BGDAV

im runing a t56 magnum, big case one and i had to custom make one as it sits alot further back then even the T5 mount - might just have to mock it up 

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. 
 

 

i also had issues since i had a dart block, alloy heads, alloy intake etc, the weight was off was added issue - coil overs fixed it in an afternoon 

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

Next on the agenda;
The dreaded heater box. 
 

 

 

 
This thing was filthy. 48 years worth of dust, leaves, and rotting foam. 
The core has been replaced, so thats a good sign. I have pressure tested the core and it seems ok, but I am going to do it again today. im not convinced i tested it properly. 
 
Also, someone had used what looks like windscreen sealer to reinstall the lid when it was apart previously 🤦‍♂️ when in actual fact, its meant to be foam to seal it. I have bought all new high density foam, not the open cell shit that rots away, and am currently in the process of resealing it and assembling the heater box. 
 
 
I got a little stuck with this lever for the main vent flap. its pressed onto a spline. I couldn't get the internals of the heater matrix out until that lever, and its flap were removed. 
 

 
Of all things, a $19 tap handle remover from Bunnings worked perfectly at getting that lever off 🤣
 

 
After I got the internals out of the box, the rest of the mess from 48 years of crap was revealed 😬
 

 

 
 
** This is where I am currently up to. The heater box is the last thing I need to do to make the car 100% water tight. 
I also have another radiator for it, second hand but pressure tested ok. its also larger. technically from a Cortina, but they are the same as what was used in Mexicos. So i has a larger top tank, and larger cores. Once the radiator is in, technically I could run the engine. And with the brakes all up and working, when I book it in for the exhaust to be done, it will be great to be able to drive it on and off the trailer instead of winching it. 
 
In between all this major stuff, I have done a lot of little things that I haven't really documented. Ive replaced all the door seals now, rebuilt all the latches on the doors, mirrors are on etc. so from the outside she looks almost complete. 
 
As you would have seen in above photos from inside the car, the wiring is still a mess. its a job I am not looking forward to doing. the inside of the car is another project in itself, to do it to the level I'd find acceptable. There is wiring to sort out, small bits of surface rust, lots of cleaning to do in cavities that aren't easily accessible. I need to clean all these out so I can then cavity wax them and keep them safe from future rust. 
I need to tidy up the wiring, install sound deadening before the carpet goes in, and order and install the new amp and wiring for the stereo, because as much as i love the sound of the weber and the exhaust, on longer drives I need decent music. 
I want to say its not that far off, but it is. My expected finish timeline keeps getting further and further away, so for now I am going to say that if I can drive it out my shed under its own steam, for its first test drive by christmas, it will be the best christmas present ever. It will also mark 3 years since it was written off.  

when i contacted them about mine, they said i installed the spigot wrong (i didnt), then they basically get fucked,   it wasnt their business to fix their fuck up that cost me 3k, new gearbox rebuild after 600km, and redrill of a bellhousing due to poor machining - so i just tell everyone - cost them more then 3k in lost sales 

would not buy from dellow again, look at quicktime metal ones alot better 

would not buy from dellow again, look at quicktime metal ones alot better 

i had a brief read over - I've got a 408 with a t56 mangun and hydraulic clutch, go hydrualic if you can, but its costly exercise, I don't use any of the standard gear but the hydraulic pedal box - better flywheel, FC holden master cylc (standard ford isn't enough even bored out) custom mounts, custom pedal stop (must do this or you'll blow out the seals on the slave cylc  - I did it sucks) tilton throw out bearing (slave) i used malwood, and dellow slaves both leaked, pay the money once and do it right, tilton was self adjusting no spacer bull s*** all built into the design was a threaded shaft - solved all my problems- sounds like you have power similar to mine - its costly but now its all perfect 

I had a throw out bearing on my t5 I think you have to machine the snout down to allow the bearing to sit over - I’m sure USA guys have done it 

looking good - paint it black and hit the track (Y) 

Woo. 
Tomorrow I will have some progress photos. I am going to see the car in the morning before work. 
What I know is the back panel has been cut out, so that will be interesting to see, and the front left ¼ panel they ended up repairing instead of replacing. apparently spent a solid days work on it to get it properly straight, all the bog removed and currently in bare metal. 
 
There has been phone calls back and forth over the past couple weeks just figuring out more and more details. I think my bill from the panel shop is going to be higher than i originally intended, but i cant help myself, asking them to do extra stuff 😬
 
They are going to roll the guards, so my 13x6 steel rims will hopefully fit. they have a lower offset than my alloys, so they are going to stick out about 10mm further. by rolling the guards i should have no issues with clearance. 
 
They have also inspected the chassis, on the driver's side where my front leaf spring eye is on the chassis. Its always been in the wrong spot, appears to have been welded in the wrong spot from factory. 10mm further back, hence i have always run offset pinned lowering blocks. well, they are going to fix that also, and get the eye mount in the correct spot  
 
Mark has given me free rain of the workshop, so i can come and go whenever i like if there is anything id like to do underneath the car, especially now while its in the air. He suggested i spend some time over there getting the underside cleaned up and body deadened/stone guarded. 
 
On the gearbox front, Rod ( @2redrovers) helped me finished cutting the extension housing. I have spent some time getting it ready to be welded, but since then, I have been flat stick at work. I am temporarily filling a management role at work until march, so in an office from around 10am until about 5pm every day. makes progress very very slow
 
In the mean time, I have also had the alternator on my LR Discovery 2 spit the dummy, so have spent the last couple nights after work getting that ripped out, and hopefully will have the new unit in, and car running again tomorrow night. So i have been without my daily driver too. 
 
Anyway, ill grab some photos of the car tomorrow to share with you guys. Im kind of excited to see the progress, but super nervous about it too 😬

Just to clarify the wording for people.... What Shannon's are doing is assessing the vehicle and deeming the repairs to not be financially viable for them and in doing so, they "write off" the policy as being a "total loss" from their books. It works out cheaper for them to give you the money back than to proceed with the repairs and lose money as supplementary claims would most likely be filed for extras found along the way (scratches here or broken tabs there mean more paint or parts to replace, plus not everything is available in the same condition as pre accident).

This total loss is only recorded on their books for their own balance sheet to add up correctly. It is different to a statutory write-off which means the car is not deemed safe to repair or if it is, then it must pass a VIV and various official inspections and validation to ensure that the vehicle is repaired to exact standards. The process is so strict that spot welds get counted and things are inspected before and after paint work to ensure there's no filler used in the wrong places.

Congrats for using your repairer who knows how the insurance companies system works and has the knowledge to use it to your advantage.

Getting somewhere. There was so much freakin' sludge in this thing. Luckily a small stainless brush, an old chisel, a few cans of degreaser and a whole lotta elbow grease got it sorted.

The block is clean enough and the bores measure up well at 4.001" to 4.002", but the stock rings are shot and a few of them cracked in half on removing the pistons. I measured two end gaps and they were both about 1/8" hahaha. 

The pistons themselves don't look as bad as I thought though. They measure 3.996 to 3.998 across the thrust faces so I'll probably reuse them. They don't show any signs of damage beyond some mild pitting - with that and the broken rings I'm thinking detonation.

The sump cleaned up well, too, after pouring about a pint of sludge out of it. The stuff had the consistency of cold porridge. Lovely. On the upside it looks like a good strong pan with true sealing surfaces, and even the dent in the lower section beat out just fine.

that really sucks - hopefully they can fix it 

thats a 4x4 steering box - at the front of the cross member - that's not a datsun
 
where was the chassis rail number? i need to find mine soon 

Just finished taking the broken pipe out

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I can't have oil leaks... I've only got one left 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

I can't have oil leaks... I've only got one left 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

To be fair I did leave it for 3 years and forgot what I did 🤷‍♂️

the old .. hidden wiring hunt.. 
@BGDAV drove me nuts because he hid the wires for the speedo sender lol.. makes it hard to tap into when the plug and the loom are completely GONE from the engine bay lol. 

Yep you're right Deano. 180 out on the cam gear is 360 out on the crank, which means you just wind the crank over a turn to line up the dots. Although trying to guess where the dots "should" be with one of them on the opposite side of the gear is pretty impossible. 
Panko if what you did made all the difference, then yeah I'd say it was out. If you changed nothing else, that has to be it.
 
Re: jetting... It may well be that now that you have the engine breathing properly, the carby is seeing more draw of air and therefore more ability to draw fuel out of the boosters (ie better vacuum signal). That might mean that jetting is playing a bigger part than before, where poor breathing was perhaps compensating for the bigger jets.
 
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never buy dellow. they machined my bellhousing wrong and cost me 2k to fix a fuck up and refused to fix it 

never buy dellow. they machined my bellhousing wrong and cost me 2k to fix a fuck up and refused to fix it 

want me advise go a t5 you wont regret it espc with 3.45 in the diff