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Panko

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Everything posted by Panko

  1. Well, here we go again. A week ago, i had no intention of buying another Mk1 Escort any time soon. However, a mate of mine from when I had my last escort couldn't resist contacting me, and putting me onto this beautiful little 4 door Mk1 for sale way up in Kerang, about 3 hours north of Melbourne. I took a look at the photos, and promptly called the owner. I was pretty much sold there and then. So yesterday, Michael (my Escort informant), my good mate Callin and I set off from Sunbury at around 9am in Michael's VW Amarok (I'm glad we did...ill explain soon) to go look at this car, with cash in hand ready to drive this beauty home to Melbourne. The owner was a retired old guy, who collects some interesting and beautiful cars. He was very honest with his asking price, and very genuine. I somewhat feel like i might have ripped him off a little with the price, but it was well within his price range, and he was happy to accept. Even left his club plates for me to drive it home. now for the good (and bad) photos of our adventure. These next few pics are the photos the owner sent me. the car is totally original. 1975 (october) factory 4 speed 1300XL. Has 139,000km on the odometer, but the engine in it apparently has about half that. The original engine came with the car, which has been rebuilt as some stage, with non standard pistons...so some investigation needs to go into that, as it may end up being a stronger engine than the one thats in it...very weird. interior is MINT. the previous owner had it for about 3.5 years, and only drove it a handful of times. SO i bought the car, and set off on the long journey home. during the test drove she drove like a dream. smooth, plenty of power and comfy... we got 30 minutes from Kerang then this happened.... obviously the guy i bought it from never had a problem with the car because it only ever got driven around town, never on the HWY. so me attempting to drive it home, sitting on 90km/h was enough to sort out the bugs...like the distributor which was inevitably going to die..and leave me standard SO, we flat towed the car as far has Harcourt, where Michael's dad was nice enough to borrow a friends trailer, and meet us. we trailered it back to Michael's house, arriving back to Sunbury about 8pm last night. and thats where i left the car, on the trailer in Michael's driveway, along with 1 of his Mk1 4 door Escorts. A big thanks to Michael and Callin for the support and help yesterday, i would've been fucked if i had taken the xf or my daily to go collect it. thank fuck for Michael and his Rok. anyway, Michael is a legend, he is going to get it going for me (just needs a dizzy) at his house. Can not wait to start enjoying this beast
  2. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Im pretty sure i held 5th at speed up there. I don’t remember really having to work 4th. i think once it was at speed, it could hold 5th up hill fine. i can cruise around in 5th at 60km/h for example.
  3. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well there hasn’t been much more work on the Escort, even though it still needs some finishing touches. Today however, I drove the car up to my good friend Michael’s house in Sunbury. Michael is the friend who found me this car for sale way back in 2016 when I bought it, and he hasn’t seen it since the accident. I figured it was about time i took it up to him to finally see it finished. From place its a bit over an hour, and a good bit of sitting on highway with 110km/h speed limit. Today in Melbourne it was around 29 degrees. The Escort, sat on 110km/h, or a bit more, with ease. That 5th gear has made it such a better car to drive. This was also the furthest from home (as the crow flies) i had driven the car, and the most highway, and highway speed driving it has done. everything was good. Temp was good, oil pressure, rpm, sat on about 3200rpm at 110km/h. I think today was a really good test for it, and it seems to be good and sorted. I was a little nervous being that far from home in case something happened.
  4. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Its more about how im going to install it and hold it in place. haven't figured that one out yet. ill come up with something eventually.
  5. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Thanks James. Now I just want to drive it all the time, but don’t want to use up my logbook days too quick, and I also don’t want to neglect the wagon.
  6. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Thanks bear. No I haven’t covered the back of the seat yet. Not entirely sure how I’ll do that yet. But yeah eventually i will make something to tidy the back of the boot up a little. The Recaros, are up there as one of the best things I did to the car. Put aside how well they hold you in, they are comfy. I can sit in it on long drives now, and be happy.
  7. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    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.
  8. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    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.
  9. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    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.
  10. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well some good news. I do have oil pressure. i went to my dad’s place today and he helped plumb in a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Not very fine increments, but that is reading around 30-35psi. at the same time the VDO inside was reading 20psi. So my VDO sender appears to be playing up. Ill just leave the below pic there for you to all enjoy. first time the Escort has been at my parent’s house since it was off the road. A quick snap with my father’s S2 Land Rover, affectionately known as George, 1 of 2 specially built, fire service vehicles for Sydney Showgrounds. Unfortunately George’s brother is nowhere to be found. While George has had a full tear down, nut and bolt restoration done by the previous owner.
  11. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I have no idea how old they are. The dissy is a working Lucas Australia one i had in a box of spares. So who knows how old they are unfortunately.
  12. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    So small update. i checked the points, gapped them and cleaned them up. Can’t say it made a difference, maybe marginal improvement to idle and smoothness on the road. As a whole im pretty happy with the way its driving. Effortless power across the board, but doesn’t like high RPM, or maybe i just don’t like the noise it makes. I checked the invoice from the head work, and I did not get the valve springs replaced, so maybe i need to run some heavier valve springs. The oil pressure hasn’t improved with thicker oil, so im hoping that it is a stuck relief valve. In fact today being 30 degrees, when the oil was hot the pressure dropped off to just under 20psi at idle. I adjusted valve clearance again, because i found the spec sheet for my cam this morning, and it requires tighter clearances than factory spec. So it should now be correct. The car goes back in the shed today. I now some work ahead of me to sort out this oil pressure issue, and i need to put the rest of the car back together.
  13. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I dropped the oil this afternoon, which is was still the thing racing “run in” and put in 20w60 mineral oil. After that at highway speed it did come up to nearly 30psi. So the gauge does move. that is a good question about the valve springs. I had the head done up. Ill have to find the invoice and see if the springs were replaced. It could well be valve bounce
  14. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well I did it. I had an aim to get the Escort out and driving by NYE, during my week off work. It is not without its teething issues, but all i can say is, wow. The 1660 with 5 speed drives incredible. the power and torque delivery is really nice and mostly linear. Obviously im comparing to a tired 1300 that was in there. Giving the car a run onto the freeway, it gets there to 100km/h quicker than it ever has, and with still 2 more gears to go. The engine has good torque right throughout the rev range, so much so that at 60km/h it will still pull in 5th gear, which is about 2000rpm. at 70km/h, 2100rpm, it will pull up hill in 5th comfortably. At 100km/h, its sitting on 3100rpm in 5th, and cruises just nicely. Steering The new 2.9 ratio steering rack is fantastic. im super happy i did it. the little extra weight at low speeds is so worth it for how much better the car drives now. going round corners, going round roundabouts, it is better in every way. Brakes They still need time to bed in properly, but they pull up really good. can't wait to have them bedded in properly. Radiator is doing a dam good job. i haven't seen it climb to half (normal) temp at all. its keeping the temp perfect. even on the freeway at prolonged higher revs, no problem. Now for the BAD As you will see in a photo of the dash below, the oil pressure is leading low, way too low. 20psi. and it does not move. I managed to find a record i took from when I started the engine for the first time about 18 months ago, where I had hooked up my oil pressure gauge. at the time it was holding a solid 38psi. so now why does it only hold 20psi? Potentially one of two things; 1 - the relief valve on the oil pump is stuck open and is not allowing it to build oil pressure, or 2 - the oil pressure is fine, and the sender for the gauge is faulty. Fuelling - The car obviously needs a tune. it drives great, but does have a bit of hesitation at certain RPM and part throttle positions. at WOT, its fine just pulls. I also feel like im missing the last 1000-1500rpm in the engine. winding it up onto the freeway, going through the gears, as soon as it hits 5000rpm, the sound changes, the engine gets louder and more "rattly"? This adds to the concern of the low oil pressure, that perhaps that i can't use the top end of the RPM due to low oil pressure. at the moment this is not too much of a concern because it will be rarely driven up there. Ignition - Obviously as you saw in a previous post, I blew my electronic distributor up, so I went back to running the Lucas points ignition setup. it works, but I will be replacing it with something more substantial to keep up with the demands of the larger capacity engine and cam. Enjoy the few pics below. I still have a bit of work ahead of me, but I am loving having it driving, and to be honest, it is dangerous how quickly it gets up to speed. i could definitely get myself into trouble
  15. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well the car is running again. Why was it not running?…. I did a whoopsie. I blew up my electronic distributor So in the process of making the bracket for the washer bottle, subsequently removing the coil to make way for the washer bottle, then when reinstalling it, I mounted it rotated differently to clear the brake booster, and when I wired the distributor up, I wired it backwards, flicked the key to start the car, no spark After doing some testing, sure enough I worked out I killed it So I’ve reinstalled the original Lucas points distributor, and original Bosch coil from the XF to make it work. I didn’t set the points gap, fluked the timing, and I believe the last time the points were replaced was when I replaced them on the side of the road when it broke down the day i bought it. I turned the key, and it started instantly! Like barely cranked, and it came to life. Keep in mind it doesn’t have the choke hooked up either. I’m now thinking the electronic distributor was dying or not doing so well for a while, because it started better than it ever has with the points ignition back in. On an unrelated topic, but bloody funny. Ever since ive had the car, the high beam flash feature has never worked, even though the stalk has the movement. Someone told me years ago, that at the time it was some ADR thing that meant the flash didn’t operate in Aus cars, because the wire was disconnected in the stalk. well that is a load of shit, because tonight I randomly tried the flash tonight, and it bloody worked
  16. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I got the driver's side doors finished I needed to make a bracket for the overflow bottle. the engine bay is getting pretty tight, so trying to find a spot for it is a bit of a challenge. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Below is what I came up with. It has a "U" shape in the bottom for the bottle to sit in, and it bolts to an existing Horn bolt. Neither the bracket or bottle touch the body of the car anywhere, except for where the bracket is bolted in at the top. And to hold the bottle still, i used a velcro strap. simple. Painted the radiator black and reinstalled. Im much happier with it being painted black, really suits the car. I got the chance to paint the battery clamp today, so for the first time since its been off the road, the battery is clamped back in the car properly. I've come to the realisation that, the car is very close to being able to be driven on its proper maiden drive. So, while I have this week off work, I am actually planning to have the car out for its maiden drive by New Years Eve on Sunday. To make it legal to drive, i have to do the following; - rear rego plate - rear view mirror - wiper arms - driver's seat belt. the things i WANT to get done before i drive it, to stop double handling; - dash wiring tidy up - install centre dash panel, which includes my gauges and choke cable and wiper switch I will be over the moon if I can take it for a drive beyond the end of my street, by the end of this weekend Watch this space.
  17. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I got the extractors back from the ceramic coaters. They come up awesome. I ordered a new radiator from eBay. 2 core alloy, equivalent size to the Cortina copper one that i got that leaked. Fitted perfect other than 1 little mod. Its actually a little tighter fit than the Cortina radiator. It looks alright, but I have decided to spray it black, so it takes less attention away from the engine. Passenger doors are finished. New bailey channels, rust protected. I just mucked up the positioning of the rear door handle. It should be at roughly 2 o'clock, not 6 o'clock like i put it Next thing to do will be the driver's side doors. they are rust protected, just need to fit the new bailey channel, then fit the door cards.
  18. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I’m not actually sure who the supplier has lined up to do it. Taking a wild stab, being only small bumperettes, id imagine $100-$150 a piece. I’m sure they could ship the bare bumpers here to be chromed, however it has to be a cost of thing. All about making as much profit as possible, over making a quality product. Sad world we live in, but its reality
  19. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Oh yeah ill definitely put photos up. Apparently it cuts easy and is easy to work with. And being underlay, it doesn’t matter if a small mistake is made because its hidden. Yep the bumpers are manufactured in china. Been on the car 6-8 months, prior to that they were in their sealed boxes. And yeah already rusted.
  20. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well Today marks 3 years since the Escort was written off. So where is the car at? I’ve actually gone backwards a bit. The front bumpers are off again, because of rust that was coming up from under the terrible chinese chrome plating. The supplier is looking at getting them done again locally for me at his expense. The extractors are off getting ceramic coated, I should have them back in a week or so. So at present the car is not running and on stands with the exhaust also on a stand so the car isn’t going far any time soon. On the flip side, I went and spent a good chunk of money on it during the week, picking up new underlay come sound deadener. I went to Car Builders, with the intention of grabbing the adhesive stuff, but having a good chat with someone I know who runs Car Builders, what I wanted is a new product they have released only in the last 12 months, which is a carpet underlay which is hard backed on one side, and then the other side is about 20mm thick acoustic/deadening foam. It just has to be cut to shape, and lay it in. The underlay weighs about 4kg, so won’t need to be stuck down, its own weight is enough to stay in place, plus the carpet on top. Its nice having contacts within a company such as Car Builders. Andrew is a hell of a nice guy. Rod and I helped him with a gearbox for his Mk1 Escort, and in return gave me a mad discount on the underlay, and threw the templating sheet in for nothing. I also got a full set of bailey channel for the door glass. So with today being a bad omen for me, I refuse to go anywhere on this day every year. I’m not kidding, I have previously even taken a day off work if its during the week so I don’t need to leave the house. Today I intend to set myself up in the shed, finish the rust protection in the bottoms of the doors, hopefully get the bailey channels in, and come up with a plan to mark out the floor pan onto the template sheet supplied by Car Builders, to then transfer over to the underlay and cut it out to be installed in the car.
  21. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Something else I forgot about was the front corner bumpers. These are reproduction units, and they are already pitting and starting to rust from under the chrome plating. I have spoken to the local supplier, and he is happy to help me sort something out, but so bloody annoying, that these were brand new, and only been on the car, in dry storage for less than a year.
  22. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    rubber mats even may help. thats not a bad idea. Im also considering welding up a ramp of some sort that bridges the entire gap from the shed slab to the laneway, which is about 1.3m. at least then it would be a gradual and linear ramp down the entire way.
  23. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    well its been a month since the last update Whats happened in the last month? I looked into getting the radiator repaired. It will need a complete re-core, which was going to set me back over $600, thanks to the cost of copper at the moment. I just can't quite justify that at the moment, especially after paying $250 for the unit originally. One day I will get it done, but at the moment I think im just going to keep that aside. In the meantime, many of the guys from the RSOCV, rave about the cheap eBay alloy radiators. so at this stage I am probably going to take a punt on one, and see how it goes. for about $200 delivered, i could get a few years out of 3 of them before i have spent the some coin on re-coring the copper unit, which given its age could very easily spring a leak elsewhere in 12 months time. For now, I have the original 1300 radiator in place, just to keep me going, so i can start and move the car around. Its a little smaller than the upgrade behind it I fitted the original front seat for now just so i can move it around. Got it out of the shed, around into the driveway to wash the 12 months worth of "barn" dust off it, ready to go in for the exhaust Grill back in, number plate on the front, and it looks finished at the front. well it basically is, but i do need to remove the grill to do one more task that i forgot about. Next, it was ready for the exhaust. This was a fair challenge getting the trailer down the driveway. I decided to load the car onto the trailer the night before it was going in for the exhaust, because the shop doing the job for me was about 45 minutes drive from home, and they wanted the car by 8am. The trailer track width was wider than my driveway, so ran down the grass both sides, and bulldozed some of the bushes down the LH side with the mud guards The Escort on the trailer, fits under my carport comfortably, so once the trailer was loaded i backed her up under the carport to keep it out of the rain. *race tape on to protect my headlights from any rocks coming off my tyres on my Land Rover* The exhaust shop who did the job absolutely nailed it. Exhaust Fix in Lillydale if any Melbourne people are looking for a good exhaust shop. His freshly restored XD ESP maybe a known car, "RAREXD" is its plates. Mick did a 2" system from the headers back to a high flow muffler right before the diff, with a flange upon my request before the diff, to a resonator in the tail pipe. The flange is there in case I want to make it a little louder, he will make up a straight pipe at the back for me. The workmanship is spot on, and it sounds perfect. Has the perfect little raspy crack to it while not being too loud. I can not wait to drive it properly on the street to hear it. Preparing it for cavity wax and rust protection, Ive been trying to wash out what ever is left of the years of dirt built up in the cavities that are hard to get into. after all this time, its incredible how much shit is still coming out of the sills and chassis rails. Ive been having a bit of trouble getting the car in and out of the shed, because of the step down, onto grass/dirt before the laneway. I bought a pair of gutter ramps, but needed to extend these due to clearance underneath. At the moment this is the solution i have, some timber blocks to help reduce the angle of the drop. and so far its been easier to drive it in rather than back it in, due to traction issues on the grass at the bottom of the ramps. nearly impossible to reverse in Its a work in progress as I come up with a new idea to help. Replaced the dash lights with some low output LEDs. including all the warning lights. the photo makes the dash look really bright, but its not. that is at full brightness (mine has a dimmer being a 1975 model) The Oil pressure and Alternator charge light (Amber and Red lights at the bottom) are insanely bright now with the LEDs directly behind them. But I am not mad about that, because if i lose oil pressure, I want to bloody know about it The upper dash is now all back together. I just have to tidy up the wiring under the dash so i can install the centre dash panel back in, which will also give me my choke cable back. Today I picked up my new kenwood amplifier and 8" sub for the car. I previously was running an amp and sub from a BA falcon with premium sound, because the sub fits in the parcel shelf of the Escort with no mods, but they didn't cut it over the engine noise. So I am fitted new Kenwood stuff. The amp goes under the passenger seat, and will power the front door speakers as well as the sub in the parcel shelf. I just have to setup the front door speaker wiring to take signal from an amp instead of the head unit, then tidy the rest of the wiring up and tuck it away, and then the dash will be finished. So the car is getting close to being done, but whats left? Once the wiring and dash it back together, i still have to finish cleaning, rust converting surface rust in any cavity i can get into, and cavity waxing, the inside of the doors, the sills and anywhere else that may be appropriate. I have some of the original shitty sound deadening up behind the dash I still have to get out. then its clean the floors, install new sound deadening, carpet, seats, and door cards. At that point, the car will be complete, but not finished. I still have to find the jets for the carby which have gone MIA, and jet the carby for a 1600 again, at present its set for the 1300. I still have to mount the rear number plate. Replace the interior light Replace the number plate light Put clear protective film on the headlights Order, and fit new radiator that will keep the engine cool. (and paint it black. they alloy ones all come polished ) I still have to remove the headers and get them ceramic coated And, the last biggish one, is i have to get the dizzy regraphed.
  24. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    Well I have the radiator out of the car again, pressure tested, and found the leak. The strange part is, that after a few minutes of being under pressure with the pressure tester on, it stopped leaking, and began to hold constant pressure. So I will pressure test again and go from there. I think unfortunately it will need to be recored. In other news, I have the car booked in for its exhaust to be made in a couple weeks. And I also have all the exterior lighting working, and the boot interior light. The restored and LED retrofitted reverse lights should hopefully be more than bright enough. The NOS H4 Hella headlights are in and working well. I fitted the globes that came with them, still brand new in their boxes. Old Philips 55/60w globes, that are god knows how old, but new in box. Wonder how long they’ll last. Boot light is working also.
  25. Panko

    Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

    I haven’t found where its coming from. the next step will be to remove the radiator and pressure test it again to try in point the leak. It must be a decent leak, because its leaking without any pressure in the system. Literally filled it with water, came back a few minutes later and water everywhere
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