89 Sierra RS Cosworth (Sapphire)
Discussion
bought my first Sapphire Cosworth for £1500
White
2wd
G reg
leather interior
standard apart from a stainless steel exhaust
needs a bit of welding on one of the sills for MOT
rest of the bodywork is pretty good
has been sat for around a year..... so came with no tax or test
problems i knew about when i bought it.....
water leak from the head, under the exhaust manifold
cracked header tank
leak from the radiator
AMAL valve "dodgy"
turbo heat sheild missing
gearknob missing
front bumper been pulled off by a recovery wagon at some point
I'm OK with spanners, so doing some bits myself
I've also got my Dad & brother Matt helping me
my Dad worked for a Ford dealership (Crystal) & my brother Matt does paint & bodywork for a living, so welding & paintwork will be his job
Matt has a really good look around the car before i agreed to buy it & he's happy with it he can't find any crash damage & it's pretty good rust wise rear arches are better than we thought they would be.......just a bit of surface rust on them really
planning on it going back on the road mid March
my pictures are not the greatest..... my camera is not great & i'm still learning how to use my camera phone
Matt already had some bits removed & sorted out the first night I went up to his unit…… he’d already sorted the radiator out, he got the original one re-cored
late in the week Matt got told about a Sapphire Cosworth in a pretty local scrapyard
got some good bits
good 4x4 vented bonnet in white (my bonnet was pretty rusty)
good scuttle panel..... mine looked like this
Spax top adjustable front shocks, grooved disc's & Mintex M1144 pads
all the suspension off the scrapyard car is polybushed
rear shocks were also Spax adjustable....... but look past it
i'll find some secondhand or maybe even new
Saturday evening we (me & Matt) desided to pull the head off
doesn't look great :-/
the last headgasket wasn't done very well........ could see were the heads been rubbed down with wet'n'dry & theres 3 exhaust/turbo manifold studs snapped off
also there maybe Rad Weld in the head...... channels look a bit blocked
good points to the head are the cams have no wear & look really good, no black sludge in the head either
valves look good as well
no signs of prob's on the combustion side of things
turbo looks good........ needs the 3 studs that hold the downpipe flange in place need replacing (very rusty)
the head's going to the machine shop tomorrow (Monday)
should know by late tomorrow or Tuesday if theres a problem
when the head goes back on, it's going on with a Group A gasket & ARP bolt......... i've not really any intension with running more than 204 bhp, but if i end up wanting more power i don't want to have to take the head off again
White
2wd
G reg
leather interior
standard apart from a stainless steel exhaust
needs a bit of welding on one of the sills for MOT
rest of the bodywork is pretty good
has been sat for around a year..... so came with no tax or test
problems i knew about when i bought it.....
water leak from the head, under the exhaust manifold
cracked header tank
leak from the radiator
AMAL valve "dodgy"
turbo heat sheild missing
gearknob missing
front bumper been pulled off by a recovery wagon at some point
I'm OK with spanners, so doing some bits myself
I've also got my Dad & brother Matt helping me
my Dad worked for a Ford dealership (Crystal) & my brother Matt does paint & bodywork for a living, so welding & paintwork will be his job
Matt has a really good look around the car before i agreed to buy it & he's happy with it he can't find any crash damage & it's pretty good rust wise rear arches are better than we thought they would be.......just a bit of surface rust on them really
planning on it going back on the road mid March
my pictures are not the greatest..... my camera is not great & i'm still learning how to use my camera phone
Matt already had some bits removed & sorted out the first night I went up to his unit…… he’d already sorted the radiator out, he got the original one re-cored
late in the week Matt got told about a Sapphire Cosworth in a pretty local scrapyard
got some good bits
good 4x4 vented bonnet in white (my bonnet was pretty rusty)
good scuttle panel..... mine looked like this
Spax top adjustable front shocks, grooved disc's & Mintex M1144 pads
all the suspension off the scrapyard car is polybushed
rear shocks were also Spax adjustable....... but look past it
i'll find some secondhand or maybe even new
Saturday evening we (me & Matt) desided to pull the head off
doesn't look great :-/
the last headgasket wasn't done very well........ could see were the heads been rubbed down with wet'n'dry & theres 3 exhaust/turbo manifold studs snapped off
also there maybe Rad Weld in the head...... channels look a bit blocked
good points to the head are the cams have no wear & look really good, no black sludge in the head either
valves look good as well
no signs of prob's on the combustion side of things
turbo looks good........ needs the 3 studs that hold the downpipe flange in place need replacing (very rusty)
the head's going to the machine shop tomorrow (Monday)
should know by late tomorrow or Tuesday if theres a problem
when the head goes back on, it's going on with a Group A gasket & ARP bolt......... i've not really any intension with running more than 204 bhp, but if i end up wanting more power i don't want to have to take the head off again
Wow great find on the scrappy car - full polybush kit/nice brake/adjustable suspension is a bit of a bonus! Although keep an eye on the Spax bits, they're lethal on a 205, don't know if they're better on Fords?
Looks like you know what you're doing though, and you have the two most important thing for a project like this - space and time, although a brother who's a bit handy with a welder and spray gun must be useful as well!
Anyway, I'm sure you'll do her proud, and look forward to seeing the progress.
Looks like you know what you're doing though, and you have the two most important thing for a project like this - space and time, although a brother who's a bit handy with a welder and spray gun must be useful as well!
Anyway, I'm sure you'll do her proud, and look forward to seeing the progress.
Crikey wondered where all these went to. It's a throwback to see a car where they didn't expect it to do more than 100,000 miles!! Is it 59k or 159k (I dare say from the condition it had better be 159k but then I come from mercs..)? Looks like a good project and it's nice to see one of these which has is used rather than a garage queeny.
Pentoman
did a HPI check before buying it
No crashed (panels on the car confirm this)
Never stolen
been on the same reg plate since new
only thing we can't 100% confirm is mileage..... clocks say 69,616
National mileage register says theres a discrepancy on the mileage, but the can't investigate due to the car been over 10 years old
bolster on the drivers seat looks to have done more than 69k........but i'm not sure it the leather interior is original
did a HPI check before buying it
No crashed (panels on the car confirm this)
Never stolen
been on the same reg plate since new
only thing we can't 100% confirm is mileage..... clocks say 69,616
National mileage register says theres a discrepancy on the mileage, but the can't investigate due to the car been over 10 years old
bolster on the drivers seat looks to have done more than 69k........but i'm not sure it the leather interior is original
the heads at Alex Carr's in Hull for skimming etc.
when one of the exhaust/turbo manifold studs has been re-drilled (by whoever bodged the last head gasket)......... they have drilled into the waterway
basically all the stud holes are getting welded up & then drilled / tapped
skimming wise it looks OK
when one of the exhaust/turbo manifold studs has been re-drilled (by whoever bodged the last head gasket)......... they have drilled into the waterway
basically all the stud holes are getting welded up & then drilled / tapped
skimming wise it looks OK
So far it's spent most of its life in the garage 
paulshears said:
i'm beginning to think the 69,616 on the clock is about right, even though National mileage register says theres a discrepancy
took 2 alternator belts, PAS belt & waterpump off tonight..... & there all Motorcraft OE parts
i would say not although im sure you have better knowledge of that particular car. the seats have seen a lot of wear and when i take my focus to ford they are serviced with oe motorcraft parts too. surely just means it was either serviced last by ford or whoever serviced it used oe ford parts.took 2 alternator belts, PAS belt & waterpump off tonight..... & there all Motorcraft OE parts
of course i could be wrong.
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