deankxf

So lets back, and go through the last few weeks worth of work on the car…

I had to add an additional return spring on the throttle, I found it sticking when things got hot. 

 
now for a fun one. I lost all power, and it wouldn’t idle or anything. 
below, the rotor button is at TDC and should be aligned with the black line on the dizzy. Somehow, the dizzy drive cog had managed to jump a tooth. And end up way retarded on the timing. 
the only way this could have happened is if the dizzy wasn’t quite engaged properly. 
thankfully no damage was done, and was fixed by grabbing the clamp off the aftermarket dizzy i had and adapting it to this original unit to hold it in the block better. 
 

 
The final hurdle before installing the carpet was a pesky water leak. 
 
The leak ended up being from where all that old body sealer is. There are 3 panels that all join there. The top and the bottom of the trans tunnel, and then the firewall come floor pan. 
These cars were built terribly from factory, and basically there was about a 10mm gap between the bottom of the trans tunnel and firewall, and had just been filled with body sealer. 
 

 
sealed up with Sika Flex and problem solved. 
 

 
Rear carpet went in. 
 

 
Next was the sub install. 
my brother CNC cut an adapter so I didn’t have to do any cutting to the car. Obviously i enjoy listening to the engine and exhaust, but on longer drives its nice just to be able to listen to tunes 

 

 

 
and the finished product
 

 

 
From there seats went in. 
 
What I didn’t take photos of was the sound deadening. With the offcuts I filled the void under the backseat base to keep temps and noise down from the exhaust, the muffler is directly under the passenger side rear seat. The floor has a pressed recess in it to house the muffler
 

 
Im wrapped with how well the front seats suit the rest of the interior
 

 

 
Now onto the last push on Friday last week. 
 
Left is the original condition of the sill trims. And right was finished to the best i could do with what i had. 
that is a drill mounted 75mm sanding pad with wet and dry 500 grit then 1200 grit and hand polished with metal polish. 
Then to finish then off, 12mm wide black pin stripe from SCA. 
 


 
Without the trims, it looks a little bare. 
 

 
With them on. 
It just finishes the car off
 

 

 
Then there was the gear lever swap. Pretty straightforward, but notice now, in neutral, the gear lever is already just between the seats. In 2nd and 4th, it comes right back over the handbrake lever 🤣 it has a super long throw, but is quite nice. 
 

 
First proper wash in a long time, and with the 15s back on. 
 
one of the things that will need doing to finish the car is a professional polish and ceramic coating, to really make the metallic paint pop. 
 

 
First drive and photos after wash and being mostly finished
 


 

 
Monday I sat down and wired up the amp and stereo. Nice little compact amp hidden away under the passenger seat. 

 
 
Its the little touches that make the difference. 
I got a brand new moulded boot carpet from Knox Auto Carpets. Fantastic service. Went in, they made it there and then. Waited 15 minutes while they pressed the shape and did the stitching. 

 

 
 
That is basically where I am up to with the car. The front seats are out again at the moment (for the last time) while i spray the rail adapters black. They will be back in today. 
Then, the interior is 100% finished. 

Thanks guys. 
Its a huge effort, and its something i don’t want to do again. Ever. well at least not from a smashed base. Id probably be ok with building a car from a good base, but not from something thats been stacked. 
 
There will always be things I wish I had done differently. 
I wish i had replaced the roof lining. I was convinced to leave it because its original and to be fair, in good condition. I may still do it in the future. 
Im on the fence with the carpet. The rear is in great condition, front for obvious reasons is worn out. 
There are things like the P clips I used in the engine bay for wiring. Most of them reused existing holes but most had to drilled larger to allow for nut inserts/rivet nuts to go in. I have no memory, of touching up the bare metal after enlarging these holes, although it’s something im sure i did, i took no record like photos of proof that i did. So i hope i did, or im sure ill start seeing minor surface rust. 
 
there are things I will probably change in the future like the fuel supply line. The hose is fine, the way I’ve pinned it to the chassis could be better. 

Otherwise I am just happy to have it back on the road, and now I can just enjoy it. 
 
on the note of the wheels, i had a deep think about wheels for it about a week ago. 
 
I look at my wagon with the 18” Snowflakes, and I can safely say I found “the wheel” for that car. You know, the wheel that just finishes the car off and suits the car better than any other option. 
 
With the Escort, I haven’t found “that wheel” yet. 
I love the 15s, for their lightweight design, the style and the look it gives the car, but they are 15s. 
The RS 4 spokes look amazing when they are in good condition, mine have deteriorated and don’t have the appeal at the moment. I took them off because they were letting the rest of the car down. But when finances allow, ill have them professionally restored. 
 
In the meantime, im going go a different path. I have a set of genuine ROH manufactured, Lotus Cortina 13 x 6 steel wheels. Their offset is approximately 10mm further proud than factory Escort offset, which is why I had the guards rolled. 
I plan to have these cleaned up and powder coated in silver, and im hoping these will give the car a more aggressive, but period correct stance with the wide steelies. 

Absolutely amazing results and credit to you for turning around another write off decision by insurers. 
Been a pleasure following the restoration here and hearing the ups and downs of the process. 
So glad it's transformed by the tasteful modifications into a better road car too!

Ok I should probably update you all. 
 
its a month since my last update and well, the car is very close to finished, with only relatively minor things needed to finish it off. 
 
I only have the photos on my phone, so i will get to them in a seperate post, but I'll give you the run down. 
 
The interior is all back in, including the new mass sound deadener/carpet underlay, which made a massive difference to cabin noise. 
 
The brand new reproduction inner sill trims/carpet trims are in. 
 
I was under pressure from the RSOCV guys about getting the car "finished", or at the very least ready for display at Small Ford Sunday 2024, which happened Sunday just gone. So I had a lot of work ahead of me, with less than 4 weeks (since my last update) so get the car sorted. 
 
Needless to say, i made it. I had the car at SFS24, running and driving under its own power. 
 
Although it made it to SFS, the stereo wasn't wired up, thats not a big deal, but as of Friday morning the car nearly didn't make it. As of Friday morning, the car was not drivable. I was shattered. 
The car was having gearbox issues, which scared the crap out of me, given Rod and I had modified the gearbox, I was terrified something with the gearbox went wrong, but it was the aftermarket short shifter. 🤔
How? well i wouldn't have believed it, if I didn't read it on a number of UK based forums, that some cheaper or lesser quality short shifters randomly fail, causing issues with being able to select 1st gear. In my case, I could not engage 1st gear at all, and it was crunching into 5th 😑
The fix, was to refit the standard shifter, and sure enough, problem solved. 
 
Friday, 2 days out from SFS, i still had a few things to sort out. 
- Fix the gearbox issue
- finish polishing the outer sill trims, replace black stripe, and fit back on the car (pop riveted on) 
- and change the wheels to something presentable. the 13" 4 spokes are nice, but the black paint is flaking again, so need a pro resto job. so the car is back to running on the 15s. 
 
 
 
Ive been putting some decent kms on the car, driving back and forth to my folks place to reassemble the car in stages. the fuel consumption is the best it has ever been in the time ive owned the car, returning 9.8L/100km on the first tank i recorded. It will definitely go lower on the open road, and when I stop using so much throttle 🤣
 
with the new carpet underlay in, the Recaro seats, and the 5 speed, the car is comfortable, and really nice to drive basically anywhere. i can sit on the freeway and cruise in it at 100km/h no worries. its not noisy, it feels tight, its not working too hard, and it doesn't get hot. 
 
So, whats left to do? 
 
- I need to add headlight film to protect the lights
- look at the thermostat/cooling system. its not building temp. i suspect the thermostat is stuck open. 
- Stereo is all wired up, and sounds great
- Front seat rail adapters have been painted today, so tomorrow the front seats can go back in for the last time, 
- waiting on front bumpers to come back from chrome platers. 
 
Other than those few things, the car is mostly done. interior is complete, once the front seats go back in. 
 
exterior is 95% there. 
 
 
So on that note I am just going to leave these two pics below as teasers. In my next update I will add more pics and details of what I went through the last few weeks. there was definitely some challenges. 
 
The top pic is the first drive around the block with the stock shifter back in the gearbox, and the 15" wheels back on. as you can see its a bit later in the day, so it was my only chance to test things out before SFS. 
 
The second pic, is a bit like a proud dad moment, driving the Escort into Small Ford Sunday to display the car. first time I have been in over 3 years, and in my own car again, was a such a great feeling. and the number of people who came to me and wanted to talk to me about the car, because they had heard its story, and what it had been through, was a little overwhelming. 
 

 

Would be way cool, and friggin' expensive, if you had 2 big ar$e flat screens on the sides, playing vast amount of stars moving sideways. Give you the feeling that your'e travelling through space. LMAO.
 
Great work, mate. Should be proud of your achievements.  

That was something my first Escort suffered

could also be POINT BOUNCE, i recall it being an issue on something i had, gap too wide possibly but mine was caused by worn dizzy bushings 

Been through some changes since this photo.

 

depends on what your budget is, you should read Slydog's thread entirely. 
he's not been on and posting for a long while, but you'll get a fair idea of what's doable and what's needed (it blew up earlier in the thread, so make sure to keep reading to see what failed and why *I can't remember)
pretty sure he's kept the stock rod length, and it's using an EF crank, (more counterweights for better balance)

later in the thread it's now boosted
 

@SPArKy_Dave may speak that language? 
 
i vaguely remember one terminal needs power put to it to excite some part of it.. not enough memory to advise anything

Hi All
 
Just wanted to provide an update. Have been very busy and haven’t spent any good time on this. Since my last update, below is what I have achieved:
 
Fuel / Pump:
EFI tank has been installed. I have removed the existing return line and have made a new hard line 5/16” and installed it. Have also replaced all the hoses with EFI rated hoses, installed a fuel filter and pretty much ready to hook up to the engine. I also have upgraded the pump to a Bosch GENUINE BOSCH MOTORSPORT 023 INTERNAL FUEL PUMP 0580254023. Pretty much slotted straight in.
 
Clutch / Flywheel:
Malwood has provided me with a heavy duty clutch/ flywheel / sandwich plate and spigot bearing etc. Also got myself the hydraulic pedal conversion as well, so really excited about that one.
 
So right now I’ve just been prepping the engine and engine bay - and getting close to drop this in. Changing the rear welsh plug and also rear main seal and then I’ll put the flywheel and clutch on. 
 
I’ve been looking at the wiring and just checking everything off. Something I haven’t really figured out yet is the alternator. It’s a 3 pin alternator on the motor, does anyone have any advice on how to hook this up in the XF. I have the 3 pin connector it only has 2 wires on it.
 
Currently the XF has 
B+
D+
+
D-
 
The alternator on the Windsor has absolutely no markings. I assume the main connection will go directly to the battery, the 2 wires on the 3 pin connector I am assuming one is the alternator warning lamp the other needs to loop back onto the positive connection on the alternator. Have searched and can’t really find anything on these alternators. Anyone done this before able to explain how they managed this?
 
Thanks 
 

 
 
 

Thanks guys, 2.92 now installed i will see how it goes
cheers

in My experience most borg warner diff V8s were 2.92 (9" had 2.75) 
there's only 5% difference to them. 
2.92 at 100kmh would be about  2400rpm
2.77 at 100 would be 2300 ish
3.45 XR6 diff you have should be 2850rpm 
3.23 XR8 diff would be about 2650/2700rpm 
 
if you have a ready to fit 2.92 diff, just chuck it in,
2.77 isn't enough difference to be worried about even on a 6cyl 99% of the time. 
 

what do you mean run out longer?
 
2.77 with an auto will do say 90kmh ish in 1st gear at 5400rpm
3.23 by comparison might be around 70kmh.  (but will take off faster) 

Back space of wheels lately  has really got my interest,especialy in x series,trying to fit 8 inch wide rims on my xe is not as easy as it sounds,back in the day you could buy 14x8 12 slots from bob jane with zero ET or 4 inch backspace, which would work on the front,as the 14x8 hotwires had a -6 ET,and did not fit correct ,well they did but came within 1mm of hitting suspension bits,generaly speaking most ford factory wheels in the 6 to 7 inch have a backspace of 3 and 3/4 or +6 ET,0 ET will work but cutting it fine,+ 4 or 5 i would prefer.

I was looking at getting the King Springs / Koni set-up but the price was way too much; around twice of what I could get Pedders springs and shocks for here in UK. So I went the Pedders route; Sports Ryder coils 2033, big bore gas front shocks 9158, and gas shocks on the rear 9075. I also comforted myself that the spring rates would be better matched to the shocks' damping coefficient compared to springs/shocks from different manufacturers.
 
In my research for what was out there I came up with the following table based heavily on the information that Pedders provide because they are the most transparent. Hopefully this may be of use to others and I would welcome any additions, corrections or clarifications.
Global West and King there is literally no information available from the manufacturer, so the information I have is pretty speculative. For spring drop Global West seem to suggest cold cutting the springs - which I thought was always frowned upon? Interestingly, the Global West springs seem to be a lot stiffer than the Pedders.

this makes me believe they are standard length shocks , 
big bore(handle the stronger springs) and short stroke (stop the shock bottoming out and also retain the spring better) would be the go. 
you'll be amazed at what new(good quality) shocks do to a falcon

Thanks for all of the advice and discussion folks it's been really helpful. I lifted the car and the spring easily popped back into its saddle. Not sure what caused it to pop out and what I can do to prevent it in the future 🤔
 
@deankxf thanks for the advice on the shocks - I will start searching for a replacement pair ASAP. I've replaced every single bearing, ball joint and bushing under the car so it makes sense to finish it off with new shocks.
 
Regarding the rubber on the spring saddles, that came like that with the Rare Spares complete bushing and ball joint kit.

The USA Mustang saddles had rubber pads from factory I think.
It's a thing for some recent aftermarket spring saddles - suppliers source Chinese repro mustang parts probably?

never seen it, in at least 50 cars i've poked around with(including at wreckers)

those pics show the springs are BEEFY, i suspect not cut stock ones. and it's seated on the saddle well with surprisingly rubber pads under(never seen anyone do that before)

THE SHOCKER IS STUFFED (covered in oil) this could be the noise, i'd remove it and see how stuffed it actually is
 
Ride height looks at LOWS height, which is a good height for drivability, bump stop clearance looks sufficient also and hasn't been pounded away from a soft spring.. 

fit some BIG BORE short stroke shocks,  there's budget ones on ebay AU, but if you can stretch for Koni brand they were the choice back in the day (i've only had Pedders branded ones, which i liked) 

sometimes people put spring packers on top of the very low sets of springs just to raise them 5 or 10mm,the recess inside the tower sought of guides and holds the top of the spring into a comfortable position,but add a packer or nolathane spacer and it leaves the top of the spriing out of the groove so to say,and i hads this happen on my xf ute when i raised the low kings a cm and put bluepro spacers,the packer and spring moved somehow into an akward position and compleatly stuffed the spacer,just buy the right springs guys.yes like dean said low or super or ultra low will be able to turn and fix up but std i doubt it ,they are so high .

Spring may have been cut.
 
While you at it check round the shock tower on the inside facing the engine and check there are no cracks in the tower. If it was lowered too much and had been bouncing on the end stops the tower may have cracks.

sway bar is no where near the pitman arm, i'd be dubious if they know what they are on about, i also don't think the 4.0 is any different clearance wise to a clevo, so another sounding like rubbish response. 
 
easy way to tell would be to see if the part number is same for XG and XA XB XC XD XE V8 and an XF 6cyl with power steering, i'm betting they are all the same and only the manual one is different
 

Cheers, was a little sceptical given the Inline 6 didn’t fundamentally change.

Have no way of checking part numbers but agree; what I’ve read it all seems interchangeable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk