BGDAV

spoke to rocket - they say its charging correctly 
 
and now saying cause i have a fuse inline (which has 12.4 v either side of the fuse) and 12.4 at battery and alternator post - its my fault its not working .. i get their side of it, but i showed multiple examples of why its faulty including that its producing 19v which a alternator never should - hopefully ebay rules in my favour and rocket can get fked 

BGDAVs XE has the RRS one, you'd never hear noise over the engine/exhaust but it's not clunky like i thought it might be. depends what you are doing with the car.. (no point fitting all the expensive race gear if stock stuff in rubber does what you want, i've proven that stuff is fine for 50,000kms a year time over several years.)
 

OK a week after returning from the Alpine Tour, I should give a bit of a run down of the event, which for me was so nearly problem free, nearly  
 
Friday, was Officer to Lakes Entrance, via the Gippsland Motor Museum in Maffra. 
Car ran faultlessly on the first day, other than the brakes being a little vague. So once at the motel I jacked the back of the car up, took the wheels off, drums off and wound the adjusters up a little, to give me a some more brake pedal. 
During the week leading up to the event, i was worried about a leaky wheel cylinder. well on the friday night, as we pulled into the motel, another member Pete, said he had lost brakes. within minutes of parking he had a pool of brake fluid under the LHR wheel. he had completely blown a wheel cylinder to pieces. I took the wheel cylinders with me that i bought for my car, but he was running a Mk2 diff, so mine didnt work. Thankfully 1 of the 3 Mk4 (imported) Escorts had a pair of wheel cylinders, which happen to be the same as Mk2 wheel cylinders. took about half hour, and a couple mechanics on the tour to have it fixed and driving again. 
 
Day 2 started horribly for me. 
I was taking antibiotics for a week, for a minor infection I had. I took them on saturday morning while eating breakfast as I was supposed to, but for some reason they had an adverse affect on me, and was violently ill, unable to keep food down.
Once i stopped bringing up everything id eaten, we got on our way, driving the entirety of the Great Alpine Rd from Lakes Entrance, to Omeo for lunch, where the weather turned sour, and it was a very wet (but so much fun) run up to Mt Hotham. 
We got some nice (wet) photos then headed down the hill to Harrietville. Our club photographer went down the road a bit to get some rolling photos of the cars coming through. We eventually got into thick fog, so much so we couldnt see anymore than about 10m in front. we rolled into Bright at around 2:30pm saturday arvo, found the accommodation and got fuel. my car averaged 10L/100km, no matter how hard I drove it. 
A group of 8 cars decided on the Saturday arvo, to do a "Rebel's Tour". An extra loop, from Bright, up over Mt Beauty, then along some fantastic flat farming roads to a couple of towns over, then back to Bright. it was an extra 120km roughly. 
On Saturday, spending the entire day in the twisty mountain roads, I very quickly realised that my 1300 was struggling to keep up. I was driving the nuts off the poor thing to keep up. However I was making up for it in the corners. I had stiffened up the suspension, and had it set just right. I was able to drive the car very fast and stable into the corners, and thats where I was able to keep up with the group (other than the 5 Ford Focus on the trip, 3 being RSs). 
The "Rebel's Tour" I found a few limits of the green machine. I ran out of brakes at the bottom of the run down Mt Beauty. Was able to pull it up, but barely. 
I then got stuck behind a car that everyone else had managed to over take on a straight road, and they were clearly not doing the 100km/h speed limit. So when I got passed I figured id catch up to them, so let the old girl run loose, and sure enough caught them, but topped it out at 140km/h doing so. it had nothing left in it, which is about right for the gear ratios. 
 
Day 3, we went for a squirt up Mt Beauty, and return then onto Mansfield, and Yea. 
The run up Mt Beauty, I purposely went behind Chris in his Mk2 Ghia, Automatic. because he cant drive that thing fast with the auto, and I was feeling guilty after driving it so hard the day before, so i stayed back to give my car a break and just cruised up. on the way down, we ordered all the cars into age, from oldest to newest. oldest being a Mk2 Cortina GT fitted with a Nissan Silvia turbo engine and gearbox. then the 5 Mk1s, Mk2s, Mk4s, Mk2 Focus RS and XR5Ts, Mk4 Focus RS, Fiesta ST 
Going down, because I was stuck up the front of the line, I kind of had to drive fast, but it was down hill. It was one of the most amazingly fun drives I have ever done. chasing a line of Escorts through some of the best mountain roads was amazing. perfect corners, to the point a number of us (including me) had the inside front wheels lifting through some corners and being perfectly stable. 
The run from Mansfield to Yea, if anyone has the chance to do this drive, or any of these roads, I highly recommend it. do it in something that corners well  
Again this road we weren't mucking about, and I eventually had a wake up call, going a tad fast, but I obviously saved it. 
The road was an incredibly fast, flowing, twisty road. Could see across most of the corners, so we were being a little naughty and using the entire road when we could. I came up to a nice fast right hand corner, at around 100km/h, and at the last moment saw a large, and rough tarmac patch right where I was going for, and was scared it unsettle the car, so jabbed the brakes quickly to wash some speed off. Having already turned in, jabbing the brakes caused the back end to step out, I ran over the patch and sure enough it popped the front right wheel off the road. It certainly made my heart skip a beat, and I backed off a little then. John who was following me had said I was sideways, and he could see daylight under front right tyre. Whoops. 
In front of me I had our photographer in his Mk1 RS replica. with a big big HP 2L Pinto. approximately 200BHP at the flywheel. so in a straight line he took off like a rocket. but in the corners he couldnt get away. and I had a number of guys over the course of the weekend tell me how good my car went round corners, and how fast it was in the corners, which i believe to be true, being able to catch most guys in the corners. 
 
The rain set in on us when we got to Yea, where we all parted and went our own ways home. this is where I finally come unstuck, and had my only break down for the weekend. 
It got so heavy, mixed with strong winds blowing debris, that visibility dropped down to the point i lost sight of the car in front, even with this lights on. My wipers couldnt keep up anymore, so I pulled into a side road to wait out the rain. as i pulled up, the car started to cough and splutter, so I kept going because under load the car was fine. after about 10 minutes the rain cleared, and I started heading down hill into a small town, the speed limit dropped so I got off the throttle. the engine backfired, and died on me, at 90km/h, i managed to roll down the hill into town and into a servo on the right hand side of the road without and engine. The issue? the rain was so heavy id drowned the dizzy  and i didnt have any WD40. so i dried out the cap as best i could. got it to start finally, then a group of the guys went passed and saw me with the bonnet up. I took off after them, with it missfiring. eventually the engine heat mustve dried out the dizzy and it came good. 
 
 
This is the sort of trip, id love to do with the X series falcons, but less twistys. more highway kms. 
 
the guys are all amazing bunch of blokes. I was the second youngest on the trip. most of the guys are middle aged blokes with too much money haha. 
 
the car survived a good 1000+km comfortably. 
 
these are a coupe of pics from Mt Beauty, on my Mavic Pro drone. 
 

 

 
 

good result finding the wobble - always ngk in my book 

ok so spent this morning playing with spark plugs and test driving the car. 
 
I opened up the gap on the Autolite plugs a smidge, and that amazingly helped. I also tightened up the caps on the plugs super tight. 
 
as for the misfire, it does the same thing with both the used NGKs, and new Autolites, at idle, and free-revving up to about 3000rpm. since opening up the gap on the Autolite plugs, the idle is much smoother than what it was yesterday when i first fitted them. 
 
Under load, and cruising, its as smooth as, no misfire whatsoever. 
so if its only misfiring when free-revving, im not too upset about that. its not a violent misfire either, just subtle, but its there. 
 
I will be cleaning the NGKs and taking them with me as spares incase shit hits the fan on the weekend, but at this stage I think im comfortable with it being reliable. 

good result finding the wobble - always ngk in my book 

Today has been a mix of joy and frustration, which, naturally comes with old cars, especially English cars. 
 
Anyone who has been following this thread, knows the entire time ive owned the Escort, ive had a bad steering shudder or wobble at certain speeds. 
Well, today, after so so long of hunting for it, I have finally got rid of the wobble. It is gone, i can now drive the car at any speed without it teying to shake itself to bits. I can now sit on 100km/h comfortably, and i can push it out to 120+km/h and its smooth  
 
It was the wheels as i suspected after i lost some of the stick on wheel weights. I had all four wheels put on the balancer today, and only two of them were out, funnily enough the two of them that were ok were the ones where i had found the weights on the ground and restuck them back on. 
 
I had to take the wheels off anyway to check something on the front brakes. Turns out i had the anti rattle shims in upside down, which i had marked last time i had them out, which means they were always in the wrong way and i just put them back wrong. So flipped them around, and the brake rattle and squeal is gone. 
It was then that i noticed the LHR wheel cylinder has spat the dummy. Fix 2 things break something else right?  
 
This weekend coming, the RSOCV are doing the Alpine Tour. 3 days, 950-1000km round trip, on some of the best roads and landscapes victoria has to offer. 
Up the entrie Great Alpine Way, Omeo, Mt Hotham, Bright etc. so obviously I am trying to get the car ready to survive the trip. 
I decided to change the spark plugs because i dont think ive done them since fitting the weber carby, and its done a few kms since then. 
I went to Yesterford to get wheel cylinders and plugs, and they sell Autolite plugs. 
Got home, gapped and fitted the Autolite plugs, fitted the wheels after sorting the front brakes, started the car up and took it for a drive. It was idling like shit, but figured it maybe due to it being on coldstart. Took it for a drive, made good power, started easier, pulling nicely, BUT, the rough idle only got worse.  doing some reading online, apparently Autolite plugs arent great. A lot of people have issues with them, so ill be fitting my old NGKs back in for arguments sake to see if it is just the plugs, and if so, ill buy some new NGKs, for the weekend, amd take my old ones for spares. 
 
So again, pressure is on. Essentially only have a day and a half to get it sorted, or ill have to bail on the weekend, which will be shattering given the brakes and steering are smooth as now 
 

similar setup to what im running, i used global west lower and upper, viking coil overs, rrs castor arms handles like a dream 

McDonald bros sell a double adjustable bolt in coil over for under $1000. Well only just barely under and few years back but after doing a couple DC events and many street miles can reccomend them as a option.
 
Takes longer to remove the old shit than it does to install the new stuff. And setting em up is different to what most think. But each car is wanting its own set up as per driver style wants needs and use.

similar setup to what im running, i used global west lower and upper, viking coil overs, rrs castor arms handles like a dream 

similar setup to what im running, i used global west lower and upper, viking coil overs, rrs castor arms handles like a dream 

similar setup to what im running, i used global west lower and upper, viking coil overs, rrs castor arms handles like a dream 

if the coil overs themselves are Viking? that's what slydog and @BGDAV have i think. 
the control arm kit looks good, as the Global west arms are dear with exchange rate from usa plus tax

@BGDAV will like the engineering on the diff and tubs etc .
 
good to see it back on the road chopping things

cars weren't designed well for that.. you should see the "self clearance" on BGDAV's XE tail pipe.. the diff made this "header bash" dent, for itself.. we made it dentier for more clearance though and i think it's still made contact on big bumps.

Hey what you do in your own time is up to you!

car looks good (Y) those self adjustors never work pos things 

Well i didnt get the car finished for Sunday. I had a lack of motivation on saturday morning, instead decided to do some work around the house. Mowed the lawns, cleaned the house up a little, had lunch, then decided to go back the Escort. 
i got so so close to finished on saturday afternoon, but just not quite there. I had it all hooked up, brakes ready to go, just needed to install handbrake setup and bleed the brakes. But, my girlfriend and I had something on in Healesville sat night, which was why I had a deadline of about 4pm. 
 
Anyway, So sunday didnt happen, although the missus was expecting the car to be finished and we'd go down there  and i didnt touch the car all day sunday. 
I got up this morning, and decided the plan of attack was to get it finished and drive it to work. 
 
So I bled the brakes, hooked the handbrake up, and went for a short drive. Brakes felt fine in the driveway, got out on the road...the pedal went to the floor  
turns out the stupid self adjusters arent working. so went home and pulled the drums off and wound them up by hand. its still not perfect, but i drove it to work, and it feels fantastic. 
 
The diff ratio fantastic (havent driven it above 80 yet) I can hold 1st a bit longer, which always pissed me off how quick i had to get out of first gear, and cruising at 80, the RPM is just so much better. 
the new diff is much much tighter than my old one, and quiet in regards to the dry bearing noise i always had (much like a commodore thats done too many burnouts), but it sounds like there is a very low rumble coming from it, which i dare say will be the bit of bearing noise id been hearing while it was up on stands. 
either way, the car drives a shit load better with the new diff. ill take it for a run on the freeway after work tonight and see how it sits on the highway. 
 
"self adjusting" that just dont work lol 
 

 
so this is where i got to on saturday afternoon. close, but no cigar. 
 

 
but i got it work today  so its very nearly finished, just a couple bugs to sort out. 
 

 

 
perks of playing manager temporarily, i get to park where the F i want haha. in a storage garage will do just fine  
 

 

knowing Dave.. 
whatever get's it going the quickest.. only so many hours in the day(that aren't spent for a job or sleeping..)

i vote grind it

might be why my gemini diff blew also then..i needed a reason to hate them
 

well here it is. 13s finally fitted to the car. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Ok so I am pretty wrapped with the way its come up. 
When i first fitted them and lowered the car down off the jack, i immediately wanted to put the 15s back on. i did not like them haha. 
but the more i look at the car, with the ride height, and the dish on the wheels, and the negative camber up front, the more I really like these wheels  
 
It has opened a new can of worms however  
Im going to remove the drums and paint them. it looks shocking now that I can see the rusty drums, and I desperately need to sort out some centre caps for the wheels. 
 
It drives much  much better. the vibration/shudder is 99% gone. its so minor now it feels like the road surface being rough is the only thing causing vibrations. however I am going to loosen all the tapered wheel nuts, and carefully do them up to make sure the wheels are properly seated and central on the hubs. otherwise, I am happy  

Had a fairly productive day getting stuff sorted for the Escort. 
 
Went to Weber Performance and picked up the cable choke conversion for the 32/36 carby thats going on the car eventually. 
Picked up CPS extension forms for the car because my log book was getting a little thin. 
 
Then I get a message from a mate of mine who owns a few Escorts saying, "i found these, I am picking them up for you tonight" with a link to a facebook ad, for 2 genuine Recaro seats, 80s-90s era. 
The driver's one is in bad shape and will need reupholstering, but hes getting them for just over $200. The plan is to get just the driver's side reupholstered in a similar brown cloth to the original vinyl interior. 
 
Tomorrow, I can focus on getting the wheels masked up ready for paint. 
If i get started on the paint, while it dries between coats, ill start changing the carbies over. 

this is one of the images from the weekend. because of the social attitude towards drones, it can be hard to just put them up and get some photos. i only had mine in the air for all of about 10 minutes before i gave up on the weekend. 

Done the Shelby drop:

Some like to go 1/8" to the rear on the new holes for added caster and to allow for the slight upward angle of the originals which if you projected 1" perpendicular (as I have) , would actually put the arm slightly forward from the original mount point. Oh well, in the whole scheme of things, I don't think it really makes much difference. If I have to, I'll shim out the front mount bolt so the arm tilts back a bit, pushes the upper ball joint back and gets some caster that way. Only way to know is to drive it.

Template:



Wider shot:



Arm in:



Notes:

The steel in this area is very tough and is double-skinned. The trick here, especially with the 1/2" bit, is to slow the drill right down and to use plenty of lube. I mean drown it in WD or similar. Use a nice sharp bit, and if it's cutting well, it should be peeling off nice curly bits of swarf. If it's chipping, you don't have enough bite and /or not pressing hard enough, and will possibly burn out. This is bad in this area because if you work-harden the bit you're drilling, you're in a world of shit. It gets very bitey toward the end of the drilling so brace yourself if you're using a drill with some balls.

Sent from my CPH1607 using Tapatalk