07x02 - Ford Cosworth

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers,
the show that saves classic cars

from the crusher and gives
them a second bite of the cherry.

Now I buy the cars and bring
them back to the workshop.

And I restore them from bonnet to boot
to make sure they're in tip-top condition.

Then we sell them on and hopefully
we make a bit of profit along the way.

Now I'm dead excited over
this one because we're after an

absolute cr*cker and one of
our all-time favourite Fast Fords.

The Ford Sierra Cosworth. A real wolf
in sheep's clothing. 0-60 in 6.2 seconds.

Top speed of 145 miles an hour.
Over 200 brake horsepower.

Motorsport supremos Cosworth designed
the engine and Ford built the body.

On the track it dominated the 1987
World Touring Car Championship.

In street spec it was a
real road racing hooligan.

Between 1986 and 1992 31,000 were built.
But loads were written off by boy racers.

Finding a car with Wheeler
Dealer potential within our five

grand budget is going to
be a real test for yours truly.

Isn't technology wonderful? I can start
my search for a car absolutely anywhere

these days as long as I've got my laptop,
computer and a reliable 3G connection.

Do you know, I think I've found one. There's
one here on an Internet auction site.

It hasn't got long left to run but it's at
my money. It's at £3,500 at the minute.

It's got nine bits on it and I can see
why it's got some really good stuff.

This is 84,000 miles.
It's a 1990 H registration. Good reg.

And it's MOT until June 2010
so it's got a long ticket on it.

But the biggest thing
of all, this one's got a

clear HPI report. That's
very rare on a Cosworth.

That means the police
aren't interested in it,

any finance companies
or insurance companies.

That's wicked.
It's worth its weight in gold.

The problems this car
has got though is it's got a

whine coming from the
gearbox and a smokey engine.

But all in all, with
those problems, it's

still worth at three
and a half grand a call.

Now the other issue
I've got is obviously the

whine in the gearbox.
Just how noisy is it?

Okay. Yeah. Alright.

Okay then, mate. Yeah, super. I'll
look forward to meeting you too. Superb.

Cheers then. Bye-bye.

He sounds like a really honest fella.

He also tells me that
he's converted the car

from a four-wheel drive
to a two-wheel drive.

That's because he's added in
all this power to the engine and

that's quite a common thing
to do with these fast forwards.

He lives on the coast so it
looks like it's a trip to the seaside.

There's not long left to run on
the Internet auction site and the

guy's in today, thankfully, and
he's hanging around to show me it.

I can't wait.

Well, I could have chose a
better day to come and have a

look at this car but it's a
nice road and this must be it.

And it looks like the bloke is selling it.

You, Alex? Hi. Yeah.

Alex, how you doing, mate? I'm Mike.

Not bad. Nice to meet you.

This is it then. The Cosworth.

It's the one.

Wow. Like all Cosworths,
though, I'm not expecting to see a

car that hasn't been slammed
to the floor with big alloys.

And I expect that this
car, no doubt, has been

in a fight, hasn't it,
once or twice in its life?

Maybe.

Maybe.

But this one looks like it might
have been a gladiator, mate.

Look at the front bumper here.

I mean, it's chipped and
marked and it's actually

red underneath so this
has had a new bumper on it.

But that'll need repainting,
won't it, at some point?

Bit of w*r damage.

Bit of w*r damage.
I like the sound of that.

Right, let's have a look inside.

Wow. What's happened in here?

Well, there's a little
bit of a seat bolster

worn, seats are worn,
door card's a bit worn.

This is as it's described.

It is pretty tired in here, isn't it?

Could do with a new interior, couldn't it?

It definitely could.

Let's have a look under the bonnet.

This is the important bit, isn't it?

Tell me, what's been done to the engine?

Wow.

It's had a bigger turbo, different
injectors, I've rebuilt the engine recently.

New cam belt, different
fuel pressure stuff,

big air filter obviously,
big intercooler.

Go on then, give me a
brake horsepower figure.





That's going to be rapid, isn't it?

How does the engine
run, does it run alright?

It runs sweet as a nut, but on start-up
we've got a little bit of blue smoke.

Blue smoke?

Oil.

Oh dear.

Valve stem oil cells as well.

Valve guides?

Valve guides, yeah.

That means a top
engine rebuild, doesn't it?

Yeah, I could do it myself, but
I just need to get rid of it now.

Okay.

Alright, can I see that?

Yeah, of course you can.

So if you don't mind, Alex,
just turning it over for me.

I'll get down the back end.

Alex, go on then, turn it over.

Here it comes.

Now that is tell-tale blue
smoke coming out of the exhaust.

That means this car definitely has a
mechanical problem, which is a bit of a shame.

To find out more, I've got
to take it for a test drive.

Blimey!

That is, that really is fast.

He said it had 380, 400 brake horsepower.

He's not lying.

Look at this, away I'll go again.

Whoa!

Ha ha ha!

So this Cosi, whoa, it has
got a nice powerful engine.

But what about the gearbox?

Well, it goes into gear beautifully.

Very slick, very notchy,
like a Winchester r*fle.

But the listing says that
it does have a whine.

Just listen to this.

Oh, it's got a terrible whine.

A lot of people would
walk away from this car,

but my experience tells
me that that's just probably

a warm bearing and
no doubt Ed can tackle it.

Now the thing that worries me most about
this Cosworth is its high-performance engine

and the blue smoke
that's pouring out of it.

If it's just a top-half
rebuild, then we'll be all right.

But if it's deeper down inside
and it's a piston ring that's worn,

then Ed will lose the plot
and we won't make any money.

So it is a bit of a gamble.

Oh!

It's fast, it's really fast.

There's a car in there
somewhere, I know there is.

I've learnt a lot about
the car on the test drive.

There's not that long left
to run on the auction site.

I need about two hours left.

Just two hours, so I'd better be quick.

Well, I'm not going to make a decision now.

I'm going to go away, have a cup of tea,

I'll have a little think about it.

You never know, I might make a bid,

and you never know, I
might be back here later.

But in the meantime, thanks
for showing me round it.

No worries.

Good.

I like that car.

I can bid for this car right now
online using my mobile phone.

At the minute it's at £3,500,

but I know it's going to
go for a bit more money

than that and it's
going to go pretty soon.

So if I put in a maximum bid of...

Let's do £4,250 and
that's it, no more than that.

And fingers crossed
the car will come to me.

For now though, it's just a waiting game.

Here we go.

Yes! Yes, I got it!

I got it for £4,100.

That's £150 less than
I was prepared to pay.

Wicked!

I got us a Sierra Cosworth.

Right, let's go and get it.

I knew I'd be back.

I'm over the moon, Alex.

£4,100.

Congratulations.

In the meantime, mate, thank you very much.

Cracking deal. Cheers.

What a result.

A fantastic fast fall.

I'm ecstatic, but will it be smiling or
will this smoky Cosy with his whiny gearbox

prove to be one gamble too
many for the Wheeler Dealers duo?

Join me again soon to find out.

Our classic full Sierra
Cosworth is a motoring legend.

It's fast.

It's furious.

It's knackered.

Well, the engine pumps out
blue smoke and the gearbox

whines like a three-year-old
who wants a jelly baby.

Oh, yes, and the interior's shabby
and the front bumper's a mess.

But underneath, it's a real class act.

I've just got to get it back to the
workshop so Ed can get to grips.

So far, the journey into
Cosworth has been painless.

It's been munching through the miles

and even the dials are
sitting where they should be.

The temperature is nice and normal.

Everything in this car seems very happy,

including me, because these Recaro seats

are hugging me like my first girlfriend.

It's time to face facts, you
know, because I reckon Ed will

be able to salt out that
paintwork on the front bumper.

I even reckon he'll be able to salt out

this nasty interior and
the whine in the gearbox.

But I'm really going to have to
sell him on the smoky engine.

I hope he's in the mood
for a bit of hard work.

But if we do get this car right, if we do,

it could be worth up to six
grand when we sell it on, or even,

or even just a little bit more.

But all of that is a long way off.

You haven't got to worry
about the horn, mate.

I can hear you scraping your way up.

How are you doing?

You've got a Cosworth.

That's pretty awesome, isn't it?

How good is that?

But it's very low.

It is very low.

It's been slammed to the deck
in traditional Cosworth styling.

I'll tell you what, Ed, it and I go well.

Have a look inside.

It's looking very straight.

It is a real straight car.

Okay, it's pretty tatty.

It is very tired, Ed.

The seat's quite nasty,

and look at all this door
card in my life as well.

I mean, we're going to
have to replace all this.

I think we need another interior.

Okay, what does it drive like?

It's so fast.

I mean, like, really ridiculously fast.

And this thing really
does head for the horizon.

And it makes a hell of a noise because
it's got this big bad boy exhaust on it.

It's good that it's noisy
because it means you

can't hear that whine
coming from the gearbox.

From the gearbox?

Yeah.

Well, I mean, it could be something
as simple as a lay-shaft bearing.

That's exactly what I thought it was.

Okay, but if it's even
more serious than that,

it's just going to cost us a
few more quid, of course.

Loads of work, thank you very much.

There's no more.

No problems.

Look at the wheels.

They're nasty.

They're horrible.

They are nasty.

I'm going to change them.

Don't worry about them.

All right, okay, cool.

Look here at the back.

It is quite hilarious, but
notice how sooty it is.

Yeah, that's not so good.

How smokey is it?

It's pretty smokey on startup and overrun,

not when it's raised blue smoke.

Well, that's okay.

So it might just be, I don't know,
valve stem or sills or possibly worse.

It might be the piston rings.

If it's piston rings, we're in trouble.

I'll bring you some cake
to have with your tea.

Oh, that makes it so much better.

Thank you.

One of the jobs you could do is this.

Oh, yeah, lots of stone chips and
stuff, and also you've got the old...

Yeah, and there's little bits
of trim missing down here.

It's great, isn't it?

It's cool.

Can you fix it?

Of course I can.

Perfect.

Come on.

Paul, can you just start her up for us?

Well, there we have it.

Loads of blue smoke.

Cheers, Paul.

And that's the thing.

Because the smoke is blue,

at the very least we've
got a problem with

the cylinder head,
probably the valve guys.

But if we're really unlucky,

it's going to be something much
more serious, the piston rings,

and of course they're deep
in the depths of the engine.

So let's hope it's the
cheap and cheerful fix.

Otherwise, all the profit in this car

is going to go up in that
big puff of blue smoke.

At the business end,

I have got loads of things I've got to undo

before I can actually
get to the cylinder head,

which is just down there
underneath the cam cover.

I'm going to have to take off the turbo,

the exhaust manifold, the inlet manifold.

I've got to drain the
water out of the system.

Basically, there's
loads to do, but it's a

cracking engine, and I
can't wait to get greasy.

Quick safety tip, though.

Disconnect the battery
before you get started.

The twin-cam 16-valve
COSY engine is water-cooled,

so I'm draining the system
before I can tackle the fun stuff.

Look at this.

Absolute mad, mad turbo intercooler.

It's huge.

That's a lot of money there.

I'm just going to undo the hose that
goes from the intercooler to the turbo,

and of course what the intercooler does

is cools down the hot air
coming out of the turbo.

It cools it all down before
it goes into the engine,

so of course you get a
much better quality bang.

inside your engine.

At some point, an amateur
mechanic has added

loads of aftermarket
parts, like this intercooler.

It really is go-fast as stuff.

It boosts performance and
probably costs a fortune.

There's a handy other tip.

Got a bit of limited access in there,
so I've got this spanner onto my nut,

and then I've actually
used this spanner as a lever.

on the bottom of my other spanner
to give me a bit of extra movement,

but also meant I could get into
the space I was looking to get into.

That's very handy, and
it's just done the trick.

Engine work takes time,

and that's why labour costs
can go through the roof.

If you're tempted to tackle
this yourself, be realistic.

This isn't a job many
could do over a weekend.

So if it's your daily
driver you're working on

and you need a car to get
to work on Monday morning,

make sure you've got a plan B.

There we go, and the
turbo has left the engine.

Look at the size of those ports.

Gives you an idea of how much boost
this thing is adding to the engine's power.

Wow.

The exhaust manifold is my next challenge.

The studs are inaccessible,
and it's a big, heavy piece of iron,

but eventually I wrestle
it into submission.

I'm making good progress.

Well, everything is removed from the
cylinder head, except for the can cover.

I can't take that off until
I've removed the can belt,

which brings us onto a very
important part of any engine.

The thing is, it's all about timing,

and if you've got the inlet cam
there and the exhaust cam there,

they're controlling the valves that
are popping in and out of the engine,

and of course you've got the
pistons going up and down.

If the timing was out, you
could end up with those pistons

smashing into the valves and
causing a big, expensive mess.

So it's critical this is
all in the right place.

So what I'm going to do is just
check before I take the belt off

that the timing is in the right position,
and that way it'll be in the right position

for when we actually start
putting things back together again.

Ford have very generously put
in a couple of markings for me,

so I can see where everything
is supposed to line up to.

So those are in the right position.

I've got a manual here with
all the information that I need.

to actually do the alignment correctly.

Certainly when we put it back together
again, I'll be checking to make sure that

everything is in exactly
the right position.

With the timing set on the twin cams,

I'm undoing the tensioner for the
toothed cam belt and removing it.

Next, the cam cover is coming off.

Now I've loosened each of these nuts off.

I'm just going to crack
them off a little bit.

And of course, before I go too much further,
I'm just going to undo the plug leads.

And handily, they're all numbered,

so I won't have to
remember which goes where.

I've got a one, two, three, four on there.

And now, finally, we
can get the cam cover off.

Oh, look at that. Smashing.

Last job is to remove
the cylinder head bolts.

Turns out they're an
uprated stud and nut system,

one of the many mods on this engine.

Be very careful when you do this.

Just crack each nut off, then move
on to the next in a spiral pattern,

so you avoid stressing the head.

And an hour after I started...

Here we go.
This is the moment we've been waiting for.

We're now going to be able to
remove the head off the engine,

but it's a little bit difficult,
a little bit unwieldy,

so I'm going to get Paul to give us a hand.

Paul, can you just give
me a bit of a lift here?

And then what we're going to do is rock it.

It should just... There we go.

Mine's releasing a little bit.
How are you doing?

Yep. Good.

The bulkhead's a little bit tricky.

because it's a little
bit in the way, but...

Hang on.

OK. Cheers, Paul.

Well, here we are. This is what
all this work has been leading up to.

I need to try and find out the
cause of our blue puffs of smoke.

So what I'm looking now
is looking into the bores,

into the cylinders, and seeing if I can
see any obvious damage, any scoring.

I'm just going to run my
finger on the side of the bore,

and I'm feeling for kind of like an edge.

And what that signifies,
basically, is that there's been wear.

If there's been wear on the bore,
then there'd be wear on the rings,

and that was what let the oil through
into the chamber when it's burning,

and, of course, that would
cause the blue smoke.

But, actually, we're all good.

In fact, probably there's been
a recent bottom-end rebuild.

So this is all good,

which means the problem is
almost certainly with the head.

That's very good news.

If I'd had to change the pistons and rings,

then I'd be looking at 500 quid
in parts and another day of work.

I'm relieved, and so is Mike's wallet.

If our blue smoke problem isn't
being caused by worn piston rings,

then it's almost certainly down to worn
valve stem oil seals and valve guides.

Now, the valve guides are
kind of like little brass tubes.

within which the valve
stems run up and down,

and they're buried deep
inside the head there,

somewhere between the
two camshafts and 16 valves.

Now, it's not actually a
particularly difficult thing

to fix, but you do need a
really clean environment

within which to actually
take apart and rebuild

your head, but also you
need specialist equipment.

So I'm not going to do it myself.

I'm going to send it off to a machine
shop and let them do their magic.

While Ed's been pulling apart the engine,

I've been pulling my hair out trying
to find a replacement Cosi interior.

But finally, an old mate has come
up trumps, so I'm off to see him.

Steve, my old mate, how are you?

Hello, Mike, nice to see you again.

Still looks like Aladdin's
caving in, doesn't it?

I'm excited about this Cosworth interior.
Where is it?

Yep, just round the corner.
If you follow me, we'll have a look.

Superb.

Is this the one?

This is the one, Mike.

Oh, it's awesome. Look at it.

It's in lovely condition.

It is in nice, Nick. Is it complete?

Yeah, we've got all
the front and rear door

cards, back seats and
the rear side bolsters.

Oh, these are the front door cards.
Look at them.

They are, indeed.

How rare to find a door card
without a stupid hole cutter.

They haven't been butchered at all.

Not been butchered at all.

Excellent.

Right, we've bought a few other bits
off the same guy, if you're interested.

Yeah.

You're in the market for a set of wheels.

I am, yeah.

Okay, we've got a set of Sierra
Cosworth Sapphire wheels here.

Oh, wicked.

They're the right ones
for the car, aren't they?

Exactly right for a Sapphire Cosworth.

And I'm after a set of wheels,
so I'll think about those.

No problem.

Good.

How about a leather steering wheel?

Wow, you have got yourselves out on today.

We've bought a whole bunch of bits, yeah.

A leather steering wheel, a nice one.

It's a 4x4 Sapphire Cosworth one.

So, which way?

Just over a minute. One second.

There we go.

Ah, look at that. Lovely.

Oh, leather. It's in nice, Nick, isn't it?

It is in beautiful condition.

Look at the price.



That's what they go for.

So that's 500 quid for the interior.

That's it. 80 pounds for the alley wheels.





That's 665 quid.

That's right.

I haven't got that kind of money.

I had a feeling you were going to say that.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

Let's give you, I'll give
you 500 quid for the lot.

Ooh.

No, in fact, no I won't.

How about this for an idea?

On the car at the minute is a set
of original Cosworth Escort wheels.

They're worth a few quid, aren't they?

They're quite sought after, yeah.

We might be able to do a part exchange.

What if I give you 300 quid in them wheels?

Ooh.

I reckon I could make the
money up selling the wheels.

Yeah, if they're good and
straight, we'll have a deal.

They are good and straight.



Lovely.

Sounds all right.

Top work.

Good stuff.

That was a great deal.

So far, I've managed to
keep the parts prices down.

But I've got a feeling
the work on the cylinder

head and the gearbox
will end up costing me.

Top resale price for a car like this
will be six, maybe six and a half grand.

So the pressure's really on to
turn the Cosi around on the Jeep.

£4,100 secured this frantically
fast-fall Cosworth from an auction site.

If you want raw power and four-seat
practicality, this is the car for you.

On ours, blue smoke
from the engine is a worry.

But Ed's already on the
case with the cylinder head.

And there's a big question
Mark over the noisy gearbox.

The listing says that it does have a whine.

Just listen to this.

Oh, he's got a terrible whine.

Time for Ed to roll up
his sleeves and see what's

wrong with our complex
five-speed transmission.

Mike said that the gearbox on
our Cosworth whines all the time.

It sounds to him like
some kind of bearing fault.

But the truth is, gearboxes
are enormously complex.

And if you haven't
got all the specialist

equipment, they can
be quite tricky to work on.

So I think the best
thing to do is to whip

it off, hand it over
to a specialist to fix,

and if that proves to be
too pricey, we are going

to have to look for some
kind of replacement.

A second-hand gearbox costs around £600.

I'm hoping we can get ours fixed for
less and keep our spend as low as possible.

Wow, this is a proper exhaust, isn't it?

With the exhaust removed, I can
now turn my attentions to the prop shaft.

And this is obviously a tube that
transmits the power from the gearbox.

To the diff, and therefore
to the back wheels.

I'm removing three of
the bolts on this back

plate, but leaving the
final one finger tight.

OK, it's about now that
I'm quite happy that I

actually put the bolt in
the back of the prop shaft,

because it's probably
about to fall on my head.

Oh, there we go.

And then pop to the back and undo that.

Now the last bit, of
course, is where all the oil is

going to come out of the
gearbox, so just pop that out.

There we go.

Well, there should be
some more coming out, but

perhaps it's a little bit
too high up at the moment.

As I lower the gearbox down, then of
course there's going to be some spillage.

The speedo drive is easy to disconnect.

The starter motor is a bit
oily, but it comes off quickly.

There we go, one starter motor.

And then it's on to the
gearbox bellhousing itself.

OK, Paul, if you can
give us a hand, I'm just

going to take the gearbox
away from the engine.

I've got the last bolt to undo.

There we go.

So now it all should just rattle off.

Doing this job yourself will save
a bundle in garage labour fees,

but really, unless you want
to struggle, it's a two-man job.

Look at that.

You now have a gearbox out of the car.

At last, it's free, but that's
really just the start of the work.

Now I'm sending it off to a gearbox guru.
Let's hope it's a cheap fix.

A few days later and I'm
getting feedback from the

specialists on both the damaged
cylinder head and the gearbox.

We desperately need
to keep the costs down

if we're going to make
a profit on this car.

But there's mixed news.

Fingers crossed Mike keeps his cool when
I tell him how much it's going to cost.

How are you doing, buddy?

Very good.

I've been shopping.

This is looking very posh, isn't it?

It's more than posh, Ed.

Look, it's a full black leather
Recaro interior for that very car.

Door cards, rear seats, the lot.

Even got us a leather steering wheel.

And get this, to boot, I got us a
set of original Cosworth alloy wheels.

Well, how much did all that lot cost?

Well, you know what, I'm a clever man.
Bit of Wheeler dealer in.

I part exchanged those old
Escort Cosworth wheels. 300 quid.

That is an absolute bargain.

Get in.

Well done, that man. Only thing
is, that makes my news not so good.

If you look at, first of all, taking
the head off, huge job to do.

Got it all out of the way.

And it looks like the barrels,
pistons and rings are okay.

Excellent.

So I've sent the head off to an expert
and basically they've come back saying,

we are going to have to sort out those
valve guides and the valve stem oil seals.

Well, that's good news, isn't it?

It is good news, but it's going to cost
between 400 and 500 pounds to fix.


Okay, that smarts a little.

It does.

And I've taken it out of the gearbox as
well because of that problem with that.

And I've sent it off to a specialist.

They've come back saying
it's actually lace shaft bearing.

Is it really?

It is.

Wicked news.

Well, kind of, but it's 300 quid to fix.

So it's 300 quid for that and 500.

That's 800 pound spend on the engine.

Yeah, but with the money you
saved on that, we're all right, aren't we?

Yeah, but it doesn't work like that, Ed.

And at the moment, we're still
on target to get this car finished.

But any more spend like that and
we're up a paddle without a creek.

Anyone that wants to
own a Cosy is going to

be very interested in
what's under the bonnet.

But they're also going to want
to take a car like this cruising.

And that means it needs
to show as well as it goes.

Now, the rest of our sapphire
is going to Polish up a treat.

But unfortunately, the front is in a real
mess and is going to need a respray.

And it's high time I got it sorted.

Body work is just the sort of
job a home mechanic can do.

Even if you can't do the
painting yourself, by doing the

prep you'll save money by
minimising the labour required.

And the materials, a block and
sandpaper, only cost a few quid.

Well, that's all I'm going to do
because I've arranged for the body

shop to do the rest of the prep
before they actually paint the bumper.

But of course, they don't
need all of the car to do that.

So the thing to do is to pop the
bumper off, get it over to them.

They can finish off all
this work while I crack on

with all the jobs I need to
finish on our fast forward.

This is our rebuilt gearbox,
which should now be fighting fit

and ready for many more
thousands of miles of use and abuse.

Now, refitting it is pretty much
the reversal of the removal

process, although I will be
fitting a brand new clutch.

But then I've got to get
on with bolting the bell

housing to the engine,
fitting the rear gearbox mount,

got the speedo drive,
the gear shifter, the

reverse light switch, the
prop shaft, the exhaust.

Quite simply, I've got a shed
load to do and I need to do it quick.

With the gearbox out, it's an obvious
time to fit a new clutch, if needed.

First, I'm cleaning off the protective film
on the pressure plate using brake cleaner.

Now, the next thing I need
to do is get the center plate

and get sure it's aligned
onto the flywheel properly.

So what I'm using is an old first
motion shaft out of an old gearbox.

And that way I can get this little
end here into a hole in the crankshaft.

And that way it's going to be perfectly
concentric, which means that the

gearbox is actually going to align
nicely when we pop it into position.

So now the pressure
plate can go into position.

A little tip for when you're fitting
a gearbox back to an engine.

Don't forget the
all-important clutch fork and

release barrel. It's
easily done, you know.

Without these key parts in
place, when you push the clutch

pedal, the clutch won't
disengage the gearbox from

the engine and you won't
be able to select the gears.

In all, the gearbox takes
roughly a couple of hours to refit.

Well, the gearbox
is now finally in. I'm

going to need some
of this. It's gearbox oil.

There'll be many a restorers
come a bit of a cropper

when they've forgotten to
put oil into their new gearbox

and gone for a bit of a
drive and then they've

shredded their gears before
the end of their journey.

So make sure you always top it up properly.

The gearbox is in, but of course I can't
test it until the engine is back together.

The cylinder head is back
from the engineering shop and

they've fitted brand new valve
stem oil seals and valve guides.

Now you're going to have
to take my word for that

because, of course, from
the outside of the head

you can't see any of the
work that's been done.

But the sooner I get this
thing fitted to the block of

our Cosi, the sooner we
can find out whether this fix

has sorted out our problem of
smoke on start-up. Fingers crossed.

Before it can go back
on, I need to clean up

the top of the block and
fit a new head gasket.

Now this comes in rather a comprehensive
engine gasket kit costing £110.

So the cost of this work is
really beginning to mount up.

A worn head gasket can
lead to overheating problems

and potentially
catastrophic engine failure.

So £110 doesn't sound so expensive
for those gaskets now, does it?

The cylinder head is
back on. The nuts are

finger tight and I'm
about to torque it down.

Which means tightening up
the nuts gradually with a torque

wrench, spreading the load
evenly across the whole of the head.

Now to avoid distorting the
head when you do it up, it's

important either with stretch
bolts or with these studs and nuts

that they're actually done
up in a certain order, which

is normally from the centre
working your way outwards.

But then also, it has to be
done up to a certain torque.

And in the case of these studs and
nuts, you need to do three stages.

So 30 foot-pounds of
torque, then 60 and then 90.

Now you can dial that in to your
torque wrench and the torque wrench

will then click once you've
actually got to the correct torque.

So you should hear
this. Like so. So I've now

done 30 and 60. I'm
now going to go up to 90.

With the head now bolted down to the right
torque, I need to worry about the cam belt.

Now ordinarily at this stage I'd
say put a new one on, but actually

this one, I happen to know,
has been changed very recently.

Remember when I took
the cam belt off, I set the

inlet cam and the
exhaust cam very carefully.

See how these little
arrow-like indicators line up?

So now as I refit the cam
belt, the timing should be set

correctly and the engine should
run sweetly. That's the theory.

Well I've got the belt in position
now, so I'm just going to check one

last time that all my little alignment
marks are in the correct place.

So that's good. That's all looking good.
And just check the crank again.

Well that's cool. Everything
looks in order, which

means at least I've put
the cam belt on properly.

So the next thing I
need to do is pop on a

gasket down here and
then put the cam cover on.

And then I can start putting the
rest of the engine back together.

Another gasket from my pack
and it's time to fit the cam cover.

And then the original
spark plugs go in. They're

in good Nick, so I
haven't replaced them.

I'm connecting the
HT leads up in the right

order. Get it wrong and
the engine won't fire up.

The final jobs are
topping up the coolant and

reconnecting the battery.
And we're ready to turn over.

Now this is a pretty
tense moment. If we get

any blue smoke coming
out of this exhaust pipe,

all of the work we've
done and all of the money

we've spent would have
been completely wasted.

So here goes. Go on Paul, turn her over.

What a relief. First of
all, it starts first time.

It's running nice and smoothly.
There's no blue smoke.

A little bit of steam, but
that's okay. Quite simply,

our Cozzie's engine has
got a clean bill of health.

Well, the cylinder head is
now sorted. What about that

gearbox? Remember it
was the lay shaft bearing that

was worn and so it made
a whining noise under load.

So the only real way of testing that
rebuilt, refitted gearbox is by driving it,

which is why I'm here on a private
farm track near the workshop. Let's go.

Well, the engine sounds good,
but I can't hear the gearbox,

which is really, really good
because it means it's okay.

No more nasty whining
noise. I'm just going to try a few

more gears, load up the
clutch. Still no noise. Fantastic.

I reckon job done.

Join me again soon when
I tackle this shabby old

interior and bolt on
that resprayed front

bumper as our fast-forward
gets ready for sale.

Welcome back to Wheel
Of Dealers, the show that's

all about giving classic
cars a second chance

and then hopefully selling
them on for a few quid. Now,

this Cosworth has turned
out to be a bit of a drama.

We've had the engine apart,
the gearbox apart, and although

we've spent a few quid, it
could have been a lot worse.

But from now on, it
should be just plain sailing.

Z just got a swap out the interior
for the replacement one I got,

and we're waiting for the bumper
to come back from the repainters.

But let me tell you, I can't
wait to see this car finished.

Our interior was in such bad need that
it really needed a complete replacement.

If you've only got wear
on one or two seats,

then it might be worth
visiting a retrimmer.

Sorting out a few rips and
tears could cost as little as

£150, and it's a lot less work
than swapping a whole interior.

Now, these seats that Mike has
bought are in really good condition.

The leather's really supple,
it's been well looked after.

They don't need any kind
of treatment or polishing up.

They can go straight back into
the car, which is a right result.

Well, that's the last seat done.
Now, onto the door cards.

Replacement door cards really do
make all the difference in this car,

but so will fit in that lovely
second-hand steering wheel Mike bought.

Swapping the steering
wheels over couldn't be easier.

All I have to do is undo the horn button,
undo the central nut, pull the wheel off,

put the new one back on, put the nut back
on, and then put the horn button back on.

But it's absolutely critical
that you get both your steering

wheel and your front driving
wheels in the dead ahead position,

because otherwise you
run the risk of your steering

wheel being on squiffy,
and that would just be wrong.

This is an easy fix, but make
sure you tighten up the central

bolt properly and test the horn
before you head out on the road.

Well, there we go. With the horn
button in place, that's all done.

And I have to say,
looking round this interior,

refurbished as it is, I
think I'm pretty impressed.

I've taken this from
desperate to highly desirable.

It did take a few hours,
but it was well worth it.

Remember that dodgy old
bumper we had on the Cosworth, all

scratched and damaged?
Well, not anymore. Check it out.

The body shop have turned it
around. It cost £250, which I know isn't

exactly cheap, but it does look
superb, and it'll really help sell the car.

Now I've got Paul to give me
a hand, because although the

bumper isn't exactly
heavy, it's a little bit unwieldy,

and of course all this
lovely fresh paint on there.

Essentially what we've got to do is
just connect up the lighting to start with.

I've got to slide two little
sort of Poles into these

little sockets on the front
there that's going all right.

Cool. I'll just slide this into place.
Job done.

The bumper's on and looks
brilliant. The engine and

gearbox are sorted. Even the
interior now looks immaculate.

The only thing letting
this car down are these

untidy and unoriginal
alloys. Let's get them off.

Remember Mike Part exchanged these
non-standard wheels for the replacement alloys.

So, as soon as I've got time, I'm going
to clean them up and send them off.

It's been a long journey,
but we've finally made it.

The Cosworth is completed, and I'm
extremely proud of what we've achieved.

When I first saw this
motor, I knew there was a

decent car in there, but
it was pretty well hidden.

The engine and gearbox needed
serious work, but we threw time and money

at it and got the damaged cylinder
head and whitey transmission sorted.

On the outside, the front
bumper was a mess, but a trip to

the paint shop meant it'd
come back looking magnificent.

Thankfully, the motorsport
sticker was easily removed too.

The interior on that
car was shocking, but a

second hand replacement
has transformed it.

Finally, we chopped in these
Escort wheels for a set of

original Sierra ones, and this
fast forward was ready to roll.

MUSIC.

So, how much did it cost to cure the cosy?

Well, the money
just kept stacking up.

Engine work, gearbox
work, interior, wheels.

All in all, we spent £5,920.

We've saved the modern classic, but
have we sunk my wallet in the process?

Wow! Look at the car!
Thank goodness for that!

What?

Last time I saw this car, it was a
boy racing machine, and now look at it.

Nice paintwork, original
wheels, cracking interior.

Ed, you've transformed it. I love it!

Well, I'm glad to hear you say
that after all my hard work, but

don't forget the engine and the
gearbox are in tip-top Nick too now.

How could I forget the
engine in this motor?

I've been dreaming of the day that
I can give it a good thrashing on the

open road, and I've got something
really special set up for the test drive.

Really?

Oh yes, we're going to see how
fast this forward really does go.

OK, here's the deal. One mile long
straight, one Cosy fitted with a GPS device

to measure 0-60 times, and two c*ck
jockeys desperate to get the best time.

I'm going to thrash her.

So you want a bit of a challenge?

Mate, easy peasy.

Bring it on, bring it on.

First gear, revs up.



You can't burn the clutch out of the way.

Turbo's kicked in second gear, here we go.

Towards the horizon, wow, that's fantastic.



That was fast.

That was pretty fast.

Woohoo.

Wow, that was fantastic.

That was awesome, 6.4 seconds.

Never, that was fast.

Come on, get in there.

I'm going to thrash her.

I want to see how good
you can do, go on, go for it.

So let's see if I can beat him.

First gear, get the revs up.

Here we go, any second now.

Come on you old girl,
come on, you can do it.

And already we're at 60
miles an hour, that's quick.

And that's 5.9 seconds, get in, get in.

I reckon I might have beaten him actually.

I reckon he was a bit
slower than he wanted to be.

What did you get, what
did you get, come on.

I got Edward, ready?

Yeah, I'm ready.



Oh mate, well done, well done.

Well obviously experience
over exuberance

every time, but it's an
awesome car, isn't it?

It is an awesome car, I loved
it, do you know it's so fast.

It is.

It's a strong car, you've
done really well Derek.

Well thank you very much, it is fantastic.

We've had a bit of
fun in it now, but I think

we need to get
down to the nitty gritty.

What are we going to sell it for?

I'm really worried we're
going to lose some money.

No, we're not going to
lose money, I mean the car,

I reckon top spec for
this car is about 6.5 grand.

Ouch, really?

Yeah, but we're going to
get a little bit of profit out of

it and somebody's going to
get a cracking car, aren't they?

Trust me, I'll bring home a bit
of Wonga in the old back pocket.

So fun and games over,
back at the Wheeler dealer

base it's time to get down
to some serious selling.

Now there's a lot of specialist websites where I've
advertised the Cosy and a straightforward ad just

bigging up the recent work on the engine and gearbox
is all I needed to do to get the phone ringing.

Now I've advertised it for 6.5
grand, the profit margin is very tiny

on this one so I'm feeling a
little bit nervous, but wish me luck.

But I needed more than luck, sure
Colin gave me the old, old story.

What have you got in mind?

I'll give you 6 for it, 6 grand.


it's a fair offer, but it is the first

offer I've had and I reckon I
can stretch it to a little bit more.

What do you reckon, 6,400 quid?

I'll have to leave it
then, but if you're going

to come down to 6
grand then give me a call.

I will do, I'll give you a shout,
thanks for coming down mate.

Thanks very much.

Nice to meet you.

Trevor was up next,
he's at the test drive

and will he make me
an offer I can't refuse?

So what do you reckon then Trev?

That is really good, it performs
really well, it's really fast.

It is fast isn't it, it's
probably one of the fastest

Cosworths I've ever been in
and it's a nice original car too.

All it needs is a new owner.

Well I'm thinking of offering 5.8 for it.




But what I will do with you,
because I think you're going to be a

good owner for this car, is I'll
let you have it for 6,300 quid.

Come on, 6-3!



Hold out your hand, you bought
yourself a Cosy sum, well done fella.

What a cr*cker.

A 280 pound profit isn't what I
had in mind when I bought the Cosy.

But in the end I'm just glad
to have found a happy buyer.

What a relief, I really had
to work hard to get that sale.

But in the end we did okay,
the car's gone on to fight another

day and we have got a
tiny little profit to show for it.

If you want to see more
cars get in tender loving

care then join us again
soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Ta-ta!