Cedric the Supervan.

Well nobody can acuse me of rushing things. more than 10 years ago I had a flatmate with a sundowner. He would lend it to me for taking runs up and down the coast on weekends.

There was I with an undrivably fun RX3,and yet I would rather drive my mates van around lol. So I fell in love with sundowners, and set about finding one. They weren't so easy to find back then, as we didn't have neato websites like this one.

It took me a couple of years to spot one, and I bought it for a few hundred, needing attention. Sadly, the only attention I ever gave it was just enough to get him running and registered, then I drove it completely into the ground to the point where almost everything need doing. This is why I have only posted one pic around here, and its why I am embarrased to share this project. Its been a slack effort on my part, and one has to give credit to the old escort for sheer unkillability.

So, I took it off the road years ago, At one stage a few years back I took it out of the shed and tried to get the project going. I paid just on $4000 for every bit of rust to be professionally removed, and a bend in the rear right chassis rail to be pulled straight. Despite only dealing with what seemed to be reputable companies, the whole thing turned into one of those expensive disaster stories.

Days became weeks became months, and still no car back. Every time I dropped past to check on progress it was parked outside the shed, and tho they told me they would put it away at night I had my doubts. I had no choice but to escalate the pressure I was putting on ppl to get my car done, and in the end they did the bodgiest cruddy job you could imagine. I could have paid my mum to do better work. Anyway, of all the irony's... I had insisted they(or I) take photo's at every stage, as I always planned to make a small web page that covered the resto to full concourse spec. Well they took photo's alright. I have two CD's chock full of them. A complete photo doccumentation of the worst work you could imagine lol. I took legal action, got my money back, and put the car back in the shed.. A bit depressed about it all.

The bottom line is, far from the replacement original floorpan that I was quoted on, I have this freestyle P.O.S. flat steel floor.. More putty than I would have used, and the rail was never touched. As a result I have abandoned all concourse plans, and now just want to make it nice and fast. In the 10 or so years I have owned it, I have never enjoyed this car the way it can and should be. Now I finally plan to.

I have amassed a small pile of parts to be installed, and will strip the car to a bare shell over the next few weeks restoring or replacing as I go. I also have a few tins of Ford Imperial Blue acrylic, which I desperately hope I haven't left too long. I will post a list of parts I have in store for it soon. But for now, I am sure ppl want to see pics. If you made it through that whole story, your a champion.

Took a good long look at it today.. Decided that since I had the diff center and axles out, I would start from the back.

I removed everything from the rear suspension, brakes and diff. Most of the bushes were thrashed beyond any usefulness. The springs could move nearly 2 inches before the shocks even came into play [:I]


Diff housing looks nice and straight. I have two options available. Tidy up the stock diff and put it back in for now.. Or just dive on in and get something tough and LSD equipped cut to suit. I have a donor escort casing for the end pieces if I go down that path. Brake wise, I have Alpha disks and Pugeot 504 calipers to go on.

At this stage I will probably just sort the stocker, put a 3.9:1 center in it, and fit the disks. I can always upgrade the diff later when I need to.

Amazing what you find when you take things apart. One of the platters that U-clamps onto the leafs and holds the bottom of a shock was cracked. If those old shocks were working it probably would have ripped off by now [:u]



The standard Sundowner leafs aren't going back on. I have a pair of new Kings leafpacks waiting to go in. I purchased them from a forum member here, and they look like the ducks guts. (reversed eyelet's, etc)

Here are some pics. Do you think he might sit a tad lower at the back now? lol




Hey, the seller gave me plenty of info about the springs when I bought them, but I have a shocking memory, so if anyone can share their experiance or knowledge about them that would be awesome. I am yet to choose rear shocks to suit them.

Tomorrow I will sandblast all the smaller parts and inspect for condition. I have plenty of spares kicking around the place, so from the collection I will assemble the best complete set of bits that I can.
What do people think about getting things like U-clamps chromed? And how about brake lines? Its either that or charcoal grey hammertone...

I have everything you could possibly need. wrecking a MK1 Van.
Even a good pair off rear doors.

About time Cedric made an appearance anyway.
Please tell us the cracked shockie plate is the same as the bent rail?
The muffler is a keeper[(#)]

quote:

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Originally posted by maxrs
[br]I have everything you could possibly need. wrecking a MK1 Van.
Even a good pair off rear doors.

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wow got any pics max of these doors....

thats if vanman doesnt claim them 1st...

and vanman good luck with the sunnie mate im goin to keep a keen eye on this thread....

Ahh, great info there Rhys, taa for that. I just checked back over the correspondance, and I am pretty sure they are made to the same recipie as the ones on Marks Cossie RS. So I will have to hastle him for more info :D.

Cheers Sundowner, yours is one of the cars around here that has inspired me to get my sh!t together. I hope I can make something even close to as nice from mine. Amongst other things your sig reminds me of how much ramp time I used to get when I had the van on the road. I will chat with MAXRS about those doors, and let you know if I grab them. I still have to get round to a mates place where I stashed heaps of escort bits.. I can't remember if I have spare doors or not.. or what nick they are in.

Progress today was very steady.. just heaps of blasting.
I would have to say.. after blasting all day, I did some of the worst can spray painting I have ever done. I'm trying not to be too fussy.. but damm, I'm glad I started under the back.. By the time I get to the engine bay I hope I have my eye in. Long story short, I got good inital results by applying a heavier coat than yesterday... but I then went too far, and gunked it on.:( Oh well, they are just U-bolts lol.

Started scrubbing the diff housing down, and wow.. under the black paint which is coming straight off, there is a shiney, almost polished alloy type shiney steel housing.. It almost looks good enough to polish lol.. Ever so tempting to get it chromed.

Sorry that was cryptic of me, Ramp as in 1/2 pipe or similar. I love to get down there and catch some air on the BMX, but couldn't be buggered riding one to the park lol. Plus I might need to drive myself to hospital lmao.[88]

All the suspension and diff are cleaned ready for blasting. I think I will hit the diffhousing with a wire wheel, as my compressor could spend a loooong time trying to blast it. I test fit one of the kings leaf packs, and hmmm lowness. Probably lower than I was aiming for, but I'm sure it will look good. I am looking at an interesting shock absorber option that I posted about in the suspension section.

Next steps are get brackets welded onto the housing for the pug calipers, and drop out the drop tank for a total clean and detail. I have another fuel level sender which I am crossing my fingers about. It really would be nice to know how much juice I have.

glad to see progress on the van! my friend has / had a near mint mini panelvan (not so mint now) sitting in his driveway slowly deteriorating and every time i walk past it, it makes me sad...


damn thats a clean diff, i wouldn't doubt the grinder died at the end of it

p.s i have another non cracked plate you can have if you need it?