Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

[Panko 2,480]

What time and where in cranbourne you heading today? You can either call passed my place in Berwick or my work in cranbourne tl grab that left over locking strip if you want. 

[deankxf 20,287]

11 hours ago, Panko said:

What time and where in cranbourne you heading today? You can either call passed my place in Berwick or my work in cranbourne tl grab that left over locking strip if you want. 

sorry, didn't get a notification. got there bout midday, left about 6pm ish
didn't have time to stop in anywhere really..

[Panko 2,480]

so this has been fun LOL not. 
i went and stripped this from a BA Ghia at the wreckers. yep factory BA Ghia sub  

jerry rigged up the wiring to make sure it was working ok. powered from an EL Ghia amplifier. 

the shit you do working on cars. yep I was laying head first into the boot of the escort, feet out over the back. not an easy task with such a small boot haha. 

here it is installed  dont mind the odd bolt. frustratingly i only had 3 of those nice bolts. Ive done all this on a budget, anything i can find around home haha. sub cost me $18, amp i already had, bolts are what ever i found in the garage, the foam insulation is cut from a camping mat  

 

Ive been testing it in the car, and it pumps, harder than i expected  
I definitely do not remember my dad's BA with premium sound, going that hard. I dare say that would be because they are turned down, or wound back to be more matched to the rest of the system. My head unit allows sub control from -15db below the rest of the outputs, to +15db above the rest of the outputs. I need to test it again before I'm 100% leaving it in, but i think ill end up having to wind it back to well below the other speakers. its a little overkill in the escort, but sounds really nice. 

[2redrovers 21,400]

Just as well you waited till the window sealant was cured

[Panko 2,480]

Haha it doesnt drive that hard, but yeah lol. 

Ive also decided to stick to 4" speakers in the front doors. I went and talked to a trimmer who was going to modify the holes in the door cards for me, and make up a dress ring/mounting ring on the outside of the door cards…i just decided it was too much. So ill stick to 4s. Neat and tidy. Ill still get the cards tidied up by the trimmer to suit the speakers. 

[Panko 2,480]

i tested the sub again today in the car, played around with some settings in the head unit, and managed to bring it down a bit so it wasnt over the top anymore. so its in for good now, because I've done the speaker cabling run under the carpet up under the passenger front seat for the amp, and the interior is all back together. it doesn't come out unless i remove the interior lol. 

handy factory fitted wire clips. wiring done, and sub mounted properly. 

what sub?  once I've sorted a speaker grille, ya won't even know its there...until you hear it haha. 

 

[Panko 2,480]

i can't afford to do the front end at the moment which is bugging the crap outta me. it obviously drives fine, i just know that it needs doing and i can't afford the $500+ to bring the parts in from the UK  

the rest of the week is going to be spent on the wagon, now that this is back together. 

[Outback Jack 6,352]

Love ya Escort Panko,
Stereo sub is loud because smaller boot area and less sound proofing.
Just a tip..... locktite the rear number plate.... ask me how I know.... lol

My Esky was Exaxtly same as yours down to the colour just 2 door with a firebreathing 2L worked motor fuelled by a 350 holley. 250hp.
Power to weight baby!

Jack

Sent from my GT-S7583T

[Panko 2,480]

haha let me guess. you had either a big stereo that vibrated the bolts loose, or the engine vibrations did it?  

[Outback Jack 6,352]

Was cam lump on that one.... 15 minutes to get it to idle every day. Rip the mk1 from side to side like a see saw.... lol.
Worst stereo sub pump Ive been in blew out the back hatch window and punched a hole thru the sunroof.
I was in the car..... driver forgot to wind the window down.... dumb arse.

If you want to tighten up that front end look for a pair of 1600 escort front springs... cheap stiffen up.
Higher front.. lower arse works good on escorts for handling.

Watchin build with interest.

Jack.

Sent from my GT-S7583T

[Panko 2,480]

haha yeah bugger than for a cam. if its not streetable and has power lower in the RPM, its not worth it lol. 

well I've brought the level control for this sub down, to match the fronts, like it would've when fitted to the BA. they were one of the best factory premium sound systems. 11 speakers (inc tweeters) all tuned to match each other. 

as for the front end, I've got it sorted, i just need to put the money aside to do it. but ill wait until the wagon is in the panel shop before i go order the new front end. the problem is i have zero camber adjustment, and I'm running a K-mac sway bar to pull the front LCAs forward to correct caster, which works, but looks funky with the wheels sitting forward in the wheel arches. 
So the new front end will be running Gaz adjustable shocks to match the rear, 2" lowered springs (currently 1") and eccentric strut tops, which allow both caster and camber adjustment. so i can correct the angle on the LCAs, and wind a touch of neg camber into it. because at the moment the front wheels are pretty much at 0 degrees, throw it into a corner, and the outside wheel just wants to go positive camber. the 2" lowered springs are to compensate for the 20-25mm the eccentric tops add to the ride height. so at most, it will be about another 5mm lower than it is now. not a big difference. 

the last thing it needs in the front end is the steering rack  cheapest option is $250 exchange with a reconditioned unit. I'm in no position to be dropping about $800 on the front end in one hit. so struts first, then rack later down the track 

[Outback Jack 6,352]

Thats where the 1600 springs come in... will stop the spring collapsing in the corners...
Cheapest fix ever.

Sent from my GT-S7583T

[Panko 2,480]

4 hours ago, Outback Jack said:

Thats where the 1600 springs come in... will stop the spring collapsing in the corners...
Cheapest fix ever.

Sent from my GT-S7583T
 

yes but will also screw with the ride height. they might be stiffer, but like the falcons also taller. and i have the wrong strut legs. i believe 1600s have slightly larger strut legs. then bigger again for the 2L struts. 

all stiffer springs will do is make it ride harsh on the street. at least with the shocks, i can soften them off so it doesn't bounce me out of my seat on every bump. 
The rears currently set to about ¼ of their potential stiffness, and i can't push the back down by hand. but its right on the fine line of still being comfortable and handling good. stiff springs dont offer that. 

[Panko 2,480]

I went to an upholsterer and got the door trims cleaned up on the router for the speakers, and got some dress rings made up out of acrylic plastic, 3mm thick. 
I had them made to be a perfect fit around the outside of the speaker. however, these go on the face of the door card, while the speaker mounts from behind the card, and is a perfect tight fit through the hole in the door card to be a flush mount with the face of the door card. 

had to drill them, and the last hole i had to drill it fucking broke on me  thankfully the upholsterer kept the template he made for me, so I can go get another made tomorrow. 

first test fit, pretty happy with it. 

thats all that protrudes. pretty happy. 

painted them black. so so happy with the way they look. a little unhappy with the finish of the paint though. i made sure its to suit acrylic plastics etc, and its gone almost like chalk board  hopefully you won't be able to tell how they've gone once they are in the car. and I'm hoping that if i hit them with some dash and trim conditioner it might make them look a bit nicer. 

now for the pun fart  

I started to repair the front speaker wiring, but......

i then find yet another twist together wire join and electrical tape. of course the dam join broke on me. so thats 3 twist joins, just in the RHF door speaker wiring. So I quit. I'm ripping it all out and starting again. too many joins etc to try and "repair" it. so ill start from a fresh with new wiring. 

[deankxf 20,287]

the paint might have gone chalky due to the paint being cold and the air .. this is what  happened on my gemini when i painted around 4pm,
last visit i sprayed over it about midday with the paint being in the warm 20deg car all day and panel not cold and it has shine again.

i am hoping the speakers in the doors on my project will be ok with the winders. got me stuffed why they decided that was the best spot for them.

[Panko 2,480]

yeah maybe thats what it is. the cold weather. bah.  

I also discovered that the poor thing is running way too cold  

at the moment in the cold weather, the temp gauge will only come off the blue (just) when I'm sitting on the highway doing 90-100km/h (3800-4000rpm). anything under that, the gauge won't rise off the blue. So i tested it with an infrared laser temp gauge, and it was sitting at 70 degrees after about half hour drive, some of which i was sitting on 100km/h, and letting it rev right through its rev range at WOT between gear changes. the coolant temp going into the water pump was 45 degrees  so I'm thinking there is 2 things going on. first of all, the thermostat is too cold, and second, the reconditioned radiator i fitted, is just super efficient. cooling it down 25 degrees, side to side lol. 

[deankxf 20,287]

if the thermostat is doing its job you should be able to fit a tripple core falcon radiator in theory.. i'll be finding the opposite potentially next visit of the gemini project.. removing the huge alloy radiator and going fixed fan and stock radiator.. saves me having to bodge up a fan mount for starters.. also tests the spare radiator..

[Panko 2,480]

yeah but at the moment its too cold, so maybe its stuck open allowing it to run cold. 

I picked up another thermostat today, but haven't fitted it yet. spent the day fixing wiring and finally refitting my LH door card. what a head fuck the wiring was. partly my fault  

ok so today i fixed up the wiring for the radio in the Escort, mostly the speaker outputs. 
While i was at it i added in the amplifier switch wire, with its own bullet plug, so its removable with the rest of the wiring loom. 
now i thought that was the end of the wiring i had to do...as soon as i walked outside to fit the new loom, the penny dropped and i realised i had screwed up...
the holes drilled into the door skin to allow the speaker wire to pass through, is only big enough for the wiring, not the connectors also. but i had already soldered and crimped the speaker terminals on the end. so, i had to cut my freshly made wiring loom, and re-solder the speaker wires back together once I had run the wire into the door. That, I will put on myself for not paying attention when i was making the loom. If I had the brains to realise earlier, i would've drilled the hole bigger, and bought some rubber bungs to go in. oh well, lesson learned, and that loom isn't coming out again, unless i cut it  

I then went to test fit the door card with speaker and ring installed....no go  
The screw at the top was too long, and hitting on the door skin behind, preventing the door card from going on the door. so i had to remount that speaker rotated in a different position. so id drilled new holes in the door card for no reason 

So i rotated the speaker, got the door card on, put the window winder on, and it wouldn't clear the ring, let alone the screws. HOW? i had measured, and everything to make sure this design would work. so further investigation lead me to 2 things causing this. 1st issue was the jesus clip on the back of the winder handle, when i pushed the handle on, was holding it too far on the shaft, i.e. too close to the door card. that was a matter of pulling it gently until it clicked into the right locating notch on the spline. 
2nd issue was again due to screw length holding the speaker in. this time, both top screws were touching metal behind, just enough that it would push the speaker area of the door card outwards, leaving zero clearance for the window winder. so door card off again, and cut down the top 2 screws as short as i could. fixing those 2 things was enough to get it to clear  and only by a bees dick lol. i knew my design would be tight. 

and there it is. the final product...for now. I might toy with adding fly wire under the ring to make a grill over the speaker, but for now i like the look of it with the speaker exposed. 

[Panko 2,480]

 

[SPArKy_Dave 8,870]

I have a couple of suggestions -
Could you get the acrylic rings made out of black acrylic? So that way, there's no paint to chip off.

Also, is it worth fitting counter sunk screws to the ring instead, so it has even more clearance to the winder?
(black zinc coated countersunk screws)
 

[deankxf 20,287]

i would have liked the domed countersink screws like the XF wiper grille vent.. but i'm not that fancy .. i'd have solved those issues initially by screwing directly into the door though.

its a good idea, i have the same issue on My wagon project because some goose chose poorly on speaker location.. i haven't got to them yet, but thanks for the ideas

i considered painting the speaker/grilles in vinyl color so they blended in better

Edited June 13, 2017 by deankdx
edited ...

[Panko 2,480]

10 minutes ago, SPArKy_Dave said:

I have a couple of suggestions -
Could you get the acrylic rings made out of black acrylic? So that way, there's no paint to chip off.

Also, is it worth fitting counter sunk screws to the ring instead, so it has even more clearance to the winder?
(black zinc coated countersunk screws)
 

both very good ideas Dave. 
the black acrylic, is a good idea. id have to chase some up if i was going to do that. i didnt pay for this material, so I'm not complaining. in total, the rings cost me $80. even though the upholsterer spent about 2 hours on a friday arvo making a one off template from 6mm MDF, and then spent about an hr with me on saturday turning them up on the router. 

the countersunk screws. i tested that on the already broken ring today, and it can't be done. there isn't enough material in the plastic to countersink screws without it chipping and breaking. I'm sure i can find some neater looking screws, but I'm pretty happy with the look as it is. 

[Panko 2,480]

I got the new dress ring, and painted it up. 

After @deankdx comment about the paint being too cold, i decided to sit all my paint and primers in the sun on the kitchen floor before I painted the new ring...it worked. the new one looks a million times better  

All done

I head off for Adelaide tomorrow for the weekend, and instead of packing, i decided to wire in the amplifier for the sub. (its 1040pm as i write this and I still haven't packed...procrastination much haha) 
 

For testing purposes, I just ran a nut and bolt through the seat mount for the earth cable. The plan is to put the earth cable on the seat bolt, but while the seat is out, this will do. 

I was trying to make the cabling as discrete as possible. so I used black wire for both the earth and 12v. But that was today's thought. I had already made up the switch wire when I was re-wiring the front door speakers, and I just grabbed whatever colour wire I had close by, hence the stand out green wire lol. 
I'm going to hide it all in conduit anyway. 

now I didnt quite get it finished. I ran it for about an hour to make sure it was all working ok, but then decided I should start getting myself some dinner. So I haven't tidied up the cable running through the engine bay. this is my note to myself to remind myself, when i return from Adelaide on monday, not to start the car, and melt my wiring as its sitting on the exhaust at the moment haha. 

I also missed 1 crucial component....the RCA signal cable to actually send signal to the amp LOL *dickhead* I had a short one to at least test it with. So I have a couple things to do before its finalised. buy and run an RCA signal cable, and hide it under carpet, wrap the wiring in conduit, add some velcro to the bottom side of the amp to secure it to the floor, and install the seat. that then its done. 

 

 

I also changed the thermostat. it was filthy, even though i replaced it not long ago. I tested it in boiling water...at first it wasnt working properly. I have kept it for a spare in the boot. 

any wonder the thermostat was stuck lol. and to think the cooling system has been flushed a couple of times. 

so the engine seems to running a little warmer, and possibly smoother, but the gauge is only marginally higher. I need to borrow or go buy one of those infrared laser thermometers so i can get a numbers read out, like i did to discover it was running cold. 
if i can't get it to come up, I might try running without the engine fan to see what happens. 

[deankxf 20,287]

just pull up when its at running temp. if you can hold the top radiator hose without it burning you its probably good..

i've even heated the oven up to about 40deg ish and rested spray paint cans in for 5 mins before painting heat what you are painting also if possible.. the thinners needs to evaporate i think.

[Panko 2,480]

Well it should be running at about 85-88 degrees. At "running" temp in the weekend it was sitting at 70 degrees. 

Maybe my cooling system is just too efficient for winter...i guess this is where a thermo fan would be perfect. Having it only turn on when needed, not spinning all the time.