mk2Dan

Hi Dave, I can't see any date stamps, but they've been painted at some stage so any markings are probably under all the paint somewhere. I believe they were fitted to a mk1 Escort though. I've had them stored away in the shed for years. I'm located in Hampshire, not far from Portsmouth. Dan.

*Bump* Laser alloys now sold. Steels still available, reduced to £150 ono.

*Dartboards provisionally sold* Laser alloys still available.

Next is a set of 4 5.5x13'' deep dish dartboards. These are all good and straight, and come with the stainless RS badged centres in the pics. The centres do have a few little dings and marks but look ok still. All wheels have tyres but they are old and two are pretty well worn so I'd recommend changing them! They've also been painted, they look alright from distance but look closer and it's not the best job. I was going to get them blasted and powder coated silver/grey but found another set already done so these aren't needed anymore. Again, not sure what they're worth but looking for £200 or offers. If your interested in these please just message me or post on here.

I'm having a little clear out and could do with a few extra £'s towards my Capri resto so I've got these for sale. I'm located in Waterlooville, Hampshire (near Portsmouth). Set of 5 13'' Capri mk3 Laser 4 spoke alloys. These were on my mk2 until it's resto started so have been used recently. They are all in good condition, no major damage or lumps chipped off! They come complete with the 'Ford' badged centre caps. All wheels have good 185/70/13T tyres fitted, no damage and loads of tread. They are all the same make and age. The spare tyre is new and unused. The spare wheel has had the spokes painted grey for some reason but the wheel is fine other than that, it also has a red 'Ford' centre cap, the others are all blue. I was going to refurb these to go back on my mk2 after it's resto but have a full set of dartboards for it now instead. These alloys are useable straight away or perfect for refurbing. No idea what these are worth tbh, I'm thinking £150 for the set of 5. I'm open to offers though.

I think the paint has been over polished. It's worn thin all over but on some panel edges and the ridge in the bonnet it's gone down to primer. Sadly there's not much you can do about it short of a respray but that can wait. It still looks lovely unless you look hard up close. I'm going to get it painted at some point but for now I religiously keep it washed and a good coat of wax on it for protection. The important thing is the metal is all solid and never messed with, almost unheard of on a similar aged car over here. A gas conversion would certainly help matters, especially on this car as the engine is now in perfect fettle. I don't see the point for me though, I just don't use the car enough to make it worthwhile. It's a weekend toy really so the petrol costs aren't too bad. If I was using it regularly or for work/commuting I'd definitely get an LPG set up on though. The trunk is huge too so ideal for a gas tank.

It is massive. It's actually significantly longer than my long wheel base mk2 Transit! It's surprisingly easy to drive though, the power steering is typically yankee, very light. No idea about the fuel economy, I try not to think about it! Put it this way though, all my other old Fords can be considered to be economy cars by comparison!

Interior, is a weird metallic fabric. Lovely in a sort of 70's way!

A few more pics. Factory fresh engine. It's a huge car with a big engine bay but the oily bits are really crammed in! These are a pair of vacuum actuators for the headlight doors. They had to be custom made/refurb'd and came from Canada at a cost of nearly £900!

Here's a few pics and info about one of my current cars. It's a 1973 Mercury Marquis Brougham, 429 Ford V8 (7.0 litre) big block. I bought this from ebay US in 2013, I've always loved old yanks and regularly browse ebay to see what's going, then one day spotted this. As nice as muscle cars are I fancied something a little different and these old full size land yachts have a lot to offer. I sent the seller a few questions then the next day I bought it. It originally came from Georgia state, which would become a problem later, but the seller and car were now in Illinois. I don't know much about it's early life but it appears it was taken off the road in 1995 and laid up until about 2012 when the guy I bought it from got it. He got it running and put it up for sale. Anyway, once I bought it and had it transported to New York docks the problems started. As the car was from Georgia originally, the DMV there don't issue titles (the US version of our V5) on vehicles this old. This is a problem because the car needs a title to be exported! After a while of messaging the seller and making a plan he kindly offered to register the car to himself in Illinois which then gives me a Title to export with. Problem solved! Once it arrived here it was registered and MOT'd by the importer and I drove it home. Or rather tried to. When I arrived to pick it up the battery had gone flat and the starter wouldn't work, so a starter was borrowed from a Mustang (completely different part but it worked, sort of) the battery charged and we set off for home which was about 100 miles away. The car did not like this one bit! It ran very rough and kept cutting out, eventually the battery died again and the Mustang starter literally exploded trying to crank the big block engine over. The car was recovered home, fixed, but something was still not right. It would idle beautifully but when driven every time you took your foot of the gas it would start struggling and cut out. I tried everything but nothing would sort the problem out. In the mean time I sorted out various other problems like the starter, alternator etc. I admitted defeat in the end and got a professional to take a look. This revealed the reason why, I suspect, the car was laid up in the states. The engine was worn out! There were huge variations in compressions between cylinders, one was doing almost nothing. I decided to get the original engine fully rebuilt, and at the same time remove any of the US emission control stuff, although this car didn't have much of that anyway. It turned out that it was on the verge of serious failure, the bearings had all worn right down, rings were finished and the timing chain had stretched so much it was almost to the point of jumping the teeth. So now it has a completely rebuilt engine and it finally runs properly and drives great. Well, it did! After a few hundred miles the car began struggling intermittently and then wouldn't start. It turned out to be the fuel tank was full of silt and rust and once the car was being used again it stirred up all the crap in the tank which blocked the pipes and pump. So a new tank and pump were bought and fitted which finally did cure it. It's a pleasure to drive now and gets a lot of attention! The bodywork is all solid and original, just what I wanted. The paint is a bit thin though so a re paint is on the cards at some stage but for now it can wait. I just want to enjoy using it for now.

Next up is the Transit. It's a mk2 100L long wheel base high top with the trusty 2.0 pinto. I got this in 2011, it's an ex BBC outside broadcast van which was barely used having done 19k miles up to now! They were only used very occasionally then stored away which means it's in very good condition too. It's slowly being transformed into a camper now. And finally, the Mercury. This is a full size 73 Marquis Brougham with the 429 cubic inch (7.0 litre) big block Ford V8. I love american cars and spotted this on ebay US, sent an email to the seller and bought it. Getting it over here was a nightmare for various reasons but eventually it arrived. It's been off the road since 95 then in about 2012ish seems to of been recommissioned. I got it in 2013 but when it arrived, the bodywork was found to be original and very sound. However the same couldn't be said of the engine so it's had a full nut and bolt rebuild. It's spot on now! Hope you like my cars.

I've been registered here for a while, but not made a proper introduction yet! My name is Dan, I'm on the south coast in Hampshire. I've loved old cars for ever but old Fords are my main interest. My first car was a 74 mk2 Capri which I've still got now. Since then I've had a mk2 Fiesta, Orion, various 'smiley' Transits, then a slight detour where I had a few Volvo's. Although I've never been without at least one old Ford. More up to date, I've still got the mk2 Capri but it's been joined by a mk2 Transit, mk2 Granada estate and a Mercury Marquis (yes it is technically a Ford!). So, here's a few pics of my current fleet. The Capri, it's a very early 74 M reg car. It's a peasant spec model being a 1.6 L. It started life in stardust silver, then had a spell in some kind of blue then when I got it I had a cheapo paint job into roman bronze. It's done well really managing to keep it's original strut tops, spring hangers etc but it's started to look a bit rough the last few years so I've decided to make the investment in having a bare metal full resto on it. This will be to take it back to fairly standard condition but with a few slight alterations just to suit my taste like the colour changing to Miami blue. It's expensive and time consuming but it's getting the full treatment, no expense spared! Next is my mk2 Granny. This one is an 85 C reg, one of the last mk2's. It's a 2.8 Ghia X auto in mineral blue. It's got almost 200k miles on it so far! I spotted this for sale on the roadside near home and pretty much bought it there and then. It was going to be banger raced by the previous owner but he thought it was too good for that so tried his luck selling it. Since I bought it I've done loads of welding and repairs and it's now a reliable solid car, inspite of the way it looks with mismatched paint, peeling lacquer and various dings and rusty bits.