Yeah it's one of those little things that look good once done. I have planned the bumper to sit right next to the body bump along the back .
Mounts will be welded bolts to plate and sika stuck on, brackets will be metal strap as usual but the side bolts won't be in the factory bumper place, my plan is to have the side bracket straight off the body and at 90deg to the bumper, simple theory, will see how I go !

Drewdog
I took 10mm off either side of my RS rear bumper when I deleted the bolts which carried through to the end caps which made a huge difference.

You sent me looking back through your build, what an underrated mod, it makes the whole back of the car look so much better. Looks like i'm on the hunt for a rear bumper now .

PartTimeMK2

Drewdog
I took 10mm off either side of my RS rear bumper when I deleted the bolts which carried through to the end caps which made a huge difference.

You sent me looking back through your build, what an underrated mod, it makes the whole back of the car look so much better. Looks like i'm on the hunt for a rear bumper now .

If you see any for sale in the West let me know and I'll get it posted to you, its the least I can do for giving you extra job to do🤣
You can really see in the first pic how much the end caps kick up to meet the bumper from the original fitting, it also helps match the caps to the side stripe.

You don't need a RS rear bar to chop shop, just a normal Escort one will work . RS bumper is a normal one with the ends cut off and those extention irons welded on, ready to copy if you don't want to bodge the original one.
I could send a fglass cut bumper for you to mess with when the bulkhead cowling is ready ?

Doing some stuff on the bumper bar not that it has dried , I grabbed 4 bolts and nuts then cut 4x square plates to act as big washers. I cut the bolt heads down to about 1mm so they wouldn't get in the way, and welded the plate to them

Nice smooth gloss black bumper..

Getting the bolts lined up ready to be glued on

Then splash a generous dose of sika under and around the plate then it's let dry for a day or so


During the week I'll start making the mold for the bulkhead cover, just waiting for some stuff to arrive..

martymexico
You don't need a RS rear bar to chop shop, just a normal Escort one will work . RS bumper is a normal one with the ends cut off and those extention irons welded on, ready to copy if you don't want to bodge the original one.
I could send a fglass cut bumper for you to mess with when the bulkhead cowling is ready ?

Yeah easy job to convert the standard bar and going by the prices of original ones you'd be mad to modify one.
Hard part now is the end caps, if only someone would 3D print some the world would be a better place, nudge nudge wink wink😂

Yeah tree-dee print them haha, only need 1 to scan, But for now I do have a mold for the end caps..

Today was a bit rainy so beware you Vic's as it usually magnifies worser !
I got the gelcoat on the bulkhead cover in a nice red. Edit, it's not gelcoat, it's resin mixed with fumed silica beads to thicken up it's consistency then I added red pigment ( I try to have a colour that's not going to be used in the mold ) as it'll be hard to tell where I've brushed it on or missed spots which is a bad thing in fglassing. I'll give it another layer of resin just to make sure it's fully covered . The tape is to add extra area to help the glass stick to and will also strengthen the mold plus helps resin flow beyond the items edge , I can do a demo if interest calls..

While there I done the 6 dial dash binnacle in teal

Leftovers will harden like rock in the tub

that's not a bad colour teal actually.
 
Stepping back a few posts, Mark I'm pretty sure I have a MK2 rear bumper if you need one, although they often pop up if you wanted one closer to home.

Finally got the bulkhead cover all layered up, it's curing for a week or so before I tackle the parting process. I did brush on an extra layer of gelcoat just to be safe, red and teal pigment became liquid chocolate color !


Since my daily drive car is a bit neglected I started to fix a few things, mainly cosmetic, starting with the headlights. This is how yellow they were and had a skin of clearcoat that was chipping away as well

Using a 5in double action sander with 800 grit used wet with washing liquid, then 1000 and finally 2000 grit, I then hit it with auto cut n polish compound then 3M swirl off a couple of times an this is the result, nearly new again..

I go away for work for a week and you almost finish another 5 projects!
 
A rear bar popped up on the escort facebook page the next day after talking about it here, but I was interstate and I think it's gone now, it was the same type Drew used. 

The bulkhead looks fantastic, do you have any concerns about how it will fit up on the car due to the standard one being a bit flexy?