1998 escort various questions

I have a 98 escort 1.6 finesse thats just done 100,000 miles. There are a couple of niggles with it that i want to know more about.

I had a bump around this time last year and as a result the car needs a new bonnet, front bumper and wing. The bonnet and bumper aren't a problem but i was wondering how much hassle it is to change a wing seeing how they're welded. The welding itself isn't a problem as i work in engineering anyway and have my own welding gear, i was just wondering about lining everything up etc.

The speedo needle wobbles when the car has been running for about

30 minutes. It's fine to begin with but begins to develop a wobble after about 20 minutes and within half an hour it's all over the place. The wobble is worse at slow speeds.

The handbrake is only locking up the passenger side wheel when it's applied, only noticed this today when i had the fuel tank off to replace the3 fuel pump.

Any help and comments are welcome.

Presumably you're quite happy about cutting the spot welds out. Lining up is relatively easy, if it's a genuine OEM wing, or a good quality pattern. IME a bad pattern wing can be a real headache to line up properly. Even to the extent of having to cut the wing to allow it to line up with the mounting points. A good wing though is a piece of cake. Virtually lines itself up.

Sounds like a sticky cable, but I'd have thaught a '98 speedo would be electronic. If it is a cable, you could try checking to see if it is damaged. Inner and outer. Lightly greasing it, and making sure the bends are as gentle as possible. Rerouting the cable if necessary.

Make sure all the cables and linkages are free and lubricated, and the brake shoes are evenly adjusted both sides with the h/brake off, or both wheels brake at the same time with similar movement of the cables and linkage, using the h/brake. Self adjustment on brakes can get sticky and fail to work, so you might need to take the rear drums off to sort the problem. Mike.