Panko

Going back a bit, these are a couple of photos rolling into Small Ford Sunday. taken no more than 30 seconds apart, on two different cameras, but makes the colour look completely different. this colour still amazes, but also annoys me with how both good and bad it can look depending on the light its in 🤣 the joys of metallic paint i guess. 
 
*the second pic is more true to the actual colour** 
 

 

 
I finally got the front bumpers back, and they came up fantastic. worth the wait. 
 

 
Now onto some mechanical gremlins. I had been having an issue with the cooling system. not over heating, but in fact running too cold. not getting warm enough to actually open the thermostat, which was a standard 89 degree thermostat. I figured it was because the alloy radiator was so efficient at cooling that yeah meant that I couldn't get her up to temp, and had no heater. 
 
This whole time I had been running just water in the cooling system, not coolant, to try flush the system out as best I can. I figured with this lack of heating issue, id pull the thermostat out and then put some coolant in. 
 

 
This is what came out. its a piece of gasket goo stuck in the thermostat. notice also the colour. that thermostat was brand new with this engine. so it has gone a very rusty brown colour thanks to the water. Pushing on the diaphragm by hand, the thermostat felt a little sticky. didnt want to move smoothly to open or close. 
 
So I ended replacing it with an 82 degree thermostat. not to make it run cooler, but so the thermostat would open earlier and start circulating coolant earlier. with that, and coolant in the system, it has made a difference. it gets up to the correct 88 degrees running temp now, rather than running too cold. 
 
Good Friday, the RSOCV had their annual Good Friday cruise. 
Over 30 cars got involved, and we went out to Warburton, up Mt Donna Buang (some of us more spiritedly than others) then back down and to Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch. 
Having driven the Escort up there previously with the 1300, flat out, and now with the 1660, also flat out, it was a much faster drive up there. I had a mate of mine in his Mini come along, who was behind me on the way up. Although I am not too concerned, he did tell me that it was blowing a bit of blue smoke between gear changes. granted I was pushing it, its the hardest it had been driven, and it was mighty cold up there. but it did it well. I adjusted the suspension up a bit to be stiffer, and boy does it turn well. 
 
On the way home, my buddy in the mini, and me couldnt resist but to see how they compared. its the first time the mini and escort had been out together. the Mini is a 1999 Rover, with a single point injected 1275cc, from Japan. Its since had a Cooper performance kit fitted, which includes a ported head with roller rockers, headers, exhaust, bigger injector, and a few other go fast parts. The Mini weighs 100kg less than the Escort, at 740kg, and with the Cooper engine package produces about 65kw. 
The Escort, a stock 1600 produces 60-65kw. Mine is a 1660, with a cam, weber, etc etc. 
It was a good comparison, the Mini nudged in front basically because i was slow getting into 2nd gear, otherwise equally matched. 
So for such a small engine in the Mini, it goes really well. its pretty quick little thing. 
 
I had to do a weekend run over to work HQ in Footscray, so jumped in the Escort to save the diesel in my daily. it really is such a great improvement over what it used to be in pretty much every aspect. able to sit on the highway comfortably, plenty of grunt to pull away, it just gets very warm in the cabin very easily, which was always the case. 
 

Going back a bit, these are a couple of photos rolling into Small Ford Sunday. taken no more than 30 seconds apart, on two different cameras, but makes the colour look completely different. this colour still amazes, but also annoys me with how both good and bad it can look depending on the light its in 🤣 the joys of metallic paint i guess. 
 
*the second pic is more true to the actual colour** 
 

 

 
I finally got the front bumpers back, and they came up fantastic. worth the wait. 
 

 
Now onto some mechanical gremlins. I had been having an issue with the cooling system. not over heating, but in fact running too cold. not getting warm enough to actually open the thermostat, which was a standard 89 degree thermostat. I figured it was because the alloy radiator was so efficient at cooling that yeah meant that I couldn't get her up to temp, and had no heater. 
 
This whole time I had been running just water in the cooling system, not coolant, to try flush the system out as best I can. I figured with this lack of heating issue, id pull the thermostat out and then put some coolant in. 
 

 
This is what came out. its a piece of gasket goo stuck in the thermostat. notice also the colour. that thermostat was brand new with this engine. so it has gone a very rusty brown colour thanks to the water. Pushing on the diaphragm by hand, the thermostat felt a little sticky. didnt want to move smoothly to open or close. 
 
So I ended replacing it with an 82 degree thermostat. not to make it run cooler, but so the thermostat would open earlier and start circulating coolant earlier. with that, and coolant in the system, it has made a difference. it gets up to the correct 88 degrees running temp now, rather than running too cold. 
 
Good Friday, the RSOCV had their annual Good Friday cruise. 
Over 30 cars got involved, and we went out to Warburton, up Mt Donna Buang (some of us more spiritedly than others) then back down and to Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch. 
Having driven the Escort up there previously with the 1300, flat out, and now with the 1660, also flat out, it was a much faster drive up there. I had a mate of mine in his Mini come along, who was behind me on the way up. Although I am not too concerned, he did tell me that it was blowing a bit of blue smoke between gear changes. granted I was pushing it, its the hardest it had been driven, and it was mighty cold up there. but it did it well. I adjusted the suspension up a bit to be stiffer, and boy does it turn well. 
 
On the way home, my buddy in the mini, and me couldnt resist but to see how they compared. its the first time the mini and escort had been out together. the Mini is a 1999 Rover, with a single point injected 1275cc, from Japan. Its since had a Cooper performance kit fitted, which includes a ported head with roller rockers, headers, exhaust, bigger injector, and a few other go fast parts. The Mini weighs 100kg less than the Escort, at 740kg, and with the Cooper engine package produces about 65kw. 
The Escort, a stock 1600 produces 60-65kw. Mine is a 1660, with a cam, weber, etc etc. 
It was a good comparison, the Mini nudged in front basically because i was slow getting into 2nd gear, otherwise equally matched. 
So for such a small engine in the Mini, it goes really well. its pretty quick little thing. 
 
I had to do a weekend run over to work HQ in Footscray, so jumped in the Escort to save the diesel in my daily. it really is such a great improvement over what it used to be in pretty much every aspect. able to sit on the highway comfortably, plenty of grunt to pull away, it just gets very warm in the cabin very easily, which was always the case. 
 

Going back a bit, these are a couple of photos rolling into Small Ford Sunday. taken no more than 30 seconds apart, on two different cameras, but makes the colour look completely different. this colour still amazes, but also annoys me with how both good and bad it can look depending on the light its in 🤣 the joys of metallic paint i guess. 
 
*the second pic is more true to the actual colour** 
 

 

 
I finally got the front bumpers back, and they came up fantastic. worth the wait. 
 

 
Now onto some mechanical gremlins. I had been having an issue with the cooling system. not over heating, but in fact running too cold. not getting warm enough to actually open the thermostat, which was a standard 89 degree thermostat. I figured it was because the alloy radiator was so efficient at cooling that yeah meant that I couldn't get her up to temp, and had no heater. 
 
This whole time I had been running just water in the cooling system, not coolant, to try flush the system out as best I can. I figured with this lack of heating issue, id pull the thermostat out and then put some coolant in. 
 

 
This is what came out. its a piece of gasket goo stuck in the thermostat. notice also the colour. that thermostat was brand new with this engine. so it has gone a very rusty brown colour thanks to the water. Pushing on the diaphragm by hand, the thermostat felt a little sticky. didnt want to move smoothly to open or close. 
 
So I ended replacing it with an 82 degree thermostat. not to make it run cooler, but so the thermostat would open earlier and start circulating coolant earlier. with that, and coolant in the system, it has made a difference. it gets up to the correct 88 degrees running temp now, rather than running too cold. 
 
Good Friday, the RSOCV had their annual Good Friday cruise. 
Over 30 cars got involved, and we went out to Warburton, up Mt Donna Buang (some of us more spiritedly than others) then back down and to Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch. 
Having driven the Escort up there previously with the 1300, flat out, and now with the 1660, also flat out, it was a much faster drive up there. I had a mate of mine in his Mini come along, who was behind me on the way up. Although I am not too concerned, he did tell me that it was blowing a bit of blue smoke between gear changes. granted I was pushing it, its the hardest it had been driven, and it was mighty cold up there. but it did it well. I adjusted the suspension up a bit to be stiffer, and boy does it turn well. 
 
On the way home, my buddy in the mini, and me couldnt resist but to see how they compared. its the first time the mini and escort had been out together. the Mini is a 1999 Rover, with a single point injected 1275cc, from Japan. Its since had a Cooper performance kit fitted, which includes a ported head with roller rockers, headers, exhaust, bigger injector, and a few other go fast parts. The Mini weighs 100kg less than the Escort, at 740kg, and with the Cooper engine package produces about 65kw. 
The Escort, a stock 1600 produces 60-65kw. Mine is a 1660, with a cam, weber, etc etc. 
It was a good comparison, the Mini nudged in front basically because i was slow getting into 2nd gear, otherwise equally matched. 
So for such a small engine in the Mini, it goes really well. its pretty quick little thing. 
 
I had to do a weekend run over to work HQ in Footscray, so jumped in the Escort to save the diesel in my daily. it really is such a great improvement over what it used to be in pretty much every aspect. able to sit on the highway comfortably, plenty of grunt to pull away, it just gets very warm in the cabin very easily, which was always the case. 
 

Going back a bit, these are a couple of photos rolling into Small Ford Sunday. taken no more than 30 seconds apart, on two different cameras, but makes the colour look completely different. this colour still amazes, but also annoys me with how both good and bad it can look depending on the light its in 🤣 the joys of metallic paint i guess. 
 
*the second pic is more true to the actual colour** 
 

 

 
I finally got the front bumpers back, and they came up fantastic. worth the wait. 
 

 
Now onto some mechanical gremlins. I had been having an issue with the cooling system. not over heating, but in fact running too cold. not getting warm enough to actually open the thermostat, which was a standard 89 degree thermostat. I figured it was because the alloy radiator was so efficient at cooling that yeah meant that I couldn't get her up to temp, and had no heater. 
 
This whole time I had been running just water in the cooling system, not coolant, to try flush the system out as best I can. I figured with this lack of heating issue, id pull the thermostat out and then put some coolant in. 
 

 
This is what came out. its a piece of gasket goo stuck in the thermostat. notice also the colour. that thermostat was brand new with this engine. so it has gone a very rusty brown colour thanks to the water. Pushing on the diaphragm by hand, the thermostat felt a little sticky. didnt want to move smoothly to open or close. 
 
So I ended replacing it with an 82 degree thermostat. not to make it run cooler, but so the thermostat would open earlier and start circulating coolant earlier. with that, and coolant in the system, it has made a difference. it gets up to the correct 88 degrees running temp now, rather than running too cold. 
 
Good Friday, the RSOCV had their annual Good Friday cruise. 
Over 30 cars got involved, and we went out to Warburton, up Mt Donna Buang (some of us more spiritedly than others) then back down and to Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch. 
Having driven the Escort up there previously with the 1300, flat out, and now with the 1660, also flat out, it was a much faster drive up there. I had a mate of mine in his Mini come along, who was behind me on the way up. Although I am not too concerned, he did tell me that it was blowing a bit of blue smoke between gear changes. granted I was pushing it, its the hardest it had been driven, and it was mighty cold up there. but it did it well. I adjusted the suspension up a bit to be stiffer, and boy does it turn well. 
 
On the way home, my buddy in the mini, and me couldnt resist but to see how they compared. its the first time the mini and escort had been out together. the Mini is a 1999 Rover, with a single point injected 1275cc, from Japan. Its since had a Cooper performance kit fitted, which includes a ported head with roller rockers, headers, exhaust, bigger injector, and a few other go fast parts. The Mini weighs 100kg less than the Escort, at 740kg, and with the Cooper engine package produces about 65kw. 
The Escort, a stock 1600 produces 60-65kw. Mine is a 1660, with a cam, weber, etc etc. 
It was a good comparison, the Mini nudged in front basically because i was slow getting into 2nd gear, otherwise equally matched. 
So for such a small engine in the Mini, it goes really well. its pretty quick little thing. 
 
I had to do a weekend run over to work HQ in Footscray, so jumped in the Escort to save the diesel in my daily. it really is such a great improvement over what it used to be in pretty much every aspect. able to sit on the highway comfortably, plenty of grunt to pull away, it just gets very warm in the cabin very easily, which was always the case. 
 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Very nice work Aaron.

WOW.......... 😲  One of the best looking small Fords, built the way YOU wanted it.  The retro seat cover material on the Recaros looks ace.  Did you end up with something to cover the rear of the back seat, form inside the boot.?? Just so you can't see the frame.  Credit to you, mate. Excellent results. 

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. 

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. 
 

 

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. 

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. 
 

 

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. 

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. 
 

 

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. 

For more peace of mind about whether you sealed the holes, get something like penetrol or similar wicking agent. Squirt a bit around all the clips, repeat a couple of times over a couple of weeks and it should get a good barrier layer in there to help prevent (or at least dramatically slow) any corrosion.

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. 

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. 
 

 

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. 
 

 

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.