Bloopey's Collection

Outsourcing To Mexico

After a long and pretty prosperous year and my business taking off quite well, I have decided to leave the shop in the UK and move to mexico to prepare a new shop. The income from the old shop is still steady so i'm sure the employees can keep it running like a well oiled machine while I look out for a new location and try to make a name for myself in Mexico. As soon as I left the plane I could feel the heat, something i'm not used to after living in the UK for so long. I rushed to the nearest watering hole before I went for a look around, to see the sight. Mexico sure is pretty, I think i'll enjoy my new venture and I couldn't of picked a more picturesque place.

Sourcing Transportation

After spending a few days, chatting and meeting new people I bumped into an old man, Juan I think he said his name was. He heard about my venture and funnily enough he had a grandson living in England who's car I had worked on in the past. We got talking and I was telling him about my new ideas and plans for my business and he seemed to be impressed. I told him that i'm on the lookout for my first project and that I need myself a vehicle to get myself around in. He let me in on a little secret and told me of an old abandoned car of one of his friends that sadly passed away before he could finish the project, he claimed he was too old to finish it for his friend however he would allow me to purchase it and restore it to its former glory. I immediately asked to see the vehicle and he kindly offered to take me in his truck to look at it. We pulled into his place and there it was, an original 1986 Ford Escort RS Turbo, as soon as I saw it I knew i'd be taking it off his hands. It was a little rough and didn't run however from a quick inspection I could tell it wouldn't take much to get the engine purring again.

My First Motor In Mexico

It had been sat there for a long time, Juan said it must of been about 10 years atleast since it was first parked there. He grabbed the papers and the keys from the shack and I signed them straight away with a big smile on my face like a kid at christmas. This is a car that I never would of thought I would own, especially not in Mexico. I had soo many questions but they can wait, the job to get it hauled off to my place so work could begin was a priority. First things first I had to move a load of the junk that was around it so that Juan could reverse his truck up as there was no way this car was moving anywhere fast, the battery was completely dead and the brakes were fully siezed. Nothing a bit of WD40 can't fix though   Trying to get into the car was a nightmare, the old handles were tough as old boots. With a little bit of careful strength the door eventually popped open though. I put the key in the barrel just to see what would happen and it didn't even light up or make a sound, guess it needs a new battery before I can tset if it runs. I slipped it into neutral, took the handbrake off and let Juan try to winch it on his truck while I tried to navigate it with the awful weight of no power steering, it wasn't going anywhere though. After generous amounts of WD40 and a quick Break for some lunch we managed to get it onto the back of the flatbed. Off to my place we went where immediately I was in awe at the fact i've just bought an RS Turbo. I helped Juan unload it and then I took him for a beer to say thanks. Turns out the car is very low mileage and that the previous owner had only driven it on special occasions and to a few shows, it was a classic example of a car left unchanged from factory that just needed a little bit of work after a malfunction where it broke down on him after a show. After pecking Juan's head with all the questions I had about the car we parted ways and I immediately got the cleaning gear out in order to see the true condition of this beauty. Things were not looking good however after a full valet of the inside and a good detailing job it started to look a little cleaner. The paint was done for and it had a little bit of surface rust so I covered it with a bit of rust treatment and tucked it away for the day. Turns out the previous owner had actually began to paint the wings as they were a different shade compared to the rest of the car, he must of been planning a full respray as there were none of the vinyls on the car but some official new ones tucked away in the glovebox. I ordered a tin of paint in the classic Diamond white B6 ready to be picked up the next day and then went out for a few drinks with some local lads.

Is it gonna be a runner?

Got woken up by a phonecall from the paint shop saying that my stuff was ready to collect and to pop in at any point in the day to grab it. I called for a mate to come collect me and take me there but he was busy for a few hours so I thought while I wait, why not try get the car running see what else I might need ot grab on a trip out, I knew i'd need atleast a battery. I got the car jacked up, dropped all the old oil out, which was like treacle, changed the oil filter to a new one I had lying around and topped it back up with some Castrol GTX 10W-40 i'd stocked into the garage. I decided while I was there doing that I may aswell flush out the coolant too. New fluids in I tackled the next problem, the brakes. I managed; although it was a struggle to get the wheels off to then remove the calipers and disks. Surprisingly the disks weren't in that bad of a condition, I gave them a good clean with a wire brush and they were fine. The calipers were the cause of the issue, they had so much gunk on them you'd think it was a solid block inside. I scrubbed them upthe best I could, popped the pads out and put some new ones in and then flushed the fluid replacing it with some fresher stuff. Got it all back together, got the car in neutral and the wheels still wouldn't spin properly. I guess I better add brakes to my shopping list...

The paint shop

Just as I got finished reattaching the wheels my mate called me to say he was almost here to take me to the shop. I dropped the car and pulled the cover back over it, I can finish working on that later and hopefully get it turning over. Shopping list in hand we headed out to the paint shop and also to get a few more things like a battery. He picked me up in a super clean Focus RS that he mentioned about getting me to maybe do a little work to, I said i'd love to as soon as I get this RS Turbo sorted. After a rather thrilling ride of spirited driving we got to the shop, I grabbed my paint and ended up getting some goodies for the car in a sale from the parts shop next door. I got an exhaust, some injectors and a new air filter. They didn't have any calipers in stock so I ended up scouring facebook and managed to find a guy nearby selling some brembos that I could make fit. Within 20 minutes i'd bought some brakes and collected them managing to scrounge another ride off my mate. He then dropped me off at home and left me to get back to work saying about meeting up later on for some food.

Painting time - sorta

I sanded all the old paint off and made sure there were no patches of deep rust, under all that paint and dirt the car is in excellent condition for its age. I guess the dry mexican weather has protected it the best it could despite it being left outside all the time. I managed to get it all primered up before I went into town for some well deserved food. I tell you, the taco places around here are amazing compared to back in the uk, the people are soo friendly too. After the meal was finished and i'd squared up my bill we went back to my home for a chilled out night playing video games, leaving the car till the morning. I couldn't help but snap a quick little picture after it had all been primed though, such a beautiful car. A real piece of history that just shows how great older cars were for the time.

Ohhh never expected an RS Turbo tbf! 🤩

Nice to see you here in Mexico, we should definitely get a beer when you’re free

Cougar wrote:

Ohhh never expected an RS Turbo tbf! 🤩

Nice to see you here in Mexico, we should definitely get a beer when you’re free

Fancied something a little different to the usual jap stuff 🤭 Couldn't resist a good restoration job on an old ford, still on the lookout to own a cosworth one day

Be nice to see you around, these mexican roads are something else, cant wait to be ripping around. I'm always up for a beer or 2, i need to see that 240 of yours, i heard its very tidy

Primed and painted

I woke up fresh as a daisy at 8am eager to crack on and get the car roadworthy. After some eggs and bacon on a tortilla wrap I managed to scavenge out of the cupboards, I got straight to work. I decided it would be best I take the front end apart so I could have a little room to work on the engine bay while the paint cured so as I wasn't wasting my day waiting for paint to dry. I managed to borrow some panel stands off one of the neighbours down the road so I wouldn't paint the floor too and what a lifesaver they were, might have to try source myself a set. Managed to get 2 coats sprayed on before dinner, it's surprising how much the mexican heat speeds up the drying time, or i've been given some dodgy paint Applied another couple of coats after enjoying some quesadillas and churros I ordered to be delivered for my dinner and topped it all off with a nice layer of clear lacquer. While I let it all dry completely and let the lacquer harden ready for a polish, I decided to get started on trying to get the engine to actually run.

Will it run?

First thing on the list...Battery. The old battery was definately done for, I don't think they are designed to last 10 years and I wasn't gonna even try to see what would happen if I charged the ancient thing. I quickly swapped it for the new battery i'd grabbed yesterday and eagerly rushed to turn the key. Admittedly I started to get excited when the dash lit up but then, nothing. I took the key out of the ignition, locked and unlocked the doors and decided to try again, turned the key with a little hope i'd atleast get some life and to my surprise it began to turn over. It let out a big puff of smoke and with a few splutters it started. The neighbours probably thought I was mental with the scream I let out, they also probably thought I was high off the fumes from the amount of smoke bellowing out of the back of it. Something clearly wasn't right, maybe it was the fuel I thought, could of gone off in that time. I dropped the tank and emptied it out, sure enough the fuel was pretty much orange with weird black bits in, a good sign that that was the cause of my problem. While I had the tank off I checked the sender and inspected the fuel filter, the filter wasn't all that bad so after a quick rinse I decided to chance it and see how it gets on.

Mods? It's not even driven yet

Fuel tank bolted back on I eagerly began to fill it back up with a little fuel to try flush some of the older stuff out of the pipes. I was so desperate to drive it, I again rushed to fire it up. It started again, was a little better but was still just not quite right. I figured, since I had already bought some new injectors and an air filter I may aswell get them fitted to see if they helped at all. Removing the old injectors it was obvious they were done for, the ends were black and covered in some weird soot. I really hope that I don't have to rebuild this engine   While I was in the bay I decided changing the plugs can't do no harm either, fresh plugs, injectors and a new air filter can only do good things right? I fired it up once again and it sounded sweet as a nut, problem solved. Immediately I rushed to bolt the body panels back on and get out driving when I remembered the main problem, the brakes. I have never had the wheels off a car so fast, removing the calipers and disks, then installing the brembo brake kit I bought yesterday. It was almost as if the car was meant to have bigger brakes, they bolted straight on and seemed to actually be working. It had begun to go dark so I took it for a little rip up the road and back, pulled the cover back over it and decided to call it and relax for the rest of the night.

I hear the canyon has some amazing roads! I think we should test the RS Turbo out there