I remember those air blasters, even the advert on TV, oh dear....
It's amazing the price of those Felt bikes when new, mine was about $15000 ! But got on auction for $135 it's full carbon and weight is like 3kgs , mad !

With the vans wok dilemma, you could space the pedalbox back 10-15mm on an ally plate or something like welding extention tubes where the 4x bolts on. Could also do some trendy accel pedal bending to clear or refab the pedal bar to hook over the wok, some options to look into there..

3 weeks between updates, oops.
 
Its mostly been more painting underneath, and trying to source parts.
I did have a nice find, some Capri Mk1 legs already strenghtened and converted to coil overs, and GAz inserts. I have a set of now surplus lower legs that I was going to do the same to, but this will save some time
Funny part was they were for sale less than 2 minutes down the road from work.
 
They got a strip down for clean and repaint.
 
 
I have some alloy hubs, new top mounts, steering arms and tie rod ends coming. 

The engine bay is now painted, and previous reco'd 1600 struts removed.

 
It looks like the battery box will live behind the drivers seat, and I refitted Martys RS addon to the dash, plus the wheel and pedals just to confirm, and so I could pretent being Frank Kelly in Baby Blue when nobody was watching.

 

Outer roof vent is faired in, ready to touch up undercoat around the blended bit.
Even with the diesel heater, painting 2 pack is a bit of a challenge, so will press on shortly with the brakes and new lines.
The other find was just some secondhand fglass bumperettes, new leather for the steering wheel and gearbox gaitor, and heavyduty battery cable.
 
 

Looking good! Wont be too much longer till it's on the road from the looks of things.

I'd like to hope that by christmas the engine is in and the car is basically mobile.
 
The aim is to get to the Geelong All Ford Day next year with it.
The outside of the body still needs alot of preparation, and if I end up reupholstering the seats myself that might take a while.
 
But I'm trying as much as family/work etc allow.

It would be great to see the car there, unfortunately I dont think mine will make it next year, probably the year after.

It's good to set a completion time however as we all know reality will set in a few weeks short of said date.
My orange mk1 Escort zetec was booked for the Adel all Ford day once and I worked till midnight 2 weeks prior to the date, took it to a dyno and the cam wheel slipped bending all the valves, head off, new valves n gaskets 4 days from show day, it got there but wasn't fully done. Some goose asked how do I fit a Cosworth to a mk1, then I pointed to the cam cover with words of ZETEC 16V , he must've been an anorak !
Don't disappoint yourself if it doesn't make it in time, don't rush now cause a show is looming..

no I won't, its more just to have a theoretical time to work to.
If the weather is good on any weekend, i'm going to try and go sailing instead.
I saw some dolphins on the weekend, which is always magical.
 
The van project was meant to keep me busy over winters and after work, not take over life....
I find its a hard balance sometimes to keep everything happy.
 

not much to report, apart from some renewed enthusiasm that comes  after a week off up north to thaw out.
28 degrees during the day and about 16-18 at night was easy to live with.
 
Appartently my new hubs and strut bits have come in at SMCKA, and should be here later this week. 
While on hols, I looked through some old photos and found a pic of the missing heater lever selector sorround that Marty has been making. 
One was included in the original sale photos when I bought the van, but it looked like it wasnt in the boxes.
 
My current hold up relates to the drivers side inner roof brace, once this is sorted the headliner and all sorts of stuff can kick off.
Attached is an older photo, but when I rewelded the roof brace onto the new inner wheel tub, it inadvertantly put a small woof in the front window panel infil.I think the fault came in when reconnecting the diagonal brace behind the driver, twisting things out of whack a little.
 
I didnt notice until all of the rollover jib cross bracing was removed and what but what had previously been a smooth,faired and wave free infil, now has a slight woof in it.
 
It's not much, more than you'd want to fill, and it would be seen if you looked at it right.
Cutting or unpicking the support off at the tub would be a nightmare, as it's not going anywhere now, so realistically its just a matter of reshaping the front brace if thats whats imparting the twist. It should not be hard in theory, just a case of not wanting to make things worse.
 
I'm learning how lightly these cars where really made.
Next time, I think i'd prefer to do up an old SWB Landrover.
 
 

Lucky you went on hols ,
If you do remove the support bar, you could use you shrinker tool to tuck in the curve slightly or just weld it with a selected size spacer to not push against the panel. Another way is to use a slide hammer to pull it away from the panel .

Maybe run a bead of sealer along arch seam or drip in some paint between the gap before you hit the road if not done so yet

If you can't find the heater cover I'll get one out to you, I made another today .

Speaking of heaters, I can't find a mk1 heater box for my Escort, only have a early mk2 so I'm thinking to run windscreen heater vents from a mk2 and also the switch panel and surround, more mods ...!