Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

[Panko 2,484]

Going back a bit, these are a couple of photos rolling into Small Ford Sunday. taken no more than 30 seconds apart, on two different cameras, but makes the colour look completely different. this colour still amazes, but also annoys me with how both good and bad it can look depending on the light its in the joys of metallic paint i guess. 

 

*the second pic is more true to the actual colour** 

 

 

 

I finally got the front bumpers back, and they came up fantastic. worth the wait. 

 

 

Now onto some mechanical gremlins. I had been having an issue with the cooling system. not over heating, but in fact running too cold. not getting warm enough to actually open the thermostat, which was a standard 89 degree thermostat. I figured it was because the alloy radiator was so efficient at cooling that yeah meant that I couldn't get her up to temp, and had no heater. 

 

This whole time I had been running just water in the cooling system, not coolant, to try flush the system out as best I can. I figured with this lack of heating issue, id pull the thermostat out and then put some coolant in. 

 

 

This is what came out. its a piece of gasket goo stuck in the thermostat. notice also the colour. that thermostat was brand new with this engine. so it has gone a very rusty brown colour thanks to the water. Pushing on the diaphragm by hand, the thermostat felt a little sticky. didnt want to move smoothly to open or close. 

 

So I ended replacing it with an 82 degree thermostat. not to make it run cooler, but so the thermostat would open earlier and start circulating coolant earlier. with that, and coolant in the system, it has made a difference. it gets up to the correct 88 degrees running temp now, rather than running too cold. 

 

Good Friday, the RSOCV had their annual Good Friday cruise. 

Over 30 cars got involved, and we went out to Warburton, up Mt Donna Buang (some of us more spiritedly than others) then back down and to Yarra Glen Hotel for lunch. 

Having driven the Escort up there previously with the 1300, flat out, and now with the 1660, also flat out, it was a much faster drive up there. I had a mate of mine in his Mini come along, who was behind me on the way up. Although I am not too concerned, he did tell me that it was blowing a bit of blue smoke between gear changes. granted I was pushing it, its the hardest it had been driven, and it was mighty cold up there. but it did it well. I adjusted the suspension up a bit to be stiffer, and boy does it turn well. 
 

On the way home, my buddy in the mini, and me couldnt resist but to see how they compared. its the first time the mini and escort had been out together. the Mini is a 1999 Rover, with a single point injected 1275cc, from Japan. Its since had a Cooper performance kit fitted, which includes a ported head with roller rockers, headers, exhaust, bigger injector, and a few other go fast parts. The Mini weighs 100kg less than the Escort, at 740kg, and with the Cooper engine package produces about 65kw. 
The Escort, a stock 1600 produces 60-65kw. Mine is a 1660, with a cam, weber, etc etc. 
It was a good comparison, the Mini nudged in front basically because i was slow getting into 2nd gear, otherwise equally matched. 
So for such a small engine in the Mini, it goes really well. its pretty quick little thing. 

 

I had to do a weekend run over to work HQ in Footscray, so jumped in the Escort to save the diesel in my daily. it really is such a great improvement over what it used to be in pretty much every aspect. able to sit on the highway comfortably, plenty of grunt to pull away, it just gets very warm in the cabin very easily, which was always the case. 

 

[Panko 2,484]

Well sadly the Escort is broken and off the road

 

Ive been dealing with a brake fluid leak from the master cylinder. I found the issue and now in the process of sourcing a new master cylinder. 
 

 

I pulled the master cylinder out after discovering the leak was coming the bottom of the reservoir. Turns out its been leaking probably since the day i installed the brakes. Can see the damage to the new booster already

 

 

that o-ring is the culprit 

 

Ill do my best to explain…

 

basically the outside diameter (OD) is perfect, but the inside diameter (ID) is too large. Meaning fluid can get between the opening of the reservoir and inlet of the master cylinder, and the o-ring, rather than guiding the fluid directly into the master cylinder 

 

The photo below shows how much of a gap there is between the ID of the o-ring and the actual diameter of the inlet into the master cylinder. 

 

 

Same o-ring showing the difference in size in relation to the reservoir. 

 

 

 

While the car has been off the road with no brakes i have been test fitting my 13 x 6” steelies

 

 

yeah bit of a clearance issue with the brakes  

 

 

they clear with a 5mm spacer. 
 

One of the wheels needed to be rerolled. I picked that up today and had a tyre off one of my RS wheels fitted to it so i could test fit on the car properly, with 5mm spacer in situ. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

The result is they clear. They really fill the front arches. If i did have the guards rolled id be screwed, but i don’t believe they will scrub. 
 

im yet to try on the rear (no spacer needed) 

 

Now imagine these powder coated silver. 
 

Doing the wheel swap, i was reminded how light the 15s are. They are insane. 
so it got me thinking. Do i do the wide 13s, which are heavy, or keep the 15s and put some decent tyres on them. Rather than the eco tyres which is all i could get at the time. 

[Panko 2,484]

I should say that i rebuild the master cylinder. The o-ring that i used came in the rebuild kit. But i don’t believe its right. 
 

and given i replaced the booster, i figure ill just replace the master cylinder with a brand new unit.