Panko

I also got the LH mirror on as well. 
 
So other than the chrome sill trim, the exterior on the passenger side of the car is finished. 
 

 
Im hoping to have my front seats (Recaros) back in the next couple of weeks, then I can start the interior work. 
 
The interior jobs are all the fiddly annoying stuff 
- stereo wiring
- heater box rebuild
- sound deadening 
- hand brake lever respray
- remove steering column for respray ( need to do before engine bay work) 
 
lots of little fiddly shit

I also got the LH mirror on as well. 
 
So other than the chrome sill trim, the exterior on the passenger side of the car is finished. 
 

 
Im hoping to have my front seats (Recaros) back in the next couple of weeks, then I can start the interior work. 
 
The interior jobs are all the fiddly annoying stuff 
- stereo wiring
- heater box rebuild
- sound deadening 
- hand brake lever respray
- remove steering column for respray ( need to do before engine bay work) 
 
lots of little fiddly shit

And stick some signage on the sides then write it all up on tax......

well there is that…
 
you never know. Maybe when both the Escort and Wagon are done, i might consider another build. The worst part is the body work, which i know you are more than capable of doing 😆 
 
would be a sweet daily 🤔 stick a duratec engine in, 5 speed, then fit the back out with storage for work. 

well there is that…
 
you never know. Maybe when both the Escort and Wagon are done, i might consider another build. The worst part is the body work, which i know you are more than capable of doing 😆 
 
would be a sweet daily 🤔 stick a duratec engine in, 5 speed, then fit the back out with storage for work. 

And then there was two! 😁
 
 
 

 



 

 
 
They still need adjustment to get them sitting the same, but I have finished bending the brackets. 
 
the driver’s side as a whole needs to be lowered slightly, and the passenger side just needs the corner raised a tad. Otherwise im glad this is done. What a nightmare its been 

And then there was two! 😁
 
 
 

 



 

 
 
They still need adjustment to get them sitting the same, but I have finished bending the brackets. 
 
the driver’s side as a whole needs to be lowered slightly, and the passenger side just needs the corner raised a tad. Otherwise im glad this is done. What a nightmare its been 

Its the bending thats the hard part. 
 
if the car was at my folks place, it wouldn’t be an issue because i have the hydraulic bending rig. 
Whereas I am doing it in a vice with a MAP gas blow torch and a pair of multi grips. Definitely no finesse about it 😂 

Can always make some later if they don't look pretty enough for the rest of the build. You know where to find me if you need help with stuff like this.

yeah its pretty frustrating. Pretty much everyone who has bought these repro brackets have had to modify them. I can’t remember who i bought them from, but there must be a hundred escort parts suppliers around the world who all sell the same ones, and they never fit. 
 
if i was doing it again, id start with steel strap. Bit like i did with the alloy, and make the brackets from scratch. 
 
hopefully the other side will happen a lot faster 

It's nuts how many parts are made incorrectly for the resto sector. It's a waste of time for everyone involved when stuff doesn't work the way they are supposed to. Getting there though

Its been a very long time between drinks, but here we are with some updates. 
 
since the last update, I rearranged my shed. I now have 2 car bays, and a work bay all beside each other. only downside now is, i can't get the escort out (easily) until its moving under its own steam, but oh well. 
 

 

 
To this...
 

 

 
Ive fitted up the new front indicators, but I wasn't happy with how "fat" the lens seal was and how it could be seen through the lens, making the indicators look really terrible. Looking at the old indicators, the seals didn't need to be that fat. so i cut them down. 
 
Before

 
one half done 
 

 
After 
 

 

 
The last thing ive done was finally get one of the front corner bumpers fitted. 
 
The aftermarket corner brackets are miles off being correct fit. it makes no sense how they can be manufactured so wrong. 
 

 
After heating and bending the brackets loads of times, i gave up and made a bracket from alloy strap. 
 

 
The alloy bracket isn't pretty, but it gave me the correct shape. so from there i went back to heating and bending the steel brackets knowing what shape i needed now. 
 

 
This was the final result. 
 

 
They essentially have an extra, unnecessary 45 degree bend in them. you can see in the below pic the line across the bracket where the bend (closest to bumper) used to be 
 

 

 

 
Now I just have to repeat the process on the passenger side and get that one fitted. 
The remove it all, clean up and paint the brackets, get fit them and get them all sitting the same, and lock them off. once they are one, I can fit the headlights. The headlights are out, because I use holes for them to reach through to bolt the corner bumpers on. 

Its been a very long time between drinks, but here we are with some updates. 
 
since the last update, I rearranged my shed. I now have 2 car bays, and a work bay all beside each other. only downside now is, i can't get the escort out (easily) until its moving under its own steam, but oh well. 
 

 

 
To this...
 

 

 
Ive fitted up the new front indicators, but I wasn't happy with how "fat" the lens seal was and how it could be seen through the lens, making the indicators look really terrible. Looking at the old indicators, the seals didn't need to be that fat. so i cut them down. 
 
Before

 
one half done 
 

 
After 
 

 

 
The last thing ive done was finally get one of the front corner bumpers fitted. 
 
The aftermarket corner brackets are miles off being correct fit. it makes no sense how they can be manufactured so wrong. 
 

 
After heating and bending the brackets loads of times, i gave up and made a bracket from alloy strap. 
 

 
The alloy bracket isn't pretty, but it gave me the correct shape. so from there i went back to heating and bending the steel brackets knowing what shape i needed now. 
 

 
This was the final result. 
 

 
They essentially have an extra, unnecessary 45 degree bend in them. you can see in the below pic the line across the bracket where the bend (closest to bumper) used to be 
 

 

 

 
Now I just have to repeat the process on the passenger side and get that one fitted. 
The remove it all, clean up and paint the brackets, get fit them and get them all sitting the same, and lock them off. once they are one, I can fit the headlights. The headlights are out, because I use holes for them to reach through to bolt the corner bumpers on. 

There has been no progress lately due to work. I am smashed with work commitments at the moment until the end of june. 
 
 
 
I have concluded that they are from a Mk1 or Mk2 cortina, which have a completely different shape to them, and even new parts listing for extractors say that Cortina and Escort are not interchangeable 😕 

So I am on the hunt for another set. 

Well im in ISO for a week with the spicy cough 😷 
So that means i can try get a bit of stuff done on the Escort. 
 
First thing I did was test fitted the new extractors. 
There was a hand written note on them “1300? Hit floor” 
Well unfortunately that is exactly the case. Because the 1600 block is around 1/2” taller, the extractors do in fact hit the firewall in front of passenger footwell. 
 

 

 
I then worked on the boot latch, cleaned it, reinstalled it and adjusted it. Nice to have a functional locking boot again. 
 

 
 

Well the car is back on its wheels and rolling again. 
Its nice to look under the car and everything is clean instead of being caked in over 40 years of dirt 🤢
 

 

 
 
I had a go at fitting the new front corner bumpers. they are brand new reproduction bumpers and brackets. 
 
The side brackets are a bit off, and as confirmed by Mark, they will need to be adjusted in a vice, test fitted, rinse and repeat until happy with the result 😕 
 

 

As I keep saying, progress is very slow. However both leaf springs are finally in. 
 
going to pull the handbrake bar off tonight and the brake lines on the diff to clean them up, and maybe bolt the diff in tonight also. Should be on its wheels by the weekend
 

Progress has been slow but it is happening. 
 
all the rear suspension parts have been painted with VHT High temp roll cage and subframe black, it finishes almost like powder coating rather than paint. 
 

 
Fitted up the freshly coated leaf springs, new bushes, new shackles, new nylock nuts. 
 

 
tried the new sandwich pads, and uh oh, there is an issue. 
 

 
the new pads do not have big enough pin to do the same. it barely makes it flush with the top plate (see above picture) 
the original pads have a tall enough rubber centring pin to poke through the top plate, with a steel collar around the rubber pin, to locate the springs into the diff. 
 

 

 
even with the steel collar, the new pad does NOT provide anything to centre on, relying on as little as a mm to keep centre. not safe. 
 

 

 
So from here I went to my brother's house, and we got our heads together and designed and cut on his CNC a new guide pin. 
 

 

 

 
so the new pin is cut out of solid plastic. 
 
we have machine the pad out from 14mm ID to 18mm ID. 
The new pin slips inside the new 18mm ID of the pad. 
The new pin has a hollow with a 14mm ID to slip over the steel pin in the middle of the leaf spring.
The top of the new pin is 23 or 24mm, the right size to locate in the diff. 

This is prototype 1, unfortunately we didn't hollow out the under side deep enough, so the steel pin in the middle of the spring bottoms out before the pad and pins can sit down properly. 
 
 

Well the car is back on its wheels and rolling again. 
Its nice to look under the car and everything is clean instead of being caked in over 40 years of dirt 🤢
 

 

 
 
I had a go at fitting the new front corner bumpers. they are brand new reproduction bumpers and brackets. 
 
The side brackets are a bit off, and as confirmed by Mark, they will need to be adjusted in a vice, test fitted, rinse and repeat until happy with the result 😕 
 

 

Well im in ISO for a week with the spicy cough 😷 
So that means i can try get a bit of stuff done on the Escort. 
 
First thing I did was test fitted the new extractors. 
There was a hand written note on them “1300? Hit floor” 
Well unfortunately that is exactly the case. Because the 1600 block is around 1/2” taller, the extractors do in fact hit the firewall in front of passenger footwell. 
 

 

 
I then worked on the boot latch, cleaned it, reinstalled it and adjusted it. Nice to have a functional locking boot again. 
 

 
 

Well im in ISO for a week with the spicy cough 😷 
So that means i can try get a bit of stuff done on the Escort. 
 
First thing I did was test fitted the new extractors. 
There was a hand written note on them “1300? Hit floor” 
Well unfortunately that is exactly the case. Because the 1600 block is around 1/2” taller, the extractors do in fact hit the firewall in front of passenger footwell. 
 

 

 
I then worked on the boot latch, cleaned it, reinstalled it and adjusted it. Nice to have a functional locking boot again. 
 

 
 

Well im in ISO for a week with the spicy cough 😷 
So that means i can try get a bit of stuff done on the Escort. 
 
First thing I did was test fitted the new extractors. 
There was a hand written note on them “1300? Hit floor” 
Well unfortunately that is exactly the case. Because the 1600 block is around 1/2” taller, the extractors do in fact hit the firewall in front of passenger footwell. 
 

 

 
I then worked on the boot latch, cleaned it, reinstalled it and adjusted it. Nice to have a functional locking boot again. 
 

 
 

Well im in ISO for a week with the spicy cough 😷 
So that means i can try get a bit of stuff done on the Escort. 
 
First thing I did was test fitted the new extractors. 
There was a hand written note on them “1300? Hit floor” 
Well unfortunately that is exactly the case. Because the 1600 block is around 1/2” taller, the extractors do in fact hit the firewall in front of passenger footwell. 
 

 

 
I then worked on the boot latch, cleaned it, reinstalled it and adjusted it. Nice to have a functional locking boot again. 
 

 
 

For the time being, cost effectiveness, i have kept the blocks. 
 
in due time I will go new aftermarket springs. Probably reverse eye, single lead parabolic springs. 
will handle a lot nicer, and sit proper low 😆 
 
If you go back to the start of this thread when i first bought the car, I had to run blocks, with an offset centre pin to correct the fact the front spring eye on the driver’s side was 10mm backwards on the chassis compared to the passenger side. 
 
part of the resto, this has been corrected, so yeah for cost thing, ive just corrected the offset pin on the blocks and refitted them. 
 
im fine with running blocks. I run them in the wagon too 

For the time being, cost effectiveness, i have kept the blocks. 
 
in due time I will go new aftermarket springs. Probably reverse eye, single lead parabolic springs. 
will handle a lot nicer, and sit proper low 😆 
 
If you go back to the start of this thread when i first bought the car, I had to run blocks, with an offset centre pin to correct the fact the front spring eye on the driver’s side was 10mm backwards on the chassis compared to the passenger side. 
 
part of the resto, this has been corrected, so yeah for cost thing, ive just corrected the offset pin on the blocks and refitted them. 
 
im fine with running blocks. I run them in the wagon too