MK3 RS Sedan - "ON3 OFF"

[Nev Bertwistle]

It's always a milestone to get the paint done as now you get to the fun part of putting everything together. I had the newly painted shell on the hoist and the damaged RS parked next to it, so would literally walk from one car to the other with parts.

The trick is to know in which order to do things, and my personal choice is to start inside the car and get all your wiring sorted, plus things like pedals etc.

More floor wiring, plus get the pedals and firewall stuff in

[Nev Bertwistle]

The hoodlining proved to be a minor pain as no sedan lining comes in black. Also I started with an Ambiente and they don't have rear grab handles so off I went to Ford again and bought a new sedan Trend/Sport sedan hoodlining. Being white I had to paint it black using fabric paint.

Start at the edges

Finally finished, lots of spray tins later...

Add in all the wiring

Put it in the car

[Nev Bertwistle]

This all has to go somewhere, hope I can remember

Inner dash first

Then outer dash

[Nev Bertwistle]

Next I started on the mechanicals. Motor bay first so we can get everything in place before we install complete front end and engine/gearbox in one go.

Motor bay wiring and ancillaries done

Rear ready for fuel tank

One of the interesting aspects of the fuel tank was the location of the fuel filler pipe. Although the sedan is about 200mm longer than a hatch, the filler pipe was a perfect fit. It bolted in place and the filler neck located itself exactly in the right position in the guard. No modification was required which was a bonus.

[Nev Bertwistle]

Rear end bolted in

Next was to fit the engine, which I had taken out as a complete package with the gearbox, crossmember and struts. Makes it easy to get back in.

And in the car, finally...

[Nev Bertwistle]

Things are starting to come together quickly now.

Finished off front end hardware

Rest of car starting to look good. No glass yet.

[Nev Bertwistle]

One of the more stressful things to do was fitting the flares. Apart from the bolts they are bonded to the car with Sikaflex 227 sealant, which once cured sticks like the proverbial shit to a blanket. It also gives you about 30mins before it starts to go off so you have some time to maneuver the pieces into position. As these were the early type of SS Tuning flares they have no flat lip to use double sided tape, so I had to use sealant. To make cleanup easier I used masking tape on the car along the edges and also on the edge of the flare. That way any sealant that was squeezed out was removed along with the tape. A final cleanup with acetone (careful on the paint) and they were on.

Front guard

Rear guard

All done, ready for glass. Initially I had it rolling on the old 20" Simmons but these were only there until I could order the 19" Simmons OM1 wheels.
Side skirts are yet to go on.

[Nev Bertwistle]

Another little job was the hatch to boot wiring conversion. Not too difficult, you just need to be methodical and work through the harness.

Left hand side

Right hand side

Boot floor

Boot foam cut to suit

All done with sedan boot mat

[Nev Bertwistle]

Twelve months from when I started it was finished. I had it mod plated then got it registered with the plates "ON3 OFF".

I'm super happy with how it turned out, and for me the best compliment I get is that it just looks factory. If Ford sold an RS Sedan, this is what they would have had on the showroom floor. The icing on the cake was having it featured in the UK Magazine Fast Ford in May 2023. Even though not a local publication it's still nice to get the recognition. That came about after the sensational photos of Chris Lee somehow ended up on the desk of Dan Bevis who contacted Chris then me to do the story.

This is my favorite photo...