19 July 2003
Saturday morning came and we took a trip to MK Engineering to discuss our specific requirements for the chassis and order the basic kit for the build. We had decided on the standard disc front and hub rear. Although we liked the style of the standard roll bar, we agreed that to enhance the cars appearance, we would have a roll bar with the two rear stays which bolt to the back of the chassis. This obviously involves a bit of extra work for MK and hence extra cost. We chose the colour (Yellow) paid our deposit and left on a mission to source our donor parts.
23 July 2003
Having scoured various publications and browsed numerous websites, we eventually found a 1989 Sierra XR4x4 2.8i V6 for sale at a reasonable £150 on www.freeads.co.uk. The only down side was the location……………. Dudley, West Midlands.
We rang the guy to find out if it was still for sale and when he confirmed it was, told him we would ring back later in the week to arrange viewing. We then continued our search in the hope that something slightly closer to home could be located but alas NOTHING. We had managed to track down a 1992 K registered 2.0i Sierra Ghia Estate for £125 just down the road, but reckoned that as it didn’t have a limited slip diff, we would go for an XR4x4. Friday came and our searches had proved fruitless, so we rang the guy in Dudley and arranged to view the car on Sunday.
Great…….. All we had to do now was decide how to transport the car back home (it had no tax or MOT). As neither of our vehicles had towing brackets, any A-frames or trailers were out of the question. We decided that flat bed transportation would be too costly, and therefore, in the long honored tradition of the locost build (and having free company fuel!) we would use my company car and a traditional tow rope!!
26th July 2003
Having agreed on our setup for the car the previous week, we needed to take a trip to MK to amend the order to rear disks. On arrival, we were greeted by Martin and his seemingly ever present, Saturday morning fan club. A bloke called Jim and his father were present with their recently built MK Fireblades, so we immediately began the task of extracting their knowledge and know-how on building an MK. They were both genuinely nice blokes and parted with their knowledge quite freely and without us having to resort to blunt medical instruments. We even managed to blag a ride for dad (who, has never had an ‘out of body experience’……………. until today!!)11,000 revs and ten minutes later, they arrived back at MK. The passenger had a grin as wide as the Humber Estuary. When he eventually managed to scrape his quivering body from the passenger seat, we asked if he was still interested in building one. To our amazement he said YES. So a big thank you goes to Jim, for taking it nice and steady with his right boot and not demonstrating his cars TRUE potential (which must have been extremely difficult!!)
27th July 2003
The alarm rang Sunday morning and at 7.00am, we were on our merry way to Merry Hill in Dudloy. One and three quarter hours later, we arrived at our destination. We looked the car over – took it for a short spin to ensure the diff was OK - and haggled with the guy. Deal done for £125. Now for the fun part. We hitched the two cars together and set off on the long journey back. We had contemplated taking the car onto the motorway to shorten our journey time, but agreed this was waaaay too risky!! We decided therefore, to stick to A-roads all the way, and to say it was extremely easy and even pleasantly enjoyable would be a complete and total lie!!
Never, EVER, again would we even attempt to tow a car over 100 miles on a piece of kangaroo rope. And if anyone reading this is even considering it……..STOP. DON’T DO IT.
Still, we had reason to be pleased. We had saved ourselves the cost of a transporter, weren’t pulled over by plod and we were still alive. Oh yes, nearly forgot……..and it only took three and a quarter nerve racking hours to get back!!
28th July 2003
The nightmare which was yesterday, paled into insignificance, as we set about butchering the XR4x4. We decided its precise resting place on the driveway (which took a lot of deliberation, I can tell you!) and began. Off came the steering wheel and the casting along with all the required stalks and wiring loom. Front wheels were then removed followed by the brake calipers then………………………. It’s too dark to continue (too long spent deciding on its resting place). Oh well, there’s always tomorrow...