RS PROJECT CAR

Hi All,
I have finished my car and will try to upload pics of the build- haven't got the hang of providing thumbnail sized pics so will try now . See what happens......
Well got some pics up so hope they show up all right. My car had been stolen while my younger brother owned it , as well as blowing the engine they kicked the sh... out of it. Got the car shot blasted and got started . Had to setup carport under the house as spray booth and got a coat of primer on it to protect metal. Smoothed over engine bay and deleted the false fuel cap - too much rust to deal with so got cut out. No ducks bum spoiler and de-badged the boot except for ford letters. Apparently sheets of bog came off with the blasting -D/S RS decal was a sheet by itself. My mate was a panel beater so only thin smears of filler on car as panels get straightened. Had to heat quench D/S  rear quarters to get bottom body line back. More to come.....
Len

Nice,
more pics being uploaded is an  appropriate way to spend your time!.....
 
JP

Nice to see some pics of the car Len, keep up the good work.......
Cheers Drew.....

Hi All, Thanks for the comments - even tho this build is being shown in reverse! My car was originally yellow but I decided that it would be done in diamond white with silver trim and the interior would be black with chrome/silver highlights , so you will see this theme carried thru on the pics to follow. For the engine bay the trim was to be Metallic blue with rotors and other pieces to be the same . Tried to get VHT metallic paint but wasn't yet available . We had a little Suzuki in metallic blue so went with that shade instead.

For those who like their escorts unmolested -DONT LOOK!  Yes - I cut slots in the bonnet for the EL vents to get cooling in the engine bay and cut openings in the guards to fit BA side repeaters. Also opened the bars in the grill to increase the airflow to the radiator ( 3 core) for more cooling. Also hooked up a hose from the opening in the front valance to a hole in the engine bay on the D/S inner guard. The heat and humidity up here cooks everything- don't want my engine to be on the list!

Please tell us the booster bracket, cross member, rack, brake pipes, clutch cable etc arent going to stay white ... 

Pretty much-brake pipes and clutch cable were changed. The whole car is colour coded white-bumpers, grill etc ...

I remember when it was the height of fashion to have everything painted white.

All the early Falcons of the day, which I was more familiar with ( my brother had an XW GT replica) had all white engine bays and underpinnings. I really couldn't decide on any other color as an alternative. Townsville is the UV capital of the world- the weather bureau here has a scale ( like the Richter scale ) up to 15- daily readings in summer are regularly 13 or 14 and just suck the life out of your paintwork- hence no blackouts on the car, they just fade and go flat. My paintjob is done in 2 pac with clear over with added anti- UV stabilisers.

While bodywork was going on got busy with redoing stuff underneath -front struts , brakes , diff and fuel tank, patching spare wheel well, new section on the front inner guard splash plates....

Very nice , should be a good toy when you are done.
Good luck with it.

More pics.......

The interior was stripped and cleaned, painted and resomat put in. Cabling for stereo run into boot and gauges white faced, checked and tested. Used BA Falcon interior light to replace original.

Great to see an RS getting some love.  It's not exactly to my taste, but it's not mine so it doesn't matter.
 
Well done to you for giving the old girl some love, and not being afraid to mix some old with new.

More interior work going on... Stripped and rebuilt heater fan unit and controls, new decal for it. Bought and fitted clutch fork cover from Peter M had to wrap headers to protect it as well, heatproof sheath for the speedo cable. Fitted carpets with slight mods for the handbrake lever- had to centralize it on the tunnel to suit the twin handbrake system with the focus rear brakes. Had to get a local brake shop to shorten them and refit the ends made up a connector to fit original handbrake attachment. Had the glass tinted and fitted with all new rubbers. More pics soon.  Len

Nice to see you've been staying busy over Christmas Len....
The BA light is a good idea, You've got me looking at the one in my work hack
Cheers Drew.....

Hi Len,
 
Great work and attention to detail !
Just checking: Have you fitted the guide bush for the clutch cable through the bell housing?
Can't see it in your photos.
Can be seen in Drew's photos at http://www.classic-ford.org/cfp/tm.aspx?m=61523&mpage=4
(it is the yellow bush)
 

 

Thanks for the tip , Peter. Gearbox didn't come with one so I didn't know there was one. You don't produce one by any chance do you? I always wondered why the cable was sloppy at that point. Might have to check E-bay or get on to GBH in the UK to pick one up.  Cheers, Len

Hi Drew,
If you're looking to use the BA light you will have to use all the falcon mounting gear- the foam surround and  light mounting  plate as well as adjusting the wiring. I hacked off the original light mount. Takes a bit of jiggery pokery to get it in but is a snug fit and looks neat, This was all planned prior to fitting the headlining. Will take a piccie and post it up , I think I had to make up an alloy bracket to hold it up and screwed it in place of the original.
Remember this is my build in reverse, car is already on the road. Was busy over Xmas anyway, stripping and prepping those door trims you organized for me. My wife had to sweet talk me into buying a sweet pair of Alpine Type R splits for the front doors as my original old set have pretty much given up the ghost. It's amazing you couldn't hear the screams of pain from the West!!  She said with all the money spent on the RS so far why not get something good, she knows I like my music cranking.  Cheers, Len

Doors were next on the list- drilled holes in inner door and A post and fitted conduit to carry wiring for stereo and also for manual operated central locking. All new bailey channel and rubbers fitted throughout , regulator stripped, cleaned and painted and re-lubed prior to fitting. Cleaned up around the openings previously cut for speakers and installed wiring for courtesy lights to go in door trims-GT's and Fairlanes of the day were a bit more plush so decided to copy .Got a pair of 2nd hand door trims and fitted modified pods for the splits. Bought chrome surrounds for the inner release lever and chrome button door locks. P/s trim in good nick but D/s one a bit rough. Did some minor repairs to get it on the road but redoing another set as per the thread on interior.

Continuing on... While interior stuff going on the piece de resistance is going on - the engine. My brother has been building small ford race engines for years so I got his years of experience in the hand built engine in mine. The block carries a 40 thou overbore with a standard bottom end, everything put together with tight tolerances. The magic is in the head - cc'd and standardized the chambers to work out the skim for a 10:1 compression, a full port job with the emphasis on good gas speed as we retained the larger size standard valves as it is a street engine with a mid range cam ( Camtech 236 ) with dual valve springs and carefully specced geometry. The icing on the cake is the drive pulleys - a full set of custom alloy pulleys. He paid a proprietry licence fee for the production of custom re-profiled wider pulleys and a heavy duty belt. A set of these run a roller Pinto spinning at 8500. Crank pulley is an undersized Esslinger alloy unit to underdrive the water pump so it doesn't cavitate at revs. Top pulley is a vernier type. Carbs are twin 45's with air enclosure and cold air feed from nose cone. Should be about 140-150HP at a guess. Pokes along nicely with T9 and 4.11:1 LSD.......

Hi NQRS
do you have more photos of the focus rear disc conversion?
Beautiful RS by the way
Cheers

Hi Ross,
I will have to make up some pics for you. Didn't take many during the installation. Got my brother to take the measurements of calipers etc and got his mate to make a CAD drawing of the caliper mounts. The boily at work plasma cut them for me out of 10mm plate and also some spacers. To some people probably over engineered these as the main body also acts as the bearing retainer for the axles, meaning they replace the light pressed tin one. Once I had the plate set in the place I wanted it marked the axle flanges and drilled out so plate was bolted into the original position. Made sure I got the hubs off the focus as well as I needed the longer studs to mount the discs. PCD is identical to Escort so fit straight on to axle flange. Because of the way the handbrake levers on the calipers are facing I had to use the twin handbrake cable system which I bought with all the gear from the wreckers. I had calipers refurbished which my brake specialist said was a must. I got another brake place to shorten the cables and refit the nipples so I could use the original retainer and made up a small bracket to connect to the original handbrake lever. The cables run down each side of the trans tunnel, held in place by saddle  clamps. Should be under the car on another job in a few days so will have camera handy and get a couple of shots.
 Cheers,Len

Hi Ross,
Here is a picture of the mounting plate CAD drawing I used. The hole in the bottom was drilled for the axle and a recess machined in the inside to allow for the seating of the bearing so the plate sat flush with the end of the axle housing.
Len

Hi All,
Have had to revisit my rear brakes as the discs are glazed and the pads have been contaminated with a little oil- minor axle seal leak. Fixed that and got the discs skimmed.  Ross157- here are some more pics of the focus rear disc conversion. Discs are 250mm and the correct PCD- no drilling required and the centre fits straight on to the axle spigot. The boomerang shaped spacer is 3mm steel and has a washer to pack so the caliper is nicely centred on the disc.  I used the longer studs off the focus hubs to give the length I needed to mount the discs. 
 Will have to get back under again and fix mountings for outer handbrake cables- only used half saddles which have allowed them to move about and reduce the tension for the handbrake. Will pad them out a bit with rubber and pop rivet full saddle clamps to keep them inn place. Also took the opportunity to adjust the clutch. I also had my rear springs reset to standard height. They were lowered ones but with the offset on my wheels found they were scrubbing on short bumps as the shockies had little travel.   Spax rear shocks adjusted down to medium and car not banging about in the rear. Next project is gas struts for bonnet....

Hi Folks ,
have finally made some progress in fixing up some things which have been bugging me for a while. When I fitted the second heater box during my rebuild I knew the fan speed resister was not good, tried my best but it broke the contacts. Opted to use an after market one which came with wiring. Local sparky works on old cars so he was able to get the wiring sorted. Cut a hole in the air box, only had to drop the switch panel to get to it. Resister doesn't have to be fitted in the original location, got it  fitted and wired up according to diagram. Hooray- have got 2 speed fan again. Not usually a problem except when hot but can demist windscreen during rainy weather. Also meant that I could refit my glove box and new heater control surround. Have always found the straight metal dash a bit stark so have fitted a facia panel with a padded insert (don't know what trim level it belongs to? ) and an RS badge in the same style as the exterior ones. For some unknown reason the speedo started to work again-  must have worked its way bay back to the right spot so was able to refit the D/S under dash tray. Rebuilt out of new board using the old stuffed one as a template- transferred over fittings, trimmed in carpet and looking  a lot better. If the speedo drops out again it will be an electronic replacement.

Another job done was getting my chrome gutter strips fitted. These are chrome plastic ones and came in a coil. Required gentle heat and a lot of patience to straighten out the roll then more of the same to get the curves moulded to fit to the gutters. The mouldings are not a snug fit on the gutter so had to sikaflex them in place. Came out reasonable and helps break up the overall white of the car and matches the chrome door handles. Also some interior shots after fitting my door trims. I was lucky in that seats had been retrimmed and required no work. Done in black cloth but don't know if its genuine beta cloth.  Think my scheels came from an ESP falcon as I got some mountings made up to fit the genuine seat rails to the bottom. These are RS spacers which give me a good viewing driving height as I'm a shorty!

Also some pics of my boot install. Small amp drives some 6x9's in the rear parcel shelf, put a bit of sound proofing material under the parcel shelf and made up an upholstered board for the rear of the boot to provide a barrier between cab and boot as well as mounting point. Other item is the CD stacker controlled by the head unit in the cab- old school stuff- also has a cassette player , so can play a lot of my old music!!  Flat floored the D/S well and solid mounted  the battery box to it for rego purposes. Have got it wired to a cutout switch so I can immobilize the car if parked somewhere for a while.

G'day Len,
The parcel tray looks good, hard to find a nice straight one I think the bulkheads leaked water on them from new haha.
My heater resister was looking a bit suspect when I put it together, I'll be in touch if I have the same drama....
Cheers Drew.... 

 
Hi Drew,
Do you subscribe to the Classic Ford magazine? They featured in their new stuff section a fan speed resistor for a Capri, a couple of issues back,  looks to be the same sort as the Escort ones- price a bit steep at 45 pound. Mine cost about $35. Will see if I can get the details.
Len

My Capri had no fan speed resistor in it when it arrived. The fan was wired so no matter which way you put the switch it was full speed. I called in to an auto electrician one Saturday morning and asked him what he could do , he sat down and worked out a resistor that would drop the voltage to around 9 volts(3 ohm 5 watt ceramic coated resistor apparently the watts are more important then the  ohms I think I ended up with 3.2 ohms 5 watts) he told me to go to Jaycar, it cost something like 44 cents it worked for me. I pulled a wreck apart recently and it had the original resistor in it which looked similar.  
 

From Classic Ford Feb 2015:
 
"Many Capri owners will have suffered from a one-speed heater thanks to a knackered resistor. With new ones unobtainable and good, second-hand units hard to find, the news wasn’t good, however, Trev at Quoyloo Garage now has brand-new heater resistors which fit directly into the heater box as per the originals but with modern technology. Good work!"
 
Wombat is exactly right regarding using a 44¢ ceramic resistor instead of £45 worth of "modern technology".  Furthermore, there is no harm in using one with greater wattage; it just means it can handle more heat dissipation (should it need to).

Woe is Me !! he exclaims.  It's been a couple of years since paint was done on the car and the other day I had to get out grinder and flap disc and attack my paintwork to eliminate some rust bubbles in the lip of the rear passenger side arch. When cleaned back to bare metal found only minor pitting of the steel, hit it with chemical neutraliser and a lick of primer at the moment. Have now got some filler so will rub back and fill and smooth. Will have to get a proper painter  to rub down section and blend for new paint and clear. Just goes to show no matter how much care and prep goes into bodywork it can still come back and bite you. Will chuck up a couple of pics in a couple of days. Len

G'day Len, have you thought about one of those negative impulse rust proofing units? I've heard good things, you can get ones with differing numbers of electrodes depending on car size... Dads been using one on his car for a few years, he's close to the ocean and the couple of scratches he's got are showing no signs of rusting... Worth a look...
Cheers Drew...

Thanks Drew, certainly worth a look. Any recommendations on brand etc ? Also any other forum members got any tips on type/ brand.
Cheers,
Len

Hi all,
Haven't done anything for a while, other than a little tuning of the Holley and keeping it clean and polished for car club events and displays. As per my last post went to panel beater to get my bodywork/ paint sorted, when I finally had some dough and time to get it there. Went to visit my son in Mount Isa  and got a text with some pics showing rust was worse than I / they expected - they rubbed back a bigger area than I had so found some more lurking under the paint. Asked if I wanted a quick bog-job or cut out and done properly. Spent a lot of time and money on the beast so spent some more and got it done properly. Went back to the painter who did job originally so got a good paint match, can't see any difference where repair was done.
Next item was stripes- decided to use my own version of late model Falcon GT/ XR8 ones, work in perfectly with the Falcon side repeaters in the front guards.  I covered the side of the car with brown paper and worked out sizing and location, drew it up for the sign guys to use as a template. Same for the stripes for the bonnet bulge.   Also designed custom logo to go with it using elements from 3 different badges to make it up.  Also designed scuff plates for the doors using the same alloy sandwich material used for my badges and weber air intake box. Called on the services of my brother and nephew on 2 Sat mornings to fix in place ( sign guy changed the angles of the stripes from my template to ones from internet ) so a bit of jiggery-pokery involved in finding the sweet spot to make everything fit.  Pics tell the rest  of the story.

sorry, cant download previous rust pics , only finished product

stripes, logo, sign board ,bonnet and scuff plates.

Great looking car. I have often considered the repeater in the guard and only just noticed you have done it 👍

Thanks for the encouraging comment. Found this particular one the nicest shape of the ones I had checked out at the wreckers, though these are new ones. The later model Focus has the same style but in orange. My brother-in-law worked at the local Ford dealership so went in and made a cardboard template off a new guard. The other method would be to get the section cut out of a guard at the wreckers and weld it in, but at the time there was nothing decent available.  This was a real " heart in the mouth " moment for me as I took to my guards with an air tool and dremel bits to make the cutout needed. It doesn't sit quite as flush as the original as I wasn't able to make the indentation in the guard. It was easy enough to patch the wiring into the standard loom for the front indicators and it keeps out of sight and harms way behind the inner guard splash panel.

True Whooligan, I have always been a big fan of " street machines " mods, hence the bonnet vents, bonnet mounted windscreen washers, deletion of the false fuel cap and some other minor mods, though it doesn't seem to be such a big issue with mechanical upgrades- out of sight, out of mind! Also I just like my cars to be different! Len

Nice work Len! I'm really liking the scallops/ stripe work you've done there. Too cool :D

Looks good Len, I just read a street machine article about the 90's graphics style cars, spot on there with yours mate...
Cheers Drew...

Hi All,
have now got some full time work so could afford for my sparky mate to come round and get my electrics sorted ie getting my " new " globe holders sorted.  Got a couple of spare light bodies, made up a cardboard template to reshape the mounting holes, a few minutes work with a die grinder had them done and the holders inserted and glued into place. Attached wiring according to wiring diagram but no joy- lights going on and off all over the place.  Pulled out the back seat and rear bulkhead, kick panels and switch panel to give access to sparky. I had changed the rear loom over during the rebuild so wiring colours were different. After much testing and recording, worked out new earths, switching wire for the reverse on gearbox, and hey presto! Got plugs made up so now one click disconnect.  Connection in the switch panel are crap so got him to wire up another fuse box to use for accessory / ignition feeds to attach set of gauges and other assorted add-ons.  Hooray!!  First test drive on Cruise Night had the cops following me but not pulled up " do you realise , Sir that your taillights are faulty ' as well as no comment from other club members who always tell me!  Worst part is having to put it all back together again!

Hi All,
Little project I have been working on to neaten up my boot space which is pretty rough in spots, so boxing it up to hide battery etc. Didn't want to custom- make sheeting for under parcel tray section so a quick trip to the wreckers got me moulded sheet from a Falcon boot. Take some measurements, trim to size, a coat of vinyl spray to change from charcoal to black. Got a bit of alloy mesh spare so cut to shape and make a couple of infill panels and sit a LED lamp in place as a boot light. The holes predrilled in the underside of the parcel shelf lip are too big for push in plugs so bulked up some inserts to take them.  The hardest part will be to put some packing on the underside of the shelf to level it out and give me a flat surface to mount the underside tray to, probably with Velcro. Pics so far. Have just about sorted templates for the side and rear panels.  Plan is to fit some foam to sheeting and cover in vinyl, hold in place with push in plugs or Velcro.  Cyclone Debbie was a non event for me, just took time to prep the house and yard and then put everything back again. Had a day off but couldn't work on the car with the stuff stored in the carport.  Glad I kept my car cover on as I was looking after my daughters dogs, both ditzy small dogs who both decided to jump on the bonnet of the RS to look around . Told my daughter she was lucky to get them back in one piece!!  Len

Nice work Len, as always thinking outside of the circle with the re-purposing of parts.
I did think of you and the car with the cyclone coming, happy all's turned out good on your end.
Cheers Drew

That's a great idea Len, I'm gonna add that to the 'to do list'.
 
My cars previous owner added some 6x 9' into the parcel tray.
They sound great actually, but he did it using a can opener and it looks shocking every time you open the boot.
 

Exactly, Deano.  I have 6x9's in my rear shelf, the holes are reasonably neat but still have the base of the speakers and wiring sticking through, looks ugly.  Len

Got some pics of my boot install, some tweaks to make it fit a bit better, got some tips  on how from a guy at a car show this morning.  Doing a fill-in panel for around the fuel inlet cover and latch is a pain!  Len

Looking tidy NQRS, it's always good to see people coming up with new ideas.

Hi All,
Well, I've finally done it- my C pillar trims finally finished and installed.  Some of you may remember that I've been holding on to them for a while as regards getting fibreglass moulds done, which proved to be not financially viable.  I decided to try and incorporate the rear OEM mounting lugs, so after careful measuring cutting and and bonding did a trial fit in the RS.  After several fruitless attempts I gave up.  Either the thickness of the material, a slightly different shape and the inflexibility of the 'glass all combined, I couldn't get the lugs and mounting holes to mate up.  So back to mounting as motor sport ones.  I decided to upholster the trims in the same vinyl used for my hood lining, so off to the trimmer who luckily managed to find the last remnant of this material in his scrap heap , as he was changing suppliers, and got it for nix  If you decide to trim in material, much easier, stretching the vinyl around the tight little curves where it fits against the parcel shelf was a paaaaain!.  Anyhow, the holes drilled for the seatbelt mounting plates and the top fixing screw and prise open the window rubbers to insert the leading edge of the trim, push into place and bolt in seatbelt plate and everything is held snugly in place.  Paul, of you're still wanting trims, Google Gumtree for  " Escort " in the Brisbane area +250KM and you will see adds for glass bonnets, arches, etc. _ the company is Repliglass, I'm pretty sure - they do 2 door Mk2 Escort C pillar trims but a bit xxsc- about $180- the same as getting the ones from Ireland and probably motor sport ones- they didnt have a picture. Cheers, Len

Nice looking car Len . 
Have you any shots showing the full car with the stripes ?  
Bruce

Looks good Len. I have a genuine pair which I will either paint or trim so all good 👍

Hi Bonus,
If you look at the top of the opening page of the forum, you will see a ratty yellow primered MK2 with the thread " RS Project ".  That is the build thread for the RS, look on page 3, will see stripes on body, bonnet etc. Cheers, Len

Hi All,
For those who have read my thread you will have heard me mention about gas struts for the bonnet - well, they are finaaaaally a reality.  After turning one set of hinges into swiss cheese trying to get a setup to work and and scouring the internet looking at different designs- found a setup on- dare I say it- an EH Holden which looked like it would work.  Using holey hinges with a mock up set of brackets ( Cardboard Aid Design, of course ) got the local gas strut guy to come and check it out and got confirmation it would work. Club car show is 2 weeks away so pressure is on to get brackets made- me and a grinder ?? 3 modifications to get around the ribs and offset angle of the bottom hinge plate, a little more tweaking on the final fit , some paint and installed, along with finishing the boot install 1 day before the show. I dunno, always seem to get these silly schedules to meet..

you're a craftsman Len, looks like it was mean to be  there.
Good on you for the perseverance.
 

Can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Hi All,
Finally getting around to refurbishing my RS 3 spoke wheel.
The rim rubber is still firmly attached but looking ratty so have decided to do a leather wrap to match the new paintwork in black. Seem to recall that someone did the same but can't find the post. Not having a lot of luck find a kit online or getting a suitably sized piece of leather to make my own- any leads appreciated. Main problem seems to be the length-1.2M for the circumference of the wheel and wide enough to cover the spokes joining the rim.  Scored a new badge for the centre- right size and style and at least got plenty of vinyl to do a template.
Cheers,

Hi Len,
I added a leather rim to by boat stainless steering wheel, I'll see if I can find some photos.
Not the same exactly, but similar theory. I got some 'second' leather hide from a local tanner, and needed a strip around 80mm x a good 1.5M. If you have a decent sewing machine ( I have an industrial mc), you can fold the hide lengthwise and sew it without any thread, using the largest needle you have, just to put in the matching needle holes down each side. Use some nylon upholsteres thread, sew both ends together, making it tight to stretch over the circumfrence. Then stitch it using 2 needles in the cross pattern (plenty of youtubes on stitching this).I used red thread which looked good, very bling. Since my wheel was stainless, the hide would move around, so some thin doubled sided tape was useful to hold it in place first.
A bit of time and she'll come up a treat.
Let me know if you have a spare 3 spoke wheel taking up too much time in your shed that you dont need

I had my wheel redone in leather, its awesome and im so glad i had it done. The wheel before hand was missing its cover and was in bad need of repair.

Unfortunately i bit the bullet and had a professional do the job, not cheap.

Hi all,
Got lucky yesterday and found some leather at a good price. I had heard nothing from the Brisbane supplier so took a chance and contacted the local upholsterer who did my hood lining and other trim pieces and he had exactly what I needed- $25 and just enough I think to trim the steering wheel boss over the original rubberised  sheath. I have only the wife's sewing machine so will see if I can sew a small hem along the edge then use a punch to make the holes. Leather is 1.2mm so don't know how well it will handle it. Not sure if I will use thread or thin leather lacing to sew it up.  I am making a vinyl template first before tackling the leather version. Sorry, Deano- only the one 3 spoker.  Will have a SAAS wheel spare though when I change it over!
Cheers,

The steering wheel looks really nice and I bet if feels nice as well.

I spoke to the wife today about doing the template for the leather cover but looks like I will have to get it done by an upholsterer, far more technical to do, with the different inner and outer diameters and her machine probably won't be able to sew it, even if I could get the dimensions right. thought I would just get a strip and join it together but would end up with lumps and pleats on the inside because it needs to be stretched while being stitched.  Bummer not being able to get a ready made kit but can't find one to suit. Len

Hey mate did you change to a bias box just kept standard booster etc with the rear disc conversion?

NQRS
Hi All,
For those who have read my thread you will have heard me mention about gas struts for the bonnet - well, they are finaaaaally a reality. 

Hey NQRS,
 
How'd the gas bonnet struts work out?
 
Which struts did you end up going with?
 
Chuff

Hi Robbie,
No, My brake pedal system is standard. What I have to do now is to see if I can get the booster actuator to work quicker with the master cylinder actuator, I use half my brake pedal travel before the master cylinder starts working. I know it is adjustable but will have to take to a local brake shop to see if it can match up properly.

Hi Chuff,
I got my local gas strut guys to come by and we took some measurements and found a size to suit the bracket installation I had come up with. I have an RS so the bonnet configuration is very different to the standard Mark 2 Escort.  I took inspiration from a search on Google for struts for ( dare I say it ?) an  EH Holden.  Len

Hi all,
Some pics of the 20mm version of the original RS swaybar now fitted to the RS. The manufacturer has my original as a sample so can now make these for other Mk2 Escort owners. They all have the same mounting points as an RS so if you are interested in stiffening up your rear end you can contact Drive Industries near Sydney. They reckon they need to do a batch of 10 to make it worthwhile, they will be able to do them in different thicknesses- 12mm standard, 16mm or 20mm like mine. The biggest part of the process is getting the ends machined and making the adjustable ends to fit. I don't know what costs would be as I did a special deal through my local spring works here. Anyone interested?

looks great Len.
How did you get on with the wheel?

Hi Deano,
Steering wheel came out nice. Was a bugger of a job to strip the spokes of the wheel, must have been painted originally with a very hard enamel. Ended up using a flap disc on my grinder to get it all cleaned then etch prime and epoxy enamel in semi-gloss to match the original finish. Upholsterer did a very neat job with the leather wrap and also had enough hide left to wrap the mounting boss as well. Smaller diameter than the SAAS wheel I had on but still steers ok, took it out for it's first club cruise last Friday. Will probably put the SAAS wheel up for sale to get back some of the costs.

Looks better than new.
Make sure you add your restored steering wheel to the insurance policy Len!
 

Looks great mate! Will transform the car once its on!

Tri spokes are just perfect

Hi all,
As indicated in a previous post, refurbished my switches and refitted the original switch panel, so had to find a home for my VDO gauges I had fitted there. I have an original Ghia aircon switch panel which is fitted into the front of the console so was able to use the shape to make up a template for the insert for the gauges. Had a try at carving a shape out of foam and glassed it but not strong enough, didn't like my holesaw when came time to cut out the holes. Back to the drawing board- timber version. got the face shape ok but was a bit stumped on making the side pieces- curved in 3 directions to follow the profile on the front of the console.
Again, carved out a foam template then cut out of timber, split in half to follow the 2 different angles. Thin foam and vinyl glued onto the face and gauge holes cut out. Refitted the gauges, only  had to add to the wiring a bit due to the different configuration, one set of leads needed extension and the wiring for the plug the same .  Fitted the new stereo and back into the car. 
All I want to do now is to make up a small infill panel with a clock to fill in the gap between the top of the console and the bottom of the switch panel which will hide the wiring, having a 5 speed puts the console further back on the tunnel. Interior mods should just about be finished then, Hooray!

Hi All,
This is the Build story for my RS which I am selling.  if anyone is interested then this will give you a good idea of the work put into this car- looking for about $55K negotiable.
Cheers, Len

sorry to hear shes for sale Len, but best of luck.
Hopefully you'll find someone who can appreciate all of the graft you put in over the years.

Hi All,
Well, the RS is sold and on it's way south to a good home this coming Wednesday. Found a buyer who appreciated her as is, didn't have to go back to the standard look.   So, onto my next car- I know that most of this forum is into small Fords but would appreciate any leads to spot another car for me:
Series 3 AU Falcon XR8 / TE 50 / TS50.  Would like leather interior and not too many K's- 150,000? Colour not really an issue but not green if avoidable.  Prefer eastern states if possible.  Any help appreciated.  Cheers, Len
 

Congrats Len

Bit bitter sweet to see it go? I cant help on a lead of the TE/TS but i hope you find a nice one. I think long term it will be a great investment. Ive always said i should at least own one V8 in my lifetime (Yet to own any) so im excited for you to put one in your garage.

My last one was a 351 XA GT 4 door clone.  I now live in a small town and need a highway cruiser to go to events. Little sad, yes, but the new owners are very keen. Cheers, Len

Nice one Len, congrats.
Especially as they got where you were coming from with the mods.
Good luck finding a new money pit, I'll watch the local sites, I'm sure we can help spend your $$'s 

.. So I can put the parts back in my car now lol.. very happy you've sold her, bit of extra cash for the next vehicle..😎
A friend of mine recently bought a RS from NSW as a resto project, much needed replacement for the 2x melted mk1s shed cooker he had not long ago. I've offered to store it at my place till his new shed gets built

Hi Marty,
Thanks for that, bit of a pain in the arse with the on-again off-again side of the sale but looks like it's going to a good home, put it on the truck yesterday.  Good on you for looking after the car- losing your pride and joy to a fire must be heart breaking. Cheers , Len