RS Motorsport :: Classic Speed Restored

Hi everyone,
New to the forum and was hoping that some of you guys with way more experience than me, can help me out.

An opportunity for me recently surfaced where I have an option to purchase a Mk1 Escort 2 door.
I met the owner through work and saw the car in his garage, congratulated him on having a rarity and had a bit of a quick look over it. Turned out we were both Escort enthusiasts.
The more I looked the more impressed I got. Anyway, as I was leaving I thanked him for showing me the car and said to him to call me if he ever wanted to sell it. Since then he has called me and said he would sell it to me as he has too many other projects going, and knew with me, it would go to a good home.
At this stage I have not had a real good look over the car, but this is what I know and can remember.
Mk1 2 door 1300GT.
Injected Turbo 2l Pinto.
Headers and custom exhaust.
Upgraded diff.
4 pot AP racing brakes front, rear unsure. Unsure if road legal (dust covers etc).
Flared guards, fibreglass I think and appear to be Mk2 tarmac style from memory.
Larger wheels and tyres. Pirelli P zero rubber (nice!).
Custom fuel tank, (aluminium race tank).
Recaro interior (street seats).
Full roll cage (currently removed).
Front strut towers strengthened.
Not sure on gearbox or clutch upgrade or not.
Currently not registered.
Previous NSW rego, not sure how long ago. Not sure on what modifications had been done since last rego.
Car has clearly been modified to suit track day work.
All the noted work appeared to be well done, that being said I didn't take much time to look at the engine conversion.
Has all the relevant Engineer certificates, according to the current owner, and shouldn't be an issue getting it registered (again according to the owner).
Body looks straight and clean.
Price??? Lets just say reasonable for what it is.

My plan for the car would be to get it registered, then a full repaint and wheel upgrade (BBS style mesh preferred), and use as a weekend driver only. It would be perfect if that was it.
I do plan to go over the car fully to get some further info but I want to throw this out there now, with the hope that someone out there can give me some advice on some points I should consider (street legal wise).
It would be perfect to just get cleaned up a throw it on the track, but I want a performance street car, not a racer.

I do have concerns, which is why I need some advice.
Does this sound way to scary to buy and get it registered in NSW?
Does anyone here have experience with modifying a MK 1 to these similar specs and get it registered in NSW. So this post is probably more directed to any NSW Mk1 owners or those that are familiar with the legal requirements for NSW.
I’ve looked at some info regarding the NSW requirements, and to be honest, it does my head in!!!!
I guess the kind of info I’m after is things like, Engineer certificate requirements/expiry, what I should be really looking for etc.
My worst fear is to buy the car under the impression that all will be good to find out that all of the goodies are not street legal and I have to start from scratch.

Sorry for the long post.
Any advice or thoughts would be VERY appreciated.

Cheers...... `

If it truly is a 1300GT, then it may be worth more restoring it to original. Easy to register then! Not sure about NSW regs though so good luck there. I've found when dealing with QLD DOT, you'd speak to 5 different people and get 5 different interpretations on what could or couldn't be done. Then the police that pull you over have another opinion...

Mk2 flares on a Mk1!!!

This car was ebay a few times
If you got it cheap enough I would turn it back to more original looking to save yourself a lot of grief to register and would improve it's value

I'm pretty sure your right about that DannyM.
The current owner did mention eBay when we initially discussed the car.
I would love to see that original eBay ad, as it may give me some further info.
I wonder what you guys thoughts are on this car especially if you saw the ad.

In fact it wouldn't surprise me if someone on this forum did this build, or know this car???

Cheers....

I remember the car too, and I have experience with registering similar beasts in NSW.

I'll say this first and foremost, All the rules have changed in the past few years. If someone hasn't been through the process recently and just says things like "shouldn't have a problem getting it registered", they have no idea. You WILL likely have problems getting it registered. For example, There are rules governing what capacity increase you can do to a car that are independent from any old engineering report and turbos on top may or may not be an issue. There are rules governing many other bits of the car too, as you mentioned brakes are probably not road legal, or are the lines etc. The fuel tank will be a problem, you even have to fit a restrictor in the fuel filler like new cars to make sure you don't accidentally put diesel in by mistake!!!

Basically there are a whole host of things that the rules make hard, and on top of that there does still seem to be the human factor too, I.E how your engineer feels on the day, and the level of specialness your RTA person has.

If you want to road register this car. Ring an engineer and ask the questions, if you really like the car, pay him to come and take a look at it so you will KNOW before parting with your cash how much more you will need to part with. You also need to get on the RMS website and research, all the info IS there and only you can educate yourself on it.

On a side note, and this is only my personal opinion mind you, and I don't know how much he has told you he wants for it. But what he was asking for it when advertised on Ebay was WAY to much, at least relative to other cars I have seen. And after all it is still for sale.
I know your keen to get a car, but I would say be patient and look around, they do come along and at the right price. And if you don't have much luck my guess is this car will still be around down the track.

The gunmetal Zakspeed car was owned by Albert Delmedico from Engerdine

Thanks Guys for all the info.
This Mk 1 is going to be too much trouble.
The search is on for a 2 door Mk 2, may even get to clone Albert's car Danny!
I did see on Gumtree that those kits are available and the guy is looking for other expressions of interest to get them in.
They are a great looking kit and I would presume that some cutting of panels is required to fit them.
Would be a crime to cut a legit RS2000 in my opinion, so I'm thinking that if I can get a 2 door Mk2 with a running 2L Pinto I'll be on the right track.
Patience may be required.

GOOD LORD

I begun looking around for a MK2, and it just so happens that a 2 door RS2000 is on eBay, unregistered and genuine.
I'm ready to bid after watching for a couple of days.
It's sitting around the 7.5k mark after starting at 3k.
Times ticking I'm holding off thinking of a budget and the flood gates open!
My budget gets left well behind, price goes through the roof in less than 30 minutes and she sells for just over $18,000!!!

Did someone just get shafted paying this sort of coin for a car that clearly needed a full strip down and total restoration?

I'm still in shock.

That is just ridiculous

I would have thought a registered with RWC standard escort should be purchasable for around the 5-10K depending on quality and location!
add a few period modifications (wheels, 2L webers, decent interior, suspension and brakes) may push it a bit higher in the bracket or into the 10-15K
If you are intending a restoration this might be the best place to start anyhow. Buy the best you can to start with saves money, swearing and time later on. A complete decent car will be easier to restore then one missing parts or a junker.
If your going full mod race car then maybe a decent shell which is going to have most parts replaced anyway would suffice.
Cheers

Jsutin