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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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The body colour behind the grille, wheelarches, wherever else shouldn't be body colour has always bugged me (particularly with brighter colours) on many builds in the past. It's like seeing through to the car's internal organs. Good move to black it out.

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7 minutes ago, gerg said:

The body colour behind the grille, wheelarches, wherever else shouldn't be body colour has always bugged me (particularly with brighter colours) on many builds in the past. It's like seeing through to the car's internal organs. Good move to black it out.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

i agree, annoys me often on  XR XP etc falcons particularly. 

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16 minutes ago, deankdx said:

i agree, annoys me often on  XR XP etc falcons particularly. 

 

25 minutes ago, gerg said:

The body colour behind the grille, wheelarches, wherever else shouldn't be body colour has always bugged me (particularly with brighter colours) on many builds in the past. It's like seeing through to the car's internal organs. Good move to black it out.

Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk
 

 

yeah look i hope with the black suspension bits, that the colour inner arches looks ok. Its a big thing in the UK to have the top side and bottom side all body colour. 

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i thought those lights must have been some add on by random old person.. i'd have had a tough choice refitting them.. fit twin exhausts and have one with a reverse light in it ;) 

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My front has the full width bar but I'd be thinking it's a safe bet they're the same small bumpers as used on the fronts too. If not, they wouldn't take much effort to tweak the shape to fit. Not exactly heavy duty steel.
b647defcf01cf629f78144abc2b1c18d.jpg

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2 minutes ago, 2redrovers said:

My front has the full width bar but I'd be thinking it's a safe bet they're the same small bumpers as used on the fronts too. If not, they wouldn't take much effort to tweak the shape to fit. Not exactly heavy duty steel.
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Bingo. thats what I was getting at. 

 

You flip them upside down, and put them on the opposite front corner to use on the front. they are identical. and its rare to find a panel van with them still because people take them to use on the front of their cars 

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Bingo. thats what I was getting at. 
 
You flip them upside down, and put them on the opposite front corner to use on the front. they are identical. and its rare to find a panel van with them still because people take them to use on the front of their cars 

I don't know what yours are like but the bars are fairly flimsy in comparison to other cars. They have flexed while I used them as grip to push the car around the shop. If they are genuine and not replacement ones, they would be very easy to reco and straighten.

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OK gearbox time

 

The extension housing has been done by Rod. So now its just a matter of assembling the gearbox. 

The welding process did melt the extension housing bush that the yoke runs on, so currently its at the local transmission place getting the bush replaced. 

 

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In the mean time, I spent a solid day with degreaser and a brush cleaning all the components of the gearbox, getting them ready to be put back together. 

 

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Doesn't look too complex, right? 🤣

 

I also primed and painted the gearbox case and bell housing...love fresh paint :D 

 

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It turns out, the bell housing is made by a lawn mower company haha. Yep I was totally confused when i saw Masport branding in the cast of the bell housing. Doing some research, I initially thought it was a motorsport alloy housing. That would have been awesome and rare, but nope, definitely cast iron lol. 

Turns out Masport, as in Masport mowers, were casting a number of parts for Ford UK back in the day. 

 

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The bottom end is now mostly complete. Im just waiting on the head to be freshened up at the engine builders. 

 

 

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Thats about where I am up to for now. 
Hopefully ill get started on assembly of the gearbox on Monday at this stage, as I have give the extension housing a clean up and a coat of silver before I can assemble it. 

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Looks nice and shiny

Dopey me forgot to measure it, so if you're able at some point to measure the gearbox casing that would be great. That way I have a reference measurement for the jig if I don't have a giant cast iron chunk bolted to it.

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12 hours ago, Panko said:

Doesn't look too complex, right? 🤣

you are braver than Me.. 

 

13 hours ago, Panko said:

It turns out, the bell housing is made by a lawn mower company haha. Yep I was totally confused when i saw Masport branding in the cast of the bell housing

 

ah, that's interesting, when i Had My transit and was on fordtransit.org forum, there was a Mk2 being built to tow an escort, had all the Masport signage and i didn't understand why(i wasn't even playing with lawn mowers back then)

 

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2 hours ago, deankdx said:

you are braver than Me.. 

 

 

ah, that's interesting, when i Had My transit and was on fordtransit.org forum, there was a Mk2 being built to tow an escort, had all the Masport signage and i didn't understand why(i wasn't even playing with lawn mowers back then)

 

attachment.php?s=f25ee54138885a7d3d50e3d

 

Yep. that was the Masport rally team. 

 

While i was researching the bell housing yesterday, someone here in Australia, in fact a member of the car club, has an alloy Masport bell housing that was produced for that rally team. 

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After a small drama with the bush replacement, i got the extension housing back today, and used the afternoon sun to spray it. 
 

Im letting the paint sit for the weekend, and ill assemble the gearbox once the paint is set hard. 
 

 

MAJevAB.jpg

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9 hours ago, 2redrovers said:

I don't recommend installing it like that... The shifter angle would really kill your wrist emoji16.png

Challenge accepted 😉 

 

i reckon i could bend the gear lever a bit more, give it a 90 degree bend. She’ll be right 

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Well the last few days since the last update, have been a pretty wild ride emotionally. 

 

I had the gearbox together, but couldn't get it to change gears. I realised the selector rod was still too long. 

 

We modified it, got the gearbox together in a dry run, had it changing gears and working really well with the new short shifter. Pulled the extension housing off again to fit a new gasket and sealant and put it back together for good. 

Something didn't feel right with the mechanism, so before i bolted it together pulled it apart again, and in doing so accidentally popped 5th gear synchro to bits. 

I didn't want to have to pull the darn thing off the output shaft, because that isn't a simple task, so i tried to put it back together, working against the two spring clips that hold the synchro mechanism together, and I fucked up big time, snapping one of the synchro blocker bars. 

 

I did some asking around the club, and suppliers both here in Aus, and overseas, with everyone coming back with, "no we dont have them as a seperate item". I was so angry at myself, and so worried that id be without a working gearbox until i could get an entire synchro. 

 

Eventually I managed to T something up with a fellow car club, who had a spare 5 speed in bits in his workshop, he met me at work today and gave me the 3 blocker bars that I need. 

I did manage to also order some from Germany, (along with a new reproduction washer bottle), and have told Gerry who gave me the blocker bars, I will give him the new ones when they arrive from Germany. 

 

The blue tape is how much I had to cut off the selector rod, approximately 13mm. 

 

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Gearbox together and being tested. I love this shifter, and am super excited to drive it. I can guarantee im going to miss a few gear changes though. The distance between 1st and 3rd, is only a matter of mm apart, with the new short shifter. Same with 2nd and 4th. 5th, has a bit more a jump sideways, but im sure there will be a few 1st to 4th changes, or attempts to take off in 3rd haha.  

 

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This is what happens when I try to force the synchro rings back together against the spring clips. :( 
These little blocks are the things that locate the inner and outer synchro rings, and the things you hear "click" as you change gears

 

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So the gearbox is half pulled apart again. 

 

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I also delivered the new front windscreen and seals ready to be installed. from the body work point of view, the car is finished. I just have to install the driveline and suspension to get it rolling, bring it home, and assembly can begin. 

 

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29 minutes ago, Panko said:

yIhBQuC.jpg

 

SGgCrL4.jpg

 

 

that kind of thing is the reason i won't be pulling down a good gearbox lol. i'm partly interested in pulling a broken one apart, but still haven't got anywhere near doing that job

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