Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

[Fingers 463]

19 hours ago, SPArKy_Dave said:

+1...

pretty close to perfection!

the wheels are one of the best things... if not THE best thing, you've done to that car.

 

I agree with this

[Panko 2,480]

I got my wheel nuts finally yesterday  

 

Havent drive the car yet to see if the wheels feel more "balanced" or not. I plan to drive it to family christmas lunch tomorrow. 

 

They are fecking Huuuuge. the hex is a 22mm socket compared to a 18mm or 19mm that the ones i was running were. so they look massive on the wheels, but hopefully do the job  

 

 

 

I was also playing around yesterday with trying to tidy up the boot. its always been terribly untidy in the boot, with the spare wheel laying in the middle of the boot, and any tools etc laving inside the upturned wheel. the spare has always sat in the  middle of the boot floor because it doesnt fit in the spare wheel hole (only the original 12" skinny tyre fits) 

It turns out the 15" interceptor that im using as a spare, does fit in the spare wheel hole, but doesnt go down low enough, so i cant shut the boot because the hinge hits the tyre  

 

[deankxf 20,265]

needs a custom Rod the metal craft magician to weld in some special spare wheel tub recess

( copy an XF maybe?) 

[2redrovers 21,388]

Just saw Ants post on fb looking for Saab chaser rims, thought you may know of some hidden away to put him in touch with. He's after a pair but will buy singles or set.

[Panko 2,480]

8 hours ago, 2redrovers said:

Just saw Ants post on fb looking for Saab chaser rims, thought you may know of some hidden away to put him in touch with. He's after a pair but will buy singles or set.

 

hmm ill keep an eye out. they occasionally pop up on the escort pages. 

[bear351c 10,269]

On 12/24/2018 at 1:54 PM, Panko said:

 It turns out the 15" interceptor that im using as a spare, does fit in the spare wheel hole, but doesnt go down low enough, so i cant shut the boot because the hinge hits the tyre  

 

 

Wheel tubs time....

[Panko 2,480]

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 

 

[deankxf 20,265]

that's interesting about gapping the plugs, what's the setting? and what ign system is in it?

the dyno guy that set up My gemini wanted to see a fatter spark on My car and wanted to open the gap but i didn't have the GT40 coil then..
i wonder if it could do with checking the condition of the points or gap or "dwell"(i haven't read up on that) or has it got electronic conversion i can't remember

[Panko 2,480]

The gap is .59mm according to workshop manual. 

 

Running electronic ignition with Bosch GT40 coil. 

 

Maybe i could try pulling the plugs out and opening the gap up slightly. 

[deankxf 20,265]

2 hours ago, Panko said:

The gap is .59mm according to workshop manual. 

 

Running electronic ignition with Bosch GT40 coil. 

 

Maybe i could try pulling the plugs out and opening the gap up slightly. 

you could ask the mob who supplies the kit, where ign timing/ plug gap suits best for the electronic conversion.

i didn't re gap My plugs, i'd only close gaps if i was having issues with spark, unlikely on low compression engines 

[BGDAV 1,871]

good result finding the wobble - always ngk in my book 

[Panko 2,480]

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. 

[BGDAV 1,871]

spark plug leads good ? 

[deankxf 20,265]

if it's got an issue with the accelerator pump circuit in the carby(mine has) it will get a lean spot and stumble a little, if that's the "miss" you mean. 
can also be jetting related

you could take pics of the plugs for someone like gerg, chestnut etc to eyeball the mixture setting..(if they are black it's too rich, and melted too lean in my experience)

[Panko 2,480]

Leads should be ok but who knows. 

They are all working in the sense if i pull one off while its idling it’s definitely sparking etc. 

 

Its super responsive, no lag when i blip the throttle etc, the misfire is if im just letting it free rev, sitting still in neutral, and holding the revs, it will cough occasionally. 

 

Keep in mind, my dizzy is a cheap chinese Lucas knock off electronic dizzy. It does the job, but when I eventually build a decent engine for the car ill need to go a decent Bosch Scorcher or something 

[bear351c 10,269]

Fuel filter blocked..?   

 

Yep, ditch the Autolites. Tried them on the Clevo years, and years ago, Number 8 or 26 or something, they were just average to say the least. NGK for me. I used to ride a lot of bikes, and always on a road trip, I would take some old plugs with me, 'cos I knew they worked when I took them out. Take up stuffall room in the tool box. (along with points and condenser).

 

Vacuum advance on the El Cheapo dissy maybe..? Tried bumping the timing up 2 degrees..? 

The Alpine run sounds awesome, loved riding the GOR on the bike, haven't done it in a car, yet. Have fun.

 

[Panko 2,480]

Took it for a solid test drive last night and all good. 

 

Misfire is gone, wobble gone, and the leak from the LHR brake turns out to be axle seal leak. So i nipped up the axle bolts and ill be keeping an eye on the leak during the weekend. 

 

Spare plugs (NGKs used) will be packed. 

 

The car is driving really nicely now. Probably the best it has since ive owned it. 

 

The first day will be tiring, its highway all the way to Lakes Entrance, and i forgot at highway speeds how noisy it gets inside. The second day is all twisty driving roads, so window down and hopefully a little easier on the ears lol 

[Panko 2,480]

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. 

 

 

 

 

[hendrixhc 10,918]

Sounds look a fun trip.

 

Love that Omeo area through to Lakes Entrance.

[Panko 2,480]

It was a fantastic trip. 

I had done the same trip 2 years ago also in the Escort with the VicMini club. 

But back then didnt have the adjustable front end, or the headers and exhaust done. 

So it was more enjoyable this time round. 

Doing this trip has really made me realise how much the engine needs more oomph. 

For getting around town and doing day trips here and there is great. But it needs more power. I guess it will eventually end up with a 1600 in it, or a rebuilt and warmed up 1300. A good second hand 1600, with a mild cam in it would be ideal cheap power. 

Could definitely do with a 5th gear as well. A 5th gear would make the car nearly perfect for highway driving. Its comfy enough, its fun, does everything it needs to do, but is loud and revs hard on the highway 

[deankxf 20,265]

good to see the little beast getting out and about, especially in a tour of the mountain ranges, in all weather

'

how good is having spare parts on hand and tools to fix things! well done on that plan

[Panko 2,480]

we were all carrying spares, tools, and some luggage. I had oil and water as well, and yeah i was riding a little low in the back haha. 

 

On the friday night we do this thing where we sit down and the organisers pose a couple of questions to everyone and we go around the room answering them, and introducing yourself, especially if youre a new face. 

well one of the newbies, was a police officer haha. man did the room go very quiet when he said that. 

He then explained he is not a "ticket writer", but rather works in the intelligence department. So in other words if he wanted, he could essentially find out any bit of info he wanted on any of us lol. 

He drove a heavily modified Focus XR5 Turbo, and when ask if his car was legal, his response, and I quote, "oh fuck no"  One of the nicest guys ive ever met, and a fellow cyclist, but on the professional level. incredibly fit. 

We also had a priest on the trip, all the way down from Newcastle, in his Nissan Silvia powered Mk2 Cortina. 

[deankxf 20,265]

what's silvia powered? the CA18 or the SR20
the bloke that did My head up said the CA18 is super over engineered and wondered why people bother working the SR, (the SR20 is better stock) 

i sold a kids bike to a police officer recently, rocked up in some focus thing(might have been something else), said he was a cyclist also and got hit by a car and the guy wasn't going to pay til he said he was a cop.. was thinking in future, just saying you are or know a cop would probably change the attitude of a situation.

 

that's a good idea for a intro session,  question to the group.. raise your hand if you are a cop..

 

[Panko 2,480]

CA18.

In a Mk2 Cortina (orange sedan with black GT stripes in arial photo) 

 

It wasnt a dark grey Focus that was super low and had a good exhaust note to it, was it? 

Was his name Les? 

 

well in this case, because the cop was in a modified car, and was not a ticket writer, he was being a bit naughty as well lol. so i guess if he was mucking about, we all could? not a good excuse but meh. 

 

actually one of our guys did get pinned. 111km/h in a 100 zone, catching up to the lead group. they got him coming over a crest, and he told us later he had been travelling a lot faster than that only moments before. they got him under brakes 

[deankxf 20,265]

this blokes name was Ben,  lived in melbourne cbd area or within 10km i think.

 

yeah i got fined once slowing down after passing an old bat doing 85 in the 100 zone, i think i was clocked about 115.. i'm sure i saw her give me the finger as she drove past.. i'd like to have hunted her down and get her to pay the fine she caused. (wasn't like it was a datsun 120y.. she was in a newish car well capable of high speed cruising)