Ready for paint, our Mk 2's rebirth continues.
Working on the car after hours, he expected it to take about a month, and he was true to his word.
Repairs required to the body were more extensive than we had expected, but once the car was ready for paint, it was straight and looked the goods.
Again moving the car, he took it to a spray painter's booth where he spent a sunny Saturday morning with the spray gun.
The car had traditionally been painted "rally yellow", and we again went down this path.
Applying the new paint, with the project getting closer to completion.
Bert reckoned the shell would take three coats of paint, as yellow is notorious for requiring extra coats, but even he was surprised when it took a full five coats!
With the painting completed, we were eager to get the car home to start bolting bumper bars, mud flaps and other essentials back on to it.
That done, and the car now mobile again (!!), it was into the forest for a brief drive to bed everything in prior to our planned first event, the Nissan Nightmoves Rally in June.
However, yet again we hit a stumbling block that we hadn't expected.
Five coats of 'rally yellow' had our Mk2 Escort looking a treat.
After 15km of driving, the car was stuck in third gear and we ground to a halt.
The car was still drivable, but a closer inspection quickly revealed a big pool of oil forming on the road underneath.
To our shock and horror, the gearbox had actually split in two pieces.
Vibrations, age, fatigue .... who knows, but we were stranded and it was back to the workshop for yet another rebuild 'rebuild'.
With only a couple of weeks before the Nightmoves, our entry was withdrawn and we again had to reset our goals.
There was light at the end of the tunnel though, and chief mechanic Steve Roman set about rebuilding the gearbox ready for our 'new' debut event, the Yarra Valley Stages in September.
At this stage those plans are still on track. We have a few bits and pieces to do before then, but we're confident that this time we really will get to hear those magic numbers .... 5, 4, 3, 2,1, GO!
After 15km, the gearbox simply broke in half.
Read Part 3 here:
https://rallysportmag.com/part-3-rallysport-mags-never-ending-rally-car-rebuild/SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
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