WWSTWD with my MK3 Escort?

1.
There is no need for anybody to have anything a "good bit more pokey" on our roads.

3a. Sell it to an enthusiast who might want to do the mods you mention. Trading in is unlikely to realise any emotional value the car might have?

Saves you the bother of no.2. Treat yourself to something 'more interesting". Life's too short to wear a horsehair shirt for ever.

1 or 3.
Never modify a daily driver

I think the answer lies in how much you'd like for it to consume your life. Modifying a car in that way really has to be a hobby, something that you actively enjoy doing, spending evenings and weekends searching for, and fitting parts. It's also quite likely to attract thieves. Those things I seem to remember could be opened up with other people's keys. Pretty sure they're a doddle to steal in standard form.

Buy something modern, off the shelf for an easy life.

1.
There is no need for anybody to have anything a “good bit more pokey” on our roads.

Said no-one……ever.

Leave it as is, upgrade the engine and you’d need to upgrade the suspension/brakes/wheels/tyres/seats/bushes etc accordingly so not worth it as it will still be an old mk3 escort yet you’d have spent a fortune, sell it and buy something else if you want a bit more involving/fun to drive.

1 - It doesn't seem to be floating your boat so not really an option

2 - For all their faults they're getting rare now so it would be a shame to lose an orginal example in good condition, be as well buy something that needs some work

So that leaves 3

WWSTWD? What's that supposed to mean?

WWSTWD? What’s that supposed to mean?

What would Singletrack World do.

There is no need for anybody to have anything a “good bit more pokey” on our roads.

its got 50bhp. more than that is useful on the road, without being "dangerously" fast.

Two points:

1. Why haven't you shown us any pictures of this beast?

2. What's it worth? Could you buy (for example) a nice 10-year-old Fiesta with the proceeds?

Drive it through Rufford Ford.

A few years ago the answer would've been drop a 1600 CVH in it, which was the wrong answer even then. The correct answer is dropping a 1300 Kent crossflow in, the one from the 1300S mk1 Fiesta. Then boring it out to 1380. It still won't be fast, but it'll be usefully quicker. Good luck finding one, though.

2. it's a 1.1, lumpy custard is sharper. And being a Ford pretty much anything bolts to pretty much anything.

What Somafunk said, at 48hp you may well be at risk of being out accelerated by some particularly lively custard but is it worth it?

Unless you go really silly and can shoehorn a RWD conversion into the budget, you’re spending £3500 to put the guts of a ~10 year old £500 fiesta in it, to go as fast as a £500 10 year old Fiesta.

The forum hamsters ate my reply first time

Yeah, FWD bits play well enough together, certainly from mk1 Fiesta era up to the last of the Escorts and the first gen Focus. You could bolt a Mondeo Zetec to a mk3 Escort gearbox if you really wanted, and I think you'd need a mk1 XR2 driver's side engine mount. I spent so much time playing with all the combos near enough twenty years ago when I had a mk1 Fiesta.
I'd do it differently now, but then it would be a toy and not a daily.

Leave it as is, upgrade the engine and you’d need to upgrade the suspension/brakes/wheels/tyres/seats/bushes etc accordingly

It depends. If just swapping for a period correct 1.6 complete for example, they may well have the same brakes, suspension etc anyway.
If putting in a Zetec or maybe one of those tiny 3pot turbo units (which would be cool), it'll be a world of hurt needing all sorts of custom fabrication I'd imagine.

I have had both that self same car (a 1985-plate Escort) and probably that engine too (only in a mk1 Fiesta).

If I were you I'd sell it.

The forum replies seem to be slower than OP's Dagenham Dustbin at the mo.

Keep it old cars are cool modifying cars can get expensive very quickly and ruin a nice original car.

I would keep as is give it a good service and change plug leads maybe help it breathe a little better with a panel filter or a ram air induction kit so long as there is means of routing some extra cold air into the engine bay this is easily reversed if want to put back to original.

I would think you will be paying a lot more than £3,500 to make it really interesting and then you have insurance costs on top.

I have had both that self same car (a 1985-plate Escort) and probably that engine too (only in a mk1 Fiesta).

My younger brother had an 89 MK4 1.1 Escort popular. I think I can still hear the rattle of the tappets.
I was particularly impressed by the mechanical fuel pump leaking from a vent exactly in line with the exhaust.

It holed a piston and he had a recon engine fitted. Fortunately it caught fire a year or so later.

Stick a 1.6 cvh in it and have some fun.

it's a boggo ford escort, albeit an older, interesting one that you have some attachment to.

Stupid engine. All day every day. I've driven modified dailys for nearly 20 years.no regrets, just do it right.

Have a good look around RetroRides for inspiration - sleepers are cool.

Agree with the 'modifying cars' comments.

IME they can be great fun but not as daily drivers.

My last modded car was a Saab 9000 Carlsson that Abbott Racing had tuned. I loved that car but basically I completely buggered the reliability. Fun while it lasted though!

Rolling road had it with 260hp at the front wheels so was 'quite pokey'. Sorry Simon... I was young.
Also having said that 260hp isn't actually that powerful if you look at a typical modern rep mobile. Plenty enough for a H reg Saab though...

Got a spare trampoline? It'd be the quickest a 1.1 mk3 Escort's ever accelerated.

This is my favourite MK3 Escort

If it was mine I'd keep it looking standard and stick a 2.0 Duratec and IB5 gearbox in it.

Option 3, a Ford enthusiast will lap up a straight MK3 escort as long as the body and chassis are sound. Have a look at sold prices on eBay as a guide.

Then invest the money in a new faster car.

How handy are you.

Banging a new motor in one of them isn't huge if it's 1100 to 1300 or even cvh.

But that age and if its in good nick I'd leave it alone. There's mot many good solid boggo motors about and it's a rare car.

Christ I can't remember when I last saw one.

We had a 1.1 ghia in blue when i was a kid probably 1988ish... A188HAD lovely car! It was my gran parents

Sell it to either an enthusiast or a company that leases period cars to the TV and film industry. You'll get more that way and the car lives on.

I had a B reg (84?) 1.3l.
Based on my experience, definitely sell it. Someone will love to take it to car shows etc.

Sorry for the delay in responding - actually been out riding (who'd have thought it?!)...

I'll work out how to upload a photo in due course (link here). I do like it, but I don't love it like I loved my Mk2 Golf. Market seems fairly strong and I think the right buyer would be paying in the region of £5k, but the audience is fairly small in the grand scheme of things. Car isn't quite concourse but it's not miles off. I did a few classic car shows with it over the summer and it absolutely held its own.

Interesting comments on the modifications. I'd be looking at a Zetec or ST170 engine, stiffer springs and shocks, custom exhaust, new brakes and larger diameter steel wheels and better tyres. I'm no speed demon by any means and it only really does the school run and an occasional commute to work which is about 12 miles on the dual carriageway. It doesn't really want to go more than 50mph, but I think that's more to do with the lack of 5th gear as the engine steel feels like it has enough 'pull'.

I'm not particularly 'handy' so whatever went in it would need to be reliable, I do have a good network of garages and contacts that would do the work though.

I'd probably be looking at something like an EP3 Type R, another MK2 Golf or classic Mini (if I can get one that's not astronomical money), perhaps a Defender, so quite varied, but the running theme is 'interesting' in one way or another.

Ok, I've always fancied an old Ford but with a modern "normal" engine.
Think mk1 cortin with a 1.0 Ecoboost type of thing.

I remember mum had a mk3 1.3cvh and it was a hoot. Loved that car.
Also the car I learned to do head gaskets on and could get the head off in under 20min.

I bought an ECU of a chap who put st3 engine and running gear in a mk3 looked clean as well.

I’d be looking at a Zetec or ST170 engine, stiffer springs and shocks, custom exhaust

That would be hilarious in such a light car! You have to do that now.

I'd not be doing it to a near concours motor.

You could swap the box for a 5sp and see if that helps?

(link here).

I think that's an 84 not an 85?

Ooh, beige. I vote for turning it into a sleeper.

4. sell it. it may be worth a lot more than you imagine.

Drive it off the white cliffs of Dover as a brexit bonus... Also make sure you film it.

Having had a couple of 1970s Triumph sleepers, i'm saying sleeper all the way.

Some fat tyres and flames down the side should sort it out.

Seriously, I would either sell it to an enthusiast who wanted to upgrade it or I would just keep it fairly stock and hold onto it. Another 10 or 20 years and there won't be a lot of original ones left so it will gain value. Generally, a better exhaust, dampers, and tyres will be the most cost-effective performance improvements.

£3.5k won't go very far mods-wise so if that is your budget I'd keep it standard and sell it. Mk3's are going up in value, even for basic ones, so it's worth a decent chunk.

Oh and 50bhp isn't to be sniffed at, plenty of small cars running round with that (C1, Up!, Polo/Fabia etc) where people use them without issue. Wild seem a shame to kill a survivor driving it through the winter so either keep it but for summer use/fun only or move it in to someone who will. Thanks to the likes of Festival of the Unexceptional the mundane stuff is desirable to a lot of people.

seem[s] a shame to kill a survivor driving it through the winter

I'm very much of the school of thought that these things (regardless of perceived value) ought be driven, and are at their best mechanically when they are driven regularly. I daily drove my MK2 Golf before I had the Escort too. In my experience, it's when you don't drive them that things go wrong!

It's been really interesting reading all the comments. If it was a bit of a dog then the decision would be much easier, and I agree that £3.5k isn't much to spend to get it to where it'd need to be if it was going to have a 150bhp+ motor dropped in (as much fun as that would be). Much more than that provisional cost is unjustifiable. Head says keep it as is (as for a nearly 40 year old car it's been really reliable), heart says play with it.

Perhaps something as simple (and reversible) as some nice classic wheels would help make it more 'interesting' to me without making it either a money pit or ruining it's reliability and market appeal when the time comes to sell.

Golf's where much more solid.

If you do run it. Get it waxoiled lanogaurd what ever and make sure it's jetwashed underneath if it's been on salted roads

Given the ludicrous values of rare Fords of late surely a mint cooking Mk3 has to be worth something - even just as a film prop for some 80s drama or other.

I'd get rid and buy something nice. It may be mint but it was never a great car even 30 years ago.

I'm curious why you're driving a 40-year-old car anyway?

I love seeing cars of this era still going, but I wouldn't want to own one. Do you like the retro aspect? Ford enthusiast?

Otherwise I don't get why you'd keep something that has scarcity value.

Edit: Are you hoping to land a gig as a maverick TV detective who does things his own way?

I’m curious why you’re driving a 40-year-old car anyway?

This is the question in my head as well. Is it more 'fun' having this as a daily than a modern equivalent? Too many drawbacks for my liking if it is not also fun to drive.

I've always liked retro cars. Fell madly in love with my Mk2 Golf, sold it over lockdown when values went mental and made a good chunk of money on it, but the itch still needed scratching. The Escort came up locally, good price, and I part ex'd the van I was driving in for it.

I'm very happy with old cars, it's just not hitting the same spot as the Golf did. Hard to articulate really. I would still choose an old car again, what I'm finding is that some classics don't scratch the itch like others do. So either I work to make the Escort scratch the itch a bit better, or sell it to buy something that does scratch the itch.

Still no pictures.

Is it a cool 3 door, or hideously unfashionable 5 door?

Gotcha now.

Yeah, my mum had the 1.3 Escort mk3 "Laser" when I was at school, even with go-faster stripes and alloy wheels it was dull AF.

Still no pictures.

Popped one up on Imgur here: https://imgur.com/IIGaQUe

Can't work out how to embed or upload!

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/xCYTTMrZ/undefined-Imgur.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/xCYTTMrZ/undefined-Imgur.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Upload to postimages.org, click 'hotlink for forums' and paste into reply text box.

Edit. Too slow.

That's worth something to the right person, and it's obvious that the right person is not you. I'd be the same, especially after a mk2 Golf. I've had one of those for eighteen years now!
Sell it to someone who'll appreciate it, and pick up a tatty Boxster.

Post images Hotlink paste isn't working either!

Here's the gallery link incase anyone wants a gander: https://postimg.cc/gallery/XvqzLPY

Can’t work out how to embed or upload!

Right-click, copy image address.

Or there's a 'share' button right next to the image on imgur which will give you a link (and adds a bit of fluff around the image).

That’s a beauty

Sell it, find another mk2 Golf.

As others have said, to the right person this will have a lot of value.

A) Appreciate it for what it is
B) Sell it to someone who wants it for what it is

Tinkering with it just seems wrong given it looks to be in showroom condition.
Restomods/sleepers are usually from shells saved from the scrapheap, and various Frankenstein parts.

Chew
Free Member

As others have said, to the right person this will have a lot of value.

A) Appreciate it for what it is
B) Sell it to someone who wants it for what it is

Tinkering with it just seems wrong given it looks to be in showroom condition.
Restomods/sleepers are usually from shells saved from the scrapheap, and various Frankenstein parts.

👆 what they said

it's a lovely example, sell it and buy something more fun

Holy hell that looks mint like it just rolled out the factory. How much do you want for it?

1) keep as is
2) flog it

but I must vote

3)
"I’d be looking at a Zetec or ST170 engine, stiffer springs and shocks, custom exhaust, new brakes and larger diameter steel wheels and better tyres. " is absolutely the right answer.

Plug together Ford/Lego project. Most of that non-engine stuff would be standard RS turbo ford / pattern parts anyway, for suspension at least, and XR3 brakes, IIRC remember they avoided the crap ABS system the tubby got landed with.

With that you'd still have a reliable daily driver with around three times the welly in a light(ish) sensible (ish) retro box.

IIRC the 1800 zetec from a mk5 escort (The xr3i unit was 130hp IIRC) would be simplest thing to plug and play - the management unit would not need much messing around to get it going, the box is the same fitment - all the induction clobber would be plug and play, plus it retains factory driveability.

Whatever - put some decent security in it. These were comically easy to break into and hotwire.

YMMV in many ways.

* assuming the engine mounts are welded on properly. Can't think of anything else that would need metalwork.

If you want something that feels small, light, agile and uncomplicated compared to modern fat hatches get an ST170 or ST150. Better engine and box in the Fiesta and easy to uncork for more power but those MK1 Focus's in blue look very smart.

I've driven a few mildly enhanced MK6 ST's and they were brilliant. I actually tried to buy an ST170 a few years ago and rust was a big issue along with stiff, notchy gearboxes. I'd still have one if I could find a good'un.

You could probably get one for the price of the Escort. Finding a nice Golf will be harder and cost more money if that's an issue. I don't know, you could be loaded.

Holy hell that looks mint like it just rolled out the factory. How much do you want for it?

Yeah, it's a good 'un. I reckon the right buyer would pay in the region of £5k - £5.5k, but those kind of buyers are probably few and far between.

feels small, light, agile and uncomplicated compared to modern fat hatches

Nailed it in one. Don't want a Golf R, or Cupra but could quite fancy an EP3, or Lupo GTi for example.

I had a 1984 B plate - 1.6 Ghia when I was 19 after my Mk2 got robbed off the driveway. It's was pretty quick and plush inside.

A tidy Mk3 is fetching some good money these days - unmolested ones though !

You need these guys to sell it for you...! 🙂

https://www.mathewsons.co.uk/bangers-and-cash/

[img] [/img]

I'd just stick it on ebay and post the link in some FB Ford groups. You'll get thousands of views and you only need one buyer.

That is a thing of beauty. Go mad, take out a mahoosive loan, find a written off Focus ST and shoehorn in the engine. Coilovers and poly bushes everywhere. Keep the outside stock bar maybe a set of larger steels and lower profile tyres. Source some Recaros for the interior and start challenging twonks in Audi's at the lights

What do I know, whatever you decide you have a beaut there

I have an old MK3 Escort. It’s a 1985, 1.1L, 4 speed manual and in pretty mint, all original, condition. It’s also my daily driver, is very economical and (so far) reliable.

I'm calling bollocks - how has a '85 Ford not disolved into a pile of brown dust by 1990 let alone 2022?

I’m calling bollocks – how has a ’85 Ford not disolved into a pile of brown dust by 1990 let alone 2022

It's weird how some cars rust and others don't.
Some years ago I had a Sierra Sapphire, my parents had a hatchback Sierra. Both with the mighty 1.8 cvh, theirs a 1990 GLX, mine a 1989 GL.

Theirs rotted, mine didn't. From memory mine had a higher mileage too, they had theirs from new, mine was 3yrs/72000 miles old when I bought it.
I quite liked the Sapphire. Newest car I've ever owned. Was great fun in snow.

Given how nice and original it is I personally think it would be wrong to modify it and I love a restomod

Why folk would pay so much for a car of that era beats me

if it had not been so nice I would say go with modding it

Ford Sierras used to be amazing cheap fun. Not possible these days sadly.

I think the randomised rust was to do with how the body shells were treated between being welded together and painted. Some of them would have went straight from the line to the paint shop, some of them would have sat around for a while. Even the weather and humidity on the day would have made a difference.

I used to read too many Ford magazines.

The German built fords didn't rust, the UK ones did...I can't remember which models were built in each country though.

Cooking mk3s with too many doors are never going to be worth RS money but I expect you’d get more than 5 or 6k easily - and whoever bought it would be planning a sleeper zetec with XR3 brakes which they would do on their driveway for very little money. However easy they are to work on, if you’re paying someone to do it, it’s going to get into difficult to justify prices very rapidly - because you can always buy something better

I’d spend the winter dropping photos into the appropriate forums and Facebook groups and once it’s well known, stealth adds in the spring when those guys are thinking about quick summer projects

Then buy a classic Saab turbo for cheap, classic, reliable and hilariously rapid fun!

Keep for 3 years then sell to someone in London as 40 year old cars are exempt from the daily ULEZ charge.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/discounts-and-exemptions#on-this-page-6

Free from tax and MOT after a while too! Cheap motoring. I love old cars.

Where's the pictures of the old gal? Spent the mid-nineties up and down the motorway clubbing in an old Escort.

Stick an st 170 engine in it.
Stick some decent suspension and brakes on it.
Swap it for my focus st.
Sorted.

Free from tax and MOT after a while too! Cheap motoring. I love old cars.

But not free from being roadworthy so you get it MOT anyway.....

But is exempt from ulez isn't it ? Certainly exempt from the local emission zone.

Given how nice and original it is I personally think it would be wrong to modify it and I love a restomod

Why folk would pay so much for a car of that era beats me

if it had not been so nice I would say go with modding it

Totally agree with 1 and 3, to answer 2; rarity. As has been pointed out, how many do you see being driven around? Pretty much any mass-produced car from any decade up to the 90’s is a real rarity now, and one in good condition is even rarer.
As a result, they’re valuable to people who just enjoy driving vehicles like that, and showing them at shows around the country. There are many people who will have never seen cars like that, except in a period tv show.

If I had the money, I’d love an Opel Manta Mk1, even just a shell in good Nick, and restomod it - I had one once, it’s a beautiful car, and Opel recently did an EV restomod of one, and it’s just lovely.

I expect you’d get more than 5 or 6k easily

Might be overbaking it a bit there? Still, right buyer... following wind...

If I had the money, I’d love an Opel Manta Mk1, even just a shell in good Nick, and restomod it

Yes. This is my "one that got away".

I know an expert fabricator/restoration bloke with at least 3 A-series shells. I'm too skint to contact him though.

I’m curious why you’re driving a 40-year-old car anyway?

I drive a 1990 Mk2 Golf GTi with some subtle mods, mostly because I still enjoy it a lot, I don't do huge distances or drive that much and it puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. Plus it's reliable, simple to work on and most parts are cheap and easy to source. It's not quick by modern standards, but it's quick enough and feels quicker than it is because everything about it is direct, you're not isolated from the world by acres of sumptuous plastic and sound proofing and... it's like vinyl versus digital, maybe. It feels alive.

It's emphatically not 'a nice place to be' - cue piped lounge music - and it's not particularly comfortable and it's hard to get some bits like sunroof gubbins and some bits of body trim, but hey, that's older cars for you. Not buying new cars is more sustainable too if that's important to you. Mostly I guess I have an emotional attachment to it and every time I drive a modern car - or the household T5 - I feel underwhelmed and bored by the experience.

If I had a family, a long commute or did regular motorway stuff, I'd make different choices, but I don't, so it works for me. I wouldn't own a bog stock 80s Escort though, I'd get rid for as much as possible and look for a nice Mk2 GTi. Good luck with that though, inflated prices and hard to find a decent, clean, un-ruined example these days. Or a Corrado, but that's a whole other can of expensive worms.