Author Topic: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...  (Read 73831 times)

Offline AdeV

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V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« on: May 16, 2012, 09:42:16 AM »
This is a project I've always wanted to do... the first car I ever owned was an old  Mk2 Ford Granada Estate. A year ago, I bought a replacement one for £500, knowing it was quite grotty and in need of restoration:



As always, click for the bigger picture.

As this won't be the only place I'll be updating & asking for help occasionally, I've decided to write it up in a blog, with links back here when I make progress...

So, please feel free to visit anytime: http://v8-granada.blogspot.co.uk

This is going to take quite some time, I'm hoping to finish before 12th December 2014, which will be the car's 30th birthday, but I won't be rushing and, of course, there are lots of other projects going on at the same time, e.g. the racing car.

So, I have the Granada, the Lexus engine/suspension donor vehicle; I've got dibs on a suitable gearbox/prop/diff.... so now I just need to get cracking  :whip:

More soon :)
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline Dean W

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2012, 04:53:14 PM »
Yours looks quite a lot different than the Granada that was sold here.  It's always interesting to see
what the various car brands sell in different countries with the same car name. 
Dean W.

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Offline doubleboost

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2012, 05:07:59 PM »
Hi
Ade
Be a interesting conversion
We put a Rover V8 in to a Marina estate years ago it went well in a straight line :Doh: :Doh: :Doh:
The engine was lighter than the B series 1800 we took out
John

Offline ieezitin

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2012, 06:57:36 PM »
Adev.

you have face punched me with memories. I always liked the Granny, i had one in 1978 all leathered up with a splash of Chrome (I Believe it was a Giah). The thing drank petrol but the reason i owned it was that the filth in south east London drove rovers (2000Tc i think) and it left them standing. I was up to naughties back then and I needed the power.

I will never forget the night when we left our local Rugby club after a night out on the town and  the plod started chasing me down Eltham high street, I knew the roads better and i got a lead on them but when i pulled around our turning onto the flats my uncle (who was at the same club i was previous) just left his Wolsley 110 parked in the middle of the street, i slid my bonnet right up under his back bumper which in turn demolished the front end, never left a mark on the Wolsley that beast was protected with 1/4" plate steel bumper. Needless to say my uncle beat me but i was worse off.

Been here in the states now for 21 years and i have seen the Granada model here and its nothing like the British one, The English version is ten times more classy and quality.

Best of luck with the rebuild i will be watching.    All the best     Anthony

PS my kitchen window overlooked the Thames into Dagenham where they were made.

If you cant fix it, get another hobby.

Offline Kjelle

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2012, 02:30:56 AM »
Hi AdeV
That should be an interesting conversion! I seem to remember that Ford South Africa built V8 Capri's and Granada's in the 70's/80's (I'm sure of the Capri). Maybe some of our South African members can find out a bit about them... Like where they put strengthening brackets and stuff.

As for putting that kind of engine in a Granny, I think they envisioned that from the beginning, but wasn't allowed by the big shots in Dearborn...

I guess that this will be what the Yanks call "The Ultimate Sleeper"!

Kjelle

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2012, 04:10:46 AM »
Wow, Ade!  :bugeye:  This is going to be a great one to watch......  :D

I really like your combination of body and mechanicals!  :clap: :clap:

Good luck with the build, I'll be watching, quietly.  :thumbup:

David D
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Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Offline Marauder

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2012, 04:25:03 AM »
As already said memories,I had the V6 Ford Granada GT manual,The model before yours.It was i think about 2 years old when I bought it.It was an ex cop car 2 speedos fitted in it and it drove well,I had it a number of years and the only thing that went wrong was it blew one of the head gaskets which i changed and it went on for years until rust took over,Good car.Several years later in the early 2000s I bought another ex cop car Rover 827 with a V6 Honda engine fitted,The engine was good but the car was absolute crap spent thousands keeping it going you name it from gearbox replacement to electronics.These days i drove a Land Rover Discovery ?? :beer:

Offline AdeV

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2012, 07:01:52 AM »
Some cracking stories there - Anthony, I thought the filth (aka Mr Plod) used Granadas, ala Sweeney? I'm surprised they used the 2ltr Rover, surely the 2.7 would be more their style? Or the 820 turbo I guess - I had one of those for a while, it was a blast, until the head quit, oil went everywhere, that was the last time that car moved under its own steam.

I've owned a succession of Mk2 grannies over the years; first was a pre-facelift estate, came out of the factory as a beige 2.3 L 4-speed with GL interior (it was one of the last pre-facelifts made, and they were clearly using up the old bits off the factory floor before the facelift came in). By the time Dad finished with it, it was a 2.8i 5-speed with ride-levelling suspension, now painted in a fairly dramatic metallic gold. It spent 5 years laid up in a field, and still started first time (so long as you knew the technique - basically, pedal to the metal & crank until she fired, then back off before the revs got too high). Eventually, the tinworm became too severe and she ended her days on a banger track, sadly.

After that I bought a 2.8i Ghia X saloon in Nimbus Grey, very nice, had a few things go wrong over the years, she got laid up when I bought another one in Caspian Blue B603FGP. I drove that car between Liverpool and Portsmouth for months, until the miles started to take their toll, that's when I bought the 820 turbo. After the Rover packed in I used the Granada again for a while, before buying a Vauxhall Senator 3.0 - another very quick and exceedingly comfortable car. The Grannies and rover got scrapped (sob), eventually the Senator made way for an S-type Jag, but when that went expensively wrong it was back to the Vauxhall for a bit, then another Granada, which was my daily for a while before I discovered Lexus...

I sold the Saloon granny (which was in pretty good nick, all things considered) and bought the Estate specifically with this project in mind. I see good Estates are selling for big money these days (big for knackered old Fords, that is), so I'm hoping that once mine is de-rusted and sorted, it will be worth a few bob. Depending on how enjoyable the process of uprating/modifying it is, I may end up selling it to do the same thing to another one....

Dean - I got quite interested when I discovered that Ford USA had produced a Granada - and a V8 one at that. It was a bit disappointing to discover it was a totally different car; had it been based on the European one, the V8 conversion would be a no-brainer.

Ford Australia produced a Granada-a-like with a V8 engine, the Falcon XD, but it was in fact a completely different car.

Kjelle - I've also heard that SA Fords had V8s in them. I'm not sure why Dagenham never used a V8, probably a fuel economy thing. And yet the venerable Rover V8 was used in all sorts of vehicles for years and years & proved enduringly popular. There have been plenty of Rover V8 conversions, but the simple fact is, getting 200+ bhp out of a Rover engine means making it fragile; the Lexus does 250bhp in standard trim, and properly fuelled with improved  breathing, it should give much more than that with relatively little hassle. And if it turns out to be insufficient, well, I do have a spare BMW M5 450bhp V8 + 6-speed box sitting around looking for a job....

At present, I am in the process of taking all the glass out, all the knobs bells and whistles off, etc. I've ordered a hog spit for it, so once I've whipped out the engine/box, I should be able to get her up in the air and spinning around, which will make removing all the ugly rust a bit easier. I had a bit of a look underneath yesterday, boy it's rough.... lots of grot  :(
Cheers!
Ade.
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Offline dsquire

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2012, 08:56:24 AM »

At present, I am in the process of taking all the glass out, all the knobs bells and whistles off, etc. I've ordered a hog spit for it, so once I've whipped out the engine/box, I should be able to get her up in the air and spinning around, which will make removing all the ugly rust a bit easier. I had a bit of a look underneath yesterday, boy it's rough.... lots of grot  :(

AdeV

Don't forget that  :worthless: when you do the renovations.

Cheers  :beer:

Don
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Offline ieezitin

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2012, 04:30:19 PM »
Adev.

your probably right on the 2.7 rover deal my memory has holes init. Jack Reagen and his crew did drive grannies but they were after Jack-the-Hat and that mob they never bothered with Jack-the-Lad such as myself, hookey VHS cassettes and fake Levis were never there sceen.


All the best  Anthony   
If you cant fix it, get another hobby.

Offline enginenut

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #10 on: May 19, 2012, 09:22:01 PM »
The South African Capri your thinking of is the Perana they used 351 Cleveland V8s same as the XD Falcon.

Offline Divided he ad

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Re: V8 Ford Granada - ambitious new project...
« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2012, 07:50:26 AM »
Ahh, history  :smart: 


Mental car manufacturers and their odd ideas....!


You're in for a whole lotta work Ade, one of the lads just started a full Cossie re-shell. It'll be fun watching the difference in your madness erm, methods!  :loco:    :)



Good luck! We'll be watching.



Ralph  :thumbup:
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