1987 Ford Escort RS | Projects

1987 Ford Escort RS

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The Project

A 1987 Ford Escort RS which came into our workshop in March 2024 for paintwork repair on the roof due to rust.

Updates

7th March 2024: The car has just arrived and work to restore the paintwork on the roof will begin soon.

30th April 2024: Interior has been stripped out and is now ready for work to commence. Spare wheel well and rear floor has surface rust which will be repaired, along with areas of the front floor panels which also have corrosion.

22nd May 2024: Work has begun on the repair of both sills, floor panels and front panel.

4th June 2024: Fabrication repairs have been carried out to the roof, as well as the front and sill body kit panels.

30th July 2024: Work is moving along with fabrication repairs to the roof, front panel and sills nearing completion.

25th November 2025: Fabrication repairs have been carried out to the rear section of the floor, interior foot wells and chassis leg. Rear brake lines have been replaced. The underside has also been prepped for paint. The A post and OSF door have also had new patches fabricated, welded in and dressed like new.

25th February 2025: Bubbling was found on the bottom of the tail gate, and it was full of fibre glass covering rusted metal and internal corrosion. The reverse side of tailgate was just as bad as the front, so a total re fabrication of the structure was needed beginning with cutting out all the damage and rot. All new fabricated pieces were cut to size and the jigsaw put back together. Then any metal was treated and epoxy primer applied. All welding completed and welds dressed.

2nd October 2025: Final paint removal and tidying is being carried out before the car moves over to paint for epoxy primer. A couple of additional welding repairs have been revealed and repaired. The soon roof was test fitted, but there are areas of corrosion on the current cassette. A replacement cassette is currently being sourced.

10th October 2025: Final paint removal and tidying has been completed, mainly on the areas of the body that fabrication repairs were carried out. Bumper, sills, and wheel arch trims have also been prepped for epoxy and paint.

> More updates to follow.

History

Extending the Group A homologation theme to include a turbocharger, Ford followed up the RS1600i in considerable style. For many buyers, the homologation-special RS1600i rather close in both looks and performance to the XR3i, so the addition of a turbo was just the ticket in the fast-escallating hot hatchback war that was sweeping through Europe.

The first RS Turbo was once again a low-volume Rallye Sport offering, and continued the extrovert styling of the RS1600i, but with additional colour keying. It lasted but a year, to be replaced by a new RS Turbo, based on the facelifted car – which this time, was a series production model.

Mechanically, the RS Turbo retained the best features from the XR3i and RS1600i, but included a Garrett T3 turbocharger, which increased power of the 1597cc CVH engine to to a laggy 132bhp for a 125mph top speed. Seven-spoke RS alloys, a bodykit and aerodynamic aids marked out the RS Turbo as the ’80s boy racer’s favourite.