Escort Body

Bodyshell
You won't be surprised to hear that the Mk 3 & 4 Escorts rust! The Orion shaped Mk4 was particularly bad for it. Apparently something to do with Spanish factories and a deal on cheap steel but that's not based on anything concrete so should be dismissed as hearsay.

They suffer from the usual rust spots: Arches, sills,front and rear valence, below the head lamps, under the battery tray and under the fuse box. A common indication of rust under the battery tray or fuse box was damp carpets in the front foot wells as this is where the rain water would end up after it had come through the rust holes.

Fusebox rust trap.

Battery tray rust trap.

Underside of battery tray area from within footwell.

Body kits don't help matters. Not only do they form their own rust traps but they hide the rust so you don't know it is festering away under there until it is at an advanced state.

But the Escort is of conventional construction so usual bodywork repair principles apply.

Electrics
There are a number of differences in the wiring looms between the Mk 3 & 4 cars. Although they are of similar general arrangement they use different connectors for a lot of the switch gear and additional equipment. Both cars had similar levels of additional equipment available but the mk4 gained options for heated windscreen, trip computer and on the Cabriolet model, a power roof.
Some of the higher spec Mk 3 cars had a fault computer that was dropped on the later mk4 cars.

All of the additional equipment requires it's own sub-loom, not forgetting the door feeding looms in the door pillars.

Upgrades

The electrical toys are largely transferable between cars, the only real issue being the changing of the electrical plugs used between mk3 & mk4 cars so you may have to replace some plugs with after market items. In my case, as part of the dashboard replacement detailed elsewhere on this site (link further down this page), I replace my entire mk3 loom with a mk4 version and fitted all of the available mk4 toys. As already mentioned, each of the additional equipment options requires its accompanying loom. I would suggest that you just fit all of it that you can get hold of, even if you don't have the working parts to go with it. At least then if you do manage to find the equipment you want to fit the wiring is already there for you.

As far as the bodyshell goes 'upgrades' are a subjective matter but here are some of the alterations I made to mine.

Front Wheel Arch Liners

Help improve your mk3 Escorts chances of survival by retro fitting the wheel arch liners from a mk4.
Also includes the bigger capacity mk4 windscreen washer bottle upgrade.

Locks / De-Locking & Security

Remove those dodgy 80's Ford locks and the thief's have nothing to pick. It also emphasises the fact you have an alarm system fitted.

Power Roof

The power roof was only available as an option on the Mk4.
Here I show you all you need to know to retro fit a power roof system to your manual hood.

The contents of this website are purely a reflection of my own experiences and knowledge gained whilst working on my various projects. Anything you do based on what you have read here is done so entirely at your own risk.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone like me with a lawn mower! You have been warned! Flapper-bat!

Escort Upgrades - Bodyshell & Electrics

Fusebox rust trap.

Battery tray rust trap.

Underside of battery tray area from within footwell.

Body kits don't help matters. Not only do they form their own rust traps but they hide the rust so you don't know it is festering away under there until it is at an advanced state.

But the Escort is of conventional construction so usual bodywork repair principles apply.

All of the additional equipment requires it's own sub-loom, not forgetting the door feeding looms in the door pillars.

Upgrades

Front Wheel Arch Liners

Locks / De-Locking & Security

Door Mirrors

Mk4 Dashboard Conversion

Power Roof

Mk3 to Mk4 Fuel Tank Swap

Escort Upgrades - Bodyshell & Electrics

Fusebox rust trap.

Battery tray rust trap.

Underside of battery tray area from within footwell.

Body kits don't help matters. Not only do they form their own rust traps but they hide the rust so you don't know it is festering away under there until it is at an advanced state. But the Escort is of conventional construction so usual bodywork repair principles apply.

All of the additional equipment requires it's own sub-loom, not forgetting the door feeding looms in the door pillars.

Upgrades

Front Wheel Arch Liners

Locks / De-Locking & Security

Door Mirrors

Mk4 Dashboard Conversion

Power Roof

Mk3 to Mk4 Fuel Tank Swap

Body kits don't help matters. Not only do they form their own rust traps but they hide the rust so you don't know it is festering away under there until it is at an advanced state.

But the Escort is of conventional construction so usual bodywork repair principles apply.