Panko's Mk1 Escort (Round 2)

[Panko 2,489]

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 2,489]

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 2,489]

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. 

[Panko 2,489]

Ive been a little quiet again, because well, i can't catch a break. The poor little Escort is back in the panel shop at the moment...I'll get to that further down 

 

So going back to where I was up to in my previous post, fitting these wheels, and having brake issues...

 

I found a place in Moorabbin who CNC billet slip on spacers for thousands of different cars, as well as other random parts and stuff that is not car related. They are made to order, but they had a listing for hub centric spacers for Escorts. less than $100, and i have billet 5mm slip on spacers so the front wheels will clear my brakes. 

 

 

This is where the wheels sit with the spacer in behind. they do clear. I have had the car out on the street with it all sitting flat and in level etc etc, and they do not scrub anywhere, but they do fill the front guards perfectly. I can't wait to get them on

 

 

I had been bench testing the master cylinder to make sure i got rid of the leak...how? well I ended up finding the old o-ring from before i rebuilt the master cylinder, which is a round profile instead of square. it was in good condition, so reinstalled that, then had the reservoir filled with fluid, and was using a pulling tool to recreate the motion of applying the brakes on and off. I left it on the bench with fluid in it for a few days to be sure it wasn't leaking. and success. 

 

 

So I reinstalled the master cylinder, ready to bleed the brakes and get them working and car driving...

 

 

 

..... then this happened ......

 

 

 

 

 

Where do i even start?

 

I was pushing the car around the shed by hand, getting it into position to jack it up and put on stands so i could get underneath to bleed the brakes. I was rushing and I rolled it a bit too far forward. The car rolled off the concrete slab shed floor, onto the (downhill) driveway that leads to the laneway that the shed exits onto. Now before you ask, I did have wheel chocks, they were purposely just down the driveway a bit so i had more room to move the Escort around, however it was raining, so when the car rolled into the chocks it managed to push them out the way on the slipper concrete driveway.

The Escort proceeded to roll across the laneway and into the wire fence of the office building behind  

I did manage to slow the car down by doing the silly thing and getting in front of it, getting out of the way in time to not be pinned against the fence. so the damage could have been a lot worse if i didn't slow it down. i couldn't reach to grab the handbrake quick enough either. 

 

As you can imagine i was furious, at myself more than anything else. it took me weeks to bring myself to call Mark and tell him the car was coming back to him. He was furious with me too. 

 

After cooling down, i finished bleeding the brakes, and decided id have a go at fixing the worst of the damage myself...

 

 

 Using a heat gun to warm things up and a ratchet i pulled the dent out, reversing the initial impact. 

 

 

 

 

I could at least get the bumpers back on, and get it looking presentable again so I didn't feel so upset. 

 

When this all happened, after bleeding the brakes the same day that i did this, I left the car on stands for about 2 weeks. I would walk into the shed, see it, and walk back out. i had no motivation to fix it, or even look at the car. 

 

When I finally did get it off stands, fix the dent, fitted the bumpers, washed it and took it for a drive, i finally had the guts to call Mark and get it in for repairs, which is where the car has now been for a week. I have no idea how long it will take, or how much, i simply left the car with Mark and told him to just repair it and tell me when its done. 

 

 

 

 

 

So apart from the paint damage around the headlight, the car still presented really well, and once I gave it a wash, was nice to just stand back and look at it and appreciate that it still looked fine even with the damage, and when its repaired (again) it will only be better. 

 

This was a shitty day, pulling it apart again to go back to Marks.  

 

 

[hendrixhc 10,924]

Oh dear, dont you hate when shit like that happens. At least no one was hurt.

[Panko 2,489]

19 minutes ago, hendrixhc said:

Oh dear, dont you hate when shit like that happens. At least no one was hurt.

 

oh very much so 

[Panko 2,489]

I picked the car up this morning and spent this afternoon putting it back together. 

 

 

 

 

So what is next? 

 

I can go back to doing what I was doing before this little hiccup. 

 

The car needs a good clean inside and out after being in the panel shop. 

 

I have new spark plugs and points for the ignition system, need to get new ignition leads. All of that stuff is still off the old 1300. 

 

It desperately needs a new air cleaner, looking to run a K&N weber air filter, just have to find one that fits. 

 

Its then the wheels. Before all this happened, i was getting the 13 x 6 steelies fitted. I need extended studs to take the 5mm spacers, then get the wheels blasted and powder coated. I cant wait to get them on the car. It will definitely be a different look for it. 

 

The more i drive the car on the 15s, the more i realise how, not up to the task those tyres are. They are getting on for 10 years old for starts, but also they are eco tyres due to the unique size. With the Escort having a fair bit more grunt, even on dry roads, and even from a rolling start, it will spin the back tyres. Like today, mid intersection, (turning right), 2nd gear, and started accelerating out of the intersection, granted i put the foot into it get going, and i felt the back started to step out. I guess with the old 1300, i could barely break traction, so those tyres didn't bother me. Now, well yeah they don't hold on at all with the 1660. 

 

my 13" tyres, are a much better tyre, semi performance tyre. I think I'm losing out on general grip, but also handling because of those tyres on the 15s. so I can't wait to get the 13" steelies done, and on the car with some decent tyres.