Panko

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. 
 

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. 

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. 
 

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. 
 

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 😬
 
 

 

 

 

 

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. 
 
 

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 😬
 
 

 

 

 

 

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

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  

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 😬
 
 

 

 

 

 

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 🤣 

somehow missed last weeks update, 
radiator looks much better in black, you've been doing very well to get all the little things sorted and back on the car, well done indeed!
 
good luck on the first drive, make sure the simple things are done prior (i've driven off with radiator hoses loose, and loose wheel nuts etc before after a long time project. )
 
 

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. 

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. 
 
 

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  

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  

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

The ebay alloy radiators work fine. Ive had one in Lucy Lu for over 5 years without any issues.

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. 

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. 
 
 

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. 

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.