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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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That is uncanny resemblance then.... even the roll on the front and the centre exiting exhaust... I never seen one other done like that.. was a mission.

Sent from my GT-S7583T using Tapatalk



Still possible ..cars go both ways across the pond

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ok some good and bad news. 

I had to go drop the tow bar and rear wiper motor over to the panel shop repairing the wagon, so used that as an excuse to take the Escort for a drive. 

Coming home i decided to take the scenic route home. up through the Dandenong Ranges :D this leads me to the good news
Since having the front end properly aligned last week, the car drives real nice. It feels more stable in the corners, less like its going to understeer, and just generally feels nice in the corners. can really feel it biting into the corners now and holding on 

BYxVSTz.jpg

spot my co-driver *hint* look at back seat :P 

a0TdP8h.jpg

tbc2XbC.jpg

Now for the bad news :( 

To fix my alloys, im looking at $170 per wheel, or $680 in total. that is to remove and refit tyres, re-roll the wheels, and machine the back side of the mounting face to make it flat. 
i love them, and they are a fantastic wheel, but i dont think they are worth it :( 
The guys also warned me about continuing to drive the car with the wheels like they are. they will begin to fatigue crack, and eventually go far enough to let the air out. generally happens at higher speeds, he used 100km/h for example. 
He also agreed with my theory, that the wheels are designed for autobarns, not australian roads, so the risk of them cracking is pretty high. so sadly, i think thats it for these wheels :( time for a new set of wheels. those 13" wheels i posted last week i was interested in, to buy, then add tyres comes to $450. the difference between them and getting my 15s repaired, is what i paid for the 15s in the first place :o 
if i purchase new wheels, thats me 100% out of the tour with the RSOCV this year. 

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1 hour ago, Panko said:

ok some good and bad news. 
if i purchase new wheels, thats me 100% out of the tour with the RSOCV this year. 

chuck the 15s in the back, drive down on borrowed wheels.. swap wheels for the show(with WHEELS FOR SALE SIGN ON) and drive back 

 

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2 hours ago, deankdx said:

chuck the 15s in the back, drive down on borrowed wheels.. swap wheels for the show(with WHEELS FOR SALE SIGN ON) and drive back 

 

haha nah im not lugging 5 wheels all the way to adelaide and beyond. they dont fit in the boot, so yeah. 

its a cost thing that is going to stop me going on the tour now 

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ok well i didnt go on the tour. 
and there was a bit of disappointment from the event organisers from the club for me pulling out, but just wasnt up to risking it. 

not much has changed again. i still havent done anything about the wheels, hopefully this week or weekend ill work something out regarding the wheels. 

I drove the car to AFD last week obviously, didnt miss a beat, but just cruised along. 
Today i drove the car into work in Melbourne, then to Michael's in Sunbury, then home again. in total about 150km. I had to get fuel, so stopped at the BP on the Calder FWY, and the last tank, which included the drive to Geelong and back for AFD, it returned 9.4L/100km. a tad better than its been doing, but im thinking its now just the way i drive the car :P 

now, about the BP 98 octane fuel. I noticed and instant difference with the BP fuel in the tank. immediately felt like it had more power, immediately wanted to rev harder, and pull harder. I took off flat out up to 110+km/h merging back onto the Calder after fueling up, and yeah was definitely more potent. 
SO, WTF is in BP fuel to make it feel so much better than running it on anything else. usually its Shell or Caltex, as they are the dominant servos near my house. but yeah it feels lots better on BP :o 

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also, I have figured out how to solve my overheating issue. its a common problem, and common fix. 
I need to retro fit an overflow bottle to the cooling system. the theory is there, it should fix my problems 100%, by being able to draw back water as it gets up in temp and pressure and pushes water out the overflow, causing the radiator to be less affective 

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i've been using BP98 for ages even in crap cars, mainly because i bump the timing up a coupe of degrees and it gives more torque without pinging.. .

i tried 95 in the gemini last time and it didn't seem much different(mix of the 2) 

check out the ford laser recovery bottle i just added to the gemini, its pretty compact and looks kind of period correct (may have ford written on it somewhere? i didn't check)

EgKtC9L.jpg

 

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16 hours ago, Panko said:

also, I have figured out how to solve my overheating issue. its a common problem, and common fix. 
I need to retro fit an overflow bottle to the cooling system. the theory is there, it should fix my problems 100%, by being able to draw back water as it gets up in temp and pressure and pushes water out the overflow, causing the radiator to be less affective 

 

You'll need to change rad cap to an overflow type. Prob got a sealed unit (no vent).

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22 minutes ago, bear351c said:

 

You'll need to change rad cap to an overflow type. Prob got a sealed unit (no vent).

yep 100% correct there.

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Today, some progress (I think) 
i spent today using a Britex wet vac that i hired from Bunnings cleaning the interior of my Mazda 6 daily driver. i figured after owning the car for, maybe 3 1/2 years, i should actually tidy the interior up. 
i then did a quick job on the carpets of the escort. they came up pretty good for its age. 

This afternoon while the carpets were drying I plumbed in my expansion bottle for the radiator. 
Its just a generic autobarn jobby. 
I went through 3 recovery radiator caps before i got the right one (my stupid fault) first was too small (japenese cars), then wrong pressure rating (16psi/110kpa). SCA were a little funny about returning the cap because id had it and run it in the car, so i kept it because it will suit the XF when it comes home. FINALLY, 3rd time lucky, i went to Autobarn to get the correct one, because after all that SCA didnt have the correct pressure rating in stock lol. Neither did Repco :( so what shouldve been a $45 fit up, ended up about $75. yes expensive radiator caps, but they are recovery caps, but i also opted to go with the safety release lever, which so far ive found extremely handy. highly recommend them. 

anyway, here it is installed. the bottle is literally just sitting there. there is nothing actually holding it, it just happens to sit there between the back end of coil, and the rad support, and the side of the radiator frame and inner guard. i will hold it in there eventually, i did use a cable tie initially, then i had to pull it out and discovered cable tie was a stupid idea lol. 

the setup appears to be working. the car doesnt seem to be getting hot before the thermostat opens anymore which was due to it losing excess fluid out the overflow. now it seems to be retaining fluid and gradually coming up to running temp. However, i cant figure out how to "bleed" the hose between the radiator and the bottle, and i think i need to get as much air out as i can for it to work properly? (maybe not, open to opinions) because its designed to suck fluid back towards the radiator, but it cant do that if there is air in the hose. 

Xhex2ex.jpg

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well i took it for a good drive tonight in the hills while the roads were quiet. 

not fully understanding how the recovery system works, im just assuming its working. the level in the bottle didnt appear to go up, or drop down after an hour of driving it. 

If the level stays roughly the same, would that mean the recovery systems is doing its job? providing enough back up fluid for when the radiator rises and falls in pressure by the same amount? if so, then its working just fine. temp seems good, fluid levels are good. (but still frustratingly filthy brown after flushing it AGAIN) :angry:

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well, in most XF and XEs i have had, the water got pushed out of the radiator into the tank, and didn't get sucked back in due to other leaks elsewhere(easier to suck air from a leaking head gasket perhaps?) 
when its hot, it should show higher.. is my understanding

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3 minutes ago, deankdx said:

well, in most XF and XEs i have had, the water got pushed out of the radiator into the tank, and didn't get sucked back in due to other leaks elsewhere(easier to suck air from a leaking head gasket perhaps?) 
when its hot, it should show higher.. is my understanding

youre right, i remember in the XF the level of the bottle does tend to go up. hmmm may need some more tweaking on this

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If that's the type of bottle I think it is, its got a straw inside the bottle to suck up from the bottom yeah? And your hose from Rad is connected to it on the cap? Those ones should be self bleeding.

With some fluid in the reserve bottle, enough so it doesn't suck it dry, as the radiator heats up and spits fluid to the bottle...air goes with it. When it cools the hose should be full of fluid by itself, creating the suction.

If the levels are correct in the whole system, then you won't really see a change except at full pressure hot with the most fluid pushed out into the bottle then. Once cooled in theory, should return to neutral level.

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yeah thats the bottle. 
and thats exactly what i thought Rod. I overfilled the radiator so it would basically force water down the hose when it first came under pressure, plus i already had water in the bottle, but if i pop the lid off the bottle, it would appear to still have air in the clear section of hose, BUT the radiator level, is up to level with the overflow outlet. which is about an inch higher than where it usually would sit. 

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It sounds close. When you pop the cap on the overflow it'll lose its grip on the water in the straw somewhat, so expect bubbles. Could top up the overflow slightly more to aid suction. Should be able to have it around half full or so.

You can have issues with water transfer back and forth if the overflow is too low below the level of the radiator. All depends on pressure in/out.

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yeah im happy that its working pretty close to right, but yeah maybe a bit more water in the bottle to assist. 

i just wish i could stop the water from going brown so quick. ive flushed it at least 6 times in the past couple months, and i reverse flush it with a hose, put fresh water in, first temp cycle its shit brown again lol 

its obviously getting rid of the crap in the engine, but this is getting annoying lol. 

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2 minutes ago, deankdx said:

any of the tyres usable? they look FAT, are they 205s or bigger

they have good amount of tread, but very old. and too wide. they are 205s. 

the wheels are genuine RS2000 wheels, 13x6". they need a good clean up, and new tyres, so it will be a while before they are on the car, but they should look ok when they're done

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1 minute ago, deankdx said:

be looking like this in no time...
s-l1600.jpg

no centre caps with mine though :( ill probably just fit some aftermarket flat centres, not sure on the pointy caps 
a little bit :P 

im not looking forward to restoring the wheels. going to be a pain to polish and paint. 

also, they will fill my guards a little better, having standard arches, not the RS arches. 

once i fit my pair of spot lights, it will look the piece. 

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