Mk II Rally Car - DIY Adjustable Coilovers p3
Escort Mk II Rally CarAlright, thanks to a good friend who found this little bundle of fun laying dormant in the back of a shed, my brother and I are the new owners of an Escort Mk II two door rally car! The paintwork is in great condition, with no rust areas to worry about. We both like the style of the paintjob, still has a very 1980s rallying look to it, but no doubt some of the sponsors will change!
These are photos of the car eexactly as it was when I got it home, obviously it's not yet completed, but that'll be half the enjoyment of the project. Details below!
My brother and I have been long time fans of rallying, and when this car came up, it was too good a deal to say no. You only live once, so we decided to go ahead and start out into motorsport. Having been working on my Escort Mk II RS2000 has helped me alot when knowing what to look for when purchasing this car, but I am proud to say the cars don't actually share alot. This Escort is a dedicated track car and will never be road registered.
The car shell itself has never been rallied, the shell has been off the road for over 15 years, sitting in a shed, never got completed. The rollcage is yet to be completed and painted, the aluminium panels to replace the interior trim are cut but not installed, and the seats and harnesses need to be permanently fitted. However, the car is already purpose wired, with battery isolators, and a push button starters, for all people that like that sort of thing. The interior needs a bit of a clean up to remove all the bits and pieces sitting in it, and the interior trim aluminium panels installed, but will come up great.
The engine is of the Pinto OHC variety, however it has been taken out to 2.1L, head ported, polished, oversize valves, new valve springs, and a race cam fitted (pretty much the same as what I have done to my RS2000 engine). The engine also has a massive race sump to avoid oil pressure issues, and as required by CAMS, catch tanks in case the engine lunches itself and neatly spills any oil out the ventilation lines (ha!).
The engine also runs a Bosch electronic ignition unit from a Volvo, and has to run sidedraughts (not fitted in the photos) as the strut brace won't allow any vertical Webers. The 4 to 2 to 1 extractors are a race spec unit that should help the engine get rid of all those nasty gasses (not unlike the next morning after a good curry). The engine was installed into an Escort panel van to be run in, and apparen'tly had the car off the clock (180) in no time at all. The Pinto OHC engines are extremely reliable, and once the car is all together, I'll get it out on the dyno to see how it performs.
The driveline is a single piece tailshaft running down to a locked 4.11 diff (the car is currently configured for hillclimbs), but the car came with spare single piece tailshafts (strong and tough for rallying) and diffs with taller ratios for higher top speeds. A tailshaft loop has not yet been fitted but came with the car. The gearboxes (one fitted and three spare) are all the strong four speeds with short shift kits as found in the RS2000, and should never have a problem coping with power output of up to 220hp.
Suspension is all Bilstein, with fully adjustable coilovers in the front, and a three leaf spring setup in the back, with adjustable shocks. As seems to be the recommended setup when racing an Escort, the front is super stiff, while leaving the rear fairly soft. This let's the car be thrown into corners and then steered with the throttle controllably. Because the fronts are so stiff though, we'll be welding some reinforcement around the front shock towers. The car has an anti-dive kit fitted in the front, and has an anti-tramp kit to be installed in the rear. Also fitted are hefty anti-roll sway bars. The front hubs also have reinforcement welded in to enable us to pound the front wheels all day long without fear of braking the hubs. All rubber bushings have been replaced by Nolathene, including engine mounts.
The standard fuel system is all gone as well, with a fuel cell to be fitted into the boot (not pictured here), and Bosch fuel pump and regulators sending the fuel to where it is needed. From this photo, you can see the rear firewall to enclose the boot hasn't been installed yet, until the race harnesses are fitted in place. The battery sits just in front of the boot cavity, you can just see the black box off to the left in the cabin (with a bunch of assorted other parts that haven't been cleaned out of there yet).
The rubber currently fitted are Yokohama Advan-032Rs (205/60R13). The square headlight setup favoured by the previous owner will be replaced by the cars original round headlight setup, and of course, the front rally spoiler and all the bumpers and lights will be fitted once the build is complete.
The glass windows will all be replaced, the front window with a laminated unit that came with the car in accordance with CAMS regulations, and the side windows replaced with lexan units that came with the car to save weight.
The list of spares include three gearboxes, two tailshafts, spare doors, bonnet, engine parts such as an even more ported head using Falcon valves, and lots of assorted others.
This new project was unexpected, but has signaled the demise of the RS2000 turbo project. The RS2000 will still have its rebuild completed, minus the turbo, but with the race-spec engine. The Focus continues on as my ever reliable Parts-Fetcher and Girl-Wooer (she won't let me get rid of it).
Thanks for having a read and a look, I'll no doubt have lots of photos of the different stages of the build completion as I go, and video when its running and on the dyno / track.
Just to add, our goal with this car is to compete in hillclimbs, supersprints, and track days initially, to build our skills and get the car sorted, and then start entering it into tarmac Targas, with the big goal of doing Targa Tasmania! For that reason, we have been in consultation with CAMS to keep the car within classic rallying regulations. The car won't be used on gravel rallies, as the suspension comes back looking like it's been hit by a shotgun, and the bodywork needs constant replacing or repairing.
Any feedback is more than welcome!
Regards, Tim