Full Mk1 XR2 Restoration

Heater and loom

I put a new matrix in the heater box cleaned it up and added some new foam to the mounting faces , when I bolted it up I found the foam at the scuttle was too strong so had to change it luckily the new matrix came with some softer foam. I then set about fitted the tar pads but it was 0 degrees c in the garage as there was a frost this morn and they would nearly shatter if you drop them I got the space heater on and made then toasty warm and heater the floor with a hair dryer to make things much easier. Next I started cleaning the loom but soon realised its a shitter and has been bodged to hell and me ripping the immobiliser out made it worse. Ive a better loom and started taking scotch loks out of it ( i hate those things) I also spent some time trying to figure the immobiliser wiring to refit it but soon gave up , Ive cut too many ends off to refit it and all the wires are black.

The engine is fitted

Yesterday got at the gearbox with the autosol and its came up as good as its going to get , bored polishing now. Not much difference between the clean and dirty one is there. I fitted new driveshaft seals in the box too just incase. Ive the loom mainly sorted too after a solder-athon too.

Today I got the engine fitted

I had borrowed an engine crane but there wasnt enough room to use it so had to go it the hard way. I bolted the pulleys and bits on the block after fitting the gearbox up ,ive used another cradle for now so as not to scratch the painted one. Engine painted and box fitted

Dissy cleaned up and fitted too.

Engine under the car but I then found as it was only sitting on a mat it was far too low so had to get some bits of wood under it to lift it up and lower the back end as it was them too high.Health and safety wouldnt have been impressed as it was a balancing act.

Lowering shell to meet engine with the trolley jack .

Engine bolted in place, Cant find the inner wing part of the mount for passenger side yet though. No idea where its got too.

Driveshafts

Onto the driveshafts, I stripped the shafts down , replaced 2 cvs , all new boots ,painted and regreased.

New bearing fitted in the hubs then onto fit the shafts , one spline on the new cv was very tight to get on the hub , down fancy having to take it off again.

Did anyone know mk2 xr2 cvs are bigger than base model cvs, I do now , Its not a lot but its important ,the cv wont clear the cradle which had already been modded for a base model mk2 shaft.

Hear are the shafts almost ready to be fitted , im waitng some more stainless boot ties and a crimping too to fit them .

A few tweaks

I have these compbrake top mounts but when fully tightened the topmount had about 3mm of movement bewteen the top and bottom nuts as the thread doesnt go far enough on the shock. I added 2 washers to take up this gap to the tomount is clamped as it should be. Balljoint is on wrong ( I know was in a hurry )

Drivers side mk2 xr2 drive cv wont clear the cradle so time for to get the grinder and welder out again. I cut the join between the 2 pieces then used a 1mm cutting disc to take about 10mm of each side after fitting the cradle to a spare box offering up the cv and marking round it with a marker then another line a bit further down to allow for a weld and some clearance.After I had cut it I hammered it down to close the gap before wedling then clamped it .Just needs painting now. The cradle gets asked about a lot so thought id take some pics.

Front end parts refitted

Not got much done for weeks but made a start again. Inlet manifold cleaned and fitted as well as fuel pump , stat housing cleaned and suspension for drivers side including new drilled and grooved discs. Got some new genuine hose clamps and stripped a few bits ready for plating including lights .The first water rail disintegrated when I took the hose of it but this one is good apart from one pinhole so far which will need welding. Top of Oil cap has turned green and wont clean up

Brakes

Got the Janspeed (i think) manifold fitted as well as the starter, rad and fan.I had a brand new rad cap but it wont fit cant be the right one. The motor needs painted but there's other things to do . They I continued piping the brakes were id left of at the bias valve last time, it turned out ok ,should have had the shoes in but discovered the backplates are on the wrong sides, I had spend ages trying to fit the shoes and took the drums of another axle before i realised , its been a long time since i stripped them .

After that more work on the brakes this week, Calipers stripped and painted up then fitted with new seals , bleed nipples and new chrome pistons .I also cleaned the drums up ,I had new ones but as these have the ford logo and looked ok thought id keep them but changed the bearings. Also fitted nos genuine shoes with new wheel cylinders and springs, what a faff I had them of and on and the backplates on the wrong side then the adjusters on the wrong side. New green stuff pads, which I put the backing rubbber on then they wouldnt fit over the disc so I removed it of one pad rubbber and now it just fits but its tight, anybody else had that? Calipers finally mounted and brakes bleed today with a pressure bleeder that uses air from a tyre but it leaked at the cap before I spotted it, got it wiped up before it did any damge I hope. No brake rod on pedal yet as its away for plating so no idea if the brakes work

Wiring and headlining

Started on fitting the wiring loom then used wiring loom cloth tape with contact adhesive on the back to glue the pillar trims on as original so that I can start fitting the glass soon.Once the trims were on I fixed the headling into place gluing it as I went , I just had it taped out of the way covered in plastic to keep paint off when the car was sprayed as if you take it off the chances of getting it too look right again are slim.The marks on it just seem to be dust.Then fitted the grab handles, roof clock and sunvisors , starting to look more carlike again. Still waitng on my zinc plated bits but should be here next. Didnt glue the headlining at the bootlid as the wiring to the bootlid was chopped off by me when removing the bootlid so needs sorted first.

Cleaned up the alternator and ignition box and fitted some bits that have arrived .The fog gaskets and water rail are new, so I fitted the water rail which was difficult enough as its a tight fit with the manifold in the way.Then I tried glass fitting and got the 2 side windows and the windscreen fitted which took most of the day .You really need someone pushing the glass but there was no-one around so did it myself.The last windscreen I tried to remove I broke but this one went better and is still in one piece, noticed a few grinding spark marks on the inside of it though when I cleaned it, oops!

Gear linkage and carb

Got my plated and powder coated bits back, can't beat a bit of bling!

Did a bit more got the gearlinkage back together after plating and fitted after I cleaned the underseal of the housing ,but second attempt at setting the gearchange and 1st and 2nd are still impossible to find, there's no oil in the box though so maybe that has something to do with it.I thn fitted the clutch wrong as well (looped the cable over the metal catch you cant see at the back which would soon chew though it )after first finding the ratchet was on the wrong way round so pedal box out again .Then the brake bar sat to one side and not central the the pedal rod so after much head scratching it turns out the brake bar only fits correct one way round although it looks identical either side . Got the group 2 replica lower strut brace fitted at last too , bit of a tight squeeze with the engine in then my newly powered coated door handles ,then fitted the locks and inner handles .It was a pain the doors swinging open after I fited the glass so had to get it sorted before it got scratched. Then I started cleaning the carb but it will never be clean even with carb cleaner , I can see why people paint them.

Fitted the carb, filled the gearbox oil , got the linkage adjusted at last and can get all gears now then fitted the exhaust then got the engine running yesterday. The first pic the the smoke coming of the exhaust. Its smoked a lot and then boiled over into the expansion bottle showing the enginebay with antifreeze , should have had the fan on by the time I did it was too late. I had a leak at the heater hose at the manifold but just cut 10mm of the hose and rejoined but the water pump is leaking now .Also changed the temp sensor as it wasnt reading . Today I got both doors aligned and both front wings fitted and the wiper motor .I had to take the linkage out again as the later motor uses a spined link and the one on mine was square, swapped the link over andf back in again. The last pic is as it sits now: