[FordMan59]

My addiction to Escorts is apparently getting worse. This past week I bought another '88 which makes my total number of Escorts now up to 4. I have an '88 Pony, '88 GL, '97 LX Wagon, and a '02 SE.

The one I bought this week was listed on eBay for $800. buy it now. It has a brand new set of tires and new rear brakes and wheel cylinders. The owner thought it needed a new transmission or a rebuild, but all that was wrong with it was the downshift rod had lost the bushing and fell off. The rod was still laying on top of the transmission. It has 78K actual miles and after bringing it home and putting a 1/2 bottle of wax and 3-4 hours of elbow grease in it, it looks almost like a new car with the exception of a few door and rock dings. The interior is very near perfect. The previous owner didn't know if the timing belt had ever been changed or not so that is in it's very near future and he said the A/C didn't work and they had removed the belt from the compressor so I'll have to get a new belt and try to find out whether the compressor is good or not. I think once I get the A/C going I can have the car in tip top condition for less than another $100., so it looks like I'm going to be driving an '88 Escort for another 20 years or so. The tach also isn't working and I haven't done any research on that, so if anyone has any suggestions on what might be the problem with it I would appreciate any advice. I haven't even checked the fuse yet to see if that's the problem. For anyone that's interested here's the eBay link to it, but after the wax it looks much better than the pictures here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... &viewitem=

 

[marshpoprock]

Great pick up. I thought the problem would be the kickdown rod (that's what was wrong with the 90 coupe I bought) when I saw the car on e-bay. If the car would have been closer, I would have bought it.

As far as the tach not working, it needs replaced. E-bay is good start for locating nos ones (I got a nos one for less than 20 total with shipping). Used is an option, provided you see it working. If you need an a/c compressor, I have a parts car with a/c (no tach though)

That particular color of red is a nightmare. You get no more than a month of descent shine before it looks faded again. Look at the red one in the sig pic below. Somewhere in here is a picture of what it looked like after the buff job, and after it got wrecked.

Welcome to Escorts Anonomous :lol: . I have the addicition too (of course, I think EVERYONE here knows that) being I have 7 at the moment, all first gens

 

[FordMan59]

I'll keep you in mind on the parts for the A/C. I've got to put a belt on though, because they had by passed the A/C compressor. The car was only about 90 miles from me so I drove up and fixed it then came back home and got my son to drive me back and pick it up. I remember seeing the picture of your red one after it was repaired and thinking how good it looked when I saw it. As for the shine on the car I suspect it hadn't been waxed in a long time if ever, that's why it took so long to get it looking decent. Some areas I had to go over a couple times to get it looking the way I wanted it to. I knew I better move quickly on this one, because I figured if you saw it you'd buy it. LOL Do you know where I can get some more bushings for the kick down rod? I'd like to keep a couple extras just in case.

 

[marshpoprock]

What I use is actually a part for a Chrylser. They are for the tail lights on Dodge trucks. I was able to buy a box of 25 for less than 10 dollars from an aftermarket fastener company. I have to make the holes at the mounting points slightly bigger to use them. Search the Dorman site to get a part number for the right replacement bushing. I think one is about 2 or 3 dollars.

You may not need another compressor. Once there is no longer enough pressure in the system, the compressor won't work. You would need to unplug the presssure switch and use a wire to bypass the switch to see if the compressor kicks on.

I was actually considering buying that car the first time it was on e-bay. At the time the buy it now price was 1300, with a reserve probably close to that. Besides, that car has to many miles on it for me :lol:

 

[FordMan59]

Yeah I know you manage to find those 1st generations with under 50K miles. I'm lucky to find a first generation around here with any amount of miles that's not in the JY. I didn't even realize the car had been on eBay before. Did they mention a problem with the transmission when it was listed for $1300? The reason I ask is because he said it had only started giving problems a few weeks ago. I'm just wondering if that is the reason they dropped the price by $500. I'm glad I didn't see it when the price was $1300. a $4. part from the JY may have saved me $500. Actually I didn't pay $4. for just the kickdown rod, I also got the neutral safety switch in the deal. I guess they didn't charge much because the demand for 1st generation parts around here is probably pretty low. I'm lucky to see a 1st generation every 6 months besides mine.

 

[marshpoprock]

Yep, it was mentioned. I thought even the 800 was a bit high for a car listed with known tranny issues. But as long as it was the kick down rod, you got a good one then. The car actually had a brief discussion here about it. In which I noted the lack of connection of the kickdown rod. You buy it because of that?

 

[WJC]

Awesome find!!! I saw that one when Cow linked to it in another thread. Sure is nice that people are saving these old Escorts, instead of getting crushed.

 

[SVTADAM]

Wow. That is clean. Nice find.

 

[FordMan59]

Yep, it was mentioned. I thought even the 800 was a bit high for a car listed with known tranny issues. But as long as it was the kick down rod, you got a good one then. The car actually had a brief discussion here about it. In which I noted the lack of connection of the kickdown rod. You buy it because of that?

I talked to a friend of mine that use to own a transmission shop and told him what it was doing and he had said it was probably the kickdown rod and I figured if it did need another tranmisssion I'd just change it over to a 4 speed like the Pony has. I wasn't worried about putting a couple more hundred in it considering the condition and mileage.

 

[UnexplodedCow]

I'd still swap in the manual .

 

[rudedog]

I've got the entire system pulled out of my 89. Compressor, bracket, drier, evap core, lines, the whole nine. Everything was sealed the second it was removed. Everything with the exception of the evap core is only like a year and a half old.

 

[FordMan59]

I don't know what all I will need when the time comes. Would you give me a price for the complete system and prices for individual parts separate? You can just send them in a PM.