Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)
Well, here we go again.
A week ago, i had no intention of buying another Mk1 Escort any time soon. However, a mate of mine from when I had my last escort couldn't resist contacting me, and putting me onto this beautiful little 4 door Mk1 for sale way up in Kerang, about 3 hours north of Melbourne.
I took a look at the photos, and promptly called the owner. I was pretty much sold there and then. So yesterday, Michael (my Escort informant), my good mate Callin and I set off from Sunbury at around 9am in Michael's VW Amarok (I'm glad we did...ill explain soon) to go look at this car, with cash in hand ready to drive this beauty home to Melbourne. The owner was a retired old guy, who collects some interesting and beautiful cars. He was very honest with his asking price, and very genuine. I somewhat feel like i might have ripped him off a little with the price, but it was well within his price range, and he was happy to accept. Even left his club plates for me to drive it home. now for the good (and bad) photos of our adventure. These next few pics are the photos the owner sent me. the car is totally original. 1975 (october) factory 4 speed 1300XL. Has 139,000km on the odometer, but the engine in it apparently has about half that. The original engine came with the car, which has been rebuilt as some stage, with non standard pistons...so some investigation needs to go into that, as it may end up being a stronger engine than the one thats in it...very weird. interior is MINT. the previous owner had it for about 3.5 years, and only drove it a handful of times. SO i bought the car, and set off on the long journey home. during the test drove she drove like a dream. smooth, plenty of power and comfy... we got 30 minutes from Kerang then this happened.... obviously the guy i bought it from never had a problem with the car because it only ever got driven around town, never on the HWY. so me attempting to drive it home, sitting on 90km/h was enough to sort out the bugs...like the distributor which was inevitably going to die..and leave me standard SO, we flat towed the car as far has Harcourt, where Michael's dad was nice enough to borrow a friends trailer, and meet us. we trailered it back to Michael's house, arriving back to Sunbury about 8pm last night. and thats where i left the car, on the trailer in Michael's driveway, along with 1 of his Mk1 4 door Escorts. A big thanks to Michael and Callin for the support and help yesterday, i would've been fucked if i had taken the xf or my daily to go collect it. thank fuck for Michael and his Rok. anyway, Michael is a legend, he is going to get it going for me (just needs a dizzy) at his house. Can not wait to start enjoying this beast
I took a look at the photos, and promptly called the owner. I was pretty much sold there and then. So yesterday, Michael (my Escort informant), my good mate Callin and I set off from Sunbury at around 9am in Michael's VW Amarok (I'm glad we did...ill explain soon) to go look at this car, with cash in hand ready to drive this beauty home to Melbourne. The owner was a retired old guy, who collects some interesting and beautiful cars. He was very honest with his asking price, and very genuine. I somewhat feel like i might have ripped him off a little with the price, but it was well within his price range, and he was happy to accept. Even left his club plates for me to drive it home. now for the good (and bad) photos of our adventure. These next few pics are the photos the owner sent me. the car is totally original. 1975 (october) factory 4 speed 1300XL. Has 139,000km on the odometer, but the engine in it apparently has about half that. The original engine came with the car, which has been rebuilt as some stage, with non standard pistons...so some investigation needs to go into that, as it may end up being a stronger engine than the one thats in it...very weird. interior is MINT. the previous owner had it for about 3.5 years, and only drove it a handful of times. SO i bought the car, and set off on the long journey home. during the test drove she drove like a dream. smooth, plenty of power and comfy... we got 30 minutes from Kerang then this happened.... obviously the guy i bought it from never had a problem with the car because it only ever got driven around town, never on the HWY. so me attempting to drive it home, sitting on 90km/h was enough to sort out the bugs...like the distributor which was inevitably going to die..and leave me standard SO, we flat towed the car as far has Harcourt, where Michael's dad was nice enough to borrow a friends trailer, and meet us. we trailered it back to Michael's house, arriving back to Sunbury about 8pm last night. and thats where i left the car, on the trailer in Michael's driveway, along with 1 of his Mk1 4 door Escorts. A big thanks to Michael and Callin for the support and help yesterday, i would've been fucked if i had taken the xf or my daily to go collect it. thank fuck for Michael and his Rok. anyway, Michael is a legend, he is going to get it going for me (just needs a dizzy) at his house. Can not wait to start enjoying this beast
The GT40 coil has a primary resistance of about 3.4 ohms so doesn't require a ballast resistor
and must get full battery voltage at all times.
The GT40R coil has a lower primary resistance of about 1.4 ohms so must be used with a resistor,
whether it's a ballast resistor or a factory resistance wire in the wiring harness.
Points ignition systems, supply full battery voltage to the coil whilst cranking,
and circa 9v to the coil whilst engine is running.
This is to account for voltage drop during cranking, so a strong spark is provided,
(and to limit current through the points, so they last longer).
The resistance wire/ballast resistor, is often 1.6 - 1.8 ohms.
The coil positive terminal, may have two wires running to it, through one connector -
one supplies straight battery voltage ONLY when cranking,
the other supplies 9v through the resistance wire (or ballast resistor), via the ign/run circuit.
Electronic ignition conversions shouldn't be too fussed on voltages (12/9v), but the coil must suit the supply voltage configuration -
ie, resistor or non-resistor type.
However, some conversions, require a HEI coil - which has a very low internal resistance - circa 0.7ohms.
Check what coil resistance, your electronic ignition system expects to see.
A low resistance (High Energy Ignition) coil, will draw alot more current (circa 20A) so check existing wiring is suitable.
My suggestion is (if possible) leave the wiring as is, and confirm the correct GT40R (resistor) coil is fitted,
and will work happily with your conversion.
Coil dwell (aka charge time like a capacitor) also plays a big factor in correct operation.
Electronic ign with short dwell-time, will not energise non-HEI coils correctly.
Examples:
GT40R, no ballast resistor… 14V / 1.4 ohms = 10 amps. (will overheat/fail)
HEI coil, no ballast resistor… 14V / 0.7 ohms = 20 amps.
GT40, no ballast resistor… 14V / 3.4 ohms = 4.1 amps.
GT40R with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor… 14V / 3 ohms = 4.6 amps. GT40R with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 9V / 3 ohms = 3 amps. GT40 with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 14V / 5 ohms = 2.8 amps. (no good/weak spark) GT40 with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 9V / 5 ohms = 1.8 amps. (no good/weak spark) Part number Primary Primary Primary Turns Secondary Secondary Secondary Output KV Peak VOLTS Turns Ratio Ballast Short Resistance Inductance Resistance Inductance Turns 50pf/1 Meg Current resistance Order Ohms mH K Ohms Henries @ 100Hz Amps number 9 220 061 100 3.1-3.4 13.8 - 15.2 345 6.8-9.2 56.7 22200 26.3 3.4 12 64.3:1 SU120 9 220 061 308 3.2-3.5 14.0-15.5 345 8.0-10.0 68.8 24500 26.3 3.3 12 71:1 GT40 9 220 061 400 1.45-1.55 6.3-6.7 240 6.8-9.2 50 22200 32 5.24 9 92.5:1 1.5 SU120R 9 220 061 430 1.25-1.35 6.3-6.7 240 8.0-10.0 66.1 24500 29.1 3.7 9 102:1 1.8 GT40R
HEI coil, no ballast resistor… 14V / 0.7 ohms = 20 amps.
GT40, no ballast resistor… 14V / 3.4 ohms = 4.1 amps.
GT40R with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor… 14V / 3 ohms = 4.6 amps. GT40R with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 9V / 3 ohms = 3 amps. GT40 with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 14V / 5 ohms = 2.8 amps. (no good/weak spark) GT40 with 1.6 ohm ballast resistor... 9V / 5 ohms = 1.8 amps. (no good/weak spark) Part number Primary Primary Primary Turns Secondary Secondary Secondary Output KV Peak VOLTS Turns Ratio Ballast Short Resistance Inductance Resistance Inductance Turns 50pf/1 Meg Current resistance Order Ohms mH K Ohms Henries @ 100Hz Amps number 9 220 061 100 3.1-3.4 13.8 - 15.2 345 6.8-9.2 56.7 22200 26.3 3.4 12 64.3:1 SU120 9 220 061 308 3.2-3.5 14.0-15.5 345 8.0-10.0 68.8 24500 26.3 3.3 12 71:1 GT40 9 220 061 400 1.45-1.55 6.3-6.7 240 6.8-9.2 50 22200 32 5.24 9 92.5:1 1.5 SU120R 9 220 061 430 1.25-1.35 6.3-6.7 240 8.0-10.0 66.1 24500 29.1 3.7 9 102:1 1.8 GT40R
