ME AND MY RESTO
David Cole and son James on a special RS
INTERVIEW DANNY HOPKINS PHOTOGRAPHY MATT HOWELL
I found it at Anglia Car Auctions back in 2015. We’d gone there on the way to the Hunstanton and I had mistakenly told my wife that I'd secretly been saving up for a Jaguar XJ. She said, ‘you cannot have one of those. They're too big to push!’ But she told me I could have this instead. Who was I to refuse? £3300 later, I owned the car. We've had it for about 10 years now.
Back then, I knew that it needed work. It'd been messed around with, it had the wrong wings, not the early wings, with the square repeaters. Then one day I started restoring it. It took three years to do and finding parts was the hardest thing. A Nineties Ford is a tough ask when it comes to finding bits, but I had collected stuff over 10 years, as I knew one day I would set it right. I had found New Old Stock Ford lights and other rare parts. Front wings were nowhere, genuine Ford front wings from the correct era and slam panel (it was bent) – really tricky. I eventually found them in Italy. All the screen rubbers, and door guides and rubbers are genuine Ford and again from Italy. The roof rails, mint ones to replace the scabby items? Italy. The furflex around the opening sunroof had shrunk.. I bought two sets. From Italy – again!
I collected all the bits, they're all New Old Stock – the centre console, the wheels, genuine ones with the right hub caps, and the bumpers – with the inserts. I did all of this before the stripdown. As you can imagine, I was aiming to get as close to what this car was like when it left the factory as was humanly possible. I left the interior as it was, because it really didn't need much. The sponge scrim on the rear seats had dried out, but that was all they needed. So, it just needed redoing.
The big stripdown
Then, with the help of my son James, I took it all apart. Stripped it down. The tank was taken out, everything off so I could repaint everything, then I undersealed it underneath. The suspension components were all freshly powdercoated and then rebushed. To start with I left the suspension it had, lowered springs and dampers, only by an inch, which I thought it might actually look OK. It looked alright, but then once I started loading the car up, with the engine, interior etc, it just sat too low – horrible. So, I ended up hunting once again. I found a set of genuine Ford dampers. Guess where? Yep, Italy!
I did a little bit of welding work, just at the back end of the sills where they turn up into the rear wheelarch and underneath one of the wheelarch backs, where it started to rust because they're screwed on with inset bolts that just rot and then pull out. I took the engine and ’box out. It wasn't leaking, it ran fine, and it had only done 70,000 miles. But I did a service while it was out because it is so much easier to do the belts and clutch etc. I fitted new seals on the gearbox and CV joints, too.
Then I got the shell repainted professionally in Ash Black. I had toyed with the idea of changing the colour, I thought of that Ford Electric Blue from ten years ago. I also thought about putting some more pep into the engine by changing the ECU. The current one is only an EEC IV. You can't really do anything with it, but I thought, ‘no, just keep it’. And having done this car I’m really glad, because I’m getting the showroom-fresh experience.
It drives a little bit better, too. I fitted modern soundproofing everywhere. The trickiest part of the whole restoration was remembering where I’d put stuff! I had acquired a big old post office letter rack. I used it to bag stuff up with a post-it note, then hung it on it in a bag, in each of these little pigeon holes. In the sequence that I took it apart. But no end of times, I had forgotten that I'd bought something new already, and then I'd buy it again!
Engine
Low mileage and was running perfectly, but David removed it and replaced all the seals and belts. Out of the car, allowing for a full respray of the bay.
**Seals and rubbers
**David searched Europe to find the correct original rubbers and seals. The richest source was Italy. For instance, he found two furflex seal sets for this original Ford sunroof. The ‘showroom fresh’ ambition was strong.
**Wheels and trim
**David resprayed a non-original set (RS turbo wheels are slightly different), then found these originals in Italy. He also deployed original New Old Stock lights and rubbers after respraying the car in Ash Black.
Interior
Needed a thorough clean and the rear seat foam needed restuffing. Everything was out though to make sure the shell could be resprayed. The entire car was covered in modern soundproofing before refitting.
Practical Classics Restorer of the Year 2027
David & James are entered into the 2027 Restorer of the Year competition. You can vote for your favourite in a future issue of Practical Classics magazine.
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