Panko

11 hours ago, Fingers said:

Was it green at some stage, or is that blue paint affected by the stripper?

 

yeah so someone had painted it green previously, and did a good job of it. the green wouldn't come off, even with paint stripper. 

 

The blue was a s*** rattle can job, so the green is what stripping the blue revealed. 

i forgot to post the "before" photos. **post paint stripper** 

 

 

Ok now we are back, a bit of an update on the car. 

 

I finally finished stripping the paint off the engine block and painted it black...

 

 

 

Im yet to do the sump, and the timing cover, which im painting "aluminium" silver, which will contrast nicely on the black engine. The head needs rebuilding anyway so while thats at the engine shop ill see if they can acid dip it and strip the paint off it that way. 

 

I also painted the front crossmember "subframe black". I have used this paint before, but do not remember it being so glossy. its not what I was expecting, but oh well. 

The paint is epoxy based, so its sticky as hell coming out of the can, and dries very thick. 

 

 

 

I have a couple more bits to pick up tomorrow, to finish the bottom end of the engine off, then i can bolt it onto the crossmember. Steering rack can go on tomorrow also. 

 

then clutch and flywheel can go on. 

Just now, Fingers said:

That idea has been around for years. Proven upgrade.

 

yeah sure is. 

 

still a very popular upgrade too. 

there you go. 

Cheapest from Hopper Stoppers for a Mk1 is $1500 

this is probably the cheapest 4 pot upgrade available. 

 

but they come in at $865AUD plus freight. so pretty much $1000 landed. 

 

https://www.burtonpower.com/hispec-4-pot-road-brake-kit-ford-escort-capri-245x20mm-hisk04e.html

Here is one done. can see the spacers and the ventilated discs. 

 

there maybe better options from Hopper Stoppers etc, but i dare say more than doing a simple M16 upgrade. Keep in mind that price was for brand new. if you buy a set off a mk2 second hand, probably a lot cheaper 

 

1 minute ago, bear351c said:

Getting close. Looks like a quality rebuild happening here. 

 

close, but so so far from done

 

thanks mate. Im pretty particular with my cars, so its a pretty detailed build alright  

 

I picked up all my parts today. 

 

Im excited to start putting it all back together. 

 

The camshaft has me excited. it's peak power is 1650rpm, and runs out at 6000rpm. This is going to be fun having such a big power range. 

 

The steering rack, to my surprise is brand new. I thought the quick racks were refurbished cases with new internals. but the entire thing is new. date stamped 03/19 and then stamped 02/21 for when it was built as a 2.9 quick rack. 

 

I also priced up a brake upgrade. 

 

Yesterford can supply BRAND NEW M16 (Mk2 Escort) brakes. Someone out there is making brand new M16s. with the correct rotors, and the little imperial to metric brake hose adapter to suit a Mk1, for $620. 

Then in the future, if i want to go better again, i buy a spacer kit for to space the split M16 callipers and install wider, ventilated discs. 

Im going to wait for the final bill from Mark before I buy the brakes, but it is definitely the way I will go. it has always been a little lacking in the brakes, the little tiny front brakes have always struggled a little. And, for some stupid reason, the discs for standard Mk1 are nearly double the price of the bigger solid discs that come with the M16 brake upgrade kit. go figure  

32 minutes ago, Fingers said:

I really like how this build is going.

Looking forward to seeing it up close.

thanks man. 
 

me too  

I haven’t seen the car in the flesh for a few weeks now  

1 minute ago, gerg said:

I don't mind the blue, but Kents were black originally for a reason... To hide the Pommy oil leaks

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

thats exactly why i want to paint mine black  

 

in all seriousness, im not sure blue engine block would look any good in a metallic green engine bay  

Ok I have been a bit slow with the updates. but there is progress  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also have my engine and gearbox, and front crossmember home ready to be cleaned up, and prepped ready to go in the car. 

 

Stripped the 1600 down ready to get a basic freshen up, and a couple go fast bits   

 

 

i was a little surprised to see the baffles inside the stock sump. 3 lots of baffles in total. not bad for a stock sump. 

 

 

I hate the blue paint on the block, so i started hitting it with paint stripper, to find under the horrendous blue paint, horrendous green paint haha. 

The blue is coming off super easy, the green wont budge. so, im going to keep the green as base coat and go over it with engine black  

 

 

 

Ive also ordered a big chunk of parts, which i pick up tomorrow. 

 

All the engine bits needed, such as full gasket kit, GT/Fast Road camshaft, new followers, clutch kit, 2.9 ratio quick steering rack, water pump, timing chain etc etc. all the service parts. 

 

Its the first big chunk of money ive spent on the car so far, and its a little daunting. I haven't even paid for the panel work yet

 

Fun times ahead

 

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, SteveHobart said:

 

Hey all!

 

I was wondering where the ECU Temp Sender/Sensor is located in an EFI XF 250 Crossflow.

 

I have an outlet for it in the Thermostat housing, is that’s where it should go?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Hey buddy, 

 

its in the passenger side of the head up front. there is a heater fitting and an engine temp sensor. 

11 hours ago, deankdx said:

i had pop into My head.. this week on retropower, we revisit Gordon Murray's escort(they are doing that actually) . not down to a bare shell though. 

 

Hey @Panko if the need ever arises to fit a 4 speed, would you only need a custom gearbox cross member now or can that bracket still be used? or is it needing removal and repositioned again

 

To use a 4 speed, all i would do is run a couple of box tube sections to shift it forward. 

 

So the crossmember would be on the 4 speed, and i just bolt in some bits to adapt it to the new location of the mounts. 

They are available for doing the that for type 9s, but english and australian bodies are different, so those kits dont work on aussie cars

 

Spinny spinny

 

 

 

and yes thats a Fox Body mustang in the background. I had a good look over it last time i was there. very nice car

8 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

Is that the pick up point at the front? It looks like a bolt through the rail to a link for the cradle?


I've got a guess for what you're thinking about but maybe I'll just wait and see if I got it right

 

yeah you might be right. the pickup is bolted through the rail. 

*crap photo warning* 

Glad Mark's work is better than his photography haha. 

 

Today they fixed up the factory "out of whack" leaf spring hanger. the one that was 10mm too far backwards from factory.

 

can see how much they have moved it forward back into the right spot. 

 

 

plated up ready for the leaf spring to go back in

 

 

 

 

Mark has also told me that they have changed their mind, and the car is now going on a rotisserie to be painted. Originally they were going to spray the underside on the hoist, then spray the engine bay, then remove the front subframe and spray that seperate. 

 

 

Squirt a bit of oil in the cylinder and retest the compression, if it goes up, it's the rings.

 

yeah i know about that trick. but meh. its already got better comp than the 1300. 

 

also the pistons are dished, so getting oil how to the bores to try that trick is really hard. 

 

 

found it. 

 

Can see on the left there the block/chassis mount made to mount the subframe into the car. no idea how they have done the front of the subframe though. 

 

 

It has been done! 

 

I have a photo, buried somewhere deep in my phone or laptop, or an XH panelvan with AU IRS fitted to it. 

 

It was surprisingly easy apparently to make the subframe fit. 

1 hour ago, deankdx said:

so what's up with the heads? stuck valves? be able to tip some petrol in the head chamber with the valves closed and see if it leaks out either the intake or exhaust port.. 

or was valve lash not set properly? 

 

i think My gemini 2litre has 135psi and goes plenty good, but the compression ratio on them is very low like 8.2 or something (the worked engine should be up around 9.5 if i ever get it together

yeah the issue is most likely valves not seating properly, and valve lash. 
I honestly just swapped heads without checking valve lash etc. i did it just to see if results changed with a different head, which they did. 
 

Im not putting bets on it having a big cam, because it only has the standard intake and carby with it, but potentially a warm cam. 
 

id imagine once its running, and things are hot, the compression will come up a bit. 

12 minutes ago, Outback Jack said:

There's a Scat 1600 crank and bearings for sale on Gumtree over here and a lotus 1600 twin can head if your interested Panko.

Sent from my S21 using Tapatalk
 

Oh yeah ive seen the lotus head. I wish. 
would definitely be unique. A lotus 4 door escort. But certainly dont have the coin for that. 
if i ever rebuilt the 1600 in the future, id take it out to a 1700, injected, high compression etc. 

I have a 1600 for the car  

 

So i picked up a 1600 from a club member. It was an unknown engine, that he had sitting in his garage for about 5 years. He had never used it. 
He let me take the engine without paying and let me comp test it etc. 

 

It had 120psi on number 1, 2 and 4. 3 was showing nothing  

I swapped the head for a spare 1300 head i had sitting in the shed. Picked up 120psi on number 3 and 2 but 1 & 4 now showed zero the head i put on was the old head id pulled off the 1300. The 1300 gained compression when i swapped that head off. 
 

The bottom end in the 1600 has been rebuilt. I couldn’t make out the difference in part numbers, so the pistons are either 0.30” or 0.60” oversized. Bores are clean and smooth, no lip or scoring. 
Next stage is to get the 1600 head rebuilt, maybe some porting work too, and run a full gasket and seal kit through the engine. Ill also be looking at the camshaft to see if its stock or warmed up. 
 

120psi isn’t fantastic by any means, but considering from basic testing the loss in comp appears to mostly in the head, and the 1300 only had 90-100psi, this engine should be a comfortable upgrade even if it isn’t the best compression. 
 

it also came with another complete 4 speed and short shifter fitted. The gearbox feels better than mine, so i may end up keeping it and selling my 4 speed. 
 

my test bench, aka trailer  
 

1600 head off, 1300 head on 

 

 

Take ya pick 

 

 

Now, for another update. 
 

the mounts for the 5 speed have been relocated, and driveline test fitted into the car. 
all fits perfectly. The car is now officially built to suit a 5 speed  

 

 

Can just vaguely see how far it moved. Not far at all. A couple of inches

 

 

All in and clearing

 

notice the front suspension is gone. Almost ready for paint now  

 

 

1 hour ago, deankdx said:

probably a good time to stop is when you run out of money or DON'T NEED the new parts,.. however, i'm a big fan for having good spares especially if rare.. never know when you might need them

ha yeah well there is that. 
i am tracking everything I spend thus far. 
Depending on Mark’s final bill, im going to be pretty close to the budget i had from insurance money. Im happy to go a couple of $k over, but we will see. 
keep in mind the list of things i had to do on it, were desirable upgrades, not necessarily a need, but certainly make the car better kind of thing

Small update. 

 

I got the gearbox stripped down to an empty case, and then cleaned it and put the case, extension  housing back together. 

 

I also split the 1300 and 4 speed, and took the bell housing over and bolted it onto the 5 speed case. 

 

Before the end of the week, ill have the spare 1300 block and 5 speed box delivered to Mark so they can fit the driveline and move the gearbox mounts on the body. 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont have anymore progress photos of the car, but the car is getting very close to being painted. 

 

We finished cleaning and prepping the underside of the car. Bonnet is ready to go. 

 

Mark is hoping to have it painted before easter. His painter goes on leave for the month of April, with a temporary painter coming in to only do basic insurance work. 

If the car isn't painted by Easter, then it will be May before it gets into the spray booth. It doesn't bother me in the slightest if it gets delayed, it would give me more time to get other things sorted for the car. 

 

I picked up the new windscreen for the car today. 

 

I also took delivery of a pair of NOS "hockey stick" chrome trims, because mine were beyond repairing. 

 

I also have a pair of NOS Hella H4 headlights . 

 

When I started this, I honestly dont think i was expecting the build to go to the extent it has, and i didn't think there would be so many new parts fitted. 

 

My problem is, I dont know when to stop spending money on new parts