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Panko

Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

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Well this little brat is parked up for a bit now, at least a couple of weeks. 

its sprung a fuel leak from the carby. so that will need to be pulled off and rebuilt. it springing the leak was very timely, because I got myself into a bit of trouble with the law yesterday, dont want to go into it on a public forum, but Im now in a bit of debt, so won't be spending much time or money on either of my cars :( 

on that note, of anyone is interested in a turbocharged XE wagon, its been agreed on that will be the first thing to go to try re-coup some coin. 

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well it was that night i thought i could smell fuel. then yesterday after driving it for a bit, i popped the bonnet and it was pissing out the back of the carby. i think around the throttle shafts or somewhere in that area. only after i shut it off though, so id say old perished seals, but also float level is too high, so it keeps letting fuel in when its not running, and the fuel system is under pressure. that would also explain why its hard to start at times, because it just floods the engine when its sitting there. 
 

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the fuel tank breaths through the a charcoal canister in the engine bay. 

Yes the fuel tank seems to pressurise in when the tank is full, because i sometimes get fuel spill down the side of the car. could that mean my charcoal canister is blocked up? 

Its no longer connected to the carby like its meant to be, as this carby does not have the provisions to hook the emissions up to it. 

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Could be. It needs to be able to vent off the the fumes. The charcoal canister should be hooked up to a port on the carb so it only sucks when accelerating never at idle so look for a port above the throttle shaft on the carby.
It'd be good to check everything too, start by GENTLY blowing compressed air down the hose from the canister to the tank to make sure it's clear, you'll hear the air in the tank, it won't take much. If this is clear leave it disconnected and run it into an empty coke bottle when parked. If there is no fuel spilling out of the tank or flooding of the carb it's your charcoal canister. This could just mean that the charcoal is saturated with fuel/fumes and just needs a vacuum line put onto it to empty it.

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no unfortunately no connection for the emissions. the carby is off a Renault 10 S which is 60s. so no emissions back then. 

i had a similar issue with my XF Ghia, the tank was pressuring and spitting fuel out the filler. that was due to the solenoid that is supposed to open at certain times to let fumes from charcoal canister into engine, not opening. therefore the whole system was under pressure. i removed that, and blanked the engine end of that pipe, and re-routed the pipes at the charcoal canister so it just vents to the atmosphere, just like it is in the escort now, and never had an issue since. 

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ill probably end up just removing the charcoal canister in the escort all together anyway. and vent the tank a different way. 

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10 hours ago, Panko said:

ill probably end up just removing the charcoal canister in the escort all together anyway. and vent the tank a different way. 

why?

how hard could it be to get working? sparkydave loves figuring out that kind of thing

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3 hours ago, deankdx said:

why?

how hard could it be to get working? sparkydave loves figuring out that kind of thing

a  few reasons. 
1. as mentioned the carby has no fitting for to run a charcoal canister

2. removing it tidies up the engine bay a bit. instead of having these plastic lines running from one side to the other in the bay, and a 1kg Milo tin sized charcoal canister, it should look a bit neater. 

3. i remember from when i bypassed the emissions in the XF, how much cleaner, and less oily the intake manifold was, and how much less black crap was built up inside the intake. 
technically its better for the engine to not have to suck in any extra emissions. it is already taking the crankcase breather straight back into the intake manifold after the carby, so anything to make it a little cleaner for the engine itself, should help :P 

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a  few reasons. 

1. as mentioned the carby has no fitting for to run a charcoal canister

2. removing it tidies up the engine bay a bit. instead of having these plastic lines running from one side to the other in the bay, and a 1kg Milo tin sized charcoal canister, it should look a bit neater. 

3. i remember from when i bypassed the emissions in the XF, how much cleaner, and less oily the intake manifold was, and how much less black crap was built up inside the intake. 

technically its better for the engine to not have to suck in any extra emissions. it is already taking the crankcase breather straight back into the intake manifold after the carby, so anything to make it a little cleaner for the engine itself, should help  

1Maybe you should fit an appropriate carby? (Essentially you've started a chain effect all because of your choice of carby. This would make sense in a modified vehicle but yours is a really clean little beast that has stood the test of time.)

2 you could hide it or a smaller canister inside the wheel arch and still be compliant

3 it's only sucking in petrol fumes, if it makes your manifold black and oily there is something seriously wrong.

4if anything, run the breather hose to a catch can and back to the carb.

5 enlist the help of Dave as Dean suggested

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the fuel tank pressuring issue was there well before i changed the carby. as for appropriate carby, I have a much larger carby which has the correct fittings etc, but is way way over jetted being from a 2L, and the throttle shaft rotates the wrong direction (usually fitted to passenger side of engine so operates in reverse). so without major stuffing about it wouldnt have ever worked. 
Finding the correct, GT spec carby for an Escort, is pretty much impossible. even Capri and Escort are different. the carby I have, is the closest I will get. The jets are near on identical (this came from an 1100cc renault engine) but i believe the float level is incorrect, something i (silly me) never thought to check out before i fitted the carby to the car.  apart from running a Capri GT rocker cover, unless you really knew what the heck you were looking for, it looks correct. 


the fuel leaking out the carby, could be either back pressure forcing fuel out, I'm not discounting that thought, but at the same time, its only started doing so in recent weeks. considering the carby I fitted to the car had previously sat around un-used, still bolted to a head for about 30 years, i have a sneaking suspicion that there maybe a few dry and perished seals. 

in regards to actually having a canister, its only got it because its a 75 model. up to 74 the only emissions they ran was the crankcase breather. as to where the fuel take breathed to then Im not 100% sure. I was just going to replicate an earlier setup. I believe it was just a different fuel cap, as my last Escort, a 72, only had a single line from the tank, the feed like to the carby and thats it. 

I apologise, in the case of the Escort, yes the canister is only taking petrol fumes in, as is the engine from the canister. but as said above, it does have a crank case breather than goes straight to the manifold after the carby. so in the case of the Escort, that is what causes the oily and black intake manifold. (the way around this is to run the crankcase breather to a catch can...now that would look odd in my bay) 
In the case of the XF, its a little different story, it does have fuel and crankcase and exhaust all circulating back through the intake, and an ECU controlled solenoid to control when it takes stuff from the canister. that solenoid stuffed up and was stuck closed, hence the pressurising issue i had in the XF. 

 

Im not discounting your ideas, and I'm not trying to cause an argument. but my intentions have always been to use same or close to spec, period correct upgrades to an original 1300GT. hence the carby as close spec i can get, and the genuine Ford GT extractors. 

the fact the fuel tank is pressurising is a problem thats been bugging me from the moment i bought the car, because there was evidence it had been doing it for some time, because the paint was stained. thankfully with a bit of polish it goes away. which I've had to do a number of times. a process of elimination, i replicated exactly what i did in the XF, but re-plumbing/disconnected the charcoal canister, which evidently hasn't fixed the fuel tank pressurising issue. i guess the next thing is to completely unhook the tank breather line into the canister and try that. 

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All good mate no argument from me!
It is a cool little car.
It might an idea to find someone who was into formula fords, you pick up some good carb+ manifold set ups.
They are hard getting bits for now, perhaps eBay uk?

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Well if i ever get around to building up the original engine for the car, put a mild cam in it etc. ill end up running the bigger carby i have anyway. 32/36, and maybe down jet it to suit the engine. at the moment its a 23/24 which is what should be fitted to a 1300GT, but being off a Renault, and a few years before hand theres a few differences. 
my manifold should be ok. it a genuine GT intake manifold. i also have a capri GT intake manifold. not sure if they flow any different. for now though, while this engine is stock and a little low on compression, no point going any further. i have 2 other 1300 engines that may (or may not) be in better condition, just need to do a comp test on them and check them out lol :( 

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wow this needs updating. there hasn't been much happen since i last posted, but a few minor things happening. and now i have backed all my photos (for this thread) up to a new sharing server, ill try bring everyone up to speed. 

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ok so what have i been doing with this? 

well the it hates the cold weather, as do I...
 

This is basically how I've had to start it every time during winter :( it just doesn't like starting in the cold 
MMokx3r.jpg

I removed the original sound insulation on the sides of the firewall for 2 reasons, it was cracking and looked horrible, and because it was full of dirt behind, and would hold water, which means rust. 
I also did a quick job of cleaning out the washer bottle. 

Tk1Owj9.jpg

I got myself a full length centre console to go in, all the way from the UK :o the power of Facebook :P *side note. its back to front in that image* 

DpPwU49.jpg

now, would you believe it, I am still having issues getting the car to run warmer. the hottest i can get the coolant to is 78 degrees C. the thermostat doesn't even open until 89ish degrees. so its just been running on the bypass of the thermostat. So I have been testing a shield over the radiator to help warm it up. I got the idea from a couple of guys in the Vic Mini club on the Alpine Tour back in April, they run them on the minis to get them to warm up in winter. 

I pulled the thermostat back out to check it, and it was faulty. 

*see gap around the diaphragm vs a spare i had which I have now fitted* 
YMW1nQy.jpg
13tbvAW.jpg

I then started with core flute panels to shield the radiator. 

half radiator first (cold side) It helped, but wasnt enough still. 

qo2Glkv.jpg

So, I then went for the whole radiator with 8 x 40mm holes cut into it. and added more holes as i needed more cooling. 

G3UK2RI.jpg

Im currently got it set to a calculated 12% of the total surface area of the radiator, uncovered by 40mm holes. I think I'm up to 20 holes cut into it. and its very close. When the weather is better on the weekend, I will cut 2 more holes into it, and that should have it perfect. 

e2GGYpW.jpg

and just a few pics from a couple weeks back on a sunny arvo :P 

MlHuXCD.jpg

2y9V11D.jpg

1S80Asa.jpg

OUQg0Eg.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, SPArKy_Dave said:

Thought any more, about running widened steelies, with standard hubcaps on it?

there's a guy at ABS in FTGully, was saying they proved the escorts handled better on 13" rims (rally driven) .. 

i noticed My gemini still sticks like glue on the 13s but tyre roll is far more noticable. 

i'd prefer to see some minilites as wide as can be fitted with stock arches

Max2009_escort_025.jpg

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Can you run an antifreeze as opposed to a coolant?

Another thing that I understand helps with cold starting is changing to an electronic dizzy instead of the old points style. Supposed to give a stronger and more reliable spark.

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does the air filter come off easy.. spray some start ya bastard in there, should fire instantly.. if not something else is an issue.. does the battery go flat? why the jump pack?

i noticed the 2 litre engine i removed from the gemini wreck cranks faster than the 1600, first thought the battery was weak but its a starter issue i'll fix when the motor comes out.

how are you starting it? when i had the weber on My 1500cc VW golf(passat) it would flood if you touched the accelerator prior to cranking.. was better off treating it like an efi(no accell on starting) 

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Ive spoken with Canterbury Wheels and Tyres. He thinks he has a bunch of custom widened 13x6 steel rims off a cortina. 

Rod, already running electronic ignition. I think that is part of the issue. If i crank it too long, i suspect it takes too much power from both the starter and the ignition, ie too smaller spark. The moment i hook the jump battery up, it will fire as soon as i turn the key. 

So yes the battery starts to die if i crank it for too long without the backup battery. 

How am I starting it? 

I pump the throttle pedal once, and crank it WITHOUT the choke on. Usually it will fire once, then die, and next crank start. I tend to only yank the choke on once its fired up. It seems to prefer starting without it, when i start it for the first time in a few days. But does need the choke to idle. 

Once its been started, it will be fine the rest of the day. But leave it for a few days, and it gets a little funny 

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has the coil wiring still got the resistor in it(some wire was resistance wire , some like the gemini have a ballast resistor) if its electronic and not getting full volts and a non resistor type coil its probably somewhere to look.

the weber on the 2litre has the chokes removed.. seems common, pretty sure my VW also had them removed. 

how about ignition timing?

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Ah fair enough, been a while and didn't remember if you had changed it or not. Which one did you install?

Another possible factor to rule out, is the fuel getting sacked back from the carbie and line in the cold weather? I remember you had issues with expansion in the summer, maybe getting the opposite in winter?

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