Hello from Cheshire :)

[ekjdm14]

Hi all, new member just wanting to say hi.  We've been largely playing with frenchies for the last 15 years or so although I cut my teeth in Mk2 festers & had a few Escorts & Sierras that were all great fun cars.

Anyhow our youngest lad was looking for something to learn to drive in eventually as the insurance is a bit silly on his 306 XS, and found a clean looking 72k mile Mk4 Fiesta 1.3 in the best colour and up cheap with long MoT so we went to have a butchers at that last week and bought that, but while we were down there I spotted a silver '93 Scorp' 2.9i that'd been sat for about 6 years & long story short, that's also followed us home! (along with a set of 13" Wellers that now live on Ryan's Fiesta. Expensive day, that one!)

 

The Granny runs, moves & stops good although could use some fresh petrol after sitting so long (good thing she's a thirsty girl, tank is about empty of the old stuff) and a good service/maybe the TPS is flaky as it's woolly off idle sometimes. Main issues were both rear arches are (were) gone, front springs knackered and outer sills need a couple of small patches, other than that it's just age related dings/scratches from the old fella who used to drive it getting a little "touchy feely" with the bumper corners in his old age.

 

Right, that's me for now but will get some photos at some point of where we're up to so far (ordered a pair of rear arch repair sections the other day & have one roughly fitted now, might leave the other side till after MoT as it's not quite as bad) and any trials/tribulations we have along the way.

 

Cheers, Dan (plus Daniel, Ryan & long-suffering Emma lol)

[Johnny Boy]

Hello there 👋

[Dave Knight]

Welcome Dan. 
 

get some pics up. 

[Cuili1]

Welcome to the site Dan

[ekjdm14]

Thanks folks, I'm notoriously bad at getting photos but will try (it's a PITA getting them from phone to laptop, just CBA usually!)

 

Got onto a couple of the more "niggly" things with the Granny now as weather not great for welding. Blower fan doesn't work, found blown fuse "cool, maybe a quick fix"... Course not, new fuse and still nothing. From what I've seen so far the thermal fuse resistor pack is mangled (open on one coil too) and the connectors have been hot at some point, easy enough to replace a few spade terminals there but nothing doing with power direct to the blower motor itself either so that's likely dead as well! At least it's not blown the fuse again lol.

Also a small miss/stumble at idle and just cracking the throttle, sounds like cap/rotor from the relative spark strength pulling leads off, but they look OK inside, leads are decent, will have to pull plugs and check/change those too.

Would love to be able to find a wiring diagram about now, would help a lot with sorting the blower motor if anyone has an idea where to find one?

 

As an aside, I knew a Dave Knight back in school days. Not been Cruckton hall by any chance?

[Dave Knight]

3 hours ago, ekjdm14 said:

Thanks folks, I'm notoriously bad at getting photos but will try (it's a PITA getting them from phone to laptop, just CBA usually!)

 

Got onto a couple of the more "niggly" things with the Granny now as weather not great for welding. Blower fan doesn't work, found blown fuse "cool, maybe a quick fix"... Course not, new fuse and still nothing. From what I've seen so far the thermal fuse resistor pack is mangled (open on one coil too) and the connectors have been hot at some point, easy enough to replace a few spade terminals there but nothing doing with power direct to the blower motor itself either so that's likely dead as well! At least it's not blown the fuse again lol.

Also a small miss/stumble at idle and just cracking the throttle, sounds like cap/rotor from the relative spark strength pulling leads off, but they look OK inside, leads are decent, will have to pull plugs and check/change those too.

Would love to be able to find a wiring diagram about now, would help a lot with sorting the blower motor if anyone has an idea where to find one?

 

As an aside, I knew a Dave Knight back in school days. Not been Cruckton hall by any chance?

no mate, not me. 👍🏻

[ekjdm14]

No worries.  Just managed to find a '92 wiring diagram that looks to be close enough to our car to help diagnose the blower so that's a bonus. Decided to simply mud up the left rear arch for now as it's nothing like as bad as expected so will tidy it up enough to enjoy the car for a while & always got the repair panel to do it properly in future, just itching to cruise round and enjoy the spring weather when it returns!

[Cuili1]

13 hours ago, ekjdm14 said:

Thanks folks, I'm notoriously bad at getting photos but will try (it's a PITA getting them from phone to laptop, just CBA usually!)

 

Got onto a couple of the more "niggly" things with the Granny now as weather not great for welding. Blower fan doesn't work, found blown fuse "cool, maybe a quick fix"... Course not, new fuse and still nothing. From what I've seen so far the thermal fuse resistor pack is mangled (open on one coil too) and the connectors have been hot at some point, easy enough to replace a few spade terminals there but nothing doing with power direct to the blower motor itself either so that's likely dead as well! At least it's not blown the fuse again lol.

Also a small miss/stumble at idle and just cracking the throttle, sounds like cap/rotor from the relative spark strength pulling leads off, but they look OK inside, leads are decent, will have to pull plugs and check/change those too.

Would love to be able to find a wiring diagram about now, would help a lot with sorting the blower motor if anyone has an idea where to find one?

 

As an aside, I knew a Dave Knight back in school days. Not been Cruckton hall by any chance?

For a heater motor, try Motomobil. For the heater resister try the same or the Capri Club. 

[ekjdm14]

Thanks, will give them a check if I need to buy a replacement. Hoping to be able to save the original motor with some oil & a set of brushes but we'll see.

 

In other news, the Scorp' is officially back on the road after 6 years! 🤩  Had it to a point where I thought just book it in & see what else needed sorting, as I had a feeling it'd fail emissions because of a slight stumble at idle caused by the dizzy cap (Typically it's an unobtanium part, similar to the earlier 2.8 but with different connectors). I've got a 2.8i cap on order and was going to grab some leads to suit ready for the retest when I'd have sorted the other issues too. However, she just squeaked through emissions by skin of her teeth & nothing else to fail on either! Bonus!

 

Think she got a bit too excited at the prospect of being brought back to life though as she promptly refused to restart after the test, traced it down to a blown fuse caused by the starter wiring touching the exhaust manifold so that was a brief scare.  Fired her up bridging the solenoid and marked that as another job needs done but other than that well pleased. Will try and get some photos now she's all cleaned up, rear arches still need smoothing out and paint plus the spoiler is missing but other than that & the electrical she's pretty much ready for springtime cruising. Perfect timing too, what with fuel prices being such a bargain currently and nobody panic buying making everywhere run out... Ohhh, hang on... 🤦‍♂️

[ekjdm14]

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!