Anyone want a Sierra shell?

Scania · 1 Jul 2006 at 01:44

The_Dark_Side said:
all sapphire shells are identical, 1.6 to cossie.
the 3 door cossie shells were strengthened and the 500 had 2 sets of mounting points for the rear suspension (for track use) IIRC

I'm 99.99% sure the 4x4 Sapphire Cossie Shells are seam welded, some Ford nut will confirm I'm sure.

Where is that damn book! :mad:

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 01:45

R124/LA420 said:
I'm 99.99% sure the 4x4 Sapphire Cossie Shells are seam welded, some Ford nut will confirm I'm sure.

Where is that damn book!

i'm fairly sure they're all the same.
but only sapphire shells, not the rest of the sierra family.

Scania · 1 Jul 2006 at 01:50

The_Dark_Side said:
i'm fairly sure they're all the same.
but only sapphire shells, not the rest of the sierra family.

Yes, iirc, the book I refered to mentions the 4x4 Sapphire shells were seam welded to re-inforce them, ready for Rally action which they subsequently received.

I may well be confusing myself with the works cars, I'm sure I'm not though.

Google sucks on this subject!

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 01:51

R124/LA420 said:
Yes, iirc, the book I refered to mentions the 4x4 Sapphire shells were seam welded to re-inforce them, ready for Rally action which they subsequently received.

I may well be confusing myself with the works cars, I'm sure I'm not though.

Google sucks on this subject!

on the rally cars yeah, but the road car shells are all the same IIRC mate.

challenges R124/LA420 to a google-off
lol

Scania · 1 Jul 2006 at 01:56

The_Dark_Side said:
on the rally cars yeah, but the road car shells are all the same IIRC mate.

challenges R124/LA420 to a google-off
lol

I'd accept were it not for the fact I'm googling like mad about this and can't find the info I'm looking for.

>> Remembers my "RS Fords" book is at my friends house, in Telford! - I'm in Stoke.

<<

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 02:00

R124/LA420 said:
I'd accept were it not for the fact I'm googling like mad about this and can't find the info I'm looking for.

>> Remembers my "RS Fords" book is at my friends house, in Telford! - I'm in Stoke. <<

i'd lose mate.
my google skills are poor to say the least.

Mickey_D · 1 Jul 2006 at 05:30

Either of you think you're bad at google, I wouldn't even know what to look for!! LOL

jon.bda · 1 Jul 2006 at 13:04

R124/LA420 said:
I'm 99.99% sure the 4x4 Sapphire Cossie Shells are seam welded, some Ford nut will confirm I'm sure.

Where is that damn book!

Only the motorsport shells you bought over the counter came seam welded.

As for the RS500, the alternate rear suspension mountings were just dummies and of no use on the road at all iirc. They were just put in so the touring cars to use a different setup on the back.

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 13:10

jon.bda said:
Only the motorsport shells you bought over the counter came seam welded.

As for the RS500, the alternate rear suspension mountings were just dummies and of no use on the road at all iirc. They were just put in so the touring cars to use a different setup on the back.

IIRC they were actual mountings and not dummies.
when used they changed the camber so radically they have no real place for road use but they are real

Scania · 1 Jul 2006 at 16:46

The_Dark_Side said:
IIRC they were actual mountings and not dummies.
when used they changed the camber so radically they have no real place for road use but they are real

The suspension mountings are real alright, they were there for Grp A homologation purposes.

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 21:15

R124/LA420 said:
The suspension mountings are real alright, they were there for Grp A homologation purposes.

exactly.
the same is true of the second injector rail.it doesn't work on the road car but it had to be present or the race regs wouldn't allow it's use.

going back to the suspension mountings, you should note this is THE definitive way to spot a genuine RS500.bits and pieces can be faked, but factory suspension mountings cannot.you'd spot fake ones a mile away.

The_Dark_Side · 1 Jul 2006 at 21:16

R124/LA420 said:
The suspension mountings are real alright, they were there for Grp A homologation purposes.

BTW did you find out if i was right or wrong RE the Sapphire shell?

i'm adamant they were all the same, although that now opens the door for me to look like an ass if you've since learned otherwise

Ish · 1 Jul 2006 at 23:44

The_Dark_Side said:
exactly.
the same is true of the second injector rail.it doesn't work on the road car but it had to be present or the race regs wouldn't allow it's use.

going back to the suspension mountings, you should note this is THE definitive way to spot a genuine RS500.bits and pieces can be faked, but factory suspension mountings cannot.you'd spot fake ones a mile away.

or just look for the EE on the vin plate

Scania · 2 Jul 2006 at 00:17

The_Dark_Side said:
BTW did you find out if i was right or wrong RE the Sapphire shell?

i'm adamant they were all the same, although that now opens the door for me to look like an ass if you've since learned otherwise

Not yet mate (crap google!) I'm going to my friends house in Telford tomorrow, I'll find my RS Fords book (sure its mentioned in that)

I was kind of hoping Ish had the definitive answer when I saw he'd reply'd.....

I WILL find out for sure - Its bugging me now!

Edit, I'm finding lots of references to the GP A & GP N Motorsport shells which are seam welded (in both 3 & 4 door variants) perhaps, I'm confusing myself with these, I'm damn sure I'm not though!

The_Dark_Side · 2 Jul 2006 at 12:37

Ish said:
or just look for the EE on the vin plate

never heard of ringing?
swapping a vin plate is a lot easier than trying to fabricate factory suspension mounts IMHO.