It's been a while since our last update on TTAC's intercontinental project car: a UK-spec 1983 Ford Sierra Ghia finished in Rio Brown. Since then the Sierra's gifted creator passed away and more positively, Ford wisely ditched its Titanium trim level for a famous name befitting a premium offering with brown paint…even if it isn't Ghia.
Jealous much of TTAC's sweet ride, FoMoCo?
We ended our last story with the Sierra's hood cable unable to release the "bonnet". Which was fixed one year ago this week: reaching between the front fascia and the radiator to grab the release lever and pop it free. From there, two zip ties eliminated the slack in the cable and it's been fine ever since. A surprisingly easy fix!
Any hope of getting Citizen Sierra nice and legal started with its horrible exhaust leak, probably stemming from the Nürburgring workout given by Capt. Mike at said famous race track.
I grabbed a 2.3L Mustang manifold gasket, pulled the cast iron lump off and realized that the 2.0L Pinto motor has a unique cylinder head. With no matching gasket in sight, I swapped my unopened part for Mr. Gasket's sheet of "make your own" gasket paper. In less time than it took to watch a football game, I crafted a set of four gaskets. About a week before Christmas 2012, I finished the Sierra's exhaust. Ironically, that was also the day I confronted my inner and outer demons.
Making a concerted effort to change my attitude/personality that evening, the Sierra–in some twisted way–became my catalyst for that change. So it became that Citizen Sierra joined my personal quest for continuous improvement.
Considering the number of cars in the Mehta garage, a unique key chain was needed. I found these vintage units (modeled after a promotional button Ford made in 1982) on eBay in the US, and they were mine in a couple of days. Nice.
Shameless Plug: in February I scored specialty car insurance, quite affordable thanks to the extraordinary customer service at the National Corvette Museum. With proof of fiduciary responsility in hand, I motored out of the warehouse for a state inspection, a simple task with any 25+ year old car in Texas! The ride there was surprisingly serene, and it easily passed the test.
With the Sierra legal (enough) to begin the path to citizenship, I hit another roadblock: the head lights and brake lights went berserk. I tried fixing them: repairing frayed wiring, replacing bulbs, a new brake pedal switch, a multifunction switch from a Merkur, all to no avail. By mid March I was 100% frustrated: so I quickly reassembled my work and drove to a friend's shop. And a little over three months later…
Sadly that friend had even more existential concerns than myself: after his cell phone was disconnected, I went to claim my Sierra, in whatever condition it may sit. Mercifully he fixed it well, charged next to nothing and I learned a lesson…or three.
Soon after I took a few hours off work to get the Sierra titled. Except not: the county wasn't pleased with the paperwork. The Sierra is pictured here (above) in July at the Houston Police Department's Auto Theft division, where they quickly processed/approved Form 68-A: a crucial part to obtaining citizenship in Texas. While this was one of the creepiest, covert operations I've seen (they don't even let you inside) the people were certainly pleasant enough.
Victory! Sort of: between an international title that wasn't signed by Capt. Mike and two ownership changes between here and the UK, I needed a bonded title to get legal. My friends in the classic car trade recommended a local title company. In less than a week, they made the impossible happen. While I enjoying working instead of waiting in lines, there was a singular downside. Their handiwork set me back a painful $750.
Legal issues cleared, the work began: first the horrible radio. While the factory unit supposedly picked up FM, it seemed to miss the land of BBC radio. Then the tape deck broke, taking away my MP3 interface! I grabbed the same (Blaupunkt) radio from a 1980s USA Audi in hopes it would work. No dice.
Then I bought a stunning vintage, NOS, perfect DENON cassette deck, which wasn't amplified and therefore useless to the Sierra. Stereo #4, a "so cheap its worth a shot" NOS Pyramid deck with a graphic equalizer did work, but made the original speakers crackle and pop like that "snappy" breakfast cereal. $50 later on eBay and I was installing new 4" Kenwood coaxial speakers into a very chocolatey cabin. The rears were a snap, but the fronts were…well you see the photo.
While the craptastic Pyramid was an improvement, it was still a horrible radio. Back to eBay, and this Hitachi tape deck with an AUX jack and an ingenious spring-loaded pull out mechanism (no grab handle) was mine for a fair price. Lesson learned: vintage Kenwood/Alpine audio fanbois pay waaaay too much for cassette decks!
After a few more miles of weekend cruises and plans for a short trip to judge a LeMons race, the Sierra developed some annoying problems. A ripped spark plug boot (that I destroyed during inspection/removal) needed attention, but ordering tune up parts for a Sierra (i.e. not of the GMC variety) at the parts store is cumbersome. And the word "Merkur" doesn't help, either. Luckily an Autozone cut-to-fit kit (USA made!) combined with new Motorcraft plugs worked perfectly. A nice repair for less than $25. 
The exhaust had problems at the rear, too. $150 later and a local shop replaced the crusty rear resonator and it looks factory. Surprisingly, the new assembly is louder than the original, probably because it isn't full of rust flakes.
Then a front-end alignment: I'm stunned at the number of shops that refuse to work on a car if the alignment specs aren't in their machine. I had the Ford factory shop manual (purchased from a UK re-seller of discarded library books) with the specs in hand, but nobody would play…until I found a Meineke with the balls to read books, not just computers.
Then tires: these Romanian-made Vikings were not only a poor tribute to Nordic heritage, they were past it thanks to the (mis) alignment. Since the usual places don't stock a 165/80/13 tire, I found a vendor in California selling China's finest speed rated radials for $34 a pop. Apparently this is a common tire size for Honda Accords from the same era, so I got lucky!
The Sierra's fan clutch puked its fluid at the LeMons race in late September, making it hurl coolant as I extorted bribes from cheaty racers. Determined to find a local replacement, I realized European Ford clutches use the same removal tool as BMWs. I was lucky to find a brilliant night manager at the local O'Reilly's, as he hammered away at his computer to find a ($100) clutch from an E30 that dropped right in. Thirty minutes later, the Sierra was running cooler than Jonathan Goldsmith in a booth fulla hot women.
Last month I added this custom-made LeMons bribe to the Sierra's hatch. One race team had a talented graphic company in tow, and it's certainly good to be a corrupt judge with a penchant for exotic machines ending in "RI"!
Our man in Czechoslovakia, Mr. Vojta Dobeš befriended me shortly after my initial purchase. Turns out he grew up with Fords from the 1970s and 1980s, so his love of Sierras is strong. Even better, his ability to find valuable parts is even stronger. I literally bounced off the walls when his box of Ford goodies arrived. We are very lucky to have this guy in our ranks.
As alluded to in last week's Piston Slap, I ran into problems while installing these parts. Bad grounds, blown fuses, dirty connections and a truckload of time with wiring diagrams to make it all work: but the result is brilliant. Now I have a well-mannered RWD hatchback with enough head lamps to bake your legs on an autumn winter morning. Yes, really.
The plan was to put the finished Sierra* back in the warehouse…but screw that! I'll keep TTAC's project car in my garage until summer rears its ugly head once more. Citizen Sierra is after all a big part of my past, present and future.
And now you know The Truth About TTAC's Ford Sierra. I hope you have a fantastic week.
*NOTE: the Sierra is currently running European style plates with the correct license number for the State of Texas. This, along with keeping the real plates in the spare tire well, is a temporary measure until I figure out how to install a Texas plate without modifying the body or the plate itself. More to come.
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
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