1974 MK1 Escort

Pictures uploaded, hope they work alright.
 
After stripping it I'm finding that I need a lot of new parts, have a few organised already. Tossing up between orange, yellow or a silvery white as far as colour. Front struts aren't in very good shape, nor is the steering rack and arms. Leaf springs and rear shocks were absolutely buggered. Probably going to get some King Springs 60mm and maybe some Gaz shocks? Any recommendations on parts etc would be fantastic. Going to get a round light front panel from Stephen and try to find a round light grill somewhere down the track. Does anyone know the difference in front and rear steering/suspension bushings between mk1 and mk2? I have a mixture of parts from both and in need of some new bushes for the whole car.
 
Me and my Dad have built a 360 degree bolt on rotator so we can easily work on the body of the car. Will post some pics when it's on there and getting ready for paint. 
 

The rust free ones certainly chew up[ a fair few rust repair panels don't they but looks good so far.
Think long and hard about bubbles. Its your car and Im not telling you what to do but with an unmolested rear 1/4 it might be a shame to cut all that good original steel out. I have a bubble arched Mk1 race car. If it wasn't needing much bigger wheels much further out I wouldn't have arched it, I was never happy with  the fiber arches either and have just received new steel ones to be welded on. Mine also had rust in the arches meaning I was already cutting away steel.
Just a thought. What do you intend doing with it? will it be harder to register arched?
But best do it now while its apart than a year later.
 
Nice shed too. and don't wait 3 years to update us again
 
JP

Put some plates in today filling up some more holes in the floor. Anyone have any tips on welding such thin steel. My welder is set on as low as it goes but every now and then will blow a hole because its to hot. Im just spot welding continuously. Doesnt work to bad but everynow and then gets a bit hot.

Your doing the right thing with the welds, spot by spot just space them out, use compressed air to cool the welds if they are still hot and you shouldnt have any problems

Looks good so far, nice to see some more welding on the site.... I swapped from .8 wire to .6 seemed to help me a bit, make sure you clean all the paint and debri from the welding area, makes a big difference. Another trick I learned was putting a block of aluminium behind the hole, makes it easy to pool the weld and fill in blowouts...... hope that helps...
Keep up the good work Drew..... 

Will have to give it a go tomorrow. Thanks

Fibre bubbles are a pain because of their inherent thickness. the amount of filler needed to blend them is...extreme.
Id rivet and bond with a hard setting adhesive then fiberglass then filler. Sounds complicated. If its flexible you'll get distortion in the finish, over time as the steel, fibre and filler expand/contract at different rates due to temperature...trust me been there suffered that.
Make sure the wheels are in the right place before measuring for bubble location. especially if you intend adding lots of caster as the wheels could move 20- 30mm further forward and clash with front of the arch.
As for the welding, the odd blow through is to be expected, new steel and 40 year old steel never quite mix. I weld runs of 4-5 spots, each one started after the last reduces its glow and overlap the previous weld and the new...seems to minimise holes. I use copper as a heat soak and hand burner.
What gauge is the new steel?
 
Cheers
 
JP