September 2019 103buyer’s guide: escort mk2 ghia
BRAKES
Two-line master cylinders of
early cars (1975-1977) are hard to
fi nd and can be expensive.
Rebuild kits cost buttons, but
trying to refurbish a tired one
can be diffi cult. Decent,
second-hand servos can also be
hard to source, although a worn
one can be revived with a
rebuild kit. Sticky callipers, leaky
wheel cylinders, wafer-thin discs
and rusty pipes are all easily
replaced. Rectifying an
ineffi cient handbrake can be
time-consuming – the usual
issue being the self-adjusting
mechanism having failed and
the cable often being
overtightened to compensate,
meaning the fi x necessitates a
full strip-down.ELECTRICS
Poor earths and damaged
connections cause most
issues— the latter most likely in
the fusebox where water
ingress has corroded the
contacts. The chrome refl ectors
on the square headlights often
rot out, while the Ghia’s clock is
very unreliable. Intermittent
wash wipe can be troublesome
on later cars. Fixing a noisy,
tired heater isn’t as diffi cult as it
once was, with replacement
motors now available for
around £40-£50.