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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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I took the Escort for a drive today, just to confirm that the issues are resolved. Last day of nice weather here in Melbourne before the rain hit. 

The car started super easy, and is definitely driving like an absolute dream. 

 

It seems happy with the vac advance disconnected, still pulls nicely. 

 

Although it drives nicely, the engine's blow by is sever enough that when i give it plenty of throttle and revs, the oil vapours coming back out the rocker cover breather is enough i get a good smell in the cabin. 
So, im keeping an eye out for a good 1600. 

 

I checked the plugs after taking it for the drive today, and this is number 3. finally, it appears i have the mixtures pretty good. The colour of the plugs was pretty much even across the board. im pretty happy with this colour of the plugs now, evidence its running the best it can given the condition of the engine. 

 

JhNCouc.jpg

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1 minute ago, dex said:

That 8mm looks like 8 thou in that pic 

8mm? You missed the "0." bit haha 

 

maybe just the angle. can tell you now its right. 0.8mm 

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I always wanted a "colour spark"... A transparent spark plug for visible tuning on older style engines like these. Still might get one eventually, sold mostly via the UK.

There's the 1600 I was going to get for the van, I believe it's still there. Capri 1600 plus auto etc. Or you are welcome to have a closer look at my 1300 to see if it's in good shape.

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21 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

I always wanted a "colour spark"... A transparent spark plug for visible tuning on older style engines like these. Still might get one eventually, sold mostly via the UK.

There's the 1600 I was going to get for the van, I believe it's still there. Capri 1600 plus auto etc. Or you are welcome to have a closer look at my 1300 to see if it's in good shape.


thats right. 
who was it that had the 1600? I dont need the auto but the engine could be nice 

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19 minutes ago, deankdx said:

rust? 

 

yep. 

 

thankfully hasn't gone through to the upper side. 

 

so ill take the bonnet off, and go nuts on the underside cleaning it up, and spraying the inside, then install new matting. 

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2 minutes ago, hendrixhc said:

Leave the matting off. it looks crap anyways.

 

yeah but hate inherent vibrating/echoey noise you get without it. 

 

Ill probably use the Car Builders stuff, which looks pretty neat. 

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Nothing much happening with the Escort. 

 

I tried to fire it up and take for a short drive last week, and the shitty misfire was back. last time i diagnosed it as the vacuum advance on the dizzy. so have been running with that disconnected and blanked off. 

 

this time, i spent about 2 hours, checking plugs, dizzy cap, pulling the top of the carby off and making sure there was no shit in the fuel bowl. It was getting low on fuel, so i figured if i could limp it to the servo id put a tank of fresh fuel in it. so i did. it had about 5L left in the tank. put a fresh tank in, left the servo and got a few minutes down the road, and it was good and happy to go. for some reason it seems very sensitive to either stale fuel, or there is something in the bottom of the tank that is contaminating the fuel when it gets too low. 

 

Anyway, on the weekend I went to my girlfriend's place for the weekend, which we are allowed to do under the Melbourne Metro lockdowns, so I took the opportunity to drive the Escort for a decent run rather than just around local streets. 

I know i keep saying it, but boy this old 1300 is getting tired 😕 How long before it goes bye bye? Who knows. 

 

This was the oil pressure at idle after getting home again on Monday. 

 

about 5psi. Interestingly i havent seen the factory warning light come on yet, on the dash, and it does work. Id imagine just must come on at 0psi. 

 

even under load, at 100km/h and at running temp, it doesn't quite get to 30psi oil pressure 😬

 

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at least it looks pretty after its wash before going back under its car cover  :)  

 

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With only 5L left in the tank, is it a flow issue? Pump simply not collecting enough because gravity isn't helping much? My white rover got stranded with only a few litres of fuel, starved itself around a corner and refused to run again until I'd gotten 20+ back into it to provide enough back pressure in the line/tank to get proper flow again.

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17 hours ago, 2redrovers said:

With only 5L left in the tank, is it a flow issue? Pump simply not collecting enough because gravity isn't helping much? My white rover got stranded with only a few litres of fuel, starved itself around a corner and refused to run again until I'd gotten 20+ back into it to provide enough back pressure in the line/tank to get proper flow again.

 

that is plausible yes. 🤔

ive run it completely out of fuel once before not long after i bought the car. but it took a full 41L to fill back up. ill keep that in mind.  

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I had a bit of win today. 
My spare mirrors that came with the car when I bought it, turned out to have the correct spacers for a Mk1 Escort. 

Although it appears my mirrors have never been off the car, so maybe they were the wrong ones from factory. basically my mirrors have always had a downward slope to them, rather than flat and level with the car. 

 

Can see in this pic of me holding the spare gold mirror, the green one on the car in the background is sloping away. 

 

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there difference in the spacers is not the outside (bottom) edge, but the inner top side edge...

 

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this is what was fitted to the car...

 

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this is what the spares had on them 

 

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Before

 

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After

 

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removing the mirrors also showed how faded the duco is :( 

 

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Ive always polished it myself, but perhaps its time i paid someone to do it, and ceramic coat it. The ceramic coating made a huge difference to the XF, on a flat white colour, so surely it would make a difference on metallic acrylic paint.  

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3 hours ago, gerg said:

Have you tried running a thicker oil to bring the pressure up a bit? Or some kind of engine goo additive?

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

 

yeah Im running slightly thicker than standard in it, 20w60. someone needs to make like a 20w80 haha. my good mate with his old Mini, used to run 40w70 😬 AKA "bottom end in a bottle" 🤣

 

2 hours ago, bear351c said:

Diff oil..??  Banana skins...???   🤣

 

Just remember, thicker oil puts a lot more load on a well worn oil pump/drive.

 

ive heard banana skins work well in the diff haha. 

 

the sad part about this car is, its the mechanical stuff that lets it down 😕 

 

It looks good and body is in great condition, interior is really tidy. 

But the engine, and diff at least, are definitely in need of love. The diff is the least of my worries. I did throw this in as an unknown diff that had been sitting for a long time after the old one shit itself. but, this diff does now have a axle seal leak on the LH axle tube. and bearings are a little noisy, but nothing like the old one. 

Gearbox is ok, seems smooth enough, shifts nicely, no crunchy. needs a short shifter kit fitted though, apparently makes a massive difference to the way they shift. 

 

And my rack and pinion is leaking oil again. Far from impressed, I rebuilt the steering rack, new arms, new bushes, seals, and boots. and they have split, and leaking oil all over the underside of the car. 

Given that I still need to fit a toe correction kit because of the suspension geometry im now running, which replaces the tie rod ends with adjustable height rose joints so the toe doesn't change under corner load, im now thinking im going to replace the rack entirely with a new 2.4 ratio quick rack. yes it will make the steering a little heavier, but meh. the standard 2.9 ratio does get a bit much when driving more sportively in the twisties   :D

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As if 2020 could not get any worse. 

 

This date, the 10th of December is definitely jinxed for me. Why might you ask? This date, 4 years ago, is the date my XF was rear ended and written off. They say history never repeats itself, well sadly, today it did. 

My poor little Escort, has suffered the exact same fate, that my XF did, on the exact same date, only 4 years later. Exactly the same date :( 

 

I unfortunately got squished today, between a Toyota Hiace, and a Mitsubishi Triton. The poor little Escort is in a very very sad state, and I have cried a number of times since the accident. In fact, im tearing up writing this now. 

 

I believe it is repairable, and I believe my insured value will cover the cost of the repairs. 

 

**Content warning. some may find the following images disturbing** 

 

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Oh no... That is fking unbelievable mate. Really sorry to hear this. I take it you're ok physically, if so that's a plus (I know it doesn't help right now).

Parts are getting hard to find on these, I really hope they can do a decent job on it.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

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8 minutes ago, gerg said:

Oh no... That is fking unbelievable mate. Really sorry to hear this. I take it you're ok physically, if so that's a plus (I know it doesn't help right now).

Parts are getting hard to find on these, I really hope they can do a decent job on it.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

 

im doing ok. 5 hours on since the accident, im starting to feel pain in all sorts of places. ankles, neck. 

 

I have already gotten the ball rolling with a guy from the RS Owners Club in Vic. he owns Acclaim Accident repairs about 10 minutes from where the accident happened. He tends to work on a lot of the club's member's cars in his shop. so im confident he will do a good job. 

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