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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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A couple of people I know have done the type 9 conversion. The best way to make the shifter hole look right is to cut it out in a rectangular section, but with the hole offset the needed amount. Then reverse it, and weld back in.(if that makes sense)

That sounds like the perfect method to me, looks factory.. no butchery

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Yep Fingers and Rod. That is the exact method we will be using to do this conversion. 
 

The only challenge from there is, getting my console to work. I have a Mexico console, which can’t be shifted backwards in the car due to the seat belts, and handbrake, so to line the new gearstick up in the console, i might have to look at doing some trickery with the lever. It has been done before apparently. 
 

the 5 speed lever has a factory bend in it to angle it backwards towards the driver. I believe by adding a second, forward facing bend below the Factory bend, it both straightens the stick location up, but also gets it close to the original position. The centre console has a big enough cut out that it should hopefully hide the bends 😬   

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Ok guys, 

 

bit of an update on the 5 speed conversion side of it. 

 

I went and looked at the type 9 i found for sale today, and met the seller with a seriously cool collection of cars, tools and machines. 

 

The seller is into Triumphs. Well it turns out, sticking Ford Type 9 gearboxes into Triumphs is a very common conversion, so much so the entire conversion kits are available in the UK. Well this fellow, does it himself. 
He is a real old school guy, with tonnes of cool tools, lathes, etc etc, who builds engines and gearboxes for the Triumph community. 

 

With the T9 conversion into Triumphs, the shifter is also in the wrong spot for them, like it is for my Escort. However, they don't cut the body to suit the gearbox, they shorten the remote shifter, and move it forward 70mm, and weld it back on. The seller is experienced in doing this, as he has done it on a few of them now. 

 

This is a standard T9, ive circled the bit that needs to move. 

 

PJjlOpE.jpg

 

this is the Triumph conversion kit thats available. I have circled the shifter housing to show its been done. 

 

RTdqz2v.jpg

 

The T9 he has up for sale, he has already made the initial cuts where the section of shifter housing has to be removed, but thats as far as he has gone with it. this means if i wanted to use it as is, I would have to get those cuts welded back up. I was a bit miffed by this, drove home thinking about what to do. Then I had a light bulb moment. Why not ask him to do the same to suit my Escort? Move the remote shifter forward so it matches the factory shifter hole? *Bing* 

I got on the phone to Nick from RSOCV, who id already spoken to about the conversion, to seek his thoughts on the seller doing this for me. While I was on the phone, Nick measured how far forward the shifter would have to move. For an Escort, it has to move 75mm. (Triumphs are 70mm). So, Im pretty excited. I am still buying the gearbox regardless, but tomorrow when I go back, I am going to put this proposal to the seller, that if he works out a figure for him to mod the box and put it back together for me, so its a bolt in ready to go box, im happy to pay his figure. 

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21 minutes ago, gerg said:

That workmanship looks really nice, I would do that instead of attempt to hack into the Escort tunnel and still have to deal with a shifter that sits further back in the car.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 


yep im super keen. 
Im going back tomorrow to put that idea to him. 

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WTF have I gotten myself into? 🥴

 

The poor bloke didn't want to do the modification for me, due to his health, but he did explain to me how to do it. 

 

So, I have to learn how to build a gearbox 😬

 

I am going to do the shifter relocation myself, and IF I get it right, I may have opened up a little side opportunity for myself. I just have to learn how to Tig weld, then I could offer this conversion up for others who are swapping type 9s into their Escorts. 

 

cnf7ZtW.jpg

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WTF have I gotten myself into?
 
The poor bloke didn't want to do the modification for me, due to his health, but he did explain to me how to do it. 
 
So, I have to learn how to build a gearbox
 
I am going to do the shifter relocation myself, and IF I get it right, I may have opened up a little side opportunity for myself. I just have to learn how to Tig weld, then I could offer this conversion up for others who are swapping type 9s into their Escorts. 
 
cnf7ZtW.jpg
It might be a while before you get this job done then... Learning to TIG steel and staino is the first step, and ally is more advanced from there. Might be better off MIG-ing it as it's much more forgiving, but a poorer finish in the weld.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

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8 minutes ago, gerg said:

It might be a while before you get this job done then... Learning to TIG steel and staino is the first step, and ally is more advanced from there. Might be better off MIG-ing it as it's much more forgiving, but a poorer finish in the weld.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

 

I will not be doing the welding on this. But, I really should learn, we have the equipment at home to do so. 

 

but building the gearbox I plan to do myself. 

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Is there a possible way to do it without jumping into tig welding alloy, especially if you don't already have the gear? Replicate the section of housing in steel and sell an adapter kit for a near bolt on conversion. If it could be done you'd open up a mail order side to it. I've got half an idea of what it could be but I might be way off the mark.

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5 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

Is there a possible way to do it without jumping into tig welding alloy, especially if you don't already have the gear? Replicate the section of housing in steel and sell an adapter kit for a near bolt on conversion. If it could be done you'd open up a mail order side to it. I've got half an idea of what it could be but I might be way off the mark.

 

We have the gear to tig weld. but have no idea how to do it lol. 

 

the issue would be sealing the shifter rod housing from leaking oil. 

 

but yeah i think i could figure a way to do a bolt on system. 

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To learn the welding side I'd consider getting a junk gearbox case of the same/similar type and slice it up then attempt to join it back together. I don't imagine it will want to weld nicely and it will be vastly different to practice on scrap sheets.

For bolt on idea, if you want any help just let me know.

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3 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

To learn the welding side I'd consider getting a junk gearbox case of the same/similar type and slice it up then attempt to join it back together. I don't imagine it will want to weld nicely and it will be vastly different to practice on scrap sheets.

For bolt on idea, if you want any help just let me know.

 

Yeah I definitely will need to learn a lot and practice before doing it on a box im going to use. 

 

Maybe I will come see you when ive made the cut and got the shifter housing lose and ready to go back together. 

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Doing some googling, I came across this image from a UK mob that do the boxes setup for Triumphs. 

 

Look at the red gearbox, can see they weld around the shifter tube, but then they plate the shifter housing on both sides, and looks like they weld a flat bit to the back of the shifter housing as well. 

 

I have a lesser quality image from the other side of the box to show the plate welded that side too. 

 

89fCchQ.jpg

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That looks fairly easy to oil proof, just keep a half inch or an inch of the tube on the case side and make the new selector tube slip over it with o rings or sealant/glue to seal it up. Should make for a pretty robust join too. The plates they welded on the sides are because there's nothing to weld to at the corners of the selector box/case. They took the easy way out and fairly ugly if what I see on my phone is anything to judge the welds by. If you weld, don't bother trying for dimes just sand it smooth and make it seamless. That thick side rib looks good for tapping and bolt location.

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Well after a solid 12 hours at it, with the help of a mate, the car is very very close to being ready to go to the shop. 
 

Today we stripped the rest of the engine bay, got all the brake lines out, booster, fuel lines, fuel tank, interior is completely stripped, heater box out, bumpers off. I just have to remove the outer door handles, external mirrors and wiper motor. 
 

I found under the carpet a 1 cent coin, from 1975! The same year the car was built. :D 

 

I also discovered, after 4.5 years of ownership, what had been causing my RH air vent to not rotate. Confirming my suspicions, it had been glued, and stuck to the dash pad. But not on purpose. Someone had repaired the vent itself with glue, then obviously put it back into the dash before the glue had set, and it glued itself to the dash pad. Thankfully that was an easy fix. 

 

This wad the shit hiding under my fuel tank in the boot. How the F does that shit get in there? I mean, I understand leaves and whatnot. But there was bark, there was nuts and spikey things off trees. Which dont fit through the vents in the back. 

 

RP3oDI1.jpg

Interior gone

 

3JVgzcD.jpg
 

QW1AHHD.jpg

 

HBEuCQy.jpg


Heater box out

 

5a7pcBA.jpg

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My score from under the carpet

 

jimviRy.jpg

 

VHl2MQz.jpg

That's an old English tradition. To leave a coin with something you built.

Under my house one of the builders in 1964 had placed an Australian penny on one of the supports. House was built in 1964, coin is 1964.

It's supposed to bring good fortune as long as the two things remain together.

fb1a7bf2a280951e386fec216818d047.jpg

 

My queen is hotter....

04375684ed28677b4eaf9d84a94a5761.jpg

 

Sent from my S21 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

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I finished off the car today. 
 

wipers and ID plates are off, exterior door handles and mirrors are off. Its ready to go to the panel shop. 
 

in total, it was about 2.5 days worth of work to get it to where it is, from a complete car. Goes to show how simple it is compared to the XF, which took me weeks worth of work to get it prepped for the panel shop. 

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