a seasonal thing obviously, they don't just wait for the snowflakes to start flittering and call you up screaming 'get in the car, quick!'. Just a few hours of driving in random scenarios that you don't encounter when you're learning (motorways, mainly), and I'm still getting cheaper insurance off the back of it eight years later.

Thanks all for the valuable advice - I've decided to just bite the bullet and wang a new crossflow in there. I like the idea of servicing it with proper oil etc and then smoking it about till it breaks, but I know what I'm like - I'll be paranoid every time I get in it that I won't make it to wherever I'm going! So, Darran at Escort-Tec's sorted me out with a 1600 x-flow that I'm collecting on Saturday, I'll take it down to Morley's (where the car is now) on Monday and it'll all be sweet in a jiffy! Obviously it's annoying to have to shell out a wedge of cash when you've only just bought a car, but it could've been worse... a couple of years ago a bought a Fiat Coupe Turbo and the clutch lunched itself within days... and cost about £750 to replace. So, new engine (including fitting!) in the 'Tina works out less than a chav's clutch. Game on. Gotta love old Fords...!

Probably shouldn't be leaving the bonnet open like that either...

Yeah, funny how things have changed eh?!

Think there might be a nice fresh can of whoopass for him in the Tina's boot...

This scares the hell out of me. Horrible to think that it's not even safe in the garage, as we learned from the recent green mkI disappearance... how do the feckers sleep at night?

No idea, to be honest. Great idea though, there's some really interesting imagery in there! The same guy's also posted the following: London in the fifties http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasleso/se ... 118228765/ London in the seventies http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasleso/se ... 523169668/ Brands Hatch '66 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasleso/se ... 529333611/ Lovely stuff.

Just found this photostream of London in the 1960s - features various OSFs back when they were shiny and new! http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasleso/se ... 3831/show/ e.g. http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1258/692 ... 2b.jpg?v=0 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1119/569 ... dc.jpg?v=0 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1372/868 ... 48.jpg?v=0 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1139/100 ... f7.jpg?v=0 (Not my images, just pilfered from Flickr)

Bugger - I should've read that yesterday...! A very kind offer, thanks! May well call you on that...

That is beautiful!

Going to try my hardest to be there! Will be my first one...

Christ knows. Only recently bought it and haven't had much time to play with it! Literally driven it from Solihull down to Redhill, a day out to east Kent, a few blasts around the country lanes and then goodnight Vienna. Maybe starting from scratch with a new engine will help cure my massive ignorance and give me a closer affinity with the car...!

Well, I trust what the garage say because I've used them before and they've always been good to me! Nevertheless, I'm a comparative classic Ford novice so if the engine can keep going then that's good news... Going to have a good chat with the garage tomorrow and get their advice, find out exactly what's wrong with it etc. Basically, I assumed it was just seeping from the rocker cover gasket - every time it was parked up there'd be a little puddle of oil underneath, and as soon as the engine's warm you get comedy smoke appearing from under the bonnet (which I assumed was just the seeping oil burning off the hot block - but I could be wrong, I have been many times before!). It gives a big puff of smoke when you start it but then seems to run reasonably cleanly (apart from the under-bonnet smoke, obviously) and I can't hear any rattles or knocks... but maybe I'm not listening out for the right thing. I'm starting to doubt whether the guy I bought it from was being totally honest about the rebuild - I emailed him asking if he could tell me any details and he just gave me a one-word answer: 'no'. Charming! I've had a look on the Escort Tec website and they say they have 1600 x-flows starting at £100 - does anyone know where they're based...? Or roughly what it'd cost to get one swapped in? pauln - nice idea about dropping the Honda lump in, but I think that could turn into a nightmare!! Be unique though...

Hi folks. Hoping I can draw on your massive pool of expertise... I bought this a few weeks ago - http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk/phpBB2/vi ... hp?t=67274 Seemed to be really good, and apparently the 1600 crossflow had only been rebuilt 22,000 miles previously. So, this morning I took it to the legendary Morley's in Redhill to enquire about a slight oil leak/smokiness issue and they've just told me that the engine is basically knackered. So - what can I or should I put in it instead? Bearing in mind that it'll be pretty expensive to rebuild the engine and I might as well upgrade if I'm going to have to spend the money anyway, what will feasibly fit? The only stumbling block is that I spent pretty much every penny I had buying this car, hoping that my day-to-day Honda could be sold to finance it (although that's just dramatically failed its MOT and is essentially scrap)... so the whole thing has to be done on an absolute shoestring, which rules out YBs or anything crazy! Also, I'm a total dunce with mechanical stuff and will end up having to pay someone to do the work for me as I'll just cock it up. Know good places near Redhill that would do this? What do we reckon? If I go the Savage route, can I get a V6 & box for reasonable money and are they easy to fit? Will a Pinto go in easily if that works out cheaper? I just need to get it working for not too much cash, if possible!

Great location for photographs... this could be from an original brochure!

Beautiful. One day I hope to own a mk2 as nice as this...

Now complete with the all-important windscreen adornment...

Couple of atmospheric arty shots from Sainsbury's car park this evening! Now that is brilliant parking.

Kind of a new member in that I registered a couple of years ago and haven't really been on here much... but now I've got myself a proper old Ford I'm back with a vengeance...! I've stuck some photos in the readers rides section: http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk/phpBB2/vi ... hp?t=67274 I've had a fair few Fords over the years, although you guys may not approve of all of them! There's been a 2.8 Capri (Classic Ford-featured, no less!), a 2.0 Capri, a couple of mkIII Escorts (sorry), a mkV Escort RS2000 (sorry again), an XR4i... but I've gone properly old-skool with the Cortina! I hear the retro Ford scene's pretty interesting around the Redhill area? I remember about eighteen months ago I took my car to Morley autos (it was a Fiat; don't worry, it's gone now...) and there was a mint mkI Lotus Cortina, a couple of mkI Escorts and a green Escort van that I'd seen in Classic Ford in their yard! So I'm guessing the Ford-force is strong in the area?

The photo doesn't actually show it that well, but that's fluffy animalprint headlining! And it's staying... goes nicely with the weird skull tints, I think.

Haven't seen a lot of mkII 'Tinas around Redhill, so I thought it was time to do something about it...