READER’S STORY
A worldwide pandemic couldn’t stop John Kerry from saving this Ford Orion
INTERVIEW & PICTURES JAMES WALSHE
AS FOUND Registered on August 19, 1988, the previous owner bought the Orion from the original one in 1991 and used it regularly for eight years, until parking it up for more than 20 years. John had his work cut out, but began straight away.
In 2019, I heard about a Ford Orion that was about to be scrapped, because the owner had passed away and the family, left with the difficult task of sorting out his things, didn’t know what to do with it. Suddenly, I was the new owner of a 1988 Orion 1.6 Ghia with just 46,000 miles – and lots of rust. I’d need to learn some new skills to bring it back! Initially I got tips from my brother-in-law, Terry. He took me through the process of welding one of the sills and, after trying it myself, he came over to visit one day and suggested that I probably didn’t need his help anymore! I pick up these things quite quickly. Around that time, I’d seen TV’s Paul Cowland talking about a welding course in Northampton, so I paid to do a day there and it made all the difference.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, I couldn’t work for two months as I’m a self-employed decorator. I therefore quickly bought all the panels I still needed, as I reckoned other blokes would be doing the same! I paid fifty quid for a front wing, £90 for a rear panel, then bagged myself four new doors, a front panel, battery tray, four new floor pans, inner and outer sills. The rear arches were bad, so I found a full five-door Escort rear quarter section for the areas of metal I needed. My wife Trina initially hit the roof when she saw the bills mounting. But she understood – I had time on my hands, and it was important for me to keep myself busy.
Work progressed, with our garage busy with endless cutting and welding! There were challenges, for example the bulkhead around the servo mount and battery tray area – that was rusted out. Blackpool-based Ford breaker Sean Lomax sorted me out with a replacement bulkhead, for which I set off for at 4am one morning. I was back home working on it by 11am! I spent day after day on the car, carefully turning a rusty shell into something with greater strength than before, making the odd mistake and putting it right. But I felt it had to be the best it could be. It was a similar story having removed the headlining, which is when I noticed a big hole in the sunroof area. The frame itself was rotten, along with the cassette that it drops into. I had planned to weld it all up, but found everything I needed from a full roof that was for sale in Manchester for £150! That ended up being the only bit of welding I didn’t do myself – the job was just a bit too tricky for me, so my pal Andy did it. His skills are way beyond mine!
Part of my trade involves spraying kitchens and furniture, so I decided to have a go at a car. I bare metalled the underside of it on the A-frame and added two coats of epoxy, two coats of base and three coats of lacquer, then prepared everything else ready for the respray. Doing the prep myself saved a lot of money, although I still got an understandably sizeable bill from the paint shop! Worth it though – it looks brilliant, as do the powder coated wheels.
I’d removed the engine earlier and gave it a complete overhaul, with a little of Terry’s guidance. He’s a brilliant mechanic and helped me to work through a lot of my mistakes, as it was the first engine I’ve ever rebuilt. He’d pop over and give me tips until I learned to do it on my own. I then replaced any of the ancillaries that couldn’t be restored and added reproduction decals for the factory look. I couldn’t have done it without people like Mikey Marshall – a fount of knowledge I met through the Orion Facebook page. He answered many questions at ‘daft o clock’ via text message.
There are times you must think differently, too. The original headlights weren’t the best. So, with replacement right-hand drive units costing up to £500, I combined my original lenses with a brand-new left-hand drive pair I’d found. To separate the lenses from the unit, I put them in the oven for 20 minutes and stank the house out. When the time came for an MOT, I was just so happy with the car. To top it off, the MOT was done by Peter at Barron Motors – the very man who last MOT’d this car back in the Nineties!
REAR END
After finding rusty holes in the rear panel under the rubber seal, John found a replacement for £90 from a seller in Sheffield. But it was during a Covid lockdown, so it was a few months before John could get his hands on it!
LIGHTS
Lights are a combination of two pairs. Unsticking and separation of lens from the unit meant putting them in the oven for 20 minutes.
ENGINE
Orion’s engine was stripped and rebuilt using many new parts. Pre-MOT panic over a misfire was sorted with a set of higher quality HT leads.
ARCHES
John took welding classes before tackling the floors, sills and wings. Specifically, he wanted to learn how to fix his Orion’s rusty arches.
COCKPIT
Orion’s comfy Ghia interior was mildly modified, with ‘Hide n Seat’ in Norwich sourcing new old stock fabric for the Recaro seats.
TIME TAKEN 4 years
EST. COST £8k
BEST HELP ‘If you lack the skills, there are courses out there just for you. For what you end up with, it’s worth every penny!’
Practical Classics Restorer of the Year 2025
John is entered into the 2025 Restorer of the Year competition. You can vote for your favourite in a future issue of Practical Classics magazine.
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