11x01 - Ford Fiesta XR2

[bunniefuu]

Coming up on Wheel Of Dealers, one
of my dream cars, an iconic fast-forward.

Oh, wonderful! It's alive! I love it!

I bought my first one back in 1984.
It was a huge part of my youth.

But the tall man's not so keen.

I just can't really find any love for it.
It's just an old hatch.

What? What? What?

I need Ed onside because
the margins on modern

classics are slim and
there's hard work ahead.

This here has got a
problem with the gearbox.

The bumper's damaged as is the spotlight.

I chased down classics that
have seen better days and Ed gets

to grips with the spanners to
bring them back from the brink.

Then we sell them
on, hopefully for a profit.

Launched in 1976, the standard Fiesta
was a simple, straightforward hatchback.

But in 1981, it all got much darker.

Ford stiffened the suspension, dropped the
weight and bolted in a Kent 1600cc engine.

The Fiesta XR2 was born.


a top speed of 105mph.

Big numbers for a small Ford.
An instant success, selling 20,000.

The XR2 was the first of the
legendary XR breed to be developed.

I've been a serious fan
since my 20s and the

Mark 1 XR2 is high on
my all-time dream car list.

Fast forwards have
been one of the biggest

growth markets in classic
cars over recent years

and I'm desperate to
get my hands on an XR2.

Cars in good condition, I can't
believe how much they're going for.

I've just found the
black 1982 Mark 1 but

it's got the six and a
half thousand pounds.

I'm not looking for
show cars. I need

something cheaper that
I can add some value to.

There's plenty of Mark 2s
for sale but the Mark 1 with

its simple boxy lines is the
one that's got all the kudos.

This is an enthusiast car.

So while I look through the
classifieds, I'm also contacting

owner's clubs and it's not
long before I get a reply.

Now I'm just checking my
inbox and one of the clubs has

got back to me with a contact for a guy
called Eddie who's selling a Series 1 XR2.

So let's give him a call.

Hello.

Hello there. I'm ringing about the car
you got advertised, the Ford Fiesta XR2.

Looks great in the pictures.

Will it be you or your daughter
who's showing me around?

Thanks a lot.

I'm not going to get too excited here
but that sounds too good to be true.

So I'm on my way to
go and see a 30 year old

fast forward for two and
a half thousand pounds.

With a car like an XR2,
the difference between

making a profit and selling
for a loss is very tight.

Now I need to go and find a car
that's got a really solid foundation.

I can't afford to be
looking at cars that need

any resprays or expensive
engine rebuilding work.

Nice fast road just outside Winchester
and I've come to see a very quick car.

Look at that, the stuff of
boyhood dreams, an XR2.

It's like a time capsule this
car, transporting me straight

back to the 80s and Abby
is here to show me around.

Okay, first thing I've noticed is it's had
a slight bit of damage to the front of it.

I mean it's not bad, it's just the
front bumper and this fog lamp.

It's had a bit of a rough
time, yeah I must admit.

I love the way it's
totally original and

nice and straight down
the sides, very good.

It's even got the original
pepper putt alloys, that

shows its originality so
that's really good to see.

So let's have a look inside this boot.

See this parcel shelf, that's an aftermarket
parcel shelf that somebody's made.

So it would be lovely to
find an original parcel shelf.

Also got that lovely
stripe that runs down the

side, this one's faded so
that one needs addressing.

Right, let's have a good look inside Abby.

Look at that, totally original,
everything is as it should be.

Usually these doors have got
a nasty big hole cut in them and

somebody's put a stupid speaker
in but that's nice and original.

Look at that, that is fantastic.

Is there any chance I
can take it for a test drive?

Yeah of course you can.

Perfect.

Oh wonderful.

This little 1.6 engine is so revvy,
it's got some low down torque.

This car feels like an absolute
rocket and then you've got the handling.

You know you jump out of a
modern car, get into something

like this you think it's
going to be old and dodgy.

But this car's tight,
it's gripping, it's alive.

This little car has got such a
great big personality, I love it.

This car, I can tell you almost immediately
it has got a problem with the gearbox.

It just doesn't feel as
good as the rest of the car.

It's a little bit, well,
sloppy in all the gears.

Now I'm in fourth gear, it's got that
little whine coming from the gearbox.

It could probably do with refurbishing.

Now the big question
is, do I want this car?

Well, judge it by the grin on my face.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to
work out that I really do want this car.

So Abi wants £2,500 for this car.

It has got a few problems.

It's got the gearbox issue, it's
got that damage on the front.

So I'm going to go back and try
and get the car a little bit sweeter.

Well I'm not going to deny it Abi, I
loved every single minute of that.

That was fantastic.

What a great little car to drive.

But it's not without its problems.

How much did you want for it?

£2,500.

£2,500 which I think is a fair
price and you'd probably get that if

you were to hang around and wait
for the right person to come along.

So with all that in mind, I'd be
prepared to give you two grand cash for it.

Sure I can't, you know, bend
your arm, get a little bit more at all?

I don't want to risk giving
too much more because

there's not a lot of profit
in this car once I do it up.

That fog lamp alone could
be about £150 you know.

It's too much of a gamble for
me but I'll give two grand cash.

Come on.

Go on then.

Yes, well done.

£2,000 is a great price
for this hot hatch Ford.

All sorted it could be worth twice that.

But the gearbox is badly
worn and this XR2 looks rough.

It's going to take some time and money
to get this car looking showroom fresh.

And we have to do it all
on a shoestring because the

margins on late modern
classics like this are so tight.

I love this hot hatch.

I bought and sold many XR2s
over the years and believe

me, at two grand in this
Nick, I found a good one.

This car is so good at what it does.

It's got the basics but the interior is
shabby and the gearbox needs attention.

It's got that little whine
coming from the gearbox.

Original parts are rare and pricey.

£85 for a front bumper.

So to make money on this
little Ford, we're going to

have to try to keep the parts
bend low to around a grand.

So what's the plan with this car?

Well there's going to be no changing the
colour or bolting any stupid turbos to it.

No, this car is all about its originality.

Because if we get this car right, it could
sell for up to four grand or even more.

I love this car.

I just hope Ed shares my enthusiasm
when he sees it at the workshop.

Alright, well I did think from
that ring loud exhaust note,

it was bound to be something
really exciting. Well done.

Hey, are you excited?
What do you think about that then?

That's a Mark 1 Ford
Fiesta XR2 Pepperpot alloy.

It's got the sunroof. I love it.

This is the stuff of my dreams, Edward.
I've got to tell you.

Well I can see why you might
be excited about it, I guess for you.

And I can get why it's
part of that kind of classic

fast forward movement
that's getting bigger and bigger.

But I just can't really find
any love for it, to be honest.

It's just an old hatch.

What?

What? An old hatch?

Look at you.

This is the absolute perfect
car for us to turn a profit on.

All we need to do is to keep
this car nice and original.

I mean, looking at it,
obviously there aren't

very many dings,
if any at all actually.

It is quite straight. There isn't any rust.

Thank you very much.

Quite impressive for an 80's car.

See, you're starting to
warm, you're starting to warm.

There is a couple of
other little things you

haven't noticed, if you
look round the front.

Look at that.

I mean, okay, the bumper's damaged,
as is the spotlight, but it's not so bad.

I mean, the panel behind is
actually okay, so that's alright.

What we do is we call it a bruise.
It's got a little bruise at the front.

Have a look at the interior.
Look at that, nice and original.

Alright, admittedly it's
a little bit threadbare

in places, but we can
do something about that.

The thing that I think I am going to
struggle with is this rear parcel shelf.

See, somebody's cut that about.

As always.

Put a big speaker in
there, so I'm going to

have to find an original
one to put back in.

That's going to be really hard to find.

Yeah, but that's my job, I can do that.

Right, what is more important
is to replace these black

bits down the side, because
that is part of the XR2 look.

And these have faded and pitted away.

Are they transpills or paint?

They're paint.

Okay, well that's not so hard,
because obviously trying to

get hold of the right transpills
might have been tricky.

So I mean, none of that is
particularly complicated, so

presumably there's a real
doozy waiting for me, isn't there?

Come on, what's the hard job?

There is a problem with the gearbox.

You stir the big stick in it, it's like
stirring spoon inside a porridge.

And when you eventually find
top gear, you find it's a bit whiny.

So the thing about that is, it's
actually relatively easy to swap

out the gearbox on a car like
this, so I'm not that bothered by that.

No, no, no, what we need to
do is to refurbish the gearbox.

Because literally, we have
to do this car on a shoestring.

That is going to deliver
us the money we need.

I can see that, but the thing
about a gearbox of course

is that it is actually a
bit of a specialist job,

therefore it should really
be done by a specialist.

Right, okay.

Well I'll find a specialist
to do the gearbox.

What I need you to do is to dig it out,
then we're going to end up with a good car.

Start smiling, let's
get it in the workshop.

Go on then.

I mean it's okay, it's not bad.

I mean it's okay, it's brilliant.

I'll tell you what, you can have
loads of space around it in here.

That's true.

Tiny.

Now Mike tells me that
back in the 80s, that was the

place to be, behind the
wheel of one of the hot hatches.

Now he does admit that
this one has seen better days,

and its biggest problem
is with the gear change.

Now the thing is,
the gearbox, which is

right down there,
actually feels a bit baggy.

It's not very precise, and it has
a noise in forth, a kind of a whine.

Now really the only way
to diagnose this problem

properly is by actually
taking the gearbox out.

So that is my first job.

It's going to be a bit of a biggie.

Safety first, so the battery is
disconnected before I begin.

Now Ford engineers
face the challenge of

putting a 1600cc engine
into this tiny space.

So they chose a transversely mounted
unit with a four speed manual gearbox.

I'm freeing off the
mounts at the top first.

The hard part of the job is under
the XR2 because access is tough.

Now a bit of an important top tip here.

When you try and release the clutch
cable from the clutch arm, be very careful.

Because it's under so
much tension, should it

slip, you might actually
lose your fingers.

So I'm using a large pry bar to take
up that tension and release the cable.

I'm just undoing this tie rod here to
try and give you a bit more access.

Because as you can see,
there's not a lot of room

to get this gearbox out
the bottom of the engine.

I can barely get my fingers in
between the gearbox and the bodywork.

Now I'm going to have to disconnect
the driveshaft, of course, on both sides.

And to make my life a
bit easier, I'm actually

going to take the whole of this suspension
unit and peel it away from the gearbox.

Then hopefully I'll have
enough room to jiggle it out.

I'll replace any worn parts
as I go, so when I refit the tie

rod, I'll change the suspension
bushes to improve handling.

And I'll put in a new clutch too.

The XR2 gearbox shared parts with
the tried and tested 1.6 Ford Escort.

Our problem could be with
worn gear teeth or a bearing.

Perhaps the differential
bearing, which supports the

transfer of power from the
gearbox to the driveshafts.

The gear selector feeds
down the gear stick in the

cabin and into the gearbox
and needs to be disconnected.

We're now at the meat of the job. I've got
to disconnect the gearbox from the engine.

I've got a couple of big bolts
to undo around the bell housing.

Then I've got to disconnect the cradle
there and also a strengthening bar.

And then we're pretty much there.

Removing the gearbox
is a two-man job because

it's actually pretty heavy,
around 25 kilograms.

If a garage did the work, they'd
probably charge around 200

pounds in labour alone to remove
and then refit an XR2 gearbox.

So it's nearly time to get
the gearbox away from the

engine. This is why Phil's
here to give us a hand.

Now Phil, if you just lower it down a
little bit, what we're going to try and

do is actually support the weight of
the engine with this transmission Jack.

So you hold it there one second.

But what I want to do, I'm
a bit worried about actually

supporting the weight of the
engine with the exhaust manifold.

So I'm just popping
in a little bit of packing.

And the idea is then that will
actually help spread the load

from the exhaust to the sump,
but that should be a lot stronger.

All right.

OK, so down again.

We'll get the right kind of
height so we can both lift it.

A bit more.

Just slowly raise the car.

Theoretically, what's
going to happen is this is

now going to effectively
present the gearbox to us.

One second.

That will probably do, I think.

For something so little, it
is really quite heavy, isn't it?

That's it.

There you go.

I'm going to actually have
to take one of these out.

There we go.

Well, thank you, sir.

Good luck.

Well, it's taken us a couple of
hours to get this out of the car.

And now we can finally see, well, actually
not much more than when it was in the

vehicle, because all the really clever,
important stuff is inside the casing.

To work on gearboxes,
even a manual four-speed

like this, you need specialist
tools and knowledge.

With hundreds of moving parts
inside, it's easy to make a costly mistake.

So really the best thing to
do is to get this out of the car.

The best thing to do is to send it
off to some kind of gearbox guru.

To find out why a gearbox whines
in top gear and to get the whole

box rebuilt, I'm taking it to a
man with 30 years of experience.

Hello, is Pete around?

Hello, Mike.

Pleased to meet you, Joe.

And you?

There she is. Look at that.

Common faults with these, if I can
remember back that far, because

I haven't done one for over


It's the first thing that usually goes on.

Just needs a general overall, mate, really.

Okay, so you can do that
for me. You can take the diff

bearing out and you can
change the bits that are worn.

Certainly will.

Make it as good as new.

Fantastic.

There are over 100 moving parts inside
and each needs to be assessed for wear.

The end cover comes off
for access to the main shaft.

And as always, I'm happy to lend a hand.

Down here.

I don't think you whacked it hard enough.

No, probably not. There you go.
You've done it, look.

Old gasket.

One of the bolts carries the actual
identification tag for the gearbox number.

If you want to order parts for it,
that's the number that they require.

Look at that. That's fantastic.

Good indicator, Mike, of how the gearbox is,
is that there's a magnet inbuilt into the

bottom of the gearbox, which attracts any
metal that's off of the gears and the chips.

This one looks reasonably clean.

There's no big parts that
are smashed up or anything.

It's a good indicator that
the gearbox has been used.

Brilliant.

Pete thinks our one in top gear is a worn
differential bearing, which takes a lot of

punishment as it supports the transfer of
power from the gearbox to the drive shafts.

So is this the bearing
that's making the noise?

That's the one I suspect,
Mike, and it's counterpart on

the other side that's probably
the cause of the problem.

The noise is coming from direct
contact with the pinion shaft.

Stripping the gearbox takes an
hour. It's a giant Jigsaw puzzle and I'm

way out of my depth, but Pete has
just spotted another potential problem.

If I take that gear off
of there, as you can see

there's some dirt and
rubbish underneath there.

So it's actually oil fed up the
centre of that shaft to all these gears

that are spinning and they've got
little holes underneath every gear.

To keep them lubricated.

Obviously that is blocked up.
Obviously dirt got through there.

The shafts and every other part in the
gearbox need to be deep cleaned. If Pete

finds any worn parts, he'll replace
them before putting it all back together.

What about that shaft with the hole in it?

That's what we clean it up with.

A little pipe cleaner?

Pipe cleaner, that's it, yeah.

Wonderful. Is it just like a degreaser,
the chemical that you've got in here?

It's solvent, solvent.

It's running out freely.

All nice and clean outside and in there.

And inside, that's it.

With the worst of the
dirt cleaned off, the next

stage is to steam clean
the parts in a giant machine.

I do want to do something, so look at this.
I'm going to put the lid down. You lock it.

That's it.

Under there. Alright, see.

At least I've done something.

Oh, it's starting to steam up already.

Half an hour later and the
machine has done its work.

Oh yes, look at that.

It is warm, isn't it?

Wow, that is hot.

I think it's everything
really, really clean.

Yeah, the steam has done its
job, you can see it's cleaned.

Pete will charge me £425 and
he'll give me a year's warranty.

Good value, but that's
almost half of what

I wanted to spend on
the XR2 parts in total.

The budget is under pressure already.

Well, it's lovely to see the
gearbox exploded and into

all these little bits and
pieces that are nice and clean.

And we've got all the new bits to go on.
Look at that, lovely.

So this looks like quite
a mission now to bolt all

this back together. How
long is it going to take?

From now on in, about two and a
half hours before it's up together.

And I gather you need some concentration.

The last thing you probably
need is me hanging around.

I'm going to leave you to it and I
can't wait to see it back in the workshop.

Thanks, Pete.

Cheers, Mike. All the best, Mike.

So Pete is revamping the gearbox and
replacing the winding differential bearing.

But what about the way the
gearstick feels from the driving seat?

It's a little bit, well,
sloppy in all the gears.

New gearstick adapter kits don't exist
anymore, so Ed's got to get creative.

And that is what I need to modify.

But can he do the complex surgery on this
old part without damaging a fragile XR2?

I love every inch of our
XR2. For me, it's a car that

takes me straight back
to the fun I had in the 80s.

This little car has got such a
great big personality. I love it.

Ed just sees a beaten up
front end, a ropey interior,

tyre paintwork and a
long list of expensive parts.

I just can't really find any
love for it, to be honest.

I bought it cheap at £2,000 and if
we can keep the parts spent low, below

£1,000, we should earn good money
on this fast appreciating modern classic.

I've had the gearbox
refurbished and Ed's fitted it.

Now he's got a clever idea how to
improve the driving seat experience to

transform that loose and distant feeling
you get from the long gearstick pro,

to create a short shifting kit to make
the gear changes sharp and sweet.

Now one of the reasons
this gearbox was a pain

to use was this huge
throw between the gears.

Now in the old days you could
get hold of a short shift kit for about

£150, but unfortunately they're
pretty much impossible to get hold of.

So I've been wondering,
can I make one myself

and thereby improve
the driveability of this car?

So I'm just going to
use the dashboard as a

datum, so I know I can
replicate this later on.

So it looks like about


So that's actually 200 millimetres of
throw, which does sound like quite a bit.

I want to try and reduce it and
still maintain a nice positive shift.

When you drive a buzzy hot hatcher up
and down through the gears all the time,

to shorten the gearstick
throw, I need to adapt the

gearstick mechanism itself
from underneath the car.

Now the main thing
that affects the amount of

throw on your gearstick
is the fulcrum point,

and that's hidden
inside this little box

here, which is why I'm
underneath the car now.

I need to undo this little cradle here.

The fulcrum point is the location
around which a lever or gearstick pivots.

There we go, and then it just sits
there nicely on the transmission Jack.

So I can now take apart the
actual mechanism I'm trying to get to.

So you've got these four bolts
and nuts holding it all together.

And that is what I need to modify.

So this is our gearstick. You can
imagine the knob goes on the top there.

This little ball actually goes into the
rod that actually selects the gears itself.

In the middle here, you can
see there's a little fulcrum point.

And the idea is that
obviously the throw is

influenced by the
position of that fulcrum

point in relation to
either side of the shaft.

If I just use this as an example, I've
got a fulcrum point quite near the tip,

and then try and move the tip from
one or other side of the tape there.

You can see the throw on my
right hand is actually quite extreme.

If I then move the fulcrum
towards the centre of the shaft,

you can see then that that similar
movement at this end actually means

you get much less
movement on my right hand.

So therefore, you can actually
reduce the throw of the gearstick

just by moving the fulcrum point.

I need to calculate how far
to move the fulcrum point,

which is located at the top
part of the green plastic selector.

It's all about ratios of
length to movement,

and I reckon if I move it 20mm up the
gearstick shaft, it'll have a big impact.

Now, a clever little top tip here,
I'm going to move this 20mm.

Well, this masking tape is
pretty much about 20mm wide.

So I'm just going to
put a little bit down there

so I then have my
first datum, if you like.

I get another piece and just pop that
right up against the first bit of tape.

I'm just going to undo
the original bit of tape.

and that way I know
this is 20mm from there.

The only way to move
the green plastic selector,

and hence the fulcrum point, is by forcing
it up the shaft with a socket and hammer.

I hope this 30-year-old plastic holds up.

That is actually starting
to go, which is lovely.

There we go, so now this is bang
up against our 20mm bit of tape.

So all I have to do now
is actually cut it in two

and slide the bottom half back
down to where it used to be.

By cutting and then separating it,

I'm adding 20mm to the centre
of the green plastic selector.

I need to do this to ensure
the base of the selector

connects cleanly with the
rest of the gearshift mechanism.

So now the next problem
we have to think about

is that when everything's
back together again,

of course we're going to have this
sitting over the ball part of it here,

but of course now it's going to be


than it used to be, so we're
now going to need a spacer

to go in between here
and the rest of the carrier.

I've sent the measurements for
the spacer to a local engineering firm

and the good news is they'll be
able to turn it round by this afternoon.

In the meantime, I've
got to lube up and build

up the rest of the gear
shifter mechanism.

Well, this is the spacer.

It costs just £30.

It's actually pretty good value for money.

considering how
complicated it actually looks.

Now, this is where the little
stand comes into its own

because, of course, now
I've got one extra piece

it's going to get slightly more
fiddly to put back together again.

So here we go.

New improved gearstick coming up.

The spacer looks a good fit.

Made out of nylon, it'll be
resilient and long-lasting too.

Now it's a case of refitting the whole
shebang and connecting it all up.

It's looking good to me, but I won't be
able to tell for sure until I go topside.

Well, I'm back in the driver's seat

because there is only one way to find
out whether this has actually worked.

I'm just going to get my tape measure
in the right datum again and here we go.

On the way back, we've got
the gear shifter going at 315.

All the way forward is 185
and that is about 130mm.

And we had originally a throw of 200mm so
that's 70mm less, which is about a third.

So actually, that's really, really good.

I would say it's going to
feel nice and tight in here now

and that is a proper result
for fans of the short shifter.

So I've tackled the fast
Fiesta's biggest problem

the gearbox experience.

But everywhere else
I look, I see parts that

need replacing and
work that needs doing.

It's high time Mike found the parts I
need to get this XR2 back on track.

What are you thinking?

How are you, mate? You alright?

I'm fine, but we've already got
one of these and it's going really well.

I've got your gearbox in, got a
nice little quick shifter going on.

Don't need another one, thanks.

Yes, we do. Yeah, if you've got
one, you might as well have two.

I tell you what I'm thinking.

I've really struggled to
find the parts that we need

for our XR2 so you know
what I've gone and done?

I've got to have bought a whole car.

With all the parts we need on it.

No doubt it was a bargain price.
In fact, how much was it?

It was £1000.

Really?

Yeah, I know it doesn't look much, but
genuine XR2 with a registration document.

This car is the real McCoy.

Look at this, eh?

It's like a little treasure trove in here.

And one of the things that got me
going straight away was this front bumper.

That is very special condition to be fair.

Now look at this for the
holy grail of Fiesta parts.

This genuine XR2 parcel shelf,
you can't find them anywhere.

This one is a little bit tatty, I know.

We can clean it up and fix it.

It hasn't got any holes cut in it.

It's very rare, very rare.

I just want to hold on
to it, it's like gold dust.

So that's very good.

And there's other bits like fog
lamps he's gone and bought.

And it's got trim panels,
it's got other bits and pieces.

Everything we need to make
a good car are within this cup.

So we just take all the good
stuff out of here, put it onto our car,

any spares we have we put
back into here and then flog it.

There you go.

A centre console could cost £120
so I can see the value in the donor car.

But that £1000 has
pushed us way over budget.

I'm not sure we can make the
money back when we sell it on.

But right now I need to
tackle the distinctive paintwork

side stripes which
define the look of this car.

Now I will have to do both sides
but the off side is by far the worst.

You can see where the
black paint here was actually

worn so thin the red
is now coming through.

But also there's quite a lot of rust damage
on the top of the window frame as well.

This is going to need
some serious attention.

That means stripping the XR
down to get proper access for

any welding, filling and
rubbing down I might need to do.

It looks like overkill
but to do this job the

front door cards and
internal trim need to come out

so I can remove all the
glass and exterior fittings.

Now these rear panels
are in a pretty sorry state

but luckily Mike's got some really
good ones in the donor vehicle

so I'll swap them over when I
put everything back together again.

Here's a top tip. Take your time
and mask up the car properly.

It's a huge time saver.

Otherwise you'll spend
ages scraping overspray

off the car and
interior panels later.

Now I've masked up in
preparation for our painting

but before I can do that I do need to
attend to a few little bubbles of rust here

and also this bit where the
metal is actually fractured apart.

Now of course that's going to involve
grinding as part of the preparation

but also welding and of course
both of those processes mean

there's going to be
this kind of yellow hot

molten steel flying
around all over the place.

So a top tip is to cover
your screen in masking paper

because that's actually quite susceptible
to that molten steel fusing with the glass

and if it was to rain afterwards you end up
with rusty glass and that's just not cool.

This grinder can be used
with all kinds of discs from

heavy duty grinding all
the way to delicate sanding.

You can pick them up for around 50 quid.

I'm using it to strip off
the paint with a soft pad.

This top of the door can get
by with just some rust protector

designed to chemically change
existing rust and protect against new stuff

but the bottom of the door
needs much more work.

Now while the rust treatment dries I
thought I'd get on with some welding

because this stress fracture here
has obviously happened over time

and hopefully an effective
seam weld should be enough

to hold it together for
another 30 years or so.

MIG welding works by passing electric
current through an extruded metal wire

which then melts in the electric
arc at over 1100 degrees centigrade.

I'm just cooling down the
spot welds with an airline

just to make sure that I don't
cause any distortion in the panel.

So with enough surface built on
the weld I can now begin to grind back

and shape the profile
using the flat disc again.

Now so far it's been simple but fiddly

and now it's going to
get complicated and fiddly

because I have to define the edge of the
black line that we're going to be making

but the thing is I need to make
sure that this edge is super crisp

so I'm going to be using this
special stuff called fine line tape

and the idea is it gives a really
lovely sharp edge to the paint.

The only thing is I've got to
get it in exactly the right place.

This inspection light
helps to find the edge

of the bodywork so I
can see where to place it.

I'm covering up as much
of the red paintwork as I can

because I only want to sand up
to the edge of the fine line tape.

Go any further and I damage the red paint.

I'm just going over the whole
surface with an abrasive pad

to give it a really good
key ready for paint.

Now I'm using grey
primer because it's

actually slightly thicker
than red oxide primer

and therefore once it's sprayed on it
will fill some of the gaps slightly better

and also give you a
bit more material to rub

down to to get a really
super smooth finish.

There's a density to this primer
which you can see as it goes on.

It's great stuff and it's always
worth paying for good paint.

It hasn't actually cost us very much at all

so we're definitely on the right lines
for doing our restoration on a shoestring.

I can feel this XR2 coming alive
with every pass of the spray can.

As I work I'm looking for
any blemishes, any areas

that aren't taking paint
evenly but so far all good.

Half an hour on and the paint
is dry in my warm workshop.

The paint should be dry enough now to
start peeling away the paper so here we go.

Look at that, it's a nice sharp
edge to that which is good.

So hopefully all of it is
going to come away that well.

It's looking very good so far.

There's always some slight trepidation when
you strip back the masking tape and paper

but it's looking wonderful.
It's taken 30 years off the car.

That's fantastic, no damage
whatsoever so it works a treat.

It's been about 8 hours
of faffing around but now it

looks really great and
both sides are back to black.

The stripes look good but there's still
plenty which needs restoring and replacing.

Ed will be plundering the donor
car to get ours up to scratch.

It will save us money on parts but the big
question is how much can we resell it for?

If we fail to get decent money for the car
we might lose out on any potential profit.

We've worked hard to keep
the spend low on our 1980

Fiesta XR2 but I had to
shell out on some rare parts.

In fact how much was it?
A thousand pound. Really?

Now the car is ready
for the final stage

where the donor car
begins to earn its keep.

I'm hoping we can strip it
apart and then sell it on for cash

but it's a gamble on whether
we'll make enough money back.

Now the reason these
things are so rare is

that they stopped making
them a long time ago

which is why it's so rare to
find one that's undamaged

and of course that's
why it's worth spending a

lot of time making sure that we can renovate
this to get it looking as good as new.

This old glue is coming away so easily.

The old glue is nasty stuff
so it all needs to come off.

I'm going to be spraying this
panel so I need to remove any

screws and brackets which
might get a dusting by mistake.

I'm also masking up
any parts that cannot be

removed like these
parcel shelf locating stays.

Now the first thing I want
to do is try and get rid of all

of this sun bleach vinyl
with some flexible vinyl paint.

The parcel shelf will take
a couple of hours to dry

but there's plenty of
other work I need to do.

Now I've been cutting enough to retain
the original carpet to use as a pattern.

and I've got some new
carpet for a couple of quid.

You can see it matches beautifully.

Cutting carpet is tricky and it's
even harder to get a straight line.

This masking tape gives me a
fighting chance of getting it right.

Okay so that's my templates
done so now I'm ready to cut.

These new pieces are looking good.

Now the parcel shelf is dry I can attach
the carpet panels with contact adhesive.

Now I've used contact
adhesive so I've had to wait

until both surfaces are a
touch dry but we're now ready.

This is kind of like a one hit
wonder really so I just want

to make sure that I'm
absolutely in the right position.

Now this parcel shelf restoration has cost
pennies but looks like a million dollars.

Last touch is to refit the brackets
and add new strings for the hangers.

Well look at that we refurbished
this parcel shelf on a shoestring

but it's going to make a huge
impression on a potential buyer.

After the rear bench seat has been fitted
the refurbished parcel shelf can sit on it.

Well that looks so much better.

The front end is the last
stage of our XR2 marathon.

It makes all the difference to
see the car get its face back.

A replacement spotlight
is the finishing touch.

The wiring harness is
already in place so making

the connection is
simple but will it work?

Okay Phil can you try
the spotlights please?

Nice.

Brilliant.

It's finally finished. We've really
turned back the time on our perky XR2.

It looks fresh out of the box with
its sharp lines and bold graphics.

I needed a strong foundation
to make money on a fast

forward and I found it
in this Mark 1 for £2,000.

Come on.

Go on then.

Yes well done.

It looked tired but underneath
the body and the engine was strong.

The gearbox was a major issue though.

A nasty win in top gear
required a total gearbox rebuild.

And the gearstick action in the
driving seat was given an update

with a short shift adaptation
of Ed's own design.

And there's a proper result
for fans of the short shifter.

The trademark side stripes proved a time
consuming but ultimately satisfying job.

Eight hours of faffing
around but now it looks

really great and both
sides are back to black.

Then it was time for a donor
car to offer up expensive

hard to find parts for
the interior and exterior.

I even swapped our aftermarket
exhaust for this original Mark 1 part.

We tried to stick to a
parts budget of £1,000.

So how much did we spend on the XR2?

The £1,000 donor car was
costly but we resold it for £873.

A huge bonus.

Without that deal the
costs would have racked up.

With it all in the Fiesta owes us £2,750.

Ed, how you doing?

I'm good sir.

Oh wow, it's like rolling back the years.

And I've got to say Ed, this looks amazing.

Well thank you, I think
because of all the work

I've done it's brought
back its crispness of line.

It's got more purpose now
and also on the road it's going

to fly along because of all the
mechanical work we've done.

I'm looking at two of my favourite things.

Number one is a cracking XR2 and
the other one a decent potential profit.

Nice.

Build a force Edward. Build a force.

I have to say it's quite a good call
on this little Warwickshire test track.

Ed, let me tell you why
this car is so important.

Why this is one of my
favourite all-time cars.

I want you to meet legendary engineer.

He's from Ford's special
vehicles engineering division.

He's called Colin Stancoop and he's one
of the guys that made my dream a reality.

Well I do like to meet a
boffin every once in a while.

Colin is a fast forward hero.

We are surrounded by wonderful XRs.

There's XR4s, XR3s, we've got XR2s.

We've got the whole set.

We have got the whole set here.

So coming up with something
like this car, the original,

the daddy of them all, must
have been quite a mission.

It was a bit of a mission.

Ford's gave special vehicle
engineering a bit of paper

and told us we want something
that goes around corners,

looks good, is fast, can get up to


Let's talk about the engine.

That's the good bit because
some feet of engineering.

The engine's actually
dropped in the chassis and

that was done to get
the driveshaft straighter,

which gives you
better torque delivery.

The front tyre rods are also
lowered by 25mm and as

you accelerate it stops
the front of the car lifting.

That's really clever.

So all these little tiny kind
of adjustments are what

actually make the whole
package that much better.

What about design then, Colin?

When you think about it, one of
the classic features of the XR2,

this lovely little satin
black outline around the

window, is that something
to do with you as well?

Absolutely nothing to do with me.

That was the felt tip fairies.

I mean, Ford's design
department, they did that.

For an example, the
wheels, we as engineers had

to make that wheel to the
appearance requirement.

It's a question of that's
an appearance item.

Make it happen.

Make it happen.

Performance.

What about the figures?

The original design parameters
were us to get something

that went to 60 in under


it 9.3 to 60 in 105mph.

Fantastic. Great numbers.

We're on a test track.

The perfect place to see if our XR2 can
match those original performance figures.

And I want Ed to experience
the rush of a full on 0-60 run.

So the benchmark is 9.3 seconds.

Hopefully a little quick shifter here
is going to make all the difference.

We've put a lot of work into
getting this car back to its best.

Now it's crunch time.

Can Ed get anywhere
near a sub 10 second run?

Here we go. A bit of revs.

Go on.

Oh, we got a bit of
wheel spin off the line.

Not bad, not bad.

And he's away.

Second gear.

Very nice, very smooth.

That short shifter is lovely.

So going past 35, 40, 50mph
in to third gear just past 60.

It's so exciting to see a Fiesta
XR2 doing what it should be doing.

That was brilliant.

Here he comes.

And that looked pretty quick.

Oh, and he's got a big smile on his face.

Did you get on, son?
That looked really good.

Now, bear in mind, of course,
that this car is 30 years old.

We've got a full tank of
gas and I'm a little bit heavy.

And the bench one we're
aiming for was 9.3 seconds.

Look at that.

No way.


over the benchmark.

I'm pretty pleased with that.

Pretty pleased for a 30-year-old car.
That's epic.

As the sun sets, it's time to
head back to the workshop.

It's been a great day,
but have I convinced Ed

that the XR2 is one of
the iconic hot hatches?

I get it. I now understand why this
fast pheasant means so much to you.

I know, it was a real thrill, wasn't it?

To be here today, to be around those
other XRs, not only that, to meet Colin.

What a lovely guy. Absolutely.

You know what, you said
that the XR was the very

first car and all the
other ones followed after.

Well, we're actually being followed by now.

I know, and we're first in the line.

First of the best, Ed, and
we're driving first of the best.

So, finally, Ed understands
the unique appeal of this XR2.

In fact, our car's so good, I'm
going to ask a cheeky £5,500 for it.

Now I need to persuade a
buyer it's worth big bucks.

The guy behind me, Tony, he's had
a test drive, he likes the way it looks,

but the money, I'm asking
£5,500, which is pretty strong,

but then saying that,
it's a cracking motor.

Let's see how I get on.

Right then, Tony, you
like the way it drives?

I do.

You can't deny with the way it
looks, it's a wonderful little car.

What do you think of it?

I like the car.
I think it's a bit too expensive.

I'd like it to come north with
me, but I think it's 4.5 grand, Mike.

Listen, if you want the car, I've
got loads of people interested.

I'll let you have it a
little bit cheaper, £5,250.

What do you say?

Well, Mike, I'm here to buy the
car, but I don't want to give £5,250.

I'll take it away now, £5,000.

Five grand, cash?

Today.

Today, hold out your hand.

You just bought yourself an XR2, well done.

Brilliant.

So my dream car hems off for a new life.

It sold for well over twice what I paid for
it, and we made an amazing £2,250 profit.

Tony seems like a happy
man, and so he should be.

He's just bought one of my
favourite all-time fast forwards.

It's hard to hand the keys
over, but I love the profit.

Now it's on to our next car
challenge from me and Ed,

and if you want to see what we get up
to, join us again soon on Wheel of Dealers.

Tala!