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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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So i decided on sunday to finally pull the rack out of The car. It came out nice and easily 

despite coming off the MTB monday morning out at Lysterfield on the trails, i decided to keep working on the rack. It was definitely a struggle when my right have is bruised and swollen, my left knee bandaged, and some nice bruising and grazing down my right arm, but i got it all finished yesterday, awaiting to go back in the car on thursday (next day off work) 

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All stripped ready for paint

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Test fitting new arms and gators

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All painted...

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Finished. I also managed to spill most of the oil back out of it after filling it with fresh oil all over the garage floor *rookie mistake* but all is good, and just awaiting to be fitted in a couple of days 

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ok ok so the oil incident :P 

there is no drain plug for once. but there are also no seals to keep oil in (other than the gators) 

so what happened was, we filled it with oil, as per the method described in the workshop manual. that is to stand it on its end, driver's side up, and the rack turned full lock to the right, and pour the oil in. 

what we didnt do was, cable tie the passenger side gator on, it was just sitting on, so oil was seeping out around that. 

once we filled it with oil, we were testing it, turning it left to right, and noticed the LH gator was getting sucked in on itself like a vacuum affect, every time i turned it full lock to the left. so genius over here thought it would be a good idea to stand the rack up on its end (this time driver's side down) and lift the passenger side gator off a bit to let air in...what i didnt realise was, all the oil had passed the polyurethane bush and was sitting right at the end where the gator goes on. so as soon as i lifted the gator off, it was like a vacuum, or pressure release and the oil just came flowing out until the air equalised inside the rack :( 

so lesson learned. I re-fitted the gator properly this time, turned it back over and filled it with oil again, but this time didnt worry about the gator getting sucked in. i just turned it back and forth numerous times until the oil/air ration equalised in the ends. i could hear the air blowing bubbles in the oil inside the gator until it equalised, so it now shouldn't get sucked in when i turn, hopefully lol :P 

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9 hours ago, deankdx said:

lysterfield is on my to do list.. not crashing though.

was the oil due for a flush out.. probably

 

yeah dont crash, it hurts lol. 

it gets super slippery this time of year, because it gets really dry, and so instead of being hard compacted ground, it has a layer is fine dirt, and in some areas sand on top. thats how i came off. went into a fast corner and the front wheel just washed out so hit the ground hard :(

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well, i feel like an idiot, at the same time absolutely furious. 

I found the issue causing the steering wobble in the Escort. After owning the car for 14 months, and chasing this issue since december last year, i finally found it. And its the most simple thing, and it pisses me off that i swore it was not this, and i was wrong after telling so many people it couldnt be.

so what was it? 

Well obvious, its my fucking wheels. 

The 2 of my wheels i had on the front, are both bent, one moreso than the other, i stuck them both on the back, drove the car and immediately made a difference. I jacked the car up and put the back on stands and watched the wheels turn at idle speed in top gear (about 20km/h) and sure enough both buckled, one moreso than the other. 

The wheels i now have on the front, one is a tiny little bit out so it still has a tiny tiny amount of wobble, the other front wheel is dead straight. 

So, i will enquire about getting my wheels fixed, but if they are too far gone or going to cost too much, they might get thrown in the bin and fit something else. 

Now im not saying that everything else i did up front didnt make a difference, because it did. The car drives mint now with the new steering and suspension, its tighter than a nun's, well you know what i mean, but it did also cost me over $1000 chasing this dam issue 😡

 

Anyway, these are some good photos (finally) i took this morning with the new ride height and front suspension setup. 

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well I'm not in any rush to replace them. 

good 13" tyres are expensive these days, so if i went down to 13s, thats a set of tyres id have to get on top of buying wheels. 
the 15s, I still love the look of, and now that its sitting about as low as i can get it (without making it uncomfortable on the street), with a fair bit of negative camber, it looks great on them. 

I do have my eye on something though....

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/edge-hill/wheels-tyres-rims/ford-escort-capri-alfa-105-wheels/1154963521

otherwise id love a set of 13x6" steelies that i can stick hub caps on, but the chances of finding ones are hard. then id have to buy a set of cortina caps to suit the 13x6" centres. 

http://www.bakerenergysolutions.com.au/ray/index.php?rt=product/product&path=3_10&product_id=76

i found this mob a while ago selling these, but a little bit steep price i think.  

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8 hours ago, SPArKy_Dave said:

$100 per wheel for brand new steelies, seems pretty cheap! :o

They arent new. They are second hand. Plus freight 

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14 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

Stick with the same look in black steelies, swap tyres on to new rims then see if the others are worth fixing. My 0.002c emoji4.png

yeah. like i said i love the look, and they are a rare, and very light weight wheel. so if its not going to cost a fortune to fix them thats probably what ill be doing. 

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Well on Sunday I had the RSOCV "cruise" to Noojee for lunch. 

We had around 20 cars on the run, with a good mix of classic and modern small Fords, a Mini, a Renault Clio RS, and a Nisssn Silvia. And I was the slowest car on the run :( but definitely not the slowest driver haha. 

We took some incredible roads, through Emerald, Gembrook, Yarra Junction etc, but was incredibly wet and rained most of the way, which definitely made things interesting, even for me lol. A few "moments" where i found the limits of the rear tyres mid corner or exiting corners. 

Even in the wet it was a nice feeling to know that although i couldnt get going as quick as many of the other guys (including an auto Mk1 - more on that in a moment), I was able to corner just as hard, if not harder than most of them and keep up relatively well, momentum is key :D 

so yes, i couldnt understand how i was being out paced by an automatic "1300" Mk1 coupe. Turns out that "1300XL" is actually powered by a Formula Ford spec 1600, with A/C, and a 3 speed auto behind it. 

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ok time i updated this thread. not much has happened really, just been driving it and having a bit of fun with it. 

FYI this is a post Noojee cruise photo. gives an idea how wet and filthy the drive was...but very fun, if you know what i mean ;) 

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so what has happened? 
I fitted my centre console so the car :o i love it. makes the shifter look shorter, and just breaks up the poo brown loop pile carpet a bit :P 
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just another random shot, one night when i was bored at home 

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The RSOCV had their PenLink cruise just before christmas. a couple of guys got some nice photos of the car, first rolling shot I've had of my car :) 

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and a shot i took with a fellow member's 4 door. its a tad lower than mine, and with a big HP 1600 in it. one of my favourite shots of the car 
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oh and here is another club member's Mk2 van with the steel version of my wheels, and its a bit lower :o 

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ok, so the last 2 days I have actually being working on it, trying to make progress. 
YESTERDAY i tried a set of 13x6" Magnum wheels, to compare wheel wobble. well, it didnt really achieve anything, because the tyres were so hard, perished and bald i could spin the wheels 2nd gear in the dry lol. was fun though. anyway, the wobble was worse with them, so i just assumed those tyres were rooted. 
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*I hate the look of these too by the way* 

TODAY, i fitted my extractors, and cut the old exhaust out of the car. SO, I now have no option but to go get my exhaust done. so thats on the cards for next week. I cant wait :D 
charcoal canister removed to allow a little more room (and to tidy up the engine bay) 
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they are a little tight fit. it might look bigger, but they is about 10mm gap between one of the secondaries and the chassis rail. Perfect :D 
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so thats where I am up to with the car. once the exhaust is done, that will be about it for now, until i drop the gearbox out, and potentially fit a 5 speed gearbox in :o *spoiler alert* hahahaha ;) 

 

 

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2" is a little big i think, for a 1300. 1.75 is more like it. 

nah i still wouldn't like them. I'm not a big fan of highly polished wheels, unless they have a contrasting colour, which is why i love hot-wires. polished face and lip, with the blackouts in the holes, much like XF Ghia snowflakes 

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as for whats recommended in the way of mufflers. someone suggested a sports resonator before the diff, and a "triflow" muffler after the diff. 

 

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24 minutes ago, Panko said:

as for whats recommended in the way of mufflers. someone suggested a sports resonator before the diff, and a "triflow" muffler after the diff. 

 

i think My mufflers are round the wrong way i think on the gemini wagon, resonator at the back.. seems LOUD, i think the muffler might be a straight through one, has turbo something embossed into it. tri flow are supposed to be quieter if my wagon was a daily i'd definitely make it quieter

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